COVID-19 lockdown in India

On 24 March 2020, the Government of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days. The lockdown was placed when the number of confirmed positive coronavirus cases in India was approximately 500. On 30 May, it was announced that lockdown restrictions were to be lifted from then onwards, while the ongoing lockdown would be further extended till 30 June for only the containment zones. The second phase of unlock, Unlock 2, was announced for the period of 1 to 31 July, with more ease in restrictions. The Government confirmed India’s first case of Coronavirus disease 2019 on 30 January 2020 in the state of Kerala.

About COVID-19 lockdown in India in brief

Summary COVID-19 lockdown in IndiaOn 24 March 2020, the Government of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days. The lockdown was placed when the number of confirmed positive coronavirus cases in India was approximately 500. It was ordered after a 14-hour voluntary public curfew on 22 March, followed by enforcement of a series of regulations in the country’s COVID-19 affected regions. Observers stated that the lockdown had slowed the growth rate of the pandemic by 6 April to a rate of doubling every six days. On 30 May, it was announced that lockdown restrictions were to be lifted from then onwards, while the ongoing lockdown would be further extended till 30 June for only the containment zones. The second phase of unlock, Unlock 2, was announced for the period of 1 to 31 July, with more ease in restrictions. Unlock 3. 0 was announced in August, and Unlock 4. 0 in September and Unlock 5. 0 for the month of October. In the same way, Unlock 6. 0 and Unlock 7. 0 were announced in November and December, respectively. Unlock 8.0 and Unlock 9.0 were announced for January and February, respectively, for the months of February and March. The Government confirmed India’s first case of Coronavirus disease 2019 on 30 January 2020 in the state of Kerala, when a university student from Wuhan travelled back to the state. On 19 March, Modi asked all citizens to observe ‘Janata Curfew’ on Sunday, 22 March. He said that the only solution to control the spread of coronav virus was to break the cycle of transmission through social distancing.

He also added that the curfew would be enforced more strictly than the Janata curfew. All services–were suspended, with exceptions for essential goods, fire, police, emergency services and emergency services. Services were also suspended such as food shops, banks, ATMs, petrol pumps, other essentials and their manufacturing. From 4 May 2020, lockdown was eased with several relaxations in all zones with the exception of educational institutions, international travel places and large gatherings of large groups of people. On 17 May, the lockdown was further extended until 31 May by the National Disaster Management Authority. On 20 May, lockdown restrictions in all containment zones were eased with relaxations applied accordingly. On 1 May, all services– were suspended, including air and rail transport, air and road travel, and essential goods. On 14 April, Prime minister Narendra Modi extended the nationwide lockdown until 3 May, with a conditional relaxations after 20 April for the regions where the spread had been contained or was minimal. On 24 March, he announced the nationwide curfew from midnight of that day, for a period of 21 days, It was termed as \”Unlock 1. 0″; Modi later clarified that ‘unlock’ had already begun and that ‘unlock 1’ was to be followed by ‘Unlock 2’ in July.