Industry bats for a lockdown and roping in the armed forces for COVID-19 battle

The requirement for hospital beds, oxygen and medicines will continue to escalate at the current pace of the pandemic. says industry body.

Indian industry has urged the government to deploy the armed forces and central security forces to manage the logistics, infrastructure and personnel necessary to address the rising wave of COVID-19 cases in the country, warning that the requirement for hospital beds, oxygen and medicines will continue to escalate at the current pace of the pandemic. “At this critical juncture when toll of lives is rising, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) urges the strongest national steps including curtailing economic activity to reduce suffering,” CII president Uday Kotak said, in what are the first remarks by an industry lobby group in favour of a stringent lockdown. Calling for the highest-level response measures to the current crisis, Mr Kotak said, “Given the current pandemic situation, safeguarding lives is of utmost priority and nationwide maximal response measure at the highest level is called for to cut the transmission links. The healthcare infrastructure and supply build-up are being undertaken on emergency basis by the governments at the centre and states, but will take time.”