NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday rallied the nation for the fight against coronavirus, calling on citizens to observe a “janata curfew” by staying indoors on Sunday between 7am and 9pm as an expression of resolve to emphasise the need to reduce public interaction to the very minimum.
In his much-awaited televised address, the PM minced no words in underlining the gravity of the threat and said there was no room for complacency as the seeming normalcy could be deceptive. “We have been tracking the trend of Covid-19 and have seen how the number of cases in other affected countries exploded after the initial trickle,” he said, making it clear that India should brace for the long haul.
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Modi was also forthright in stressing that the world was yet to find a cure for the pandemic and no medicine or vaccine was available. However, he said, the risk could be averted if people showed “resolve” and exercised “restraint”, emphasising on the cruciality of “social distancing” for citizens to protect themselves and others from being infected.
“There is only one mantra — if w