PM Modi asks nation to forgive him for hardships faced during lockdown
NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI: A 40-year-old woman died in Maharashtra today, taking the death toll in the state due to the novel coronavirus to 7. The number of cases in India is inching close to the 1,000-mark with the Union Health Ministry pegging the figure at 979. A total of 25 people have died due to the pandemic that has infected more than 6 lakh people globally.
As the disease spreads, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the country via his Mann ki Baat radio address, apologising to the people for the 21-day lockdown to arrest the spread of coronavirus. He said he was sure the poor were angry with him, but he had no choice.
“I had no choice but to make these decisions to fight the coronavirus… no one wants to take these decisions but if you look at the world, you need to take these decisions,” he said.
The “Mann Ki baat” comes at a time when the country is under s 21-day lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic. This is the third time that Prime Minister Modi is addressing the nation on coronavirus pandemic.
I ask for forgiveness from my country men especially the poor who have been asked to remain under lockdown and have to ..and have to face difficulties. I understand their pain and suffering but it is essential to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Modi said there was a need to fight the illness before it takes its toll. “Coronavirus has imprisoned the world… it has affected all… old, young… weak and strong. Whole of humanity needs to come together and fight this crisis,” he added.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded its second death due to coronavirus today after a patient passed away in Srinagar. The death comes amid rising cases across the country, especially in Maharashtra and Gujarat, with India nearing the 1000-mark, including 25 deaths.
Up to one-third of the world’s population is under lockdown as the virus leaves its devastating imprint on nearly every aspect of society.
But in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus outbreak first struck, officials took tentative steps back toward normality, partly reopening the city after more than two months of near total isolation for its population of 11 million.
Donald Trump decided late Saturday against imposing a broad lockdown on New York and its neighbours after a strong pushback from local political leaders and warnings of the panic it could spark.
“A quarantine will not be necessary,” Trump tweeted, about eight hours after he stunned the New York metropolitan region, the epicentre of the US coronavirus outbreak, with a proposal to place it under quarantine to prevent residents from leaving. Instead, he was asking federal authorities to issue a “strong Travel Advisory” against movement to and from the area.
Trump’s reversal came on the same day the US death toll topped 2,100, more than doubling in just three days. Of the 2,147 deaths, more than a quarter — 672 — were in New York City. The United States now has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world, at 122,666, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.
One of the deaths announced Saturday was that of an infant in Chicago who was younger than one year old, marking an extremely rare case of juvenile death in the global pandemic.
Compared to the US, European nations have been harder hit on a per capita basis, with 20,059 deaths.Italy on Saturday announced 889 new deaths, pushing it past the 10,000 mark. Spain, which has the world’s second-highest death toll, added 832 deaths for a total 5,812.
Madrid toughened a nationwide lockdown, halting all non-essential activities, though officials said the epidemic in the country seemed to be nearing a peak. Russia, which has reported relatively low levels of the virus, said it would close its borders Monday in an attempt to slow the pandemic’s spread.
More than 640,770 cases of the novel coronavirus have been officially recorded around the world since the outbreak began late last year, according to an AFP tally.Variations in testing regimes — and delays in providing sufficient tests in some countries — mean the true number is likely far higher.
In France, which has seen close to 2,000 deaths, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe warned the “battle” was just beginning. The first two weeks in April would be even tougher than the past fortnight, he said. The British toll passed 1,000 on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Iran announced 139 more deaths and India sealed off a dozen Punjab villages that had been visited by a guru now known to be infected and a possible “super-spreader”.Sri Lanka and Qatar recorded their first deaths and Turkey hit 100 fatalities.
Two months of almost total isolation appear to have paid off in Wuhan. Residents have been subject to dramatic restrictions on daily life and forbidden to leave the city since January, but on Saturday, people were allowed to enter Wuhan and most of the subway network restarted.
Yesterday, a 38- year-old man, who had walked over 200 km from Delhi to reach his home in Madhya Pradesh, died of a heart attack on the way. The man collapsed on the highway near Uttar Pradesh’s
Agra town, just 80 km short of his destination.
“People must be wondering what kind of PM I am … But lockdown the only solution in front of us. Many people are still defying lockdown… this is sad…Many people across the world did the same mistake,” the Prime Minister said. “Those who are defying lockdown are playing with their own lives,” he added.
(With Agency Inputs ).
