New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “It is important to formulate a common exit strategy to ensure staggered re-emergence of the population once the lockdown ends”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the Chief Ministers in the country on Thursday through video conference on Covid- 19.

Interaction with the Chief Ministers he asked states to send their suggestions for such an exit strategy. He also said that the centre and states must have a common plan to ensure staggered movement of people after the national lockdown ends. He suggested the Chief Ministers States must enforce the lockdown “seriously” and also urging them to stick to social distancing. He also said “can’t be business as usual” after the lockdown and certain safeguards would have to be taken.

He also said to the Chief Ministers to “work on war footing, identify virus hotspots and encircle them” to contain the infection. The focus for the next few weeks must be testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine. The goal, he said, was to ensure minimum loss of life, and observed that the global situation was “far from satisfactory” with speculation of a second wave in some countries.

Nine chief ministers participated in the meeting, which was conducted by Home Minister Amit Shah. PM Modi, Mr. Shah and other ministers sat far apart from one another inside a large hall. PM Modi ordered a total national lockdown for 21 days on March 24 and said it was necessary to break the chain of transmission of the highly contagious disease, which has infected close to a million worldwide. During the video conference, PM Modi and the leaders also discussed contact tracing of hundreds who attended an Islamic sect meeting in Delhi’s Nizamuddin linked to nearly 400 Covid- 19 cases.