Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that India’s death rate due to the coronavirus is among the lowest in the world, according to a government press release. Modi made the remark during an interaction with chief ministers of 21 states and Union Territories via video conference.
“For us, the death of even one Indian is unsettling but it is also true that India is one of the countries where there have been least deaths due to Covid-19,” Modi said. The prime minister added that though all modes of transport were now open, lakhs of migrant labourers have travelled back to their villages, and thousands of Indians have returned from abroad, the disease remains much less “life threatening” in India than in other countries.
Modi claimed that timely decisions by the Centre and state governments helped India curb the spread of the coronavirus. He added that the present time will in future be “remembered for how we worked together and served as an example of cooperative federalism”. The prime minister added that India’s recovery rate had crossed 50%.
On Tuesday morning, India reported 10,667 new cases and 380 deaths, taking the nation’s tally to 3,43,091. The overall toll stands at 9,900. The number of active cases is 1,53,178, which is lesser than the number of recoveries, at 1,80,012. India is the fourth most-affected country in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
“Because of the efforts made in the last few weeks, green shoots have begun to be visible in our economy,” Modi said. The prime minister said power consumption has risen again, fertilizer sales increased in May, more Kharif crops are being sown that those last year, production of two wheeler vehicles is on the rise, toll collection has improved, exports have bounced back and digital payments in the retail sector are reaching pre-lockdown levels.
The Centre has allowed most non-essential industries and businesses to reopen from June 1, in a phase it calls “Unlock 1”, following nine weeks of nationwide lockdown.
On Tuesday, Modi said that two weeks have passed since “Unlock 1” began, and that he would now learn the ground reality about the coronavirus situation from the chief ministers. The prime minister said this will help the central government chalk out a future strategy to continue its fight against the disease.
However, Modi warned people against abandoning caution. He said that people should not even think of leaving home without wearing a mask, and should maintain physical distancing. They should also wash their hands with soap and use sanitiser, Modi said.
The Prime Minister’s Office had tweeted a schedule of his meetings last week. On Tuesday, Modi is speaking to the chief ministers of 21 states and Union Territories, including Punjab, Assam, Kerala and Jharkhand. Wednesday will be reserved for talks with the chief ministers of 15 most-affected regions in the country.
Tuesday’s videoconference is the prime minister’s sixth meeting with the chief ministers on the worsening health crisis. The last meeting was on May 12.
The government press release said that the chief ministers “thanked the prime minister for his leadership during such a challenging time and uniting the country to fight for the collective fight against the virus”.
The coronavirus situation in India’s huge population centres like Delhi, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu is especially worrisome. Mumbai is the worst-affected city with over 59,000 cases, and Maharashtra the worst-affected state with more than 1.1 lakh infections. Tamil Nadu has over 46,000 infections and Delhi more than 42,000.
On Sunday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with the Delhi government and announced measures like increased testing and provision of railway coaches to bring the Capital’s outbreak under control. He also chaired an all-party meeting on Monday to discuss the situation in Delhi.
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