Coronavirus Outbreak: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Hints At 'Staggered' Exit After 21-Day Lockdown

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hinting at a staggered lockdown withdrawal, and said it is important to set a common exit strategy to ensure a phased re-emergence of the population at the end of lockdown.

AFP

Prime Minister¡¯s statement came after the interaction with the Chief Minister of different states through video conferencing to discuss the measures to fight the outbreak.

He also asked the states to send some suggestions for the exit strategy and repeated the importance of social distancing in preventing the spread of coronavirus.

AFP

PM Modi also talked about setting up crisis management groups at district levels and appointment of district surveillance officers. Data should be collected from the accredited labs for testing to ensure that the consistency in the data of district, state and centre.

He said it is necessary to ensure staggered release of funds to the beneficiaries under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana as it will help them avoid crowding at banks.

Modi said that we have to keep in mind the harvest season, the government has given some relaxation from lockdown but it is extremely important and necessary to monitor and maintain social distancing.

He also has asked the states to think of other platforms for procuring grains apart from APMC, and it is important to explore the possibility of creating pooling platforms for rural areas.

PM also said that India¡¯s focus in the next few weeks should be on testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine. He highlighted the need to maintain supply of essential and medical products, raw material for manufacturing of medicine and equipment.

He made a point and said it is necessary to ensure availability of separate hospitals and dedicated staff, facilities for COVID-19 patients.

To increase the availability of doctors, he asked the states to look into the resource pool of AYUSH doctors, Start organising training and utilise para-medical staff National Cadet Cop and National Service Scheme volunteers.