A group of start-ups and venture capitalists have appealed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi that an action should be taken to contain the novel COVID-19. They have asked the PM to “impose strict lock-downs and impose Section 144 (to ban large gatherings) across key cities this week”.
On Tuesday evening, the Co-Founder of Urban Company (formerly Urban Clap) tweeted a detailed Powerpoint presentation which pointed out that the countries which “acted early and strongly (Japan, Singapore, and South Korea)” were able to contain the Pandemic when compared to the countries that “waited and watched (Italy, Iran, and United States)”.
The presentation said, “The virus does not discriminate basis nationality – early, strong and decisive action is key to containment. Impose Section 144 and strict lockdown (citizens stay at home) across major cities for two weeks starting March 20, 2020,”.
“While containment efforts should continue, imposing a lockdown and Section 144 now, vs 30 days later, might reduce deaths by 5x (saving nearly 10,000 lives),”.
Collaborated with @_mekin@vivekanandahr @1kunalbahl@kunalb11 @annamalai_k @alokmittal001 @varunjain42 and many other founders to prepare this doc, urging @PMOIndia to act now & decisively to curb COVID-19. Lots of references to @tomaspueyo‘s great work. https://t.co/T2VtWGQlKL
— Abhiraj Singh Bhal (@abhirajbhal) March 17, 2020
The presentation which had 10 slides was created and endorsed by more than 50 entrepreneurs including Rohan Verma of MapmyIndia, Kunal Bahl of Snapdeal, and Phanindra Sama of Red Bus.
The presentation acknowledged that India had “started well with good containment efforts” which includes the closing of public places which accommodate huge public gatherings like Malls, Cinema Halls and also encouraged the people of India to Work From Home (WFH) for social distancing.
However, the presentation said that a second lockdown may be needed, the presentation urged the government to ensure that people get the supply of essentials like medicine, money, and food. The presentation also said that public transport should also remain available for the people.
Also Read: What Are The Impact of COVID-19 On Education In India?
As fear over the spread of the novel Coronavirus grows and public spaces and cities have gone into lockdown, the concerns over the impact of this pandemic on the Indian economy has been raised.
The deadly infection has had a massive impact on the global stock markets, and India has not been an exception. On Wednesday at 3:30 PM (IST), the Sensex dropped by almost 1,900 points down from the previous close owing to the COVID-19 scare. This has adversely affected the confidence of the investors as the volatility of the stock market wasn’t enough the crisis surrounding Yes Bank and the war between Russia and Saudi Arabia over the Crude oil have impacted the investors as well.
Last week, the richest 500 of the world lost over $330 billion in just 1 day and it was majorly owed to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Also Read: World’s 500 Richest Loses Over $ 330 Billion In A Single Day
Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader warned of “economic devastation” over the coming 6 months and cautioned that the Centre needs to think of a long-term plan to ensure that the economy and businesses recover.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sought to ease the situation as the top bank said it was constantly monitoring the situation and with multiple policy tools in its arsenal, the bank “stands ready” as and when required.
The COVID-19 pandemic in India has infected almost 150 people and claimed the 3 life as 64 year old man in Mumbai died in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The outbreak, according to the Director General (DG) of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Balram Bhargava India is still in “stage 2” (of 4) of the Coronavirus outbreak.
At a time like this, the Maharashtra government came up with a unique way to identify the people who have been asked to self-quarantine, with a hand-stamp.
Also Read: Maharashtra Is using Hand-Stamps To Identify People Self-Quarantined
The government has stepped up efforts to combat the pandemic, as it has suspended various types of visas till mid April of people from Coronavirus affected countries. India has also sealed its international borders.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative, Henk Bekedam praised India saying, “I think the commitment of the Indian government from the top level has been enormous, very impressive. This is one of the reasons why India is doing very well. I am very impressed that everyone has been mobilised”.
The Reason as told by
— Praveen Agrawal ?? (@agrawalp2001) March 17, 2020
Henk Bekedam (WHO Representative to India): The commitment from Indian govt, the Prime Minister’s Office has been enormous, very impressive. It is one of the reasons why India is still doing quite well. I am very impressed.#IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/Sz3K82apoK
The Coronavirus pandemic is said to have originated from Wuhan district in China in December 2019 and globally almost 2,00,000 people have been infected by this virus. According to the data, the novel COVID-19 has already claimed 7,980 lives worldwide.
