Timely lockdown curtailed cases and deaths, claims government

NEW DELHI: Government on Friday claimed that between 14 lakh and 29 lakh COVID-19 patients and deaths between 37,000 and 78,000 have been averted due to imposition of timely lockdown in late March and asserted that the country has been able to check the transmission of virus in a big way.

“You can imagine how it would have been if growth had continued at 22 per cent. The doubling time has come down from 3.5 days to 13.5 days because of the lockdown,” said Dr VK Paul, NITI Aayog member and Chairman of one of Empowered Groups to fight the pandemic, contending that the growth rate of the virus was controlled by India,

Addressing the government’s daily media briefing on the actions taken to fight the pandemic, he said the Prime Minister took a considered decision to impose the lockdown decision early and timely unlike other countries who paid the price of being late. “The growth rate of new cases till April 3 was increasing at the rate of 22.6 per cent and behaviour of the virus was exponential. After April 4 there is a clear slowing of the growth and then it settled at 5.5 per cent from the 22 per cent when it was accelerating earlier.”

He said, the growth rate of the virus was controlled by the country but you can imagine how it would have been if the growth in cases had continued at 22 per cent. The deaths too has also fallen significantly marking a notable difference between pre-lockdown and post-lockdown situations.

He some epidemiologists however, estimate high numbers as well. “However, we have not done this estimate, what we have to say is that we will take required actions and control the infection to the maximum extent possible,” he said.

He said the real COVID-19 virus growth trajectory depends on mathematics of the spread of infection and also on the behaviour of community and society.