PM speaks to CMs, calls for 'staggered' movement of people post lockdown

The centre and states must have a "common exit strategy" for a staggered re-entry of population when the three-week national lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus ends, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told chief ministers on Thursday in a video-conference meeting.
 

Modi said it "can't be business as usual" after the lockdown and safeguards would have to be taken, said media reports quoting a government statement.
 

An image tweeted by news agency ANI showed Modi sitting at a gtable and apparently looking at a screen as home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh and senior civil servants sit in a hall with some distance between all of them.

"The prime minister outlined that the common goal for the country is to ensure minimum loss of life. In the next few weeks, testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine should remain the areas of focus," said a government statement about the meeting.
 

Modi asked the states to brainstorm and send suggestions on the lockdown exit strategy, according to news agency PTI. He highlighted the necessity of maintaining supply of essential medical products, availability of raw material for manufacture of medicines and medical equipment.

Covid-19, the diseases caused by the coronavirus, has infected 1,965 people and killed 50 in India till date, according to the Worldometer website.