Dear Everyone,

As we are all aware of the COVID-19 pandemic and we are also aware that if we fail to contain it, it's going to affect us, the whole world, in a way that we will find it so very difficult to recover and get back to normal.

Because there is no cure nor vaccine yet, the immediate and only solution we have right now to slow down the spread, or even to stop it, is by social/physical distancing. The same is being tried by the Government of India (GoI) with the support form the state governments and its people by locking down the whole country (most countries already did that).

When compared with the other countries like United States, Italy, UK, Spain, the numbers show that very few cases were being registered in India and the numbers are not heavily spiking on the charts either. We must agree to the fact that this is because of the social/physical distancing. So, it is evident that the lockdown is effective in fighting the COVID-19 spread and the same has to be continued after April 14, which is the last day of 21 days lockdown set by the GoI.

As a responsible and concerned fellow citizen, I urge everyone to sign this petition to express your support to both central and state governments for lockdown extension until a precise solution is available.

Around 69% of Indians in a recent survey said the government should continue to keep people indoors beyond April 14 to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. The survey was conducted by UK-based market research /and data analytics firm YouGov between March 31 and April 3 and included 1,000 respondents. Reported by Quartz.

The lockdown has to be extended and you will understand and agree to it after this thought experiment. Just imagine if the lockdown is not extended and assume that there are just 2-3 infected persons with no symptoms are socializing/commuting in public transport, then they are going to infect at least 2-3 each and before we even know it there will be a huge number of new cases just like that, and what can we do about it other than to start over?

Nationwide lockdown or just the hotspot regions?

After considering all the data points, the GoI should decide on whether to continue the lockdown nationwide or just the regions which are identified as hotspots.

If you care for our nation, the world, and humanity, then please express your support by signing this petition.

Sincerely,

Mohith Agadi

P.S. I'm very well informed on Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and COVID-19 disease. Before creating this petition, I did several online courses offered by the World Health Organization (WHO), St. George's University's Department of Public Health and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and gave the exams to test my knowledge on the issue/subject. You can verify my credentials/course certifications below. I have done this to educate everyone I know with the facts and precautionary guidelines provided by the World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO - https://openwho.org/verify/xomer-ciduf-likaz-cigyr-letag

SGU - https://online.sgu.edu/certificates/73f075b5242d45e083d13ea296314d81

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine - https://www.futurelearn.com/certificates/6zkfugj

Thanks to my friends for reviewing and helping me create this Petition:

• Sai Kishore Reddy (Data Scientist)
• Dr. Swaroop Kumar R. (Orthopedic Surgeon)

India Fights COVID-19