NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCT 20
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed the nation as the country is exiting from the coronavirus lockdown in a phased manner.
In his address, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the lockdown may have ended but virus has not gone away, urging citizens not to stop following all the precautions to check the spread of the virus.
It was PM Modi’s 7th such address to the nation ever since the first lockdown was imposed in the country to fight the coronavirus pandemic on March 24. Announcing about his today’s address earlier in the day, PM Modi took to Twitter and said, “I will address the nation with a message at 6 pm today. I will share a message with my countrymen and urge the people to join me.”
Prime Minister said “recently, we saw many photos and videos where it is clearly seen that people are not careful anymore. This isn’t right. If you step out without mask, you put your families at risk. We must remember – whether it is America or Europe, cases declined and then there was sudden spike. The fatality rate in India is 83 out of every 10 Lakh population in India, whereas it is more than 600 in countries like the US, Brazil, Spain, Britain.”
Lockdown may have gone, but Covid-19 hasn’t. We can’t squander our gains. Recovery rate high and mortality rate is very low, compared India to US and Brazil, says India doing a lot better than many countries. But this isn’t the time to let our guards down. Cannot assume that COVID19 is no longer dangerous. A lot of citizens being lax about observing coronavirus guidelines now – this is worrying. Those of you doing this are risking the health of your own families, the Prime Minister said.
He said, today, the recovery rate in the country is good. The fatality rate is low. 5,500 people out of every 10 Lakh population in India are infected, whereas in countries like the US and Brazil, this figure is around 25,000.
Till the time there is a vaccine against coronavirus, we can’t be complacent about this disease. We are working on war scale to develop the vaccine and ensure its availability to every Indian.
In the fight against coronavirus, Indians have come a long way from Janta curfew to present (Unlock-5). However, we need to be on alert even now. We should not think tha coronavirus has gone away. We can’t afford to down our guard.
In this festive season, markets are bright again but we need to remember that the lockdown might have ended but coronavirus still persists. With efforts of every Indian over last 7-8 months, India is in a stable situation, we must not let it deteriorate.
Beginning his address to the nation, PM Modi said that lockdown may have ended, but virus has not gone away.