New Delhi, Oct 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday warned citizens not to lower guard against Covid-19 as any laxity might ruin efforts to contain the spread of the destructive virus which has claimed more than a lakh lives in India.
“From the Janata curfew till today, all Indians have come a long way.With efforts of every Indian over the last 7-8 months, the nation is in a stable situation. However, we must not lower our guard. We must not let the situation change. Till the time there is no vaccine, we must keep our fight against coronavirus going,’ Mr Modi said, in an address to the nation.
The Prime Minister, in his seventh address this year, said markets are bright again as the festive season has arrived but people need to remember that lockdown might have ended and COVID-19 still hangs like the sword of Damocles.
PM Modi said the world, including India, is working on a possible vaccine.
‘Government is preparing to make the vaccine accessible to every Indian as soon as it is made available,’ the PM said in his 10-minute terse address.
It has, he said, been observed that people have started violating Covid-19 protocols.
‘Recently, we saw many photos and videos where it is clearly seen people are not careful anymore. This isn’t right. If you step out without a mask, you put your families at risk. We must remember – whether it is America or Europe, cases declined and then there was a sudden spike,” the Prime Minister warned.
‘Today, the recovery rate in the country is good. The fatality rate is low. In India, the death rate is 83 per million population. It is more than 600 in the US, UK, and other nations.
‘Out of every 10 lakh population in India, 5,500 people are infected,while around 25,000 in the US and Brazil. India has been successful in saving the lives of its citizens better than more prosperous countries,’ the Prime Minister stated.
PM Modi said, ‘India has a facility of more than 90 lakh beds for COVID19 patients. There are 12,000 quarantine centres, around 2,000 Corona testing labs, which have been our strength.’
Deaths from the virus were counted at 587 overnight, official data shows.
