The PM chose to occasion to hail citizens of India for strictly adhering to the government-mandated lockdown despite obvious hardships.
India has acquitted herself creditably well in the fight against the high-infectious coronavirus, Modi said. He said it was primarily a result of three things that the country did differently than others.
The first shield India put up, according to Modi, was that
India began screening of flyers coming in from foreign countries even before there was a single Covid-19 case in the country. This was in stark contrast with American and some European countries that took too long to put such restrictions in place.
Then, before India’s Covid count reached 100, the government
made 14-day isolation mandatory for those who were coming in from other countries, especially those already clearly under virus attack.
Besides, around the same time, public facilities like cinemas, theatres and clubs were ordered closed — a move Modi said played a significant role in keeping infections limited.
Then came the 21-day lockdown, which the government brought into force around the time India was about to reach the 550-mark in positive Covid cases. According to the PM, this was a decisive move that made sure India fared better than most other countries in terms of flattening the curve.
Comparison with others isn’t good in such matters, but some realities can’t be overlooked, Modi said. He added that the crucial time India bought itself by making the above moves early was the reason why many other nations were overwhelmed, and India was not.
