Chennai: Shaheen Bagh-like anti-CAA protest suspended amid Coronavirus outbreak

In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, the month-long agitation against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) at Washermanpet in Chennai has been temporarily suspended on Wednesday morning.

"Due to Coronavirus spread and to support the state and the central government to contain the same, we have called off our protest," Latheef, an organizer of Shaheen Bagh Vannarapattai Anti-CAA-NRC-NPR protest said while speaking to ANI. On March 14, the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary K Shanmugam had a meeting with representatives from the Muslim community at the State Secretariat in which he urged the Muslim community to call off the protests citing the Coronavirus threat.

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The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India has reached 147, including 122 Indians and 24 foreign nationals according to government data on Wednesday morning. The deadly virus has claimed three lives in the country. Maharashtra is the worst-hit state in the country from the novel coronavirus with 38 people testing positive for the infection and one casualty reported in Mumbai on Tuesday. Kerala with 27 cases becomes the second state to report maximum cases of Coronavirus after Maharashtra, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi. The Centre has “strongly advised” Indians to avoid all non-essential travel abroad. The government is also monitoring all suspected cases and has issued preventive advisories. Schools, malls, cinema halls, parks, various places across the country have been shut as a preventive measure against the virus.

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Coronavirus – A Pandemic 

The novel Coronavirus has affected nearly 148 countries in the world. Presently, there are around 1,98,753 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of around 7,989 people. As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to treat COVID-19 yet, countries have been grappling with all possible mechanisms to contain its scope. So far, China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran have witnessed the most number of confirmed cases of the Novel Coronavirus and have entered stage three of the outbreak, while India is still in stage two of the virus spread.

(With ANI inputs)

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