Over 10,000 Covid-19 cases, 342 deaths in 21 days of lockdown; experts say would have been worse without it

NEW DELHI: The first 21 days of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown has recorded a spike of about 10,300 Covid-19 cases and over 340 deaths since March 25, and though the jury may still be out on the success of the unprecedented measure billed as world’s biggest shutdown, many medical experts feel India would have been far worse without it.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the countrywide lockdown for 19 additional days till May 3 to contain the spread of the pandemic even as the country saw a record jump of 1,463 new Covid-19 cases and 31 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Union health ministry.

On March 24 when the prime minister announced a complete lockdown of the entire country for three weeks to try and halt the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, India had nearly 520 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 11 deaths, and after a week into the lockdown the tally of cases reached 1,397 and 35 deaths on March 31, a jump of 878 cases and 24 deaths.

At the end of the two weeks of the lockdown on April 7, the cases had risen to 4,789 with 124 deaths, witnessing a spike of 3,392 cases and 89 deaths, and on Tuesday, the last day of the ongoing 21-day lockd