AP Explains: India lockdown slows virus, but gaps remain

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's six-week coronavirus lockdown, which was supposed to end on Monday, has been extended for another two weeks, with a few relaxations such as construction resuming and self-employed people returning to work in New Delhi.

Here's a look at what India has been able to achieve during the lockdown of its 1.3 billion people, and what it hasn’t:

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WORLD'S LARGEST LOCKDOWN

Prime Minister Narendra Modi locked India down on March 24, when the country had just 469 confirmed virus cases.

In mid-April, Modi extended the lockdown for two weeks. Then on Friday, it was extended for two more weeks, but with some relaxations.

The government has identified three zones: "red," or areas that have been coronavirus hotspots, “orange,” where some cases have been found, and “green,” or low-risk areas. Stricter measures will continue in red and orange zones, while some movement of people and most economic activities will be allowed in green zones.

Although the number of red zones has dipped since the lockdown started, the number of green zones has also declined. Most of India’s major cities, including New Delhi and Mumbai, remain red zones.

Locking down the country’s 1.3 billion people has cost of millions of jobs and upended lives, especially of India's poor.

But limited interactions between people did slow the contagion, pushing the peak into the future and buying India “time to prepare,” said Ramanan Laxminarayan, an epidemiologist and economist who directs the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy in Washington, D.C.

India has avoided a major catastrophe, confirming about 42,500 virus cases, 11,706 recoveries and 1,373 deaths. Still, a lack of aggressive testing worries experts who warn that the virus has yet to peak.

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