Coronavirus: Nation-wide lockdown to be extended by 2 more weeks, govt guidelines soon

New Delhi: The Central government today decided to extend the nation-wide lockdown by two more weeks till April 30, TV channels reported citing top government sources.

An official announcement will be made soon in the regard, where the Centre will issue the guidelines, the TV channels stated. It also said that the extended lockdown will have certain relaxations.

Top govt sources claimed that many states concurred with the view that early lockdown has put India ahead in the fight against Covid-19 and some more steps are needed to consolidate the gains of 21-day restrictions.

The decision comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding a video conference with chief ministers of all the states and Union Territories (UTs) on the pandemic today.

Most of the chief ministers demanded an extension of the lockdown till April 30.

What PM Modi said at video conference with CMs

# ‘Jaan bhi and Jahan bhi’ – a future where people care about both the aspects, follow their duties and abide by the directions of the government – this will be important for India’s prosperous and healthy future: PM Modi

# ‘Jaan hai to jahan hai’. When I had addressed the nation I had said that to save life of every citizen, lockdown and social distancing are very important. Most of the people understood this and stayed at home: PM Modi during video conference with Chief Ministers today. #COVID19

Many CMs batted for lockdown extension

Nearly all of the chief ministers including Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab’s Amarinder Singh, Uddhav Thackeray from Maharashtra and even Mamata Banerjee batted for extended lockdown, urging that it is the need of time to keep the increasing cases of the viral infection in check.

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

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 11, 2020

PM told us that we must not compromise on lockdown and we are receiving suggestions for extending it for next 15 days. PM said in next 1-2 days Govt of India will announce guidelines for next 15 days: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on video conference of PM with CMs pic.twitter.com/tIrNqpN4p3

— ANI (@ANI) April 11, 2020