Quarter of the world now under lockdown

India’s decision to enforce a lockdown on its 1.3 billion people means that at least a quarter of the world’s population of 7.8 billion is now living under tough restrictions on movement and social contact.

From Rwanda to California and New York to New Zealand, the coronavirus has shut down large parts of our planet – leaving normally heaving streets deserted and towering office blocks empty.

And there’s more to come – about half the US population are believed to be living under stay at home orders and measures are expected in further states. From midnight on Thursday, all South Africans will have to stay at home for a 21-day period.

Over the last few weeks, you will have kept hearing that the coronavirus crisis has changed the world.

 The fact that so many of you reading this will be doing so from home, because you’ve been told to stay inside, is perhaps the starkest illustration of how this has affected all of us.



Dhaka/Mukul