India / 800 COVID-19 deaths in UP, 65k in Brazil despite similar population: PM

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his interaction with the representatives of the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) from Varanasi has hailed the level of enthusiasm and hope that has been displayed by the people of his Lok Sabha constituency. PM Modi said that the level of hope and enthusiasm that the people of Varanasi have shown amid the coronavirus pandemic is nothing short of inspiring. “Kashi is full of hope and enthusiasm amid this crisis. Coronavirus is nothing in front of Kashi, this city gives pace to the world”, said PM Modi in praise for the auspicious pilgrim city of ‘Kashi.’

He also recognized the supportive role played by the public and NGOs in the battle against coronavirus in the state and country. “I am taking inspiration from all of you to work more. I seek your blessings,” PM Modi said in his video interaction with the representatives of Varanasi-based Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

Emphasizing the work done in the country and especially in Uttar Pradesh amid the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the state has overcome the apprehension of the critics who had shown concerns on the impact coronavirus may have left on India.

“Experts were raising questions in India, saying this time also the situation will get worse but what happened? Uttar Pradesh, a state with population 23-24 crores, with support of its people overcame all these apprehensions”, added PM Modi in his interaction.

PM Modi also compared the case of Uttar Pradesh with Brazil that has a similar population compared to UP but has seen deaths due to coronavirus in excess of 65, 000 while the UP, PM said, has seen approximately 800 people succumbing to the pandemic until now. He said that looking at that set of data, it can be implied that the authorities in the state have been able to do a good job and manage to save the lives of many people in the state.

PM Modi hailed the NGOs in the state for doing a commendable job as he said that Uttar Pradesh has not only managed to limit the rate of spread of the highly-contagious disease but has also achieved a faster recovery of people who have contracted the coronavirus.

Reiterating the historical reference of the current pandemic, the PM said that the world had seen a similar pandemic around 100 years ago and India had seen a large number of deaths even with a relatively lower population than now. PM said that the higher number of casualties in the last pandemic had made the world nervous about the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on Indian people but so far the people along with authorities have been able to manage it quite well.

India has overtaken Russia to become the third worst-affected country due to the Covid-19 following Brazil and the United States. With the latest spike of 24, 879 cases in the country, the number of coronavirus cases in India has surpassed the 7.5 lakh-mark while the death toll due to the Coronavirus disease has breached the 20,000-mark.