India was on Tuesday placed into a complete lockdown for 21 days by prime minister Narendra Modi.
As our Honourable Prime Minister, Shri @NarendraModi ji just announced, the whole country is going into a lockdown starting midnight today for the next 21 days. My request will remain the same, PLEASE STAY AT HOME.
#SocialDistancing is the only cure for Covid 19.
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) March 24, 2020
The country has recorded 519 cases of the virus with 10 deaths and there are fears of a bigger outbreak in the nation of 1.3billion people.
Kohli is one of the most famous people in India and he urged his 34 million Twitter followers to obey the prime minister’s orders.
The 31-year-old said: “As our Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi just announced, the whole country is going into a lockdown starting midnight today for the next 21 days.
“My request will remain the same, please stay at home. Social distancing is the only cure for Covid-19.”
In a live television address to India, Modi said: “You have seen the worldwide situations arising from the coronavirus pandemic in the news. You have also seen how the most powerful nations have become helpless in the face of this pandemic.
“According to health experts, a minimum of 21 days is most crucial to break the cycle of infection. If we are not able to manage this pandemic in the next 21 days, the country and your family will be setback by 21 years. If we are not able to manage the next 21 days, then many families will be destroyed forever.”
The lockdown has also thrown the Indian Premier League into doubt with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly admitting he had no idea whether the tournament would go ahead.
Ganguly said: “I can’t say anything at the moment. We are at the same place where we were on the day we postponed. Nothing has changed in the last 10 days.
“You can’t plan anything. The Future Tours Programme is scheduled. It’s there and you can’t change the FTP. All around the world, cricket and more so sports has stopped.”
