‘Lockdown should be last resort’: PM Modi urges states in address to nation

Addressing the nation on the current COVID-19 situation on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised that lockdown should be the last resort and urged the state governments to focus more on

Addressing the nation on the current COVID-19 situation on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised that lockdown should be the last resort and urged the state governments to focus more on micro-containment zones.

The Prime Minister said that the nation has fought against the coronavirus pandemic with discipline and patience and must continue to do so.

His address to the nation comes at a time when India’s Covid-19 tally breached the 15.3 million-mark with 259,170 fresh cases and 1,761 fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours.

In his speech, the Prime Minister said states must allay the concerns of migrant workers by assuring them of their jobs. He also asked the states to inform the migrants that they will be vaccinated in the next few days.

PM Modi’s address came just hours after he held a meeting with the vaccine manufacturers via video conference and asked them to scale up production capacity to vaccinate all citizens in the shortest possible time.

On Monday, the government expanded its vaccination strategy, opening up inoculation for all above the age of 18 years starting May 1.

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