Fighting COVID-19: Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh extend lockdown

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu and Arunachal Pradesh have announced they will continue the current lockdown till April 30. With this, nine states have either announced extension of the lockdown or said they will do so.

Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami ordered the extension of the complete lockdown by two weeks on April 13, to check the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Telegraph reported “the move was in accordance with the recommendations of medical and public health experts”.

The decision came a day after the Prime Minister held a videoconference with state chief ministers on April 11, wherein the states had suggested extending the lockdown.

An official statement of Tamil Nadu government said that beneficiaries of the public distribution system will receive free rations for the month of May.

Arunachal Pradesh also said it will continue the lockdown till April 30. Arunachal Times tweeted the state’s chief secretary making the announcement.

States under extended lockdown

More and more states are announcing extension of lockdown, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled address to the nation at 10 am on April 14. He is expected to talk about a possible extension of the lockdown in his address.

The 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed to arrest the spread of coronavirus ends on April 14. On April 9, Odisha became the first state to extend the lockdown for two more weeks while Punjab followed a day later.

On April 11, Telangana, West Bengal and Karnataka announced the extension of the lockdown by two more weeks till April 30.

Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kerala and a host of other states have said they favoured extending the lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus and COVID-19, the infection caused by it.

All educational institutions remain closed across the country from March 25. Almost all the exams have been either postponed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also read:

• Coronavirus lockdown extended by two weeks, PM Modi meets state CMs
• Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak: Latest Updates

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