India COVID-19 death toll rises to 53 as total cases reach 2069

India's federal health ministry said Thursday evening that the death toll due to COVID-19 has risen to 53 and the total number of confirmed cases in the country reached 2,069.

"As on 6:00 p.m (local time) today, 53 deaths related to novel coronavirus have been recorded in the country," reads the information released by the ministry.

According to ministry officials, so far 156 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.

Thursday marked the ninth straight day of the ongoing 21-day lockdown across the country announced by the government to contain the spread of the pandemic.

Authorities have imposed strict curfew-like restrictions to prevent the movement of people across the country. All road, rail and air services have been suspended in wake of the lockdown, except essential services which are exempted.

The federal government has asked states to strictly enforce the ongoing lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he would share a video message with his countrymen on Friday morning. Experts say his video message could be related to the novel coronavirus crisis.

Earlier in the day, Modi held a video conference with chief ministers of all states and asked them to send suggestions on how the country could smoothly exit the lockdown.

The ongoing 21-day lockdown announced by Modi last week will end on April 14. Modi told states they should formulate a common exit strategy to ensure staggered re-emergence of the population once the lockdown ends.

The lockdown has restricted people to their homes and has seen a dip in business activities.

With no work and fearing starvation, large numbers of migrant workers settled in Indian cities walked back to their villages. The movement and mingling of people put a question mark on the government preparedness.

The opposition parties criticised the government over its abrupt and "unplanned" lockdown.

"The 21-day national lockdown may have been necessary but the unplanned manner in which it has been implemented has caused chaos and pain in the lives of millions of migrant workers all over India," said Congress party president Sonia Gandhi when addressing party leaders at the Congress Working Committee meet which took place via video conferencing on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the federal government has asked states that those violating the ongoing lockdown or obstructing officials should be sent to jail. The directive comes in light of reports about health workers being targeted while on duty. Enditem