WEB DESK
In his address to the nation tonight, Prime Minister Modi ruled out nationwide lockdown as a measure to curb Covid-19 pandemic, urging states as well to ensure that lockdowns are only chosen as the last resort.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed the nation, amid a steep rise in the country’s daily cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), remarking that there was a need to prevent the country from entering another lockdown.
“I urge states to use lockdown only as a last resort,” PM Modi said, adding that they should try their best to avoid lockdown, and focus on micro containment zones instead. He also urged people to come forward in this hour of crisis to help those in need, expressing appreciation for NGOs already working in this regard.
Calling the second wave of Covid-19 a “storm,” PM Modi said that he was fully aware of what people are passing through. Expressing condolences on behalf of the nation to those who have lost their loved ones, he called the pandemic a big “challenge,” which can be defeated with determination, courage and preparation.
Prime Minister Modi also said that one shouldn’t lose patience no matter what the situation is and remarked that the steps announced in the last few days will help in improving the situation. On the issue of oxygen supply, he said that the Centre, state governments and private sectors are making sure that oxygen is supplied to everyone who needs it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the nation has fought against the coronavirus pandemic with discipline and patience and must continue to do so. This comes at a time when India’s Covid-19 tally breached the 15.3 million-mark with 259,170 fresh cases and 1,761 fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Tuesday. On Monday, the government expanded its vaccination strategy, opening up inoculation for all above the age of 18 years starting May 1. In a meeting about the third phase of the vaccination drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The government has been working hard for over a year to ensure that maximum number of Indians are able to get the vaccine in the shortest possible time…India is vaccinating people at world record pace and we will continue this with even greater momentum”. Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with vaccine manufacturers from across the country via video conferencing and said that biggest strengths of our vaccine industry are its ‘Samarthya, Sansadhan and Seva Bhaav’, urging the vaccine manufacturers to continuously scale up their production capacity.