Prime Minister Modi will address the nation on Tuesday, April 14. This will be his fourth address in a month since the global pandemic. The PM is most likely to announce an extension of the lockdown for another two weeks. “Prime Minister @narendramodi will address the nation at 10 AM on April 14, 2020,” -a Tweet from the official handle of PM Modi.
This decision comes as there has been a sudden, unprecedented surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in India in the past few weeks. As per the latest news, the number of coronavirus cases in India stands at 9,100, with 308 deaths.
Lockdown already extended in some states
States such as Odisha and Punjab have extended the lockdown period to ensure the safety of their people. The state cabinet in Punjab on Friday announced its decision to continue the lockdown till May 1. Earlier, Odisha became the first state to extended the lockdown until April 30.
PM – Jaan Bhi, Jahaan Bhi
On Saturday, PM Modi held a video conference with chief ministers of all states where he lay emphasis on ”Jaan” and ”jahaan”, life and livelihood, respectively. He asked all ministers to strategize in a way that saves both these things. In his statement to the CMs present during the conference call, he said- “Our mantra earlier was ‘Jaan hai to jahaan hai’ but now is ‘Jaan bhi, jahaan bhi.”
This ensures the center, as well as the state governments, will implement reforms to save not just lives but also the economy, which is sharply deteriorating during the coronavirus pandemic. Other than this, PM Modi also discussed dividing areas into green, orange, and red zones. However, no more details are available on this matter.
On April 14, the PM is expected to announce renewed guidelines to curb the virus from spreading further.
