At this time of coronavirus crisis when hospitals run out of oxygen and ICU beds and number of death is on the rise, AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria said a complete lockdown or an aggressive lockdown is needed in India just like last year. He also stressed that strict lockdown should be imposed in areas reporting positive rates over 10 per cent.

Speaking to NDTV, Dr Guleria said that India had been caught off guard by the ferocity with which the virus was spreading, and that night curfews and weekend lockdowns imposed by various states such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and other states have proved to be ineffectual.

He also said the death of a doctor in Delhi’s Batra hospital due to oxygen shortage was a personal loss for him. “That (the 12 deaths) drives home the point that India needs aggressive lockdown to contain the virus,” Dr Guleria said.

He also noted that no healthcare system in the world can manage this kind of load and added that aggressive containment or lockdown is the only key.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal extended the ongoing lockdown in the UT by another week to contain the spread of the virus.

Notably, this is the second time Dr Guleria has called for strict lockdowns in high positivity areas across the country.

The statement from the AIIMS chief comes at a time when India’s daily coronavirus tally crossed the grim milestone of four lakh, while the death toll rose to 2,11,853 with 3,523 fresh fatalities.

As per updates from the Union Health Ministry, the infection tally rose to 1,91,64,969 with 4,01,993 new cases, while the active cases crossed the 32-lakh mark.

Registering a steady increase, the active cases stood at 32,68,710, accounting for 17.06 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further dropped to 81.84 per cent.