Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on states to only consider lockdowns “as the last option.” Now everyone from his political allies to top business leaders and US President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser see them as the only way to stem the world’s worst virus outbreak. In the past week, television channels and social media have been flooded with grim scenes of overcrowded crematoriums and desperate pleas for oxygen from hospitals. Daily deaths in India slowed marginally after hitting a record 3,689 on Sunday, while the number of daily cases have been over 350,000 for the past few days.