In the wake of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian government implemented a stringent 21-day lockdown from March 24, 2020, with the aim of halting the spread of the coronavirus.
There were only around 500 officially recorded cases in India at that time, but in the first week of June, as the country prepared to ease out of the extended lockdown, the total number of cases had zoomed up to beyond a quarter of a million, the fifth highest in the world. More worryingly, the numbers showed no signs of abating.
