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India

Prime Minister Modi warns against complacency

Published:Monday | April 27, 2020 | 12:09 AM
A senior police officer applauds as Disaster Response Force personnel arrive to disinfect a containment zone during lockdown to prevent the spread of new coronavirus in Hyderabad, India, Sunday, April 26, 2020. A monthlong restrictions in this country of 1.3 billion people have been eased somewhat by allowing neighbourhood shops to reopen and manufacturing and farming activities to resume in rural areas to help millions of poor daily wage earners.
AP photo
A senior police officer applauds as Disaster Response Force personnel arrive to disinfect a containment zone during lockdown to prevent the spread of new coronavirus in Hyderabad, India, Sunday, April 26, 2020. A monthlong restrictions in this country of 1.3 billion people have been eased somewhat by allowing neighbourhood shops to reopen and manufacturing and farming activities to resume in rural areas to help millions of poor daily wage earners.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cautioned the country’s 1.3 billion people against any complacency in the fight against the coronavirus.

On a Sunday radio talk show, Modi said that people will have to change their habits by sticking to social distancing, wearing masks and not spitting in public.

“There should be no negligence at any local level due to overconfidence,” he said. “We have to be very careful about this for a long time to come.”

He also said that a traditional system of Indian medicine, known as Ayurveda, which strongly recommends yoga exercises and drinking hot water, can be extremely helpful in building immunity.

Modi put India under a strict lockdown on March 25. The restrictions, which run until May 3, have been eased somewhat by allowing shops to reopen and manufacturing and farming activities to resume in rural areas to help millions of poor daily wage earners.

India has confirmed 25,671 cases of the coronavirus, including 824 deaths.

AP