Ramaswami: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the country on March 14, claimed that India had begun screening of passengers from Covid-19 affected countries before it had a single patient. In fact, only three Indian airports – Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata – had begun screening passengers from only China and Hong Kong from January 18, four more airports from January 21, and 13 more from January 28. When India reported its first Covid-19 case on January 30 – the same day that the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a public health emergency – its airports were not screening passengers from countries other than China and Hong Kong, though 20 countries had reported cases.