India Under Complete Lockdown for 21 days - PM

"From midnight tonight, the entire country will go under a complete lockdown. Every state, every Union Territory, every district, every village and every locality is being put under lockdown,"  – PM

While addressing the nation on March 24, 2020, PM Modi announced that the entire country will go on a complete lockdown from midnight. Modi while quoting the experts emphasized that social distancing is the only way we can fight this mischievous virus which spreads so fast.

Narendra Modi requested all the state governments to focus on the healthcare facilities during this period. Modi also warned the public to be careful about the rumours.

Modi also expressed concern about the poor but assured that the governments have all the plans to cater to their needs.

"We cannot ignore the fact that this unfortunate crisis has brought a lot of complexities to the poor. The central government, state governments, social organisations and civil societies are working to reduce the difficulties of the poor," he said.

Modi assured the citizens that the government will ensure that there is no disruption in the supply of essential goods and services.

List of Exemptions during the Lockdown Period

• The ration shops, and shops dealing with, dairy and milk booths, groceries, food, fruits and vegetables, meat and fish, animal fodder shall remain open.

• Online Ecommerce companies delivering milk, grocery, vegetables, fruits etc will also be exempted

• Hospitals and all related medical establishments, including manufacturing and distributing units, both in public and private sector, such as dispensaries, chemist and medical equipment shops, clinics, ambulance etc will continue to remain functional.

• The transportation for all medical personnel, nurses, para-medical staff, other hospital support services shall be permitted

• Banks, insurance offices, and ATMs shall remain operational.

• Print and electronic media will remain open.

• Telecommunications, internet services, broadcasting and cable services will be operational to ensure smooth work from home as far as possible.

• Delivery of all essential goods including food, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment through E-commerce

• Petrol pumps, LPG, petroleum and gas retail and storage outlets shall remain open

To ensure a continuous supply of electricity, power generation, transmission and distribution units and services will remain operational.

No plan to extend 21-day COVID- 19 lockdown, says Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba

Will The Lockdown Extend After 21 Days?

This is the question in everybody’s mind nowadays. The entire India is under lockdown in order to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. However, there are many rumours doing the rounds creating a lot of confusion and panic among the citizens.
A news report was published by a popular news portal owned by a reputed journalist carrying the headline ‘Modi govt could extend coronavirus lockdown by a week as migrant exodus triggers alarm’.

Govt says reports of COVID-19 lockdown extension not true

Prasar Bharati rejecting the claim said that the news is a fake. The official twitter handle of Prasar Bharati tweeted:

FAKE NEWS ALERT - PBNS got in touch with the Cabinet Secretary on this news article. The Cabinet Secretary expressed surprise & said that there is no such plan of extending the lockdown

PM Narendra Modi announced nationwide lockdown for three weeks from March 25, 2020, in view of the rising coronavirus cases

The Cabinet Secretary on March 30, 2020, clarified that there was no plan to extend the 21-day coronavirus lockdown.

On the sixth day of the lockdown amid rumours and media reports about the extension of the lockdown centre came forward to clarify this.

The official Twitter handle of Press Information Bureau also denied any such news and tweeted:

“There are rumours and media reports, claiming that the Government will extend the lockdown 21 when it expires are baseless,” - Cabinet Secretary

On March 28, 2020, over 100,000 migrant workers from neighbouring states and Bihar gathered at ISBT Anand Bihar in Delhi. The fake news reports and rumours led to all the chaos amid Corona crisis. Although the government of Delhi has assured food and shelter to migrant workers, the migrants are leaving Delhi to their home states fearing that lockdown will continue for more than 21 days.

Therefore, the government network is more active now to bust all the rumours and fake news

The coronavirus positive cases in India have crossed 1000-mark and the death toll due to Covid-19 has risen to 29. The good news is that 99 cases have been cured.

The death toll has crossed 10000 in Italy and 5000 in Spain. The COVID-19 positive cases have surpassed 6, 34,000 in the world. The death toll according to the World Health Organisation is close to 30,000

News Sources to Trust during Lockdown 21

The citizens should only trust the official websites of the government of India. For all Covid-19 and Corona related information the only trustworthy source is the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

website, https://www.mohfw.gov.in/

Always check the sources and citations of the information even if it is shared by your friends. It takes just a few seconds to perform reverse searches for sources and images

This is an era of Photoshop magic, you can’t always believe the videos and images that you see.

You will find many social media posts with pictures of politicians and other officials.

Trust the information coming from the verified social media account handles. If you find any fake news on WhatsApp, Facebook, or Instagram, immediately report that to agencies concerned. Do not forward the unverified messages that your receive on Whatsapp