Coronavirus lockdown to extend till May 3, says PM Narendra Modi

As widely anticipated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced extending lockdown for more than two weeks till May 3.

“Till May 3, all countrymen have to follow the lockdown. We have to follow discipline during this period in the same manner that we have been doing so far,” Modi said.

Addressing the nation on Tuesday (April 14), the last day of the 21-day nationwide lockdown announced by him first on March 24, Modi said that it is because of such measures taken by the government that the statistics of Corona spread in India is much lesser than the statistics of even very developed nations.

Read: PM Modi issues ‘saptapadhi’ to fight coronavirus

Referring to his Saturday last interaction with Chief Ministers in which 10 of 11 CMs had favoured an extension of lockdown, the Prime Minister said that everybody is suggesting lockdown should be extended.

“Keeping in mind all suggestions, it has been decided to extend lockdown till May 3,” he said, mentioning how a number of states have on their own extended the lockdown. So far seven states have extended the lockdown—six till April 30 and Punjab till May 1.

Also read: Key takeaways from Modi's address

The lockdown 2.0 announced by the Prime Minister for 19 days, takes it further to May 3.

The Prime Minister also said that the next one week will see more stringent measures to implement the lockdown but also assured some relaxations from April 20 in districts, where no hotspots emerge and the norms of social distancing and the rules are properly followed.

“Till next week, the fight against corona(virus) will be made more stringent. An assessment of every block, every police station, every district, every state will be made during this period with regard to implementation of the lockdown rules. How much that state and region have protected themselves against corona(virus) will be reviewed. The regions which have done it successfully, those which do not run the risks of turning into hotspots, will get some relaxations,” he said.

Modi also asked people to take seven vows that included remaining sensitive about people working in industries and trade and not chucking them out, taking care of the elderly population, feeding the poor, maintaining social distancing and downloading Aarogya app.

“The path that we have chosen is the right path for us. The nation has benefitted immensely from social distancing. Though it has cost us big, nothing is bigger than life,” he said.

The Prime Minister called for greater vigil on identified hotspots.

“India is in a very stable condition on Corona if statistics of even various developed nations are compared with the situation in our country. This is due to a holistic integrated approach and fast decisions taken by India,” he said, recalling that India had begun screening of people coming from coronavirus affected nations even before the first case in the country. India did not wait for the problem to rise but tried to nip it in the bid as soon as the problem was visible, the PM said.

The Prime Minister urged people to ensure that no new hotspots get created and COVID-19 does not spread to new areas.