Surat (Gujarat) [India], April 8 : While the government is appealing to people to maintain social distance and stay at home to combat COVID-19 spread, the Surat Rural Police has launched a unique awareness campaign to encourage people to follow the nationwide lockdown orders.
The campaign addresses the need for self-policing, asking people to ensure that their family members stay at home to keep each other safe from the risk of infection, which has infected over 5,000 people in India.
During the awareness programme, police personnel were seen holding placards in their hands reading -- "stay away from fake, precaution is better than cure". They were also carrying posters of the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in India and the number of deaths caused by the virus.
The police hailed station workers, farmers and doctors as "heroes" as they are providing essential services amid the coronavirus crisis.
Some of the placards have coronavirus death and case numbers in the US, Italy, China and France. Police personnel also urged people to follow the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been constantly stressing on the need of "social distancing" and staying at home to win the COVID-19 battle.
While showing posters comparing countries with each other in terms of COVID-19 tally, the cops asked people that -- Where do they want to see India?
"We are working relentlessly to make people understand about the menace caused by COVID-19 and how essential it is for everyone to follow Prime Minister's advice on the same. We are also clearing doubts of locals and helping them with any issues they have but we have been appealing to them to keep the nation safe by keeping themselves safe and maintaining social distancing," Yuvraj Singh Gohil, Probationer DSP, Surat Rural Police.
"The campaign has been created to request people to stay at home with their families," he added.
In Gujarat, 165 people tested positive for the infection, including 25 cured and discharged and 13 deaths.
( With inputs from ANI )