The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has urged the government to take the “strongest” national steps, including curtailment of economic activity, without impacting critical and essential operations.

The industry association said economic activities can be restricted for two weeks to “break the chain”. It also advised its members to review operations and restrict the use of manpower outside home.

“We need the highest response measures to break the chain; we must use this time rapidly to build capacity,” CII president Uday Kotak said.

The CII’s advice comes amid reports that the Centre’s task force has also been pushing hard for a nationwide lockdown to break the chain of the virus as the country records an unprecedented caseload of 4.01 lakh Covid-19 cases and 3,523 deaths in the last 24 hours.

“Curtail all non-essential economic activity requiring physical presence of employees at the workplace for the next two weeks. This is necessary to break the chain of transmission. All responsible corporates should strive to protect their employees and ensure that their employee balance sheet remains healthy,” Kotak added.

Ficci suggestion

Industry body Ficci has suggested the government a series of steps, including speeding up the vaccination drive and maintaining supply of essential medicines, in order to contain the rising Covid-19 cases in the country.

In a letter to Sanjeeva Kumar, member secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, the chamber said there is an urgent need

for a national criteria for hospital admissions for Covid-19 as it would help reduce the burden of non-essential Covid admissions.