On Thursday, March 19, a few hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was about to address the nation about the coronavirus situation, the...
On Thursday, March 19, a few hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was about to address the nation about the coronavirus situation, the chief executive officer of Prasar Bharati, India’s public broadcaster, said that speculation about an impending lockdown was incorrect and unnecessarily causing panic.
On Saturday, March 21, a day before the country prepared to go into a self-imposed janata curfew at the urging of the prime minister, the Joint Secretary of the Health Ministry asked people not to use the word lockdown, saying “there is no plan for a lockdown”.
On Sunday, March 22, India announced that 75 districts were going into lockdown.
How did things change so quickly?
In a span of six days, India seems to have completely altered its approach to taking on Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
From cautious optimism about being able to control an imported disease to a situation in which 30 states and Union Territories are under complete lockdown, questions are now being asked about haphazard decision-making and whether the government failed to design a graded plan over the previous month.
India saw its first case of the new coronavirus, which emerged in China, on January 30.
Here is what the last six days have looked like:
March 18
- Total: 151 confirmed cases,...
