- By Aalok Sensharma
- Sat, 11 Apr 2020 02:15 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: Amid the alarming spike in the number of cases of the novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a meeting with the chief ministers of all states and discussed whether the 21-day nationwide lockdown should be extended in the country or not.
One of the significant things in the meeting was that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen wearing a mask during the interaction. The meeting, which was held via video conferencing, also had other CMs wearing masks.
PM Modi was seen using a white-coloured mask to cover his face while Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was seen using a surgical mask. Apart from them, others CMs who were also seen wearing masks were Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Manohar Lal (Haryana), K Chandrashekhar Rao (Telangana) and Nitish kumar (Bihar).
The number of cases of the novel coronavirus has increased at an alarming rate in India. The virus has affected over 7,000 people and claimed the lives of 239 people in the country so far.
Amid the surge in the number of cases, the government has urged people to wear masks while stepping out of their houses. Many state governments, including New Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajastha, etc., have made complusory for people to wear masks while stepping out of houses.
Talking about PM Modi's meeting with CMs, this was for the second time the prime minister is interacting with the chief ministers via video link after the lockdown was imposed.
During his April 2 interaction with chief ministers, Modi had pitched for a "staggered" exit from the ongoing lockdown. According to an official statement after the Wednesday interaction, the prime minister told these leaders that states, district administrations and experts have suggested extension of the lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.