As the 21-days nationwide lockdown announced by PM Modi draws to an end, Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has suggested that the coronavirus lockdown that was to end on April 14 should be extended for a couple of weeks.
Telangana Chief Minister’s Office now clarifies that CM K Chandrasekhar Rao suggested extension of lockdown for 2 more weeks (after April 15). He took a reference from BCG report which suggested lockdown in India will be good until June 3. No announcement of extension yet. pic.twitter.com/dxLb89RapT
— ANI (@ANI) April 6, 2020
Taking a reference from the BCG report that said that the lockdown in India will be good until June 3, Rao suggested that an additional 2 weeks of lockdown would prove beneficial in the country’s fight against the coronavirus. However, there has been no official announcement on the extension yet made by the chief minister.
After Uttar Pradesh and Goa, Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao became the third chief minister to drop the hint that the lockdown can be extended. Rao has claimed that the only reason his government could control the spread of the coronavirus in the state is because they had been successful in carrying out the lockdown. He has also requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend the lockdown as it seems to be the only potent weapon at this point in time with the state authorities to put a curb on the rising coronavirus cases in the country.
#Breaking | Telangana hints at lockdown extension.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) April 6, 2020
‘Cases may spike if lockdown ends,’ says CM K Chandrashekar Rao.
Paul Oommen with details. | #LockdownPeCharcha pic.twitter.com/bm94NEz2sA
The number of total coronavirus cases in Telangana sharply rose to 321 as of April 6, 2020. Seven people in the state have so far succumbed to the deadly contagion. The total number of coronavirus cases in the country stands at 3851, with 111 fatalities.
The number of positive coronavirus cases in the country has steeply risen, especially after Tablighi Jamaat’s damning role in being a super-spreader of the infection came to the fore. In fact, it was the death of 6 Tablighi Jamaat meet attendees in Telangana that set the alarm bells ringing for the possibility of more positive COVID-19 cases linked to the congregation organised by the orthodox Islamist organisation. Out of the 3851 cases, more than 1000 have been linked to Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Markaz Nizamuddin, a staggering 30 per cent of the total number of cases in India.
