Lockdown in India extended till May 3: PM Modi announces

The decision was made after extensive consultation with Chief Ministers of all states through video conferencing on Saturday.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced that the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 will be extended for almost three more weeks. Addressing the nation on Tuesday, PM Modi said that the lockdown will be extended till May 3.

“The way coronavirus is spreading, it has made health experts and countries across the world more alert. In India, we have been holding continuous talks with state governments on how to defeat coronavirus and how to minimise losses, how to reduce people’s difficulties. Everyone has been recommending that lockdown be extended. Many states have already decided to extend lockdown. During this time, we have to follow the precautions as we have been all this while,” PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister added that the situation in the country will be watched closely till April 20.

"All districts, localities, states will be closely monitored till April 20 and it will be seen how strictly norms are being implemented. The states that do not let the number of hotspots increase, the states that pass the 'Agni Pariksha,' there some permissions to resume some activities, with certain conditions. If lockdown norms are violated, then all permissions will be withdrawn. The government will issue detailed guidelines by Wednesday," the PM said.

The Prime Minister sought the nation's support and asked them to follow seven points: Take care of senior citizens at home; practice social distancing, and wear masks; follow guidelines from AYUSH ministry to boost immunity; download the Aarogya Setu app on COVID-19; help the poor and the needy as far as possible; don't sack employees from their places of work and lastly, respect health workers and those people working on the frontlines.

The decision to extend the lockdown was made after extensive consultation with Chief Ministers of all states through video conferencing on Saturday. In the past few days, many states like Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Odisha and Telangana have already announced an extension of the lockdown. Most states were in favour of the lockdown to be extended at least by two weeks beyond April 14.

India currently has more than 10,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 330 people have died due to the disease. However, India's curve seems to have tapered as almost 25 districts across 15 states have not reported a new case in the last two weeks.

What expert committees had said

An expert committee constituted by the Kerala government had suggested that the lockdown be lifted in three phases and restrictions should be lifted in districts according to the decrease in the number of patients and those quarantined.

In Karnataka, an expert task force led by Dr Devi Shetty also called for an extension of the lockdown. While the task force recommended that restrictions on public transportation like flights, trains, buses and the metro continue until April 30, it suggested that educational institutions be closed until May 31. It also recommended that Information Technology, Biotechnology and garment industries work at 50% strength.

Both these reports were submitted to the Central government and the Prime Minister’s office had taken them into consideration before arriving on its decision.

The call for the extension of a nationwide lockdown began with an appeal from Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who stated that India may not be able to handle if the situation escalates due to the lockdown being hastily lifted. KCR had appealed to extend the lockdown for two more weeks after the current 21 lockdown ends on April 14.

At least seven states -- Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana-- have already announced extension of the lockdown till April 30.

Meanwhile, several Union ministers resumed work from their respective offices from Monday as part of the government's plan to revive economic activities. The government in an order last week had also asked all officers of the joint secretary level and above to be present in the ministries along with one-third of the essential staff from Monday.

Last month, the prime minister had addressed the nation twice -- on March 19 and March 24.

With inputs from PTI