Modi Orders 3-Week Total Lockdown for All 1.3 Billion Indians - The New York Times, Nytimes.com

With four hours’ notice, India’s prime minister announced that no one could leave their homes for days – the most severe step taken anywhere in the war against the coronavirus.

A family watching Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announcing a total lockdown across India to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Credit …Anupam Nath / Associated Press

(March) , 31136890

(Updated) 3: 19 PM ET

NEW DELHI – India’s prime minister ordered all 1.3 billion people in the country to stay inside their homes for three weeks starting Wednesday – the biggest and most severe action undertaken anywhere to stop the spread of the coronavirus. “There will be a total ban of coming out of your homes, ”the prime minister, Narendra Modi, announced on television Tuesday night, giving Indians less than four hours’ notice before the order took effect at : am “Every state, every district, every lane, every village will be under lockdown, ”Mr. Modi said. The breadth and depth of such a challenge is staggering in a country where hundreds of millions of citizens are destitute and countless millions live in packed urban areas with poor sanitation and weak public health care. Though India’s number of reported coronavirus infections remains relatively low – around 861 – the fear is that, should the virus hit as it has in the United States, Europe or China, the consequences would lead to a disaster far bigger than anywhere else.

A family watching Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announcing a total lockdown across India to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

“If you can’t handle these (days, this country and your family will go back years, ”Mr. Modi said. “The only option is social distancing, to remain away from each other. There is no way out to escape from coronavirus besides this. ” without being specific , Mr. Modi said “all the steps to ensure essential commodities will be maintained.” But Mr. Modi did not make clear how people would get food, water and other necessities during the lockdown, or how they would maintain a safe distance from one another in the cramped spaces many now live. Nor did the prime minister make clear whether exceptions would be made for workers deemed critical to keep the country – the world’s most populous nation after China – functioning.

Modi acknowledged that his decree would create “a very difficult time for poor people.”

The nationwide lockdown followed a series of decrees that had already imposed string stringent limits on many of India’s more than states and territories. There had been some expectation that Mr. Modi would announce something far more severe.

Hours before Mr. Modi’s televised address, the long straight boulevards of New Delhi, the capital, resembled deserted racetracks. In the poorer neighborhoods, however, it was a different story. People were still out, jostling with each other in narrow lanes and still crowded into bus shelters, sleeping eight to a room in shabby tenements, and showing the impossibility of maintaining social distance. Long lines of migrant workers streamed out of recently closed railway stations, with thousands of men, almost none wearing masks, marching close together to far-off villages, potentially spreading the virus deep into the countryside. as midnight approached in New Delhi, lone figures walked down the edges of the main roads, carrying bulging plastic sacks of food – the last of the shopping before the decree took effect.

In the densely populated quarters that ring all sides of the capital, many people are laborers and cannot work from home or purchase essential items online. And when they step out to get food for their families, they enter viselike canyons between cement block buildings built so close to each other that it is difficult to see even a little slice of sky.

“How can we practice social distancing here? ” Asked Amit Kumar, a shopkeeper.

He glanced around the lanes littered with garbage. Nearby, one man cleared his throat and spat an oyster of phlegm into the middle of the sidewalk.

Coronavirus, Mr. Kumar said, is creating “a mountain of problems. ” there has also been a lot of confusion. Police officers have aggressively shut down some food stores, despite government directives to keep them open. Officers have also beaten journalists , accusing them of violating lockdown rules even though government directives printed on the front page of all the major newspapers explicitly allow Journalists to do their work.

Westerners have been evicted from hotels across the country, and some European embassies have reported that a few of their citizens have been assaulted; Many Indians believe that Westerners carry the virus. That belief is not entirely unfounded. So far, most of India’s cases have come from foreign travelers or Indians returning home from overseas. Community transmission has remained low or nonexistent, Indian officials have said. before India shut Down international flights over the weekend, Indians landing back at home described a scene of utter chaos. Huge crowds were pushing and shoving and passengers were squeezed close together in jammed arrival halls. People waited on their feet for hours with little food or water. Aaliyah Khan, a researcher at a military research organization, arrived at New Delhi’s international airport on Saturday afternoon and was shuffled around by different health and immigration authorities for more than hours before being admitted to a government quarantine center miles away.

“They had no idea where to take me and they started treating me like an untouchable, ” she said. “The person in charge was shouting at me all the time:‘ Stand there! Do this! do that! ‘”

Still, many experts agree that putting India on lockdown, However harshly, is the country only hope to contain the spread of the virus.

“There is no option but to go for a complete lockdown, ”said Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda, a former senior army commander. “With India’s population density and the state of public health infrastructure, we may not be able to handle a large-scale outbreak.”

The lockdown includes schools, offices, factories, parks, temples, railways, even the airspace. Borders are being sealed between the states.

