Singer Shweta Pandit's video message from Italy: 'I don't want to carry coronavirus infection to India'

Singer Shweta Pandit, who has crooned songs for Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu and Telugu movies, says that she is not returning from Italy because she fears to carry coronavirus infection to India.

Playback singer Shweta Pandit, who recently left for Italy with her husband, quarantined in her house in Italy because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The singer took to her Instagram account to urging Indians to take the coronavirus threat very seriously. She shared the video message and captioned it with "Coronavirus in Italy #staysafe #stayhome #prayforitaly #italylockdown #indialockdown #jantacurfew."

Shweta Pandit explains that the condition in Italy is terrific due to the coronavirus infection and she wakes up to the sounds of ambulance sirens every day. In the 5.09-minute-long video, she narrates the situation there and the reason for not leaving Italy for India. She also offered some tips to fight Corona and requested Indians to stay home and stay safe.

Here is the complete text of singer Shweta Pandit's video message from Italy:

You might have heard about how Coronavirus has created chaos around the world for the last few weeks. So much so that India has announced a 21-day lockdown. I would like to tell you one thing I have seen with my own eyes. I am in a country where the Coronavirus has created a lot of trouble and killed many people.

Friends, I myself have not come out of my room for the last one month before which the Italy government announced lockdown. When we came to know that such a disease has been spread, we were not even aware of when it happened and after meeting who it started. Whether it is a simple cold or something else.

By the time a person goes to his doctor, then to a hospital, then he will understand he is in need of ICU and he needs oxygen. He breathes his last within a few days. It is such a dangerous thing and it is not a joke. It is not about a picnic or spending a holiday. I am telling it with a lot of sadness because I have personally seen it here in Italy. You might have seen it on TV news that not just 1000 or 2000, but 8000 people have lost their lives.

When I wake up in the morning, I only hear the sound of an ambulance. I am telling you the truth and I telling it with a lot of sadness. Many people from India called me and enquired about my health. I thank them. It is their wishes and god's blessings that I am good, I am inside the house and safe with my family.

But it is slowly catching the world and it has reached America, London and may such countries. It is slowly gripping over India too. India is very lucky that it has reached there after a long time. Many people asked me how and why it spread so much in Italy. Frankly, even we don't know, how fast it came from China and spread. But one thing is clear that by the time we understood, studied and estimated, it has already reached lakhs of people. I don't want to happen the same in India.

I myself wanted to return to my family in India on Holi day. My father, mother, brother and sister are there in India and I am alone here. I am with my husband, but I often remember them. I badly wanted to come home by flight but I did not do it. Why did I not do it? I did not do it because it should not reach me mistakenly and reach others through me the moment I land there. I myself took this decision and no government official told me to do it.

Nobody sent me a notice, stating to do like this. I thought of it on my own. I wanted the safety of mine as well as my friends and family. I did not wish to meet anyone after returning from outside because it will be late, by the time I transmitted it to others. I want all of you to fight against it. Stay home, wash your hands and talk to your family members from the distance. Speak to your friends only on phone or video calls. Read some books, listen to music Be safe, Jai Hind!