New Delhi/May,31:Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed on the need to exercise more caution as the economy opens up. In his monthly address “Mann ki Baat” today, the Prime Minister said, “A large part of the economy has opened up and it is time to be more careful”.
The Centre has extended the nationwide lockdown till June 30 with a phased plan for unlocking the country. All activities banned earlier will open up in phases, the Union Home Ministry said in the fresh guidelines announced yesterday, a day before the current phase of lockdown was scheduled to end.
While markets have opened and transport — rail, road ad air — have restarted in a limited fashion, from June 8, malls, hotels, restaurants and places of worship can open, except in areas with the most number of coronavirus cases.
“The last time I spoke, passenger, air travel were shut. Now, with utmost precautions, flights have resumed. industry too is returning to normalcy, opening up a major segment of the economy. In such a scenario, we need to be even more alert and careful. We should not be careless in our fight against coronavirus. We have to continue to follow social distancing and other protocols more sincerely now,” the Prime Minister said.
India, he said, faced lot of challenges. “Yet, we have been able to keep the coronavirus in check compared to other countries with lesser populations”.
India has reached the ninth position in the list of top 10 coronavirus-affected nations during the 60-day lockdown.
Data from the Union Health Ministry this morning showed that the country has nearly 1.82 lakh cases, following a record jump of 8,380 new patients over the last 24 hours. The number of deaths crossed the 5,000-mark after 193 patients died in 24 hours,
The government has said that the spread of the disease has slowed, as seen by the doubling time. From 13.3 days, it has slowed down to to 15.4 days, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday. The fatality rate stands at 2.86 per cent, a statement read.
