Delhi govt will follow Centre's guidelines on lockdown, officials say after PM's conference call

The Delhi government will follow the Centre's guidelines on whether to extend the lockdown or not, officials said on Monday, after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attended a meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi held a video conference with chief ministers during the day to discuss the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak and measures to deal with it.

"We are preparing our submission which will be sent to the Centre soon," a senior government official said here.

"The Centre's guidelines on the lockdown will be followed by the Delhi government," he added.

The official said nine chief ministers spoke during the meeting with the prime minister in which they discussed a range of issues, including the possibility of extending of the lockdown, amid the rising number of coronavirus cases.

Kejriwal had on Sunday said that as the prime minister announced the nationwide lockdown till May 3, there was a need to see what decision the Union government took on it.

"We will decide our future course of action and set our direction once the Centre takes decision on whether ongoing lockdown be extended or not," he had said.

"If we follow lockdown rules, we can get rid of coronavirus," Kejriwal had asserted.

Last week, Dr S K Sarin, the chairman of the Delhi government panel to combat COVID-19, had suggested extending the lockdown till May 16 for the epidemic curve to flatten.