The fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown with "considerable relaxations" is currently in place till May 31.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that the lockdown was imposed in India at the right time, adding that it acted as a 'potent social vaccine', even though the coronavirus cases are rising at an immense pace as the country heads towards the end of the fourth phase of the lockdown in a week.
"Lockdown was imposed in India at the right time. Other developed countries wasted many days to take this decision. In some countries when the situation went out of control they took the decision of lockdown & in most places it was partial lockdown," Sardha said.
"If doubling rate in India before lockdown was between 3.4 days, today the doubling rate is more than 13-days. Lockdown and all its guidelines have acted as potent social vaccine," he added.
The number of COVID-19 cases in India is 1,31,868 while 3,867 people have succumbed to the disease, the figures released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare show.
Maharashtra continues to be the epicenter of the coronavirus spread where the number of cases has witnessed an even large spike recently. According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra has the highest number of cases with around 47,190 positive cases of infection, and 1,577 deaths until Friday.
The fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown with "considerable relaxations" is currently in place till May 31. However, governments are also keeping in place necessary curbs so as to not lose all the gains that have been achieved in the battle against the virus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said last week that coronavirus outbreaks have provided an opportunity for India to become self-reliant and announced a Rs 20 lakh crore package for the purpose.
Addressing the nation on the COVID-19 outbreak, Modi said the crisis that an unprecedented crisis has emerged but in this battle, we not only need to protect ourselves but also have to keep moving forward.
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