[Breaking] PM Announces Extension Of National Lockdown Till May 3 To Control COVID-19

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the decision to extend the country wide lockdown till May 3 to control the transmission of COVID19 pandemic.

Till April 20, there will be strict regulations. There will be some relaxations after April 20, based on review of situation, PM said.

"Till 20 April, all districts, localities, states will be closely monitored, as to how strictly they are implementing norms. In States with no increase of hotpots, they could be allowed to let some important activities resume, but with certain conditions."

"Fight against coronavirus will be made more stringent in next one week, new hotspots will create new crisis", he said.

Elaborate guidelines on this will be released on Wednesday.

The decision followed a four hour long conference held by the Prime Minister with the Chief Ministers of all states on Saturday.

In his address to the nation on Tuesday, PM remembered Dr Ambedkar on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanthi.

"The collective effort shown by the citizens in the fight against COVID-19 is the strength of "We The People" and a fitting tribute to Babasaheb", he said.

PM said that India had taken steps for control of COVID-19 well in advance.

When the COVID-19 cases crossed 500, 21-day lockdown was declared, as an advance preventive measure, he said.  India's position is better than many developed countries with respect to control of COVID-19.

PM appealed people to follow the advisories of AYUSH Ministry to boost immunity.  He also appealed to download Arogya Setu App for information about COVID-19. 

PM urged employers to take care of their employees, and not to terminate their services during lockdown.

"I had addressed the nation I had said that to save life of every citizen, lockdown and social distancing are very important. Most of the people understood this and stayed at home.", PM Narendra Modi said during the meeting with Chief Ministers.

It was on March 24 that the Prime Minister announced 21 day lockdown till April 14.

This was imposed invoking the powers under the Disaster Management Act 2005.