The 21-day lockdown which comes to an end on 14 April is expected to be extended for at least another two weeks more. The lockdown was imposed to stop the further spread of the coronavirus in the country. After a meeting with at least 13 chief ministers on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated that the lockdown will be extended – but there will be relaxations in certain areas and cases to ensure the survival of the economy, as well. The lockdown has hit the nation hard with the infrastructure sectors being the worst affected. While the medical experts are advising extending the complete lockdown to at least till mid-May, the economic sector is simply not ready for it.
Therefore, in every sense, the lockdown might be extended till the end of this month. Going by the statement of the PM, some kind of relaxation seems to be in the offing in order to minimize the impact on the economy. However, any kind of relaxation should come with strict rules and regulations. Across the world, it has been seen that lockdown and social distancing are the most potent weapons to stop the further spread of Covid-19. For a country like India, where the imposition of lockdown itself was such a Herculean task, asking people to maintain social distancing at work might be very difficult. The government will have to come down hard on any agency that fails to instill the culture of social distancing at workplace. The experts in India have made it clear that the next 20 days are very crucial in the battle against Covid-19. Therefore, any wrong move can cause immense trouble to the nation.