India's central government asks states to be careful in easing lockdowns

India ask states to 'carefully calibrate' lockdown easing India's central government on Saturday urged states to be careful in reopening from COVID-19 lockdowns to prevent a resurgence of infections in the hard-hit country. Reuters Staff U.S.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s central government on Saturday urged states to be careful in reopening from COVID-19 lockdowns to prevent a resurgence of infections in the hard-hit country.

Indian states are easing restrictions as a second wave of coronavirus infections appears to abate. The country is second only to the United States in confirmed infections at 29.82 million, with 385,137 deaths.

States and territories “must ensure that the whole process is carefully calibrated,” Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote in a letter to top provincial bureaucrats.

“A system should be in place at the micro level to ensure that whenever cases are rising in a smaller place it gets checked there itself through local containment measures,” he wrote.

India on Saturday reported 60,753 new COVID-19 cases and 1,647 deaths over the past 24 hours, according to a government statement.

Since the easing of restrictions, crowds and traffic have filled the streets in cities across India, threatening another spike in infections in the world’s second-most populous country. ...