At least 13 Chief Ministers of states have asked for the lockdown to be extended during a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. "I am available 24x7. Any chief minister can speak to me and give suggestions (on COVID-19) anytime. We should stand together shoulder-to-shoulder," PM Modi assured the chief ministers in the meeting that lasted four hours. PM Modi took feedback from the chief ministers as the country entered 17th day of the three-week lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The highly infectious novel coronavirus has killed 242 people across the country so far, while the total number of positive cases have gone up to 7,529. The highest number of cases has been reported from Maharashtra, with 1,364 people testing positive for the novel coronavirus that was first detected in China in December. A novel virus is one that has not been previously identified in humans.
