Former Finance Minister and Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday termed the Centre's handling of the coronavirus outbreak as 'satisfactory', but warned that stricter precautions needed to be taken to ensure partial to total lockdowns in most towns.
In an interview with the Indian Express, Chidambaram also hoped that India did not face a similar situation to what Italy or Spain went through. "If you look at what happened in Italy and Spain, leave out China, you will find that it’s in the third week when the number crossed hundred then it jumped dramatically. Now, I’m sincerely hoping that it won’t happen in India. But we must be careful to ensure that it does not happen in India," he told the daily.
Currently, India has 147 patients who have tested positive for coronavirus.
The central government has recommended the use of Lopinavir/Ritonavir combination, which is usually a second-line HIV medication for 'high risk' coronavirus patients aged above 60 years.
The call came on the same day a 64-year-old man infected with coronavirus, died on Tuesday in the isolation ward of Kasturba Hospital. He became the third victim in India.
