A prolonged Covid crisis has the potential to slow or reverse India’s recovery from last year’s economic recession.
NEW DELHI: The coronavirus wave that plunged India into the world’s biggest health crisis has the potential to worsen in the coming weeks, with some research models projecting that the death toll could more than double from current levels.
A team at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore used a mathematical model to predict about 404,000 deaths will occur by June 11 if current trends continue. A model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington forecast 1,018,879 deaths by the end of July.
Modi Resists Pressure to Lock Down India as Virus Deaths Rise yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Modi Fights Pressure to Lock Down India as Virus Deaths Rise Bloomberg 3 hrs ago
(Bloomberg)
Two weeks ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on states to only consider lockdowns “as the last option.” Now everyone from his political allies to top business leaders and U.S. President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser see them as the only way to stem the world’s worst virus outbreak.
The debate has been complicated by Modi’s move last year to impose a nationwide lockdown without warning, spurring a humanitarian crisis as migrant workers fled on foot to rural areas. While Modi is keen to avoid that criticism again, particularly after his Bharatiya Janata Party failed to win an election in West Bengal when votes were counted Sunday, even states run by his party are ignoring his advice.
Narendra Modi resists pressure to lock down India as Covid deaths rise
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Narendra Modi resists pressure to lock down India as Covid deaths riseBy Upmanyu Trivedi and Michelle Fay Cortez, Bloomberg
Last Updated: May 04, 2021, 09:35 AM IST
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India’s richest banker Uday Kotak, who heads the Confederation of Indian Industry, urged the government to deploy the military to help care for patients and to take the “strongest national steps including curtailing economic activity to reduce suffering.”
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Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on states to only consider lockdowns “as the last option.” Now everyone from his political allies to top business leaders and U.S. President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser see them as the only way to stem the world’s worst virus outbreak.
Indiaâs richest banker Uday Kotak, who heads the Confederation of Indian Industry, urged the government to deploy the military to help care for patients and to take the âstrongest national steps including curtailing economic activity to reduce suffering.â âWe must heed expert advice on this subject from India and abroad,â he said.
This represents a shift from Indiaâs top business leaders. In April, a survey of the confederationâs members showed they were against lockdowns and wanted swift vaccination. In the past month however, the collapsing health infrastructure and mounting death toll has revealed the extent the crisis. A lack of adequate vaccine doses has only added to the chaos.