Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal today lauded PM Modi’s timely decision to call for a nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus outbreak in the country in mid-March. Kejriwal added that the move to impose sweeping restrictions provided state governments with ample time to mount a robust response to the coronavirus crisis.
#EXCLUSIVE – Lockdown decision was timely. Lockdown was able to contain the COVID-19 spread: Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal tells @KishoreAjwani#KejriwalToNews18 | #UnlockAdhiveshan pic.twitter.com/B3QiVtBQmM
— CNNNews18 (@CNNnews18) June 5, 2020
The Aam Aadmi Party chief was speaking to journalist Kishore Ajwani of the CNN News 18 where he praised the central government’s promptness in protecting the country from the scourge of coronavirus.
Without lockdown, country could have observed ‘remarkable outburst’ of cases, says Kejriwal
“I believe the decision to impose nationwide lockdown was apposite for that moment. At that time, no state government was ready to battle the menace of coronavirus. People were unaware of the coronavirus. All the countries were proving to be incapable of battling its spread. If we hadn’t imposed lockdown at that time, we would have seen a remarkable outburst of infections across the country,” Kerjiwal said.
The Delhi chief minister also added that the enforcement of lockdown providing sufficient time for the state government and local administration to equip themselves with vital medical equipment such PPEs, masks, rapid testing kits and other paraphernalia that are critical to a nation’s fight against the enigmatic contagion.
Arvind Kejriwal says lockdown gave states ample time to prepare
“Before lockdown, we had no PPEs, rapid testing kits, RTPCR kits, masks and other equipment required to battle the coronavirus. We had nothing. Within 2 months of lockdown, we have done all the preparations in Delhi. We have sufficient PPE kits, RTPCR kits, rapid testing kits, oxygen beds, and additional beds in private hospitals to tackle the coronavirus crisis,” Kejriwal said.
While lauding the central government for being on their toes when the pandemic silently crept up in India, Kejriwal said that the two months of lockdown provided the state governments enough buffer time to shore up their medical preparedness. He added that the vital heads-up provided the Delhi government to set up 8,500 beds for the infected people. He further claimed that efforts are underway to scale up their capacities upto 20,000 beds in the national capital.
“People in Italy, Spain died because the medical facilities of those countries were overwhelmed by disproportionate number of infections. There were only 2,000 beds in hospital but more than 8,000 people down with the infection. People died there in huge numbers because lack of treatment. Here in Delhi, all the preparations to treat the sick have been done. So far the mortality rate is under control. People will get infected by coronavirus but we are now equipped to treat them and send them back after they recover from the virus,” he said.
