Congress, a member of the ruling alliance, asked chief minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday to extend the ongoing seven-day lockdown by another week in view of the steady rise in Covid-19 cases and fatalities in Jharkhand.

Party spokesperson Alok Dubey said, “It is said that the virus has a 14-day life-cycle and it is important to break the chain by early detection and curbing its spread. The state government had already taken a judicious step by imposing a balanced lockdown on April 22 to break the chain, But, cases are still raising. The party demands that the lockdown be extended by another week.”

The current phase of the lockdown, which the state government has christened as "health safety week", will end on Thursday, April 29. So far, the state government has allowed key sectors such as agriculture, essential items, mining, among others, to operate keep the economic cycle running.

Leader of the ruling alliance JMM and Opposition BJP also conceded that there was need for further extension of the lockdown, but both felt the shutodwn this time must be total.

BJP’s Pradeep Sinha said, “The way the state government has imposed a lockdown doesn’t seem to be working as it has virtually kept everything opened, including wine shops. All that it did was close down recreational areas and educational centres. There is a need for a stringent lockdown to break the chain, and during this time, the government must ramp up vaccination and improve medical facilities.”

JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharjee agreed that a complete lockdown was the need of the hour. “We had demanded this during the all- party meet with the CM last time,” he said.

Notably, between April 22 and now, Jharkhand recorded around 22,000 new Covid-19 cases and about 400 deaths, indicating the speed

at which the virus is spreading among people.

Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCC)’s general secretary Rahul Maroo said the situation in Ranchi and elsewhere in the state was far from normal. He said that while trade bodies had voluntarily decided to close down operations for a week even before the government ordered a lockdown, they would take a call again on April 29. “We will wait to see what state government decides first,” he said.

Sources in the state government did not rule out the possibility of extending the lockdown. “Deliberations are on. It is every likely that we may go for another extension with some more additional curbs,” said a senior officer, adding that a few states, including Delhi, had done the same.