‘45,000 cases if no lockdown’: Govt cites analysis to show restriction impact

Count of Covid-19 cases has crossed 7,400 in India. On Day 18 of the nationwide lockdown, officials from the Union health ministry, home ministry and Indian Council of Medical Research addressed the media. Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare cited a statistical growth-based analysis to highlight the lockdown's impact. Agarwal said that if no lockdown had been implemented, then India would've have 45,000 cases by now. Meanwhile, Punya Salila Srivastava, joint secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the lockdown was being enforced strictly. ICMR's Dr Raman Gangakhedkar said that India has tested over 1.71 lakh samples so far.