After Telangana, Madhya Pardesh CM hints at extending lockdown for next two week

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday hinted at extending the lockdown, saying that human lives are more important than economy.

“We can bear and face a situation like total lockdown. We can also manage our economy later, but if a life is lost, we cannot bring it back. Life is more important to us. If needed, we will extend the lockdown,” Chouhan said in a video message.

There are seven days left in the three-week lockdown called by PM Narendra Modi but the corona count in Madhya Pradesh has risen sharply in the last few days. Two days ago, Telangana CM KC Rao also suggested an extension of lockdown to the Prime Minister to control the pandemic.

The MP CM said that they will decide on the lockdown keeping the “overall situation” in mind.

“From what I am seeing in Bhopal and Indore, we need to be very careful. If needed, we can extend it (lockdown), as people’s lives are more important for us. We will take a call according to the situation,” Chouhan said. He reiterated the importance of social distancing in containing the spread of Covid-19. He urged corona warriors to take high levels of precaution.

On Monday, Chouhan had said that lifting the total lockdown in areas like Indore would be very difficult amid a surge of corona-positive cases. It’s the same in Bhopal where a large number of health workers, police and municipal staff have been infected by Covid-19.

There are indications that there may be some relaxation in areas where no death has been reported yet.

Sources in Mantralaya said the lockdown is likely to stretch for two more weeks in areas like Bhopal, Indore and Ujjain.