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Thu, Mar

India Extends Total Lockdown Till May 3

Middle East & Asia News
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India has extended the nationwide lockdown for its 1.3 billion people till May 3 as its prime minister warned of economic sacrifices to save lives as the number of coronavirus cases crossed 10,000.

India has been on force lockdown since March 25 and was scheduled to end at midnight Tuesday but as cases skyrocketed to 10,0000, Prime Minister Narendra Modi added a 3 weeks extension but will however relax the lockdown if the situation reduces and if some districts record no news cases.

Modi in a televised address to India said: “That means until May 3, each and every one of us will have to remain in the lockdown; From an economic only point of view, it undoubtedly looks costly right now; but measured against the lives of Indian citizens, there is no comparison itself.”

Modi also added that the latest government data showed the number of people infected with coronavirus in India had reached 10,363, with 339 deaths. Although the numbers are small compared with hard-hit Western nations, health experts fear that is because of India’s low levels of testing, and actual infection levels could be far higher.

Lacking testing kits and protective gear for medical workers, India has only tested 137 per million of its population, compared with 15,935 per million in Italy, and 8,138 in the United States.

Health experts have warned that widespread contagion could be disastrous in a country where millions live in dense slums and the health care system is overstretched.

So far, more than three-quarters of India’s cases are concentrated in about 80 of the country’s more than 700 districts, including the two big cities, New Delhi and Mumbai.

India’s neighbour, Pakistan, is also due to take a decision on its lockdown ending on Wednesday.

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