Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, 24 March, addressing the nation for the second time in less than a week, India’s 1.3 billion people will go under “total lockdown” for 21 days (three weeks) to combat the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“From 12 midnight IST today, the entire country will be in total lockdown for a minimum of 21 days,” Modi said in a televised address. “To save India and every Indian, there will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes. Therefore, I request you to remain wherever you are in this country.”

PM Modi had addressed the nation last week too and had urged the people to practice social distancing to stop the spread of highly contagious coronavirus in India.

“The most powerful nations have become helpless in the face of this coronavirus pandemic. As per health experts, 21 days is most crucial to managing this pandemic, the only way the spread of this virus could be contained was through social-distancing,” he said.

World Health Organization says one individual can infect several hundred in a matter of a few weeks. It took 67 days for the number of coronavirus affected persons to reach 1 lakh in the world. Thereafter, the next 1 lakh infections came in just 11 days. The next 1 lakh infections happened in the next four days. WHO declared the coronavirus a global pandemic.

The government allocated an extra Rs 15,000 crore for healthcare infrastructure to contain the spread of coronavirus infections.

The announcement set off panic in many people as they rushed to markets to stock up on supplies.

Essential service providers, including hospitals, banks, ATMs, gas stations, police, media, grocery stores and pharmacies will remain open.