Lockdown may continue in coronavirus hotspots, impact will be seen after April 14: AIIMS Director

As the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in India, concerns have been on the rise whether lockdown will be extended beyond April 14. While Uttar Pradesh government has hinted that it will remove the lockdown restrictions in a phased manner, experts have underlined the need to continue it in areas that have become hotspots of coronavirus transmission.

Highlighting that the number of coronavirus cases has been rising rapidly in the country, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Monday (April 6) indicated that lockdown may continue in hotspots of the deadly virus.

Talking to Zee Media, Dr Guleria said that hotspots have witnessed the most cases and the need of the hour is to confine it to these places while efforts are taken to contain from spreading in other parts of the country.

"The government will have to see what is the trend of coronavirus cases. It will be difficult to open the lockdown at those places which have emerged as COVID-19 hotspots, therefore, we need to be careful if the cases go on rising," the AIIMS Director said. 

He also said that while scientists are working on developing a vaccine for COVID-19, it has no relevance as it is just 10% to 20% effective and still in a very early stage.

Dr Guleria further highlighted the need to follow social distancing aggressively to combat community spread. He also clarified that the pandemic is still in stage 2 in India. 

The AIIMS director further asked people to support doctors and other medical staff who are working hard to treat the patients despite being at the risk of catching the virus themselves.