PM Narendra Modi Joins India In Switching Off Lights in Solidarity Amid Coronavirus

CORONAVIRUS

Footage from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official Facebook page and AP shows Modi joined millions of Indians in switching off their lights for nine minutes at 9 p.m. Sunday and lighting candles, lamps, or flashlights to express resilience during the coronavirus pandemic.
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READ MORE: Many clapped, ignited firecrackers, rang bells, blew conch shells, and lit lamps outside their homes.

They were responding to a call by Modi for a gesture of solidarity to “progress toward light and hope amidst the darkness spread by the pandemic.”

Street lighting and lights in essential services like public utilities, municipal services, police stations and manufacturing facilities remained switched on.

On March 22, answering a similar call from Modi, millions of Indians had gone out on their balconies at 5 p.m. with pots and pans to cheer front-line health care workers.

Two days later, Modi ordered a three-week lockdown for 1.3 billion people for all but essential trips to places like markets or pharmacies to prevent the spread of the virus.

India has so far recorded 3,588 positive cases and 99 deaths, but it fears that any massive surge in positive cases in densely populated areas will overwhelm an already strained health care system. (AP)