Amid reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre was planning to extend the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 in the country, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Monday (March 30) rejected such claims stressing that theire is no such plan.
“I’m surprised to see such reports, there is no such plan of extending the lockdown,” said Cabinet Secretary Gauba.
On Sunday (March 29), PM Modi had said in his first Mann ki Baat address to the nation after the announcement of lockdown that this was the only option to fight coronavirus pandemic. The prime minister apologised to the people of the country for the imposition of lockdown and said that he was aware of the fact that poor were angry with him, but he had no choice other than calling for the lockdown in order to defeat coronavirus.
“I had no choice but to make these decisions to fight the coronavirus… no one wants to take these decisions but if you look at the world, you need to take these decisions,” he said.
“Many people must be angry at me for imposing the lockdown, I understand your problems. The fight with corona is a fight between life and death and we have to win it,” added the prime minister.
PM Modi also urged the people of the country to show courage and resolve and follow “Lakshman Rekha” for several days more. The prime minister noted that the fight against the deadly virus is tough and it required tough actions to keep millions of Indians safe.
The total number of coronavirus cases in India jumped to 1024 on Sunday (March 29), including 48 foreigners. A total of 27 people have lost their lives in India due to coronavirus.
Maharashtra and Kerala continue to remain the worst affected states with 203 and 202 cases of infections, respectively. Also, the most number of deaths has been reported from Maharashtra. While in the national capital, 23 new COVID-19 positive cases were recorded on Sunday which is the biggest jump in a day. The total number of cases rose to 72 with two deaths.