New Delhi, April 14: Minutes after his address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to stay indoors and follow the directives of lockdown with full devotion till May 3. Taking to Twitter, the Prime Minister urged people to stay where they are and be strong in India's battle against the deadly COVID-19 disease. He said we all will together keep the nation alive and awake. "पूरी निष्ठा के साथ 3 मई तक लॉकडाउन के नियमों का पालन करें, जहां हैं, वहां रहें, सुरक्षित रहें। वयं राष्ट्रे जागृयाम”, हम सभी राष्ट्र को जीवंत और जागृत बनाए रखेंगे", PM Modi tweeted.

The Prime Minister addressed the nation at 10 am on Tuesday, the last day of the 21-day lockdown. He announced that the lockdown has been extended till May 3 and will be imposed even more strictly. He urged people to strictly follow the lockdown till May 3, adding that the shutdown will be enforced with more strict nature and all states will be evaluated on their performance in containing the outbreak.

Here's the tweet by PM Modi:

The Prime Minister said close monitoring of all areas will be done till April 20 to know that how much the lockdown is being followed. In his address to the nation, he asserted that social distancing is the only way to pass the "agni pariksha"(fight against COVID-19). He added saying that if any state or its any district is found satisfactory, certain areas may be given conditional reprieve from April 20. According to government sources, the lockdown has been extended to May 3rd rather than April 30 (as recommended by states) as May 1 is a public holiday, May 2 is a Saturday and May 3 is a Sunday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 14, 2020 10:55 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).