We'll fight shoulder-to-shoulder against coronavirus, says PM Modi in video-conference with CMs

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (Apri 11) held a meeting with Chief Ministers primarily to take their suggestions on whether the 21-nation-wide lockdown be extended beyond April 14 to stem the tide of coornavirus infection. This is for the second time PM Modi interacted with the chief ministers via video link after the Centre imposed the lockdown across the country on March 24.

The initial visuals of the meeting of showed that PM Modi was wearing a homemade white mask during the interactions with the Chief Ministers, which was attended by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. 

The Central government is understood to have also obtained views on the issue from all the relevant agencies and stakeholders involved in the efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic.

The meeting between the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers comes amid indications that the Centre may extend the nationwide lockdown with some possible relaxations, while Punjab and Odisha have already announced extending the lockdown in their states til May 1.

According to the Health Ministry, the total number of cases in India has risen to 7447 including 6565 active cases, 643 cured/discharged/migrated and 239 deaths as of Saturday.

Meanwhile the total number of cases across 184 nations reached 1,650,210 and the death toll stood at 100,376 at 11.45 pm (IST) on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University`s Coronavirus Resource Centre.

The US continues to record the highest number of cases at 475,749, followed by Spain at 157,053, Italy at 147,577, Germany at 119,624, and France at 118,790. So far, Italy has witnessed the highest death toll across all the nations at 18,849, followed by the US at 17,925, Spain at 15,970, France at 12,228 and the UK at 8,973.