Single-day cases at record 9,971; govt says 'fine-tuning' strategy

The government on Sunday defended the timing of imposition of the lockdown and rejected as “baseless” reports expressing concerns that it did not take inputs from experts while drawing up its Covid-19 strategy. The government said it is “fine-tuning” its strategy based on emerging knowledge and experience on the ground.

“The doubling rate of cases had dropped to a low level, pointing toward a dangerous trajectory of high case load and high mortality, as experienced by many western countries. The possibility that our health systems could soon be overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients seemed to be real,” the health ministry said in a statement.

There was all-round consensus on the lockdown among all state governments, it said. It said policies and strategies need to be calibrated to keep pace with the rapidly evolving situation the nation is faced with.

“This virus is a new agent, not everything is known about it as yet,” the statement said. “As is well-known in public health, different stages of epidemic demand different responses, and the nuanced, step-wise response is known to be a positive characteristic of a resilient health system,” it said.