Hand sanitizers and masks will be treated as essential commodities till 30 June, according to a government notification on Friday. The Centre’s move is part of its efforts to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus that has so far claimed more than 5,000 lives the world over including one in India. More than 80 are affected in the country.

The move comes as panic buying by people resulted in stocks of masks and sanitizers disappearing from the markets. They are being sold at exorbitant prices in areas where the supplies exist.

Under the Essential Commodities Act, states can ask manufacturers to enhance their production capacity of these items, to make the supply chain smooth, while under the Legal Metrology Act, which is also in force, the states can ensure sale of both at maximum retail price (MRP).

An offender under the EC Act may be punished with imprisonment of up to seven years or fine, or both, and under the Prevention of Blackmarketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980, he can be detained for up to six months, a government statement said.

The government said the decision would empower the Centre and states/union territories to regulate production, quality, distribution, etc., of masks and hand sanitizers and smoothen the sale and availability of these items. It will also enable authorities to carry out operations against speculators.

The government also invoked the Disaster Management Act to ensure price regulation and availability of surgical and protective mask, hand sanitizer and gloves. Confirmed cases of Covid-19 continued to rise even on Friday in India with a rise of three patients taking the total number to 84. “Seven patients of Covid-19, have recovered, but with new cases across states, the total number of patients has gone up to 84," health ministry joint secretary Lav Aggarwal said.

The government has been taking several pre-emptive, timely and proactive measures for prevention, containment and management of Covid-19. “Continuous review and monitoring of the situation at the highest political and administrative levels perpetuated decisively preventive and pre-emptive actions in public interest such as travel restrictions, suspension of visas and self-quarantine measures, " government said.

“As of today, there are 84 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country. Of these, 3 from Kerala were treated and discharged. In addition, 7 more from Safdurjung have also recovered. Of these confirmed cases, 67 cases are of Indian nationals, 16 Italian nationals and 1 Canadian national. Contract tracing of these cases is being actively pursued. So far, this has led to identification of more than 4,000 contacts who have been put under surveillance," said Aggarwal.

The Delhi assembly on Friday held a short duration discussion on the coronavirus and the steps the government had taken. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal thanked the central government for its support in tackling the spread of the disease. “The way this illness has spread across the country… It is scary to see how developed countries have suffered. Even they have not been able to control it. I would like to thank the central government for their support. We are working with them to control the spread. I am sure other states are also cooperating. There is a lot of misinformation regarding this disease. So far there is no medicine for this illness. We need to stop it from spreading," Kejriwal said at the assembly.

Nidheesh M.K. and Pretika Khanna contributed to this story

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