India's largest containment set to continue

In India, residents are expected to remain at home beyond April 14 to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Jewel SAMAD / AFP

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Nearly 1.3 billion Indians are currently confined, and their government has hinted that it should last beyond the scheduled end date of April 14.

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With our correspondent in New Delhi, Sébastien Farcis

It is not advisable to lift the containment. This is the position of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressed to the representatives of several political parties on Thursday.

India is expected to remain in quarantine for several more weeks, and one state, Odisha, has already announced the official extension of its containment until April 30.

The New Delhi region and that of neighboring Uttar Pradesh have even tightened movement restrictions in dozens of the most contaminated neighborhoods: residents are no longer allowed to leave and only essential deliveries of food and drugs are allowed.

An important contagion in progress

Wearing a mask is also now compulsory in the huge states of Maharashtra, where the city of Bombay is located, and Uttar Pradesh, as well as in New Delhi, under penalty of a fine or imprisonment.

India was infected later than Europe. There are “only” 6,000 cases for less than 200 deaths. But these figures double every four days, which shows that a major contagion is underway.

In total, more than four billion people around the world are forced or incited by their authorities to remain confined to their homes to fight the spread of Covid-19.

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  • Coronavirus
  • India
  • Health and Medicine

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