New Delhi, June 5: Top Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, critical of the government's handling of COVID-19 in India, fired fresh savo at the ruling dispensation by comparing the country's lockdown strategy with five of the worst-affected countries in the world. The senior Congress leader claimed that India's lockdown strategy has proven to be a failure. Unlock 1: Centre Lists Detailed Rules For Malls, Hotels, Religious Places, Offices Set To Reopen.

"This is what a failed lockdown looks like," Gandhi said, as he compared the pre and post-lockdown COVID-19 states of India with Germany, UK, Italy and Spain. The four European nations - which have gone through the peak of coronavirus crisis - succeeded in lowering the infection rate through calculated application of lockdown.

India, on the other hand, witnessed a meteoric rise in COVID-19 cases during the phase of lockdown, showed the data. The number of cases keep growing in an exponential manner even as the government has initiated the "unlock 1" strategy to re-lift the grounded economy.

'Failed Lockdown'

The lockdown to contain coronavirus transmission in India was imposed on March 25 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. All sectors of the economy barring essentia services for shut in the initial phase of lockdown, that last till April 20. Subsequently, more relaxations were permitted.

From June 1, the government announced Lockdown 5 along with the Unlock 1 strategy that will come into effect from June 8. The state governments and union territories are permitted to allow restaurants, religious places, hotels and private establishments to resume operations under social distancing norms.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 05, 2020 07:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).