x

India struggles with coronavirus shutdown; Pakistan cases hit 1,000

India’s 1.3 billion people on Wednesday were under an immense lockdown to prevent an explosion of coronavirus cases as the government struggled to deliver essential goods and calm nerves.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered everyone indoors for the next three weeks, saying this was the only way to avoid a disaster and effectively shutting down Asia’s third-largest economy.

However, with less than four hours before the decree went into effect at midnight on Tuesday, crowds of people thronged shops to stock up on milk, rations and medicines even though Modi said these would be available throughout the lockdown.

Others including labourers and day workers headed home to the countryside from cities such as Delhi, many walking because public transport also stopped.

“My daughter needs allergy medicines regularly.

“The medicine shops are open but how do we reach there?

“Who wants to risk a run-in with the police? They’re beating people up,” Yash Goswami in the northern town of Moradabad said.

India’s tally of 539 cases and nine deaths seems tiny compared with those in China, Italy and Spain; although health experts have warned that the world’s second most populous country faces a tidal wave of infections if tough steps are not taken.

The lockdown came after evidence indicated it was spreading out into India’s countless small towns after a first wave in Delhi, the commercial hub Mumbai, and other big cities.

That has raised the prospect of a cash-strapped public health sector being overwhelmed.

India has just 0.5 hospital beds for every 1,000 people, compared to 4.3 in China and 3.2 in Italy.

“The only way we can save ourselves is by social distancing, and staying inside our homes.

“A little bit of inconvenience now will save so many lives,” Information Minister Prakash Javedkar said.

India’s population is even more densely packed than China’s raising the risk of rapid transmission of the virus.

In New Delhi, Modi met his cabinet at his residence, with ministers sitting apart from each other in a large room. (Reuters/NAN)

Hot this week

Editors Urge Government To Create Safe, Enabling Environment For Journalists

· Ask security agents to find missing Vanguard journalist As...

EXCLUSIVE: Buhari orders probe of Isa Funtua, AMCON over keystone and Etisalat

Following the controversy generated by the leading opposition party,...

6 Signs your boyfriend thinks you are ugly -Take note of No. 2

They say there are three kinds of people; the...

2023: South-East, Middle Belt Forum Endorses Peter Obi

The South-East and Middle Belt Forum has endorsed the...

Tinubu, Shettima, Northern Governors Mourn the Passing of Prof. Jibril Aminu at 85

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and...

Tinubu Hails Dangote Refinery as “Phenomenon of Our Time,” Commissions Lekki Port Access Road

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has praised the Dangote Petroleum...

MBF opposes interception of 164,000 live shotgun cartridges in Anambra, says possession not illegal

By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna Nigeria’s indigenous Middle Belt Forum (MBF),...

N4.6bn: Kaduna ALGON threatens Wakili with court action over false accusations

By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna The Kaduna State chapter of the...

CDS at North Central Peace Summit urges border fencing to curb insecurity

By Israel Adamu, Jos Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General...

Sokoto Police finalize security arrangements for Eid Kabir celebration

By Muhammad Ibrahim, Sokoto The Sokoto State Police Command has...

FG launches initiative to tackle insecurity in North-Central region

By Israel Adamu, Jos The Federal Government has launched the...

FG Commissions NLNG-Donated Neonatal, Special Care Units at FMC Asaba

By Anne Azuka As part of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural...
spot_img

Related Articles

Popular Categories

spot_imgspot_img