PM Modi calls for staggered lifting of lockdown as cases top 2,000

Testing, tracing, quarantine focus areas for next few weeks, he says

With the country witnessing a spike in coronavirus infections and deaths in the past few days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suggested states to lift the ongoing lockdown in a staggered manner when it ends on April 15. He has also indicated a shift from the Centre’s current policy of limited testing for Covid-19, which has killed about 50,000 people around the world.

Interacting with chief ministers via videoconferencing on Thursday, the PM told them that “testing, tracing, isolation, and quarantine” should remain the area of focus in the next few weeks to contain coronavirus.

Modi said the Centre and