India’s more than 115,000 Catholic religious men and women have been urged to reach out to the poor affected by a 21-day national lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We need to move fast. This is an emergency,” says Father Joe Mannath, national secretary of the Conference of Religious India (CRI), the association of the major superiors.

In a March 29 letter to the heads of more than 550 congregations for men and women serving India, the Salesian priest says they should not wait for “perfect or easier” way to help hundreds of thousands poor migrant laborers stranded by the lockdown at various parts of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown at 8 pm on March 24, just four hours before it was imposed all over the country, taking millions of migrant workers off guard.

Father Joe Mannath says the migrant workers, who now struggle to get back to their home states, urgently require provide shelter and food.

“God waits for our response. He is suffering in our suffering brothers and sisters,” says the CRI official’s letter that lists of a set of “dos” and “don’ts” for the religious to follow to protect from the highly contagious virus.

As on March 29, the coronavirus affected a total of 1,024 people across India. A federal Home Ministry statement said the epidemic has also claimed 27 lives so far.