Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday said that his government will decide on April 12, whether there is a need to extend the lockdown after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with chief ministers on April 11 and depending on the decision taken by the Centre.
“The Centre did not consult anyone before the lockdown was imposed. It was done all of a sudden, resulting in chaos all over the country. Now, the Prime Minister is meeting chief ministers on April 11. We will put forth our suggestions in that meeting,” Baghel said.
“The Centre will take a decision on April 11 after the meeting with chief ministers. On April 12, I will have a video conferencing with my cabinet colleagues and we will make a decision,” he said.
Baghel, however, weighed in on the need to extend the restriction on interstate travel since opening up the borders might lead to a spread of the virus. “If the restriction is removed at one go, we might see an increase in the number of cases since people can be asymptomatic and yet carriers of the disease,” he said.
Baghel blamed the Modi government for the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, saying had the Centre taken a decision to keep all those who arrived on international flights in quarantine and test them, the virus would not have spread.
“The disease did not originate in India. It came here on international flights. The Centre should have decided to quarantine them upon arrival and also test them. Had they done it, the disease would not have spread all over the country,” Baghel said.
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He said Chhattisgarh took a decision to put all 2100 people who had returned from abroad since February under quarantine and carried out tests on the 90 who had come back from the United Kingdom since a trend was noticed that people with travel history to that country were testing positive.
Baghel gave the credit for the decisions taken to curb the spread of Coronavirus in Chhattisgarh to former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and said that as suggested by him, rapid testing would soon be started in Chhattisgarh.
The state has reported 11 cases of coronavirus so far, nine of whom have recovered and have been discharged from hospital.
On the issue of Tablighi Jamaat emerging as an epicentre of Coronavirus, he said had the Centre had tracked down the visitors from abroad in time and kept them in quarantine, the problem would not have arisen.
“I am not saying that Tablighi Jamaat is innocent. But the Centre and the state government had the list of people who had come from abroad. They failed to act in time,” he said.
