Mumbai shuts down Byculla zoo to counter coronavirus threat

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday shut down the Byculla Zoo in Mumbai indefinitely in the wake of the coronavirus threat.

The garden inside the zoo will also remain shut for the general public, the BMC announced.

Last month, the Byculla zoo acquired two tigers from Aurangabad. They were to be made available for public display this month.

Also on Sunday, the Mumbai Police invoked section 144 of the CrPC to prohibit tour operators from conducting any kind of group tours to foreign or domestic destinations till March 31.

Railway authorities in Mumbai have started disinfecting long distance trains as well as local trains that are used by around 80 lakh suburban commuters daily as the threat of coronavirus continued to loom.

Maharashtra has reported the most number of coronavirus positive cases in India at 31 as the total number of people testing positive for the virus rose to 107 on Sunday. Two persons have died of the disease in Delhi and Karnataka.

The state has also ordered all schools, colleges, malls, swimming pools, gym and fitness centres, cinema halls to shut down till March 31 as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus. It has also ordered the cancellation of all public events and religious processions among.

On Saturday, the Centre notified coronavirus as a disaster and declared masks and hand sanitizers as essential commodities under Essential Commodities Act up to June 30, 2020. Under the Essential Commodities Act, states can ask manufacturers to enhance their production capacity of these items, to make the supply chain smooth.

Coronavirus has so far claimed over 5,500 lives globally, most of them in China. It has now spread to more than 100 countries, where close to 150,000 people are now infected. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has named Europe the new epicentre of the disease.