India's COVID-19 response better than most countries, PM Modi lists reasons

With the Coronavirus pandemic taking the world by storm and most countries imposing lockdowns and strict restrictions, India has extended its own lockdown by another 19 days to May 3.

With the first case in India being reported in January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi closed all doors and put the country in lockdown mode starting March 24.

PM Modi, in his address on April 14, said, “If we look at Corona-related figures in the world’s big, powerful countries, India today is in a very well-managed position.” India started screening passengers arriving from other countries at a very early stage and a 14-day isolation period was made mandatory from international travellers and malls, gyms, and clubs were shut down in many parts of the country.

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The decision for a lockdown came as soon as the country hit 550 cases, and this is what significantly helped with controlling the spread of COVID-19. “India did not wait for the problem to aggravate. Rather, we attempted to nip the problem in the bud itself, by taking quick decisions as soon as it arose,” he said.

With coronavirus patients spiking in most nations and the total number of confirmed cases around the world just short of two million, India’s lockdown efforts fare far better than other countries.

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While most countries started their efforts around the same time as India, the cases in most countries now stand at 20-30 times that of India. “Thousands of people have tragically died in those countries. Had India not adopted a holistic and integrated approach, taking quick and decisive action; the situation in India today would have been completely different,” the prime minister said.

The total number of confirmed cases in India now stands at 10,363. Out of this, 8,988 cases are still active, 1,035 patients have been cured or discharged and 339 people have died due to the virus with one person having been migrated out of the country.