Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said saving lives and reviving livelihoods should go together in India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a pointer that opening up the economy would continue apace after weeks of the lockdown.
In the first part of his two-part videoconference with Chief Ministers (he had an interaction with 21 Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors on Tuesday), he emphasised that while green shoots were visible in the weeks since “Unlock1” kicked in, strict adherence to the discipline of fighting COVID-19 by wearing masks, observing social distancing, frequent hand-washing and maintaining hygiene was important and couldn’t be allowed to flag “even for a minute”.
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“Every life is important to us and we mourn all whom we have lost to the disease. The world has, however, also taken note of the fact that India, despite its size and complexity, has managed to keep its casualties low,” he said. In the two weeks that ‘Unlock1’ was on, certain green shoots in the economy had emerged, including increased pow