India to go under total lockdown as coronaviruse cases rise

India go under “total lockdown” for 21 days to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Narendra Modi said Tuesday.

“From 12 midnight today (18: 30 Tuesday), the entire country will be in lockdown, total lockdown,” Modi said in his address to the nation world’s second most-populous country.

“To save India, to save its every citizen, you, your family, every street, every neighborhood is being put under lockdown.”

Modi warned that if India does not “handle these 21 days well, then our country. will go backwards by 21 years.”

“This is a curfew,” he said. “We will have to pay the economic cost of this but [it] is the responsibility of everyone.”

At this time India is far behind than other nations in the number of Coronavirus cases, but there has been a sharp rise in recent days as the total number of coronavirus cases reaches 519, including 10 deaths.

Modi also announced that people need not panic about availability of medicines and essential items during the 21-day lockdown as the federal and various state governments will ensure this.

Many parts of India, including Delhi and Mumbai, are already under restrictions. But this move extends those provisions to every part of the country. India has already announced a ban on international domestic flights. The country’s train network has also suspended majority of the passenger services.

Narendra Modi requested Indians to cheer and clap the emergency services from their balconies.

“It’s impossible to fathom the cost that India may have to pay if such irresponsible behaviour continues,” Modi warned his people . “Social distancing is the only option to combat coronavirus.”