New Delhi, April 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a seven-point appeal to the nation while announcing the extension of total lockdown till May 3. Using the phrase "7 baaton mein saath (together in seven things)", the Indian PM made a seven-point fervent request to the masses to protect themselves in the battle against COVID-19. Here are the seven things underlined by the Indian PM.
"Take care of the elderly people of your family. We have to take extra care of the elderly," Modi said, reiterating his appeal to the nation to take extra care of those aged above 65 and restrict their outdoor movement.
"Adhere to lockdown and social distancing. Use home made masks," this was second point underlined by the Prime Minister.
"Build a strong immunity by following Ayush Ministry's guidelines," he further added.
"To stop spread of coronavirus, download Aarogya Setu App," Modi appealed. The mobile application asks users to feed data about themselves and keep the live tracker on to detect persons whom they are interacting with during the lockdown period.
"Look after as many poor families as you can," said Modi in fifth point. The same was stressed by him while reacting to the viral messages last week which said the nation should stand at 5 pm on Sunday to honour him. Not only warning the nation against such an act, the PM had said that such people should instead take care of the poor families.
"Please be considerate about people working in your organisation. Please don't go for layoffs," the Prime Minister appealed, amid reports of layoff in some sectors due to the economic activity being brought to a standstill.
"Respect the corona warriors including doctors, policemen, sanitation workers and others," Modi stressed in his final point.
The Prime Minister's announcement on lockdown extension came on the day when the current phase of 21-day shutdown was scheduled to end. The decision to extend the restrictions, he said, is based on the feedback received from experts, citizen groups and state governments. However, some relaxations could be allowed in areas with no COVID-19 hotspots from April 20, Modi claimed.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 14, 2020 10:46 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).