Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated during a video conference with the leaders of political parties on Wednesday that the nationwide lockdown is likely to be extended beyond April 14, a senior lawmaker who took part in the meeting told Sputnik
NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th April, 2020) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated during a video conference with the leaders of political parties on Wednesday that the nationwide lockdown is likely to be extended beyond April 14, a senior lawmaker who took part in the meeting told Sputnik.
The video conference, which focused on the assessment of the COVID-19 situation, lasted for around three and a half hours.
"Prime Minister took note of suggestions from the members of different parties who were present at the all party meet through video conference. After listening the suggestions Prime Minister said that we can control the epidemic only through social distancing. Prime Minister hinted that he is in favour of increasing the period of lockdown," Chirag Paswan, the leader of the Lok Janshakti party, told Sputnik.
The prime minister also noted that the feedback he was getting was likewise that the "lockdown should continue to control this pandemic," the lawmaker added.
India has been on a 21-day lockdown since March 24. People are told not to leave homes unless for exceptional reasons. Thousands of shops and firms have been temporarily closed, and public transport operations are restricted. Traffic between Indian states, all domestic and international flights have also been suspended.
As of Wednesday, the country updated its COVID-19 case count by 773 to 5,194, which is another biggest daily jump in new cases in the country. The death toll has risen by 35 to 149.
