Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday thanked the nation for its collective fight against coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and the hardships that the people, especially the migrant workers, faced during this period as he announced his decision to extend the lockdown till May 3.
”People have gone through hardships to save India. I know how many difficulties you faced. I respectfully bow to the people of India for their sacrifice,” PM Narendra Modi said. ”India is fighting coronavirus pandemic due to the unity and penance of the entire country. India has been able to contain coronavirus to a large extent. I thank you all for your patience,” the PM said.
PM Modi said that the lockdown has been extended till May 3, and that the coronavirus should be curbed at every level. ”Even if one person dies due to coronavirus, our tension should increase. That is why hotspots have to be surveilled with extended vigilance and take harsh steps to curb the spread of coronavirus. If new hotspots arrive, our efforts will face problems,” he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that till April 20, harsh steps will be taken to curtail the spread of coronavirus in the country. ”Hotspots will be carefully surveilled.”
In his third address to the nation, which began around 10 AM, the PM also paid his tribute to BR Ambedkar. The PM said that while comparison with other countries is not appropriate, some truths cannot be ignored. ”Countries with better resources even compared to them, India is in a much better position,” he said.
”Thousands of people have died in many countries have died. If India had not carried out a holistic and integrated approach, the condition of the country could have been unimaginable, invoking goosebumps to think about,” he stated.
The PM said that even when India did not have a single coronavirus patient, India had begun screening passengers from COVID-19 affected countries.
The PM had earlier tweeted that he will address the nation at 10 am on April 14, 2020. 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, the Prime Minister had said that there seems to be a consensus amongst the States on the extension of lockdown by another two weeks.
He underlined that the motto of the government earlier was ‘jaan hai to jahaan hai’ but now it is ‘jaan bhi jahaan bhi’.
Talking about the way ahead post the end of the 21-day lockdown period, the PM had said that the coming three to four weeks would be critical in determining the impact of steps taken to curb the spread of the disease and had also suggested specific measures for agriculture and allied sectors, including those needed to facilitate the sale of farm produce.
Three weeks ago in his address to the nation in which he announced the lockdown in the country, Prime Minister Modi had talked of `jaan hai to jahaan hai,` stressing the urgent need to save lives.
There have been suggestions that going forward the country could be divided into red, orange, and green zones based on the number of COVID-19 cases and that some industries could be allowed to operate in orange and green zones while taking precautions against the disease.
However, several States such as Odisha, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, among others have already announced the extension of lockdown taking into account the rising number of cases in the respective States.
As of Monday, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 9,341, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
This the Prime Minister’s third televised address to the country in less than a month. Even before the PM’s address, at least seven states — Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana – have already announced an extension until April 30.