Conditional relaxations in people’s movement can be granted from April 20 in areas which have no Coronavirus cases
India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14— Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended the ongoing nationwide lockdown till May 3. He lauded the contribution of people of the country in making successful the 21-day lockdown that had begun from March 24 in order to contain the spread of Coronavirus or COVID-19.
In his 30-minute long televised speech, PM Modi announced that in the next one week, each and every village, police station areas, districts and towns will be checked to see the status of spread of Coronavirus. From April 20, some limited and conditional relaxations will be granted in the areas which reports no hotspots, said the PM.
Unlike expectations by many, the PM did not make any announcement about new relief measures for the common people or the corporate. However, he said that his government will release detailed guidelines tomorrow which, he said, have been prepared by taking into account the hardships of the poor, daily-wagers and farmers. He also said that the country has enough stock of food grains and medicines, and the government is removing hurdles in supply chain.
PM Modi began his speech with a designer cotton gamcha wrapped on his mouth and nose. However, he removed it after 2-3 seconds. He was sending a symbolic message to people to wear home-made masks.
He spent first few minutes of speech in praising the people of the country in making the 21-day nationwide lockdown largely successful. He asserted that if this lockdown had not been implemented, then the situation would have been very frightening today.
“Your austerity and sacrifice have successfully contained the spread of virus. You have saved the country your Bharat Varsh by suffering the hardships of the lockdown. You faced travel restrictions. Some faced food scarcity. Some were stranded away from their homes,” said the PM. Recalling the Ambedkar Jayanti today, the PM said: “This is the true homage to Baba Saheb whose life always inspires us.”
Meanwhile, according to the Health Ministry, the country has recorded 10363 confirmed cases of Coronavirus till this morning (April 14) – 8988 of them are active cases, 1035 cured/discharged and 339 have died.
“The way people are following the lockdown and celebrating their festivals in a very simple way is praiseworthy. I wish you and your family best health. You are associate and witness to how India has been fighting against Coronavirus,” said the PM.
Making his point about success of the lockdown clearer, he further said: “When there was no case of Coronavirus in the country, we started screening at our airports. When we had 550 cases, we took hard decision to impose 21-day lockdown. We took immediate steps. Compared to developed countries, India stands in a controlled situation today. One and half months ago, many countries and India were standing on same page (as for number of Coronavirus cases) but today those countries have got 25-30 times more Corona cases. If we had not taken fast, hard and integrated decisions then, we would have been in a frightening situation today.”
While announcing the extension of the lockdown for 19 more days (till May 3), the PM said that from now, the lockdown will be implemented fully. In the end of his speech, he gave seven points to people to follow:
— Take special care of the elderly in your homes, especially those who have chronic disease
— Completely adhere to the ‘Lakshman Rekha’ of lockdown and social distancing
— Enhance your immunity: follow instructions issued by AYUSH Ministry for the same.
— Download the Arogya Mobile App to help prevent the spread of Corona infection
— Take as much care of poor families as you can
— Be compassionate towards the people who work with you, do not fire them
— Pay utmost respect to our nation’s Corona warriors — Doctors, nurses, police
