Centre explains why nationwide lockdown was imposed on four hour notice

New Delhi : The Centre replied in writing to Congress leader Manish Tiwari's question on why the nationwide lockdown was imposed on a short notice of just four hours.

The Narendra Modi government mentioned that the move was taken after a consultation with the experts who suggested that the movement of people must be stopped immediately to ensure that the virus is not getting spread in all areas.

Congress MP Tiwari had asked, "What are the reasons due to which the lockdown was imposed on only four hours notice on March 23? What was the hurry that the lockdown was imposed in such a short period in the country? Has the lockdown been able to stop COVID-19?"

Minister of State for Home Nityananda Rai said in a written reply on behalf of the government that after the coronavirus outbreak on January 7, the government had taken several measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including ban on international flights, issuing advisory to the public, quarantine facilities etc.

He added that any mass movement of people during that time would had promoted the spread of coronavirus. Hence, a nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24 to prevent coronavirus in the country after taking into account the global experience.

He claimed that it was due to that prompt action, India got enough time to prepare for the fight against coronavirus.

There was a 22 times increase in isolation beds and 14 times in ICU beds as compared to their availability in March 2020. At the same time, the capacity of laboratories was also increased ten times. Rai also said in his written reply that the country would have registered 14-29 lakh more cases if the government had not imposed the lockdown.