Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that the Centre’s countrywide lockdown had failed to rein in the coronavirus pandemic, as the total caseload of infections continue to rise unabated.
In a tweet, Gandhi posted an image showing five graphs that depicted how lockdowns in European countries – Italy, Spain, Germany and United Kingdom – had helped to bring down the number of daily cases. He said India had failed to flatten the new-case curve as effectively as other nations had. “This is what a failed lockdown looks like,” he tweeted.
India’s coronavirus cases are skyrocketing every day, putting it at the seventh place on the list of top 10 worst-hit nations. The country reported 2,26,770 coronavirus cases after a record daily jump of 9,851 new infections on Friday. Over 6,000 people have died due to the outbreak.
In March, the Centre moved to contain the spread of the coronavirus, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi implementing one of the most severe lockdowns in the world, directing all Indians to stay inside and halting transportation and closing most businesses. However, several ease on restrictions have been announced after the end of the first phase of the lockdown.
The Centre has extended the nationwide lockdown till June 30, but said that all activities will restart in a phased manner outside containment zones. The first phase of this reopening, called Unlock 1, will focus on economic activities.
Gandhi’s criticism also comes a day after the Centre issued the Standard Operating Procedure to contain the Covid-19 outbreak in public places as the country readies itself to open shopping malls, restaurants and places of worship that typically attract large crowds next week.
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