Modi marvelled at the success of his 22 March curfew, and said, ‘Every Indian made janata curfew a success. Through a single day of janata curfew, India proved that when the nation is facing a crisis, when humanity is facing a crisis, every Indian comes together to overcome it. All of you deserve praise for ensuring the success of janata curfew.’ Each time the Modi government placed a restriction on its people to contain COVID-19, the Prime Minister made it sound as if it was a people’s decision or a matter of choice. Keeping in mind the advice of health-sector experts and the experiences of other countries, ‘the nation is about to take a very important decision,’ he said. ‘From midnight today, the entire country, please listen carefully, the entire country shall go under complete lockdown. In order to protect the country, and each of its citizens, from midnight tonight, a complete ban is being imposed on people from stepping out of their homes.’ The lockdown, the Prime Minister said, was a critical step in ‘the decisive fight against the corona pandemic.’
On the first of India’s lockdown on 25 March, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general, WHO, at around 10 p.m. India time, raised a pertinent point: whether lockdowns were successful would depend on what countries did while they were in place. ‘To slow the spread of COVID-19, many countries have introduced unprecedented measures, at significant social and economic cost —closing schools and businesses, cancelling sporting events and asking people to stay home and stay safe. We understand that these countries are now trying to assess when and how they will be able to ease these measures,’ he said in his opening remarks to a media briefing.