Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (March 24) announced to allocate Rs 15,000 crore for Coronavirus COVID-19 testing facilities,Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs), ICUs, ventilators and for the training of medical workers while declaring a nationwide three-week lockdown starting from Tuesday midnight. The lockdown will also include all states and union territories.

The prime minister said the government has made a provisionof Rs 15,000 crore for strengthening the country's health infrastructure forthe treatment of coronavirus-infected patients.

He said that he has also requested the state governmentsthat their only priority at this time should be health services, asking peopleto stay away from superstitions, rumours and everyone must follow only crediblemedical advice.

Notably, a financial package was also expected for varioussectors, including civil aviation and tourism, to deal with the fall-out of thecoronavirus pandemic that has impacted the economy.

Many businesses have suffered irreparable losses due toshutdown and restrictions in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and thousandsof jobs have also been lost.

PM Modi warned, if we don`t follow a complete lockdown forthe coming 21 days, the nation will go back 21 years and many families will bedevastated.

He said that many powerful countries in the world havebecome helpless, regardless of their efforts, and reiterated that socialdistancing is the only way to deal with this deadly coronavirus that hasinfected more than 500 in India, so far.

In his address to the nation, "Some people are underthe misconception that social distancing is only for those infected withcoronavirus... but they should understand that this for everyone because it isimportant to break the cycle."

This is his second address to the nation regardingcoronavirus. In his first address, he urged Indians to observe `Janata Curfew`.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister also interacted withdoctors through video conferencing over coronavirus COVID19 outbreak. Besidesdoctors, medical professionals also participated in the meeting.

On Monday, Modi asked captains of India Inc to ensure thatthe production of essential items is not impacted in the wake of thecoronavirus outbreak and there is no hoarding and black marketing. During hisinteraction with leaders of India Inc, he also asked them to allow employees towork from home, according to an official release.

Exhorting India Inc to adopt a humanitarian approach, heasked them not to cut down on the workforce in spite of the COVID-19 negativeimpact on their businesses.

Industry representatives from Assocham, FICCI, CII andseveral local chambers from 18 cities across the country had participated inthe interaction with the prime minister through video-conferencing.