The Economic Times article, quoting the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, says that “Govt Data Reveals Lockdown may Have Flattened the Curve“. The key words in this headline are “may have”.
Firstly, it is too early to come to any sort of conclusion, as we are only in the 7th day of the 21-day Lockdown. Secondly, the data is old. Thirdly, it is wrong to say that developed countries had 3500-8000 new cases when India went from 100 to 1000 cases in 12 days, without mentioning that those developed countries did many many more tests compared to India.
So what is the reality? The only true comparison can be the country-wise growth rate over a fixed period of time. Unfortunately, I don’t have all the relevant data for a 12-day period, but I do have it for a 8-day period. And as per this data, the equivalent or comparable growth rate in India during the last 8 days has been higher than many other developed countries such as the Netherlands, France, Austria, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, Sweden, and Japan, amongst others.
Also, India is not the only country which has enforced a complete lockdown. There are many more. 30% of the world population was in lockdown until yesterday.
Read the article on Lockdowns here.
LATEST CORONAVIRUS UPDATE:
- 803,187 cases worldwide
- 1,452 cases in India
- 44 countries now have 1000+ cases
- Death toll in the Netherlands crosses 1,000
- 18 countries now have 100+ deaths