Millions of people in India have lit candles and lamps in a collective display of solidarity called for by Prime Minister “Narendra Modi”. Although, COVID-19 cases in the country have risen by 505 in just 24 hours. People in India turned off lights and lit candles and earthen lamps outside their houses. On Sunday as a show of solidarity amid the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister of India “Narendra Modi” had addressed the nation earlier this week through a video message. Calling for a 9-minute show of solidarity-“to fight the darkness spread by the coronavirus with light”. He had said in the message that “On 5th April on Sunday at 9:00 p.m., I want 9 minutes of your time. Switch off all the lights in your houses and stand in your doorways or balconies and light candles. Lamps, torches or flashlights of your mobile phones. To highlight the goal for which we are fighting together”.
Keeping all disagreement and dissonance apart…it's time to stand for the nation and to show the world that india is United.. @DevNaFC @DevNaFC @narendramodi @Naveen_Odisha @CMO_Odisha #9Minute9baje #9MinutesForIndia pic.twitter.com/dhmc4C0fzu
— Gayatri Behera (@Gayatri03267427) April 5, 2020
As soon as it was 9:00 p.m. residential complexes across the nation blacked out. As millions of people turned off their lights and came out onto their balconies and roofs. Some people were seen lighting candles and lamps. While others waved their phones with the flashlights turned on. Chants, patriotic and religious, heard from several apartment buildings in the capital. New Delhi, amid COVID-19.
#9pm9minutes
This is the second time Indians show-cased a communal display on the prime minister’s call. On March 22, when the country put under a one-day voluntary curfew before the lockdown. The prime minister had asked people to applaud health care workers. Police and the media for their work by clapping and banging utensils.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in India on Sunday rose by 505 in just 24 hours, taking the total number of infections to 3,577. 83 deaths have reported since the outbreak began in the country. The latest Health Ministry figures show that 275 people have recovered. Some 1.3 billion people in India have been under a 21-day lockdown from March 25 in response to the coronavirus outbreak. There are restrictions on people leaving their homes with only essential services allowed to function.