Lockdown saved 37,000-78,000 lives : Govt

New Delhi, May 22
As per Boston Consulting Group's model, the lockdown saved between 1.2-2.1 lakh lives and number of Covid-19 cases averted is between 36-70 lakh, said Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Friday. In a series of tweets, the Ministry showed how the lockdown has apparently helped contain the spread of the virus.
The summary of various estimates is that the number of Covid-19 cases averted due to lockdown is in range of 14 lakh-29 lakh and the number of lives saved are between 37,000-78,000.
"We are fully confident that lockdown, with full public cooperation, has reaped rich dividends," said the Ministry. According to Public Health Foundation of India, nearly 78,000 lives have been saved due to lockdown, said Government.
Model by two independent economists shows that around 23 lakh COVID-19 cases and 68,000 deaths have been averted due to lockdown, the Government further said.
Some independent experts, including retired scientists, have calculated that around 15.9 lakh cases and 51,000 deaths have been averted due to lockdown, said the Ministry.
"As per a joint study by Ministry of Statistics and Indian Statistical Institute, we find that around 20 lakh cases and 54,000 deaths have been averted due to lockdown," the Ministry said in another tweet.
The Union Health Ministry on Thursday said the period of lockdown has been gainfully utilised to “ramp up the health infrastructure", with around 3,027 dedicated COVID-19 hospitals and 7,013 care centers being readied across the country to fight the disease.
"There are reports in a section of the media about some decisions of the Government regarding the lockdown implementation and response to COVID-19 management. The period of the lockdown has been gainfully utilised to ramp up the health infrastructure in the country," the Ministry said.
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