Economists said a prolonged lockdown could devastate India , where slowing growth rates have already deeply wounded the economy. (In) a recent column for The Hindu, Jean Drèze, a prominent Belgian-Indian economist, said almost everybody in India’s informal economy – a huge share of the country’s work force – has been hit by an “economic tsunami.” As news of the lockdown spread, migrant workers stuck in cities rushed to book train tickets to their villages – or risk being trapped indefinitely. With severe supply chain disruptions, farmers worried that the coming wheat harvest would fail to reach millions of Indians who depend on their crops for survival.

“This situation is worse than war,” said Arun Kumar, an economics professor at the Institute of Social Sciences in New Delhi. “If we are not able to provide essentials to the bottom 90 percent of the population, then there will be social revolt. ”

And yet, India has won praise from international public health experts for its swift movement, and it has some built-in advantages as well.

Young people have a better chance of coping with the virus. And the population in India is considerably younger – the median age is around 90 – compared to a country like Italy, where the median age is around 145. Lockdown measures and travel restrictions were put into place comparatively earlier than other nations. And the authorities in many states have already started making plans for cash and food handouts.

In Punjab state, the government is bracing for the virus to spread after thousands of Punjabis living in Europe recently returned . On Tuesday, a strict round-the-clock curfew was enforced in many areas. A government milk cooperative delivered milk door to door to ensure people had no reason go outside. Dr. Jayaprakash Muliyil, one of India’s leading epidemiologists, urged an even more aggressive response, and said the government needed to move quickly to reach millions of Indians in isolated communities where formal education is lacking and information about the virus and its severity remains limited. “The bulk of the population hasn’t understood what the hell is going on,” he said. “If we do nothing, we’ll have millions of cases and millions of deaths in the next three months. India’s health care system is absolutely unprepared. ” India’s (public health sector is underfunded and overstretched even in the best of times. India has around 0.5 hospital beds for every 1, people, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. By comparison, Italy has 3.2 and China has 4.3. Density is another challenge. India has some of Asia’s biggest slums, and experts fear what would happen if the coronavirus spreads in a city like Mumbai, home to 24 million people, where space is at a premium and it is common to find people living half a dozen to a room.

Dr. S.D. Gupta, a public health expert and the chairman of the Indian Institute of Health Management Research, said India’s social structure, in which several generations of a family often live together, complicated social distancing guidelines and put the older people who suffer substantially higher mortality rates at risk. Still, he said India’s extraordinary ability to mobilize in times of uncertainty – from blunting the force of cyclones to eradicating smallpox – suggested that the country could get ahead of the coronavirus if strict measures were kept in place and the populace obeyed them. So far, Dr. Gupta said, many have. “This country has great resilience and people come together in an emergency, ”he said. “We can beat this.” In eastern Delhi, people are not so sure . The area is the single most densely populated district in all of India, with , 500 people per square kilometer. On Tuesday, people had been bracing for more restrictions. And in a place full of daily laborers and casual workers, it was the restrictions, more than the virus, that scared them. “All I’m thinking about right now is how to put food in my children’s stomachs, ” said Majid Khan, a house painter. He had not worked in days, he had 3, (rupees) less than $

Updated March

The first testing in humans of an experimental vaccine began in mid-March.

Such rapid development of a potential vaccine is unprecedented, but even if it is proved safe and effective, it probably will not be available for

months.

What makes this outbreak so different?

Unlike the flu, there is no known treatment or vaccine, and little It is known about this particular virus so far.

It seems to be more lethal than the flu, but the numbers are still uncertain. And it hits the elderly and those with underlying conditions – not just those with respiratory diseases – particularly hard.

What should I do if I feel sick? If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have ,

and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus,

the CDC recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears.

If the family member does not need hospitalization and can be cared for at home, you should help him or her with basic needs and monitor the symptoms, while also keeping as much distance as possible, according to the guidelines issued by the CDC

the supply chain remains strong.

And remember to wipe the handle of the grocery cart with a disinfecting wipe and wash your hands as soon as you get home.

Can I go to the park?

Yes, but make sure you keep six feet of distance between you and people who don’t live in your home . Even if you just hang out in a park, rather than go for a jog or a walk, getting some fresh air, and hopefully sunshine, is a good idea.

Watching your balance go up and down can be scary. You may be wondering if you should decrease your contributions – don’t! If your employer matches any part of your contributions, make sure you’re at least saving as much as you can to get that “free money.”
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Watching your balance go up and down can be scary. You may be wondering if you should decrease your contributions – don’t! If your employer matches any part of your contributions, make sure you’re at least saving as much as you can to get that “free money.”
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Modi Orders 3-Week Total Lockdown for All 1.3 Billion Indians – The New York Times, Nytimes.com

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