Odisha supports lockdown extension for another month

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das on Monday said that the ongoing lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak should be extended for another month.

“There is a need for the extension of coronavirus lockdown. The period of lockdown should further be extended by one month,” said Das.

He attended the discussion between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Chief Ministers of other states via video-conferencing on Monday.

The Health Minister also said that the Central government should come up with specific guidelines for migrant labourers.

Other states have agreed to our demand of conducting COVID-19 test of stranded labourers in the respective states before sending them back to the state, he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday interacted with Chief Ministers of states via video conferencing to discuss the emerging situation and plan ahead for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister underlined that the lockdown has yielded positive results as the country has managed to save thousands of lives in the past one and a half months.

Prime Minister said that the country has seen two lockdowns till now, both different in certain aspects, and now we have to think of the way ahead.

He said that as per experts, the impact of coronavirus will remain visible in the coming months.