Indian Govt term extended lockdown period rumours “Baseless”

In reply to the extended lockdown period rumours, the Press Information Bureau on Monday tweeted: “There are rumours and media reports, claiming that the Government will extend the #Lockdown21 when it expires. The Cabinet Secretary has denied these reports, and stated that they are baseless”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, On 24 March, ordered a national lockdown for three weeks, limiting transportation of the whole 1.3 billion population of India. This decision was made as a preventive strategy towards the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in India. It was ordered after a 14-hour voluntary Janta Curfew on 22 March. The lockdown was placed when the number of affirmed positive coronavirus cases in India was approximately 500. So far, India has recorded over 1,100 coronavirus cases with the death toll at 30. Worldwide, coronavirus has claimed over 30,000 lives.

Cambridge academics Rajesh Singh and Ronojoy Adhikari, in a new paper, used a mathematical model based on country-specific age and social contact distributions to recommend a longer 49 days lockdown interrupted by periods of relaxation. According to them, 21 days aren’t enough to contain the virus.