1.7 billion told to stay home worldwide over virus

Published
0
Police personnel ask shopowners to close their stores in a market area after the authorities imposed a lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 novel coronavirus in Siliguri on March 23, 2020. (Photo by Diptendu DUTTA / AFP) — AFP or licensors
Police personnel ask shopowners to close their stores in a market area after the authorities imposed a lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 novel coronavirus in Siliguri on March 23, 2020. (Photo by Diptendu DUTTA / AFP) — AFP or licensors

Some 1.7 billion people have been asked to stay home in over 50 countries and territories around the world as governments battle the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, according to an AFP tally on Monday.

Some countries have imposed mandatory lockdown measures, while others have issued stay-at-home recommendations to stem the spread of the virus.

Lockdowns in parts of India alone have kept some 700 million people hemmed in, in the world's second-most populated nation.

Police personnel ask shop owners to close their stores in a market area after authorities imposed a lockdown as a preventive measure against the novel coronavirus in Siliguri, India, on March 23, 2020. — AFP
Police personnel ask shop owners to close their stores in a market area after authorities imposed a lockdown as a preventive measure against the novel coronavirus in Siliguri, India, on March 23, 2020. — AFP

At least 34 more countries and territories have also established mandatory lockdown measures ordering people to stay in their homes, accounting for some 659 million people.

Opinion

Editorial

Risks ahead
02 Oct, 2026

Risks ahead

ON Thursday, a day after the PTI leadership expressed its resolve to go ahead with its planned protest march this...
Exit from Iraq
02 Oct, 2026

Exit from Iraq

AMERICAN and British troops have once again shipped out of Iraq. On Wednesday, the foreign forces left the Arab...
Lahore’s ozone warning
02 Oct, 2026

Lahore’s ozone warning

LAHORE has received another warning that its air pollution crisis cannot be treated as a problem that begins with...
Fixing bond markets
Updated 01 Oct, 2026

Fixing bond markets

Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, retail investors, and eventually, foreign investors must become bigger participants in the market.
Call centre rackets
01 Oct, 2026

Call centre rackets

A NUMBER of recent raids conducted by the authorities in different cities point to the growing threat fraudulent ...
Homeward bound
01 Oct, 2026

Homeward bound

FIVE months after Somali pirates captured an oil tanker carrying a 19-member multinational crew, Somali maritime...