Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown of the country, and a health allocation of ₹15,000 crore towards the country's health infrastructure in a televised address. This is his second address in a week, when he previously gave one on March 19, where he initiated a call for a one-day 'Janta Curfew'.
Here's 5 things you need to know on this address.
1. Country to go into a lockdown
The Prime Minister said that there would be a complete lockdown across India from 12:00 on March 25, spanning 21 days. During the lockdown, nobody would be able to exit their houses. He said that there would be an economic cost to this decision, but this step is to be taken for keeping the health of each and every Indian. Other than ensuring a constant supply of necessities, he did not give technicalities on how people would be able to access essentials.
2. Public direction towards health
The central government has made ₹15,000 crores available towards health infrastructure including ventilators, isolation wards, beds, and for the training of medical and non-medical manpower. Further, he said that state government would orient the direction of their governance towards catering to healthcare. Further, he said that no medicine be taken without the advice of a doctor, and that the government would monitor the healthcare on the poor.
3. Social distancing as the only way to combat coronavirus
He cited experts, and the two-months experience of foreign countries in dealing with the virus to stress the importance of social distancing to combat the spread of the virus. He ominously said that the damage the virus could do because of laxity displayed by a few individuals couldn't even be estimate, and he said that if such measures were not taken, the consequences could be devastating.
4. Citing evidence
Health experts beleive a 21 day. WHO states that only one person can spread the virus to multiple. He further cited the WHO who said that for the virus to reach 1 lakh cases, it took 67 day. But it only took 11 days to reach the next 1 lakh, and only 4 days to reach the next lakh. He also said that the virus would require 21 days to completely break the chain of the virus.
He also took inspiration from abroad, quoting examples from steps taken by China, France, USA, Italy and Iran. He said that coronavirus is a massive pandemic in countries like the United States and Italy, despite advanced healthcare systems.
5. The success of 'Janta Curfew'
The Prime Minister said that everybody contributed towards the initiative in this time of need - regardless of age. He said that all Indians , through the 'Janta Curfew', showcased togetherness in combating a crisis facing humanity. The curfew took place on March 22, and it was a curfew from 7am to 9pm on that day.
COVID-19 is the latest disease cause from a coronavirus, which has more than 500 cases in India, and had caused 9 deaths as of date.
