Traffic officer wears 'coronahelmet' to warn people to stay indoors

Commuters in India are being pulled over by a cop wearing a “coronahelmet”.

Traffic officer Rajesh Babu is wearing the COVID-19 headwear to warn people to stay indoors during the pandemic.

The startling helmet is painted red with several spikes glued on to represent the disease that has killed 29,848 and infected 640,589, with 137,230 recovering, according to John Hopkins University.

Traffic officer Rajesh Babu said: "What we thought was rather than harming or scolding and all that, so let's do it in a better way so that that get into their mind, so we designed this particular helmet which looked like corona and me walking towards them, people have fear."

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Police officer Rajesh Babu wears a helmet representing the coronavirus, and requests commuters to stay home during the 21-day countrywide lockdown that began Wednesday in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 28, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/R. Parthibhan)
Police officer Rajesh Babu wears a helmet representing the coronavirus (Picture: AP)

The accessory was the idea of police in Tamil Nadu to raise awareness about the virus and to help implement the 21-day lockdown India is under.

However alarming the helmet may look, it's a better approach than taken by officers in Mumbai in recent days, where they have beaten people who were breaking rules with batons.

India has so far reported 803 cases of coronavirus and 20 deaths.

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Meanwhile, the number of deaths of patients with coronavirus in the UK has risen by its largest number.

A total of 1,019 patients have died after testing positive for COVID-19 as of 5pm on Friday, the Department of Health (DHSC) said, up from 759 the day before.

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As of 9am Saturday, a total of 120,776 have been tested, with 103,687 negative and 17,089 positive, according to the DHSC.

A further seven people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in Scotland, taking the total there to 40.

A further four people with COIVD-19 have also died in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths there to 38, health officials have said.

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