NEW DELHI:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has yet again warned the masses against being careless as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the country despite extreme precautionary measures taken by the Centre and the state governments.

The PM, while addressing a gathering in Madhya Pradesh via video conferencing on Saturday, shared a slogan to highlight the significance of social distancing and masks in the fight against the illness until a vaccine is developed.

“Jab tak dawai nahi, tab tak dhilai nahi. Do gaj ki doori, mask hai jaroori (No carelessness till a medicine is found, mask and maintaining distance of two yards is necessary),” the PM said while addressing the virtual housewarming ceremony of 1.75 lakh houses built in rural parts of the state under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

The warning from the Prime Minister comes at a time when close to one lakh coronavirus cases are being reported daily across the country.

Earlier this month, India crossed Brazil to become the second worst-coronavirus hit county in the world. Some experts have said that the country is likely to cross the United States – which has the most number of coronavirus cases – in the next few months if the current rate of growth is not stemmed.  

Live TV

India currently has over 46.5 lakh cases including over 77,000 deaths.

India’s COVID-19 caseload raced past 46 lakh with a record 97,570 infections being reported in a day, while 36,24,196 people have recuperated so far taking the national recovery rate to 77.77 per cent on Saturday, according to Union Health Ministry data.

The total number of coronavirus cases mounted to 46,59,984, while the death toll climbed to 77,472 with 1,201 people succumbing to the infection in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate due to the coronavirus infection has further dropped to 1.66 per cent. There are 9,58,316 active cases of COVID-19 in the country which comprises 20.56 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and it went past 40 lakh on September 5. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 5,40,97,975 samples have been tested up to September 10 with 11,63,542 samples being tested on Friday.

PM Modi, ever since the coronavirus pandemic started spreading in India, has been stressing on social distancing as the most effective weapon against the virus.

On Saturday, Bharat Biotech that is developing the coronavirus vaccine COVAXIN in its latest report said an animal study has shown a vaccine candidate has helped develop a strong immune response to the highly infectious coronavirus.