Lockdown 3.0 extended in India for 14 more days to contain coronavirus pandemic; here's why

New Delhi: All of us have been waiting that the lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 will open after three days on May 4, but the government has extended it for two more weeks till May 17. The country will now stay in the lockdown for 54 days as it was first announced for 21 days, then extended for 19 days, and now will continue for 14 more days after May 3. 

Although some concessions will be given in Red, Orange, and Green Zones during this period, the government took this decision because of the following reasons: 

The first reason is that the country has attained success in the fight against coronavirus in the past 6 weeks but if the lockdown is removed on May 3, the possibility is that the COVID-19 cases could surge rapidly. 

The second reason is that majority of chief ministers in a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 27 had suggested extending the lockdown, while some states had insisted on continuing the same with little concessions.

The third reason is that the coronavirus cases are still increasing in the country. In Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, 2 to 10 thousand cases of COVID-19 cases have been reported.

The fourth reason is that the government does not want the novel coronavirus to reach the third stage, which spreads among communities and termed as Community Transmission. Since 1500 to 2000 fresh cases of coronavirus are coming every day in the past week, the government has to take this decision.

The fifth reason is that the removal of lockdown would start the movement of people on a large scale, increasing the chances of infected people to reach from one state to another where the situation is under control. Therefore, the government will run trains only for pilgrims, laborers, and tourists, but for the rest of the people, the rail traffic will remain suspended and the ban on air travel will continue.

Further, the government wants to take care of people's health and bring the economy back on track, the reason, it has issued fresh guidelines for different rules for Red, Orange, and Green Zones. The Prime Minister had earlier stated that life has to be saved along with running the world. 

For the past few days, Prime Minister Modi has been continuously holding meetings on this issue. After talking to the Chief Ministers on April 27, and then deliberating with senior ministers and taking the opinion of experts, he decided to extend the lockdown.

Notably, 733 districts in the country have been divided into Red, Orange, and Green Zones after witnessing the rising cases of coronavirus. Of these, 130 districts are in the Red Zone, 284 districts are in the Orange Zone, while 319 districts are in the Green Zone. 

Green Zone are those districts where no case has come in the last 21 days. 

Red Zone is where cases are constantly coming up. Red Zones are determined by how many active cases are in those areas, how many cases are doubling in how many days, how much testing is happening, and what is the feedback. 

The areas that are neither in the Green Zone nor in the Red Zone are placed in the Orange Zone.