NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday ramped up the fight against coronavirus by announcing that the entire country was being placed under lockdown — he called it as good as curfew — for 21 days starting midnight in order to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission and save India from a massive outbreak that could overwhelm the healthcare system.
Saying there was no other way to save the country from coronavirus, the PM said nations were facing a growing challenge and even the health care systems of developed countries like the US and Italy were struggling to respond to the unprecedented situation resulting from the rapid global spread of Covid-19.
“At 12 midnight… listen carefully, at 12 midnight, all of India will be under total lockdown. This is being done keeping in mind the experiences of other nations. This is the only way to save India. Save you and your families. No one steps out of their house. No one steps out. All states, all districts, all mohallas, will be locked down. It is a curfew. It is much more than a janata curfew. It is tougher. It is a decisive fight. It will indeed come at an economic cost but every life is important,” the PM said in a televised address, his second on coronavirus in a week. Drawing what he called the “lakshman rekha” for people, Modi bluntly said, “Forget about venturing out. For the next 21 days, you have to do just one thing, stay put at home, stay put at home and stay put at home only.
You don’t have to take a single step beyond the ‘lakshman rekha’.” Modi acknowledged that the country would have a huge economic cost to pay, and that the poor would suffer the most. But he suggested it was time for the nation to choose its priorities and, clearly, saving people’s lives took precedence.
“Jaan hai to jahan h