We don't support lifting of lockdown on April 14: Madhya Pradesh CM

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said the State government does not support the lifting of lockdown on April 14.

"We also do not support the lifting of lockdown on April 14. It is true that the economy is affected, but the lives of people are more important," Chief Minister Chouhan said here while addressing journalists through video conferencing.

This comes a day after the video conference meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with all Chief Ministers wherein they discussed the coronavirus and lockdown situation in the country.

In the meeting, which took place on Saturday, Prime Minister Modi had said that there seems to be a consensus among the States on the extension of lockdown by another two weeks.

Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra, and Telangana have already announced the extension of lockdown in their respective States amid surging COVID-19 cases in the country.

The Odisha government on Thursday extended the COVID-19 lockdown till April 30, becoming the first state to do so.

The 21-day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month to contain the spread of novel coronavirus will end on April 14.

With a total of 532 positive COVID-19 cases reported from Madhya Pradesh till now, the tally of the country's novel coronavirus cases increased to 8356 on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.