Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 6 to to extend the 21-day national lockdown to check COVID-19 beyond April 14, saying it was essential to save the lives of people.
Earlier, Rao had said that the state would be coronavirus-free by April 7. However, cases jumped in the state after some people who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz in New Delhi had travelled to Telangana.
The TRS supremo said on April 6 that it would be difficult to contain the spread of the virus in view of the country's "poor health infrastructure".
"I am for the lockdown of the country furthermore after April 15. Because, we can recover from the economic problem. But, we cannot recover lives. We cannot recover the lives of the people," he told reporters here.
The country's only weapon against the coronavirus was lockdown, he said.
"I appeal to the honourable Prime Minister, to the Government of India, please extend the lockdown without any hesitation," he said.
Rao further said: "Consult everybody, consult every Chief Minister, have a video conference with entire country, but take a conscious decision. Because, we have no other weapon in India to contain this dreadful virus."
With inputs from PTI.
First Published: Apr 6, 2020 9:42 PM IST
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