No Relaxation Yet As Nationwide Coronavirus Lockdown Extended For Two More Weeks

The ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown is set to continue in place of another 14 days after the Narendra Modi government announced a two-week extension of the restrictions. Calling it a correct decision, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said India's position is better than many developed countries because we started lockdown early.

Agencies

Kejriwal was the first Chief Minister who attended the meeting of chief ministers with the PM through video conferencing to confirm the development even before it was officially announced.

PM has taken correct decision to extend lockdown. Today, India¡¯s position is better than many developed countries because we started lockdown early. If it is stopped now, all gains would be lost. To consolidate, it is imp to extend it

¡ª Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 11, 2020

In the meeting, several chief ministers had urged the PM to extended the lockdown till April 30 as the country grapples with an alarming rise of COVID-19 cases.

The 21-day nationwide lockdown was originally set to end on April 14.

"Most states requested to extend the lockdown by two weeks and the Centre is considering the request," a government source said.

PM Modi, accompanied by some senior officials, including from the Union health ministry, was wearing a homemade white mask during the meeting which was also attended by chief ministers - Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Manohar Lal (Haryana), K Chandrasekhar Rao (Telangana) and Nitish Kumar (Bihar).

The lockdown will continue till April 30th. Instructions about examinations in schools, universities, allowing industries to be operational, will be given soon. I request you to not panic.

¡ª CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) April 11, 2020

¡°The Prime Minister told us that we must not compromise on lockdown and that he was receiving suggestions to extend it for another 15 days. In the next 15 days, it will be relaxed in a graded manner. He said that in the next one or two days the Centre will announce guidelines for the next 15 days. The PM said the next two or three weeks are critical and this time will decide whether we are successful,¡± Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa told the media after the meeting with the PM.

Agencies

Yediyurappa added that the lockdown this time will be different from the past three weeks. Certain sectors like agriculture and industry will be given relaxation. ¡°Government offices will be allowed to function with partial strength. The PM will announce all this in two days,¡± he said.

The Union Home Ministry has sought views of state governments on various aspects, including whether more categories of people and services need to be exempted. Only essential services are exempted during the ongoing lockdown.

Agencies

This is for the second time the Prime Minister is interacting with the chief ministers via video link after the coronavirus lockdown was imposed.

During his April 2 interaction with chief ministers, PM Modi had pitched for a "staggered" exit from the ongoing lockdown.