In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced the extension of lockdown till April 30. "During ongoing lockdown period amid COVID-19 crisis, your discipline and sacrifice has provided us the strength to fight Covid-19. We have decided to extend the lockdown period in Odisha till April 30th," the Odisha CM said.
The move comes in the wake of multiple chief ministers, as well as experts, requesting the central government to extend the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Lockdown may have to be extended: Modi
PM Narendra Modi indicated that the ongoing lockdown may have to stay in place beyond April 14 given the state of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic in India.
"I have been speaking to chief ministers and district collectors... the common refrain is that it is not easy to lift the lockdown," Narendra Modi said adding that we all need to be strict in implementing social distancing norms. "So be it lifting or extending the lockdown, the general mood is that it will not be possible to lift the lockdown at once," PM Modi said.
Another meeting will be held along with all chief ministers on April 11 for consultations, after which the Centre could take a final decision on the lockdown, PM Modi stated.
TelanganaCM suggests extension of lockdown
Earlier, Telangana Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao had suggested for the extension of the ongoing lockdown for two more weeks.
Speaking to the media near Pragathi Bhavan, Rao said, "We can recover from the hit that the economy is taking but we can't bring back lives of the people. Lockdown is the only weapon that India has given the weak health infrastructure that we have. I propose that the lockdown be extended by at least one or two weeks and a call on opening up can be taken after that."
(This is a breaking story. More details awaited)
