Indian Prime Narendra Modi urges people to light candles, torches, and mobile flashlights on April 5 at 9 pm⁠— as a symbol of a unified fight against novel coronavirus

• PM Modi today said that no one is alone at home during lockdown in a speech today.
  
• He urged people not to break social distancing rules while lighting candles and torches on April 5.
  
• In his last speech on March 24, Modi announced a 21-day lockdown of which 10 days have been done.
  
• Experts have been recommending that to contain the spread of the disease in a country as large as India, more lockdowns would be necessary.
  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that no one is alone at home during lockdown in a speech today. He requested Indians to light candles, torches and mobile lights on balconies or windows for nine minutes on April 5 (Sunday) at 9 PM, after switching off all electric lights.

“During this, people should ‘not’ gather together while doing this. No one should not break the principle of social distancing which is the only way to break the chain of Covid-19,” he insisted.

Modi also praised India’s doctors and other medical staff for their service. “The healthcare workers made India realise its inner strength during these trying times,” he said.

In his last speech on March 24, Modi announced a 21-day lockdown of which 10 days have been done. However, experts have been recommending that to contain the spread of the disease in a country as large as India, more lockdowns would be necessary.

In fact, a Centre for Mathematical Science by the University of Cambridge study says that India would need a 49-day lockdown to plateau the spread of the disease. Added to that, the rapid discovery of hundreds of Coronavirus positive cases from the Nizamuddin Markaz event between March 13-14 has toppled the calculations made by experts and the government on the spread of the disease.

A large number of buildings have been locked down and 9,000 people who attended the event and their contacts have been quarantined. In spite of the fact that as many as 19 states discovered positive cases after the incident, the government insists that there is no case of community spread of the deadly infection in India, as the infection is still contained in the ‘hotspots’.

However, yesterday (April 2), the government identified 20 hotspots across the country and 20 more have the potential to become hotspots, it said.