New Delhi, April 24: The Union Health Ministry, in its press briefing on Friday presented a graph showing that no new coronavirus cases would be reported in India if the COVID-19 lockdown is followed till May 16. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) shared  the same graph on its twitter handle. The PIB also tweeted graphs comparing the number of cases at present with the number of COVID-19 patients if there would have been no lockdown. COVID-19 Cases in India Reach 23,452 With Sharpest Spike of 1752 New Patients in Past 24 Hours, 4,813 Recovered.

The Health Ministry on Friday said that coronavirus lockdown in India was effective in slowing down the doubling rate of COVID-19 and saved lives. During a press conference of the Health Ministry, Dr VK Paul, Niti Aayog member and Chairman of Empowered Group 1 said that if there would have been no lockdown, then cases coronavirus cases could have been more than 73,000. Currently, there are over 23,000 cases in the country.

Health Ministry's Media Briefing:

Dr Paul also stated, “Nation-wide lockdown helped take us away from the exponential growth curve and thereby contain the growth of #COVID19 cases.” He added that the decision on lockdown was timely. The Chairman of Empowered Group 1 during the media briefing of the Health Ministry said, “The nation has shown that lockdown has been effective, #SavingLives, containing #COVID19 infection and slowing down doubling rate. We need to build on these gains." When Will Coronavirus End in India? This Graph Shows Importance of Lockdown and Forecast With Dates When The Country Can Get COVID-19 Free.

PIB Tweets Graph Showing No Coronavirus Cases if Lockdown is Followed Till May 16:

PIB's Tweet Showing Number of Cases if Lockdown There Would Have Been no Lockdown:

India witnessed an increase of 1,752 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The coronavirus cases rose to 23,452. The death toll also jumped to 723 with 37 deaths reported since Thursday evening. According to the Health Ministry, there are currently, 17,915 active cases in the country.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 24, 2020 06:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).