Official: Lockdown Extended Till May 3

As expected, nation-wide Lockdown has been extended by the union government. The Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi, addressing to the nation at 100 am on Tuesday, proclaimed the extension of Lockdown upto May 3. Following are the excerpts of his speech. 

* The spreading of coronavirus has been kept under control with your penance and immense sacrifice. Your sacrifice has made India bailed out of the threat. I extend my humble gratitude to you all. 

* I have understood all of the hardships being encountered by you.

* On this auspicious day of the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb Ambedkar, I pay rich tributes to him. He worked for better lives of all.

* Our strength has been shone with our fight.

* The time when not even a single corona case in India was reported, screening at airports for foreigners was kickstarted. And when the number clocked at 100, foreigners were kept in isolation. 

* And then, when the number of cases reached to 550, a 21-day Lockdown was announced. It all indicates India has led to the front.

* In the Lockdown period the number of corona positive cases escalated manifold in many other countries in comparison with India. The number is 25 to 30 times more than that India's pace of reporting corona positive cases.

* The kind of strategy, the social distancing taken up by us, is the only solution to keep the problem checkmated.

* We adopted an integrated and holistic approach which has been paid off.

* The union government has kept on consultations with all the states.

* Lockdown is extended till May 20. And this week upto 20th of April turns very crucial and strict rules will be imposed in hotspots.

* Farmers and daily wagers plight is considered and necessary actions will be taken to get them relieved of their woes.

* More than 600 hospitals are working to treat COVID 19 patients.

* I You are requested to follow a 7-point formula viz. 1. Take extra care of elderly 2. Social distancing 3. Boost Immunity 4. Arogya Sethu mobile app 5. Help those in need 6. Show compassion 7. Respect police, health and sanitary staff.