“For the past several days, we have not visited any mall or multiplex. It may have been under compulsion but good time is spent with the family,” said Himanshu Tripathi, who lives in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Himanshu runs a coaching class center at Borivili in Mumbai. In Maharashtra, coaching classes have been discontinued due to Coronavirus, following government order. In Maharashtra, all schools, colleges, private classes have been suspended and examinations are also postponed. The government has banned all religious or social gatherings.

Himanshu added: “Normally, my lectures continue throughout the week from 7 am to late night. If I get some time in the afternoon or a holiday during the week, I think of stepping out of the house, move around, or go out eating. But this time, I am able to devote time to my three-year-old son and my wife.”

Since the spread of the Coronavirus across the country, most of the public and private companies have allowed their employees to work from home.

According to the World Health Organization, so far, 152 countries in the world have confirmed Corona infection in 184,976 people, 7,529 people have died from corona. While in India, 137 people have been found to have corona infection with three deaths. Shilpi Chaudhary, living in Lucknow, has a son pursuing BTech from Noida who has come home during this time. “Very rarely it happens that the whole family is together otherwise, when the children are on a holiday, they go out with their friends, and also ask us to order food from outside, but now they are at home and not even insisting on calling food from outside,” says Shilpi.

More than one lakh people are affected by the disease and more than 8,000 people have died. People from all over the world are not coming out of the houses fearing Coronavirus, people are avoiding overcrowding and spending time with their families.

In view of the growing havoc of Coronavirus, all school colleges and multiplexes in Uttar Pradesh have been closed till April 2. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Further, the government has postponed the ongoing examinations in all school colleges till further orders.

All monuments and museums across the country, including the Taj Mahal, have been closed till March 31. This was stated by Union Tourism and Culture Minister Prahlad Patel in a tweet. A few days ago, in view of the outbreak of coronavirus, the government had ordered cancellation of visas of tourists from several countries till April 15. Still some foreign tourists were coming to see the Taj Mahal. Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel said in a tweet on Monday: “All concerned officials should be prompt and careful.”

Dr Neha Anand, a psychiatrist, said: “We human beings have a trait, we do a lot of things under fear. Take a small example, like traffic rules. In many countries, if you break the traffic rules, once the driving licence is cancelled, it is never re-issued. So, the people there are scared to break the rules even if the traffic police are not present. However, it is not so in our country where people readily break the rules. Similarly, with the onset of Coronavirus, the children are instructed first to wash their hands, but it should be their habit and not fear. People take precautions due to fear of Coronavirus and shall revert to their old self once the situation improves.”

“Similarly, people are spending time with their family because they have no other option. So, it is due to fear people are sitting in the house with their families,” she added.

Although Pankaj Kumar, an IT professional, does most of his work online, he still has to go to office. He said: “My family always complains that I don’t give them time, now I am working from home. Although I am at work from home, I am still among my family member.

Tata Motors has asked all its employees working at headquarters and regional office to work from home from coming Monday. The decision has been taken on behalf of the company in view of the coronavirus threat. The company has asked the employees to work from home to avoid the spread of virus.

Guenter Butschek, managing director, Tata Motors had stated in his letter to the employees: “In view of the spread of Coronavirus in countries beyond China, the company has set up a team to monitor the situation so that steps may be taken to rule out its risk among the employees.”

Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Luv Agarwal has advised on Monday that wherever possible employees of any institution must stay and work from their home. He has advised people to work from home, to use public transport minimally and to maintain a distance of about one metre from one another.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a global epidemic. With the growing cases of COVID-19, the government has proposed some measures to create social distancing by till 31st March. According to Luv Agarwal, all precautionary measures are being taken to prevent corona virus. That is why public institutions like schools, swimming pools and malls, etc., have been asked to close till 31st March. People have been asked to minimize the use of public transport and to keep a distance of about one metre from one another.

According to the World Health Organization, the most important thing to avoid corona infection is to pay special attention to cleanliness.

Dr Ved Prakash Sharma, chairman of the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, King George Medical University, informed: “In order to avoid coronavirus, it is most important that you keep yourself clean, only then its infection can be avoided. For this, wash your hands several times a day and clean them several times for at least one minute with soap.

“Even if you’re staying inside the house, take special care of cleanliness, whether coming in from or stepping out somewhere, do wash hands well with either handwash or soap,” he added.