In pictures | Vignettes from Day-7 of nationwide coronavirus lockdown

Police personnel spray disinfectant at a vehicle in Goripalayam junction in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. (Source: The Hindu)

As the nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection entered Day 7, several fresh cases of infection were reported on March 31 from Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar, among other places, taking the nationwide tally well past 1,400 with at least 45 deaths, as per figures announced by government officials in different States.

The Central government separately told the Supreme Court it has taken “proactive and preemptive timely steps” to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, but termed fake news as the biggest hindrance and sought a direction for the media not to publish any COVID-19 information without ascertaining facts with authorities.

Here are some of the pictures from our photographers highlighting the situation in various parts of the country.

People wait in a queue to avail free ration items announced by the government, at Raj Bhavan, in Hyderabad, Telangana. (Source: The Hindu)

People form a queue to avail the free ration items announced by the government, at Raj Bhavan, in Hyderabad. (Source: The Hindu)

Social-distancing themselves, people form a queue to buy vegetables at a temporary market shifted to the new bus-stand in Puducherry. Vegetable markets have been decentralised at nine different locations in the Union Territory during the nationwide lockdown. (Source: THE HINDU)

Looks like the idea of social distancing seeps in at almost all corners and that trespassing would be prohibited. On a road that leads to Madhuranagar in Hyderabad, local residents have placed sacks and barbs to prevent entry of outsiders, during the 21-day nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus outbreak. (Source: The Hindu)

Here’s a young shepherd, from Bamanwadi village in Karnataka’s Belagavi district, who is quite convinced that face mask will not only protect him but also his pet goat from the COVID-19 infection. (Source: The Hindu)

Have you ever seen elephants walking on arterial stretches, that too on weekdays. Sounds like the nationwide lockdown has paved a way for that to happen. An elephant, with the mahout, takes a leisurely ride on this usually busy Sabarmati river bridge in Ahmedabad. (Source: The Hindu)

Isn’t it encouraging to see the Jammu and Kashmir police personnel who clap hands by way of appreciating people who wear masks! Though a small gesture, doesn’t it go a long way during a crisis! (In Srinagar) (Source: The Hindu)

Two persons pass through a sanitiser tunnel that is believed to be infection-free, at Kidney Hospital in Ahmedabad. (Source: The Hindu)

When the entire nation has become silent during the nationwide lockdown, these health workers of Tamil Nadu break the silence but with a message, for a reason. They keep announcing the residents about the dos and don’ts at this time of crisis and also share the precautionary measures to be taken to stop the spread of coronavirus, in Chennai’s Pudupet. (Source: The Hindu)

Following rumours that ration card holders would be given essential supplies today, that is on day-7 of the nationwide lockdown, local people queue up outside a ration shop in Rathinapuri, Coimbatore. Even in the midst of coronavirus crisis, people have become creative in their own ways. Look at how an old man uses his very ration bag as a mask. (Source: The Hindu)

A view of the iconic Moazzam Jahi Market area. The usually busy and crowded stretch now wears a deserted look on day-7 of the nationwide lockdown. (Source: The Hindu)

A fire-fighter disinfects Fishermen’s Colony at Colaba, Mumbai, as a preventive measure to protect people from coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. (Source: The Hindu)

Applicants wait at Chennai’s Ripon Building for getting emergency passes that allow restricted travel, for valid reasons, during the complete lockdown period. (Source: The Hindu)