On Tuesday, April 14th, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the lockdown will be extended till May 3rd during the corona virus outbreak in the country. Modi’s decision has been declared after thorough consultation with all the chief ministers, expert doctors, officers as well as workers on the ground.
As he declared this extension, he also claimed that social distancing is the only solution in order to pass the “agni pariksha”. He also made it known to the public that the shutdown will be enforced with stricter measures and that every state will be evaluated henceforth based on their performance in containing the outbreak.
If any state or its districts show satisfactory results then there is a possibility that certain areas may be provided a conditional reprieve starting from April 20th, according to the PM. Throughout this declaration, he stressed on the fact that the focus should be on not allowing the creation of any new hotspots. He warmly thanked the people of India for remaining indoors and doing their bit to fight against this virus.
The PM also made sure to mention that the shutdown is the reason this virus has been contained better in India than many other nations. Modi also said that if it came down to economics vs life, the latter is of more importance. Modi also spoke about how India did not wait for this situation to escalate, rather, started taking measures to stop it as soon as the problem appeared. If these quick decisions weren’t made then who knows what the situation would have been, the Prime Minister stated.
