Coronavirus outbreak: Breaking home quarantine may lead to jail, warn officials

NEW DELHI: Those flouting the law and ditching home quarantine can face up to six months in jail along with a fine, the health ministry said while asking people to strictly follow the advisories, protocols and guidelines.

“We have empowered states to use stringent provisions of the law to ensure people do not break quarantine and spread the disease. Observing quarantine and maintaining social distancing are crucial to managing this kind of infectious disease,” a health ministry official said.

Under Section 10 of the Epidemic Disease Act and Section 10 of the Disaster Management Act, states have been empowered to take penal action with provisions of up to six months of imprisonment or Rs 1,000 fine or both, depending on the violation.

While the enabling provisions of these laws have already been invoked by the Centre, the health ministry has again written to states to enforce these provisions.

This came in the wake of recent cases where people ran away from isolation or did not observe home quarantine.

The health ministry reported 223 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Friday. Besides, over 6,700 people who came in contact with positive cases were put under rigorous observation and another 1.12 lakh people were under community surveillance. So far, over 15,000 samples have been tested in India.

“Cases have increased progressively and social distancing is, therefore, important to stop this chain of transmission,” joint secretary in health ministry Lav Agarwal said.

He urged people to use the toll free number 1075 for any query and said there was no shortage of essential commodities.

Central teams have been sent to states to hand-hold them in strengthening their capacities, he added.