New Delhi: As the number of coronavirus cases crossed 5,000 in India, the big question across newsrooms last night was whether India’s 21-day nationwide lockdown would be lifted or extended after it comes to an end on 14 April.
Aaj Tak’s Rohit Sardana analysed the ‘Bhilwara model’. The Covid-19 epicentre in Rajasthan, Bhilwara was able to successfully curb the infection with a strict containment plan and has reported only one positive case since 30 March.
Zee News’ Aman Chopra blamed the Tablighi Jamaat for a possible extension of the lockdown, while NDTV 24×7 looked at the Delhi government’s latest plan to battle coronavirus — 1 lakh rapid test kits and 4 hospitals dedicated to Covid-19 treatment.
BBC World, meanwhile, discussed the latest news on UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s condition since he was admitted to the hospital Sunday, while on CNN, journalist Chris Cuomo discussed how he was coping with Covid-19 from his home. Cuomo was diagnosed with the infection last week.
On ‘Dangal with Rohit Sardana’, the Aaj Tak host discussed why there was so much “charcha” (discussion) around Bhilwara which reportedly screened almost 22 lakh people for coronavirus.
The state’s deputy chief minister, Sachin Pilot broke it down. When the first patient in the locality was detected — a doctor referred to this as ‘Patient 0’ — there was extensive contact mapping done of whoever he came in touch with, those people were swiftly tracked and isolated and over a thousand teams were initiated to do screenings around the district.
Pilot attributed the success of curbing the infection to the “super lockdown” which did not even allow movement of those in essential services.
“Do you think the lockdown needs to be extended?” asked Sardana. Diplomatic as always, Pilot said that everyone will have to wait and see what the government decides on 14 April, adding that 80 per cent of this country works in the unorganised sector and a staggered opening up of the lockdown might be the solution.
On Zee News’ ‘Taal Thok Ke’, host Aman Chopra spoke about his and the country’s “biggest fear” — the possibility of the lock down being extended.
“Lekin main jaanta hoon aap tayar hain, kyunki aap jaante hain ladai kadi hain badi hain,” (But I know that you all are ready for this, as you know how tough and big the crisis is), he added optimistically.
But soon he started stoking the fire — “Aap ke dimaag me khunas bhi hogi, na hota jamaat, na lockdown badne ka khatra hota” (You must be angry too, because if there was no Jamaat there would have been no danger of a lockdown extension).
He went on to argue, with elaborate info graphs, that the number of coronavirus cases in India had doubled because of the Tablighi Jamaat incident, and said that had it not been for the Nizamuddin Markaz gathering, the cases would still have been at the 2000-2,500 mark.
On India Today, Rajdeep Sardesai grilled Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on whether there was “still a possibility” to lift the lockdown a week from now. Hesitating for a moment, Tope said that the Maharashtra cabinet had just finished a meeting with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and there was indeed apprehension that it will not be possible to lift the lockdown completely — especially in areas like Mumbai and Pune where many cases were still pouring in.
On NDTV’s ‘Left, Right & Centre’, host Nidhi Razdan questioned Delhi’s Health Minister Satyendar Jain. She discussed Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s new 5-step plan, which included 30,000 new hospital beds and 5 Ts — testing, tracing, treatment, teamwork and tracking and monitoring.
She asked Jain how the government planned to roll out one lakh rapid tests in the city, to which he first responded with an explanation of how a rapid test kit worked — a blood sample is taken through a prick in the finger, put in the kit and result comes in 10 to 15 minutes, “Just like a diabetes test which you can do at home”. Jain explained that the government would identify hot spots where there were lots of cases, and then would carry out thousands of random tests door to door.
BBC reported that according to Boris Johnson’s spokesperson, the UK prime minister was “stable” and in “good spirits” and was receiving “standard oxygen treatment”, not a ventilator. Johnson’s colleague MP Michael Gove explained that Johnson was admitted to a hospital Sunday after his symptoms worsened after a week of self-isolating.
Shortly after his video interview with the BBC, Gove also began self-isolating after a family member showed symptoms of coronavirus. “This virus is impacting the very top of government at a time of unprecedented challenge. For now, normal political life is on hold,” said BBC’s political correspondent Nick Eardley.
On CNN, a rather upbeat Chris Cuomo discussed that the “secret to kicking the virus” was not a pill or potion, but will and devotion. “The virus wants us to lay down, the virus wants us to take it,” he warned, but recalled a phone call he got from a friend of a friend who was a doctor while he lay sick in a pool of sweat, “soaked and scared”. “This doctor, who is a pulmonary specialist, asked about my symptoms.” The doctor asked him to stretch his torso, hold his breath for 10 seconds, and it was difficult for Cuomo but he did it. The doctor said, “I’ve heard you say you want to keep it out of your lungs. I’ve seen your X-ray, it’s in your lungs. You have the right fear but the wrong approach,” the doctor declared, adding that Cuomo needed to fight.
“It’s not about Rocky or Eye of the Tiger,” said Cuomo excitedly referring to the popular movie and song, but about having to breathe deep when it hurts, to layer up when the fever spikes, to drink water, take tylenol, fight back the fever. “The Covid is banking on you doing nothing, but the answer has to be doing everything”.
