Union Health Ministry's Joint Secretary Luv Agarwal addressing the daily press briefing on Saturday
The Union Health Ministry said that in the absence of a nationwide lockdown and containment measures, the number of coronavirus infections in the country could have reached the two-lakh mark by now. The remarks were made by the joint secretary at the ministry, Luv Agarwal, during his daily press briefing on the evolving situation in the country. The overall count of infections could have breached the eight lakh mark by April 15, had the lockdown not been in place, he added.
"If we had not taken any measures, then we might have had two lakh cases at this time stage," said Agarwal. India has so far recorded 7,447 coronavirus infections, resulting in 239 deaths.
Agarwal said that 643 persons have recovered from a coronavirus infection till date, since it first surfaced in the country on Jan 30. Agarwal noted.
He highlighted that 1,035 new cases have surfaced in the last 24 hours, which include 40 deaths.
(The article was last updated at 5:04 PM)
