Coronavirus sparks nationwide lockdown in India with 1.3 BILLION people to stay indoors
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country's isolation measures to combat COVID-19 - now the largest in the world - will begin at midnight on Tuesday.
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The announcement is the most extensive stay-at-home order yet in the world's fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement issued late on Monday evening, the Indian leader said that people were not taking the lockdown seriously and measures were to be ramped up.
He tweeted: "Tonight throughout the country 12 hours, carefully Suniega, across the country, across the country from 12 tonight, is going to be full Lockdown."
The latest COVID-19 developments around the world:
- India: The country has ordered 1.3billion people to remain at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
- China: The country has reported a steep decline in fresh coronavirus cases in the epicentre Wuhan or surrounding Hubei province.
- Europe: Spain is extending it's national lockdown by 15 days to April 11, while Italy is extending its rules to citizens.
- US: President Trump said he is considering relaxing social distancing restrictions and declared the US was "open for business" as several states remain locked down.
- Global: According to John Hopkins University, the global count stands at 396,249 coronavirus cases and 17,252 related deaths.
Modi added that if the county failed to manage the 21 day lockdown, it would "set the country back by 21 years".
Speaking at a press conference in Delhi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “We are very close to coming up with an economic package which will be announced sooner rather than later."
The lockdown, across the country's 75 districts - including capital Delhi and commercial hub Mumbai - is expected to be in place until March 31.
The Indian government has also suspended domestic flights, bringing the nation to a grinding halt.
A statement from the Civil Aviation Ministry read: “The operations of domestic schedule commercial airlines shall cease operations with effect from the midnight 23.59 IST (0729 GMT) on March 24.
"Airlines have to plan operations to land at their destination before this time.
"The restrictions shall not apply to cargo-carrying flights."
India has so far seen coronavirus cases rise to 511 and recorded 10 deaths.
Of the confirmed cases, the country saw a rise of 99 infections on Monday - the biggest jump in a single day since the outbreak began.
Global lockdowns
India is the latest country to order it's citizens to remain indoors to help stop the spread of the deadly bug.
In Hubei province in China, residents will be able to resume travel from Wednesday after authorities announced restrictions would be lifted in Hubei province, except in the city of Wuhan.
In Italy - the biggest affected country outside mainland China - all movement inside the country is banned, while all non-essential businesses have been closed.
Spain's original nationwide 15-day lockdown has been extended to April 11 after the country recorded 394 new deaths from the disease.
On Monday evening, Boris Johnson ordered a partial lockdown in the UK, giving police powers to fine or arrest anyone who left their homes or were found socialising in groups of two people or more.
And in the US, , and Delaware became the latest states to order lockdowns.