Coronavirus Pandemic: Pan-India lockdown extended till May 3, decision on easing restrictions after April 20

New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced extension of nationwide lockdown till May 3 in order to fight the spread of coronavirus, which has so far claimed 339 lives in the country and left over 10,000 infected.

PM Modi said implementation of the lockdown will be strictly ensured in coming days to ensure that the virus does not spread to new areas. Some relaxations may be allowed after April 20 in places where there is no hotspot, he said.

"Till 20th April, all districts, localities, states will be closely monitored, as to how strictly they are implementing norms. States which will not let hotspots increase, they could be allowed to let some important activities resume, but with certain conditions," said PM Modi.  

PM Modi further said that if people do not follow the guidelines in their areas post April 20 on ease of restrictions, then stricter lockdown will be reinforced.  

"If any area turns back after this relaxation, curbs will be reintroduced. Hence, please be very careful," he said. 

The prime minister said detailed guidelines on implementation of the new lockdown will be announced on Wednesday.

PM Modi thanked the people for facing hardships during the ongoing lockdown, adding that the country has been able to avert considerable damage due to their sacrifices. 

"India's fight against corona global epidemic is moving ahead very strongly. Because of your sacrifice so far, India has been able to avert considerable damage from coronavirus. I know how many problems you had to face. Somebody has trouble getting food, somebody has trouble commuting and someone is away from home," PM Modi said.

"But for the sake of the country, you are performing your duties like a disciplined soldier. This is the power which is inherent in 'We The People of India' in our constitution. On the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb, this demonstration of our collective power and this resolution is a true tribute to him," he added.

India has reported 10,363 cases of the virus infection and 339 deaths so far.

The drastic measure shone the spotlight on the miseries of lakhs of migrant workers whose journeys on foot from several urban centres to their villages hundreds of kilometres away grabbed headlines for many days last month.

The catastrophic effect of the lockdown on the overall economy and livelihoods of lakhs of migrant workers triggered severe concerns following which a number of chief ministers in their video conference with Modi on Saturday sought some kind of relaxation for a number of sectors.

Prior to this, the Prime Minister had on Saturday held consultations with Chief Ministers through video-conferencing, during which talks were held over the need for extending the lockdown further after taking into consideration the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

During the course of the meeting, PM Modi had said that there seems to be a consensus amongst the States on the extension of lockdown by another two weeks. The Prime Minister underlined that the motto of the government earlier was 'jaan hai to jahaan hai' but now it is 'jaan bhi jahaan bhi'.

While chief ministers of several states demanded the Centre to extend the lockdown, 11 of them - Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya - have already extended the lockdown till April 30.

Amid the several recommendations to the Centre over lockdown extension was to divide the country into three zones -- red, orange and green - based on the number of COVID-19 cases in those areas, and allow some industrial activity in orange and green areas, where there are no COVID-19 hotspots, while maintaining standard operating procedures of social distancing.