COVID-19 cases: Members of taskforce push for national lockdown to break chain of transmission

New Delhi, May 02: Amid a severe surge in coronavirus cases in India, a report on Sunday said that several members of the national taskforce on coronavirus pandemic have recommended a national lockdown to break the chain of transmission of the deadly virus.

The taskforce, which has members from the AIIMS and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has been discussing the recent, unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases. At these deliberations, some members of the taskforce have pointed out that the double mutant variant in circulation, which is more infectious and possibly lethal as well, threatens the entire healthcare infrastructure by the sheer burden of increasing caseload.

According to reports, the deliberations and suggestions for a national lockdown become important as Dr VK Paul, chairman of the taskforce named NEGVAC (National Expert Group on Vaccination) - the panel which is overseeing the COVID-19 management strategy in the country, reports to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It can be seen that calls for a national lockdown have grown after the horrifying spike in COVID-19 cases, despite the PM in his last national address on April 20 describing lockdowns as "the last resort" to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

To put things in perspective, India's highest single-day spike during the first wave was around 97,000 COVID-19 cases in September last year. On Saturday (May 1), during the second wave, India's daily case addition crossed the 4 lakh mark - the first time in the pandemic any country has reported these many cases in a day.

The daily death count has also been on the surge with the country now reporting nearly 3,500 deaths over 24 hours.