Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a short, pointed televised message to all Indians that Covid-19 still needs to be defeated and that they shouldn’t relax on safety measures like wearing masks and social distancing during the upcoming festival season.

Speaking unusually early at 6pm, well before prime time, Modi kept his appeal brief, speaking only for 12 minutes, and he stuck to his Covid awareness theme, hammering home the message that even though the festival season is here, “this is not a time to be careless. Don’t think corona has gone.”

He referred to videos of people across the country thronging malls and markets to load up on festival shopping as examples of what shouldn’t be done.

“People aren’t being careful anymore. This isn’t right. If you step out without a mask, you put your families at risk,” Modi said in his address to the nation. “In this festive season, markets are bright again but we need to remember that the lockdown might have ended but the virus still persists,” he said.

Modi’s speech came at a time when new infections are zooming worldwide, especially in the US and in Europe; and one country, Ireland, has just announced a tough, six-week lockdown till December 1. In France, President Emmanuel Macron has enforced a curfew starting at 9pm every night. Said Modi: “The numbers are rising abroad and there is a second wave in Europe. We shouldn’t think we have won the battle.”

In his latest televised broadcast on the coronavirus since the pandemic erupted, the Prime Minister was sporting a new look, with a much longer, but shaped beard and hair combed back. He looked somewhat more fatigued than in previous broadcasts.

Modi referred to the fact that people have been worn down by the eight-month-long anti-virus battle but warned bluntly that there wasn’t room for the slightest complacency, saying: “It has been a long journey. But the virus has not gone and we must not let it come back.” He said that India was in a “stable situation. We must not let it deteriorate… Remember, whether it is America or Europe, cases declined and then there was a sudden spike.”

Modi’s message came a day after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan referred to Covid-19 cases shooting up in Kerala in the weeks after Onam, the state’s biggest festival, saying the state was “paying the price for gross negligence.” Initially, it was thought Vardhan was taking a potshot at an Opposition-run state, but he clarified that wasn’t his intention and that he was only seeking to impress on other states the need to observe health protocols during the Dussehra and Diwali festival season.

In Bengal, where the Mamata Banerjee government has been encouraging organisers to hold Durga Puja festivities amid strict Covid safety guidelines, the high court had to intervene once crowds began to appear in streets amid fears of a post-festival spike in the number of coronavirus cases. The Calcutta High Court’s ruling on Monday banning the entry of visitors inside Puja pandals this year managed to spread a degree of relief among those bracing for a sudden explosion in Covid-19 cases like in Kerala after Onam.

A more positive note in Modi’s address came when he pointed out that the healthcare system – doctors, nurses and care workers -- has learned better how to tackle the virus and that fatality rates are down and recovery rates are looking good. He added that we have fewer infections than the US and that our death rates are better than in many European countries.

Modi also spoke about the many Indian companies racing to develop an anti-Covid vaccine and promised that “when the vaccine is ready, we will ensure every Indian gets it.” In the meantime, he repeated the mantra that it was necessary to maintain distance, wash hands and wear a mask.

India is still battling the first wave of the pandemic but countries like Ireland are facing a severe second wave with record numbers of infections being hit in the last two weeks. Ireland imposed its six-week lockdown after health authorities warned there that a three-week lockdown would be insufficient to stop infections.

Numbers are also rising steeply in Spain too and in the UK the government is battling city and other local governments about imposing a new, limited lockdown in the wake of infections rising to the highest level since July.