As on Sunday, 15 March, India has recorded 107 positive cases of coronavirus. As the number of cases has risen, people are taking various precautionary measures and are buying face masks and hand sanitisers in large quantities, which has led to a huge shortage.
In the light of the shortage, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took to twitter and stated that that his government has come up with a solution to the problem. He said that his government has deployed prison inmates at Thiruvananthapuram, Viyyur and Kannur central prisons to manufacture masks, thus maintaining a steady supply, he said, reported The Print.
The chief minister tweeted a picture of the first batch of face masks manufactured by the prisoners at Thiruvananthapuram Jail.
Kerala has also employed tailoring units in prisons to produce masks, and has also increased the supply of hand sanitisers through the Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals (KSDP), which will produce 10 lakh bottles of hand sanitisers within ten days, reported Economic Times.
The number of coronavirus cases in India has crossed a hundred, with 107 confirmed cases, according to the Health Ministry. This figure includes foreign nationals tested positive in India.
India has also suspended land border crossing points with Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar from 15 March and from 16 March with Pakistan, amid COVID-19 outbreak.
A 76-year-old man died of coronavirus in Karnataka, becoming the first casualty in the country. He was also reported to have been suffering from chronic diabetes and heart problems.
(With inputs from News18 ,Business Today)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)