Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray led Maharashtra government has extended the Coronavirus lockdown till May 31 with the state seeing no respite from the pandemic. The worst hit state due to COVID-19 outbreak has seen 30706 cases of the virus so far.

Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta has issued an order notifying extension of the present lockdown which was valid till May 17.

The lockdown is imposed in the entire state, but a calibrated phase-wise relaxation/lifting of lockdown orders will be notified in due course, according to the government notification.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with State Cabinet ministers to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the state and the measures needed to be implemented to contain the fast-spreading virus.

According to a senior minister, a consensus was reached on that the lockdown has to be extended in certain parts of the State, especially in red zones such as the Mumbai and Pune metropolitan regions, Malegaon and Solapur.

“In the rest of the state, the guidelines of the Centre will be implemented when they are announced before the lockdown 3.0 ends on May 17,” a state government official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

With around  one-third of the country’s total cases, Maharashtra has reported 1,606 new cases in a single day on Saturday. While the total fatalities in the state crossed 1135 mark.

The positive cases in the state capital Mumbai reached 18,555 with 884 fresh cases.

With the continuous daily spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths in Mumbai grabbing attention, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had assured the people that besides Coronavirus, the civic body has kept aside 7,500 beds for all other non-Corona diseases at major hospitals in the city and suburbs, maternity hospitals, clinics and nursing homes.

The nationwide shutdown enforced on March 24 has been extended twice, on April 14 and May 4. The third phase will end on May 17.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Tuesday, had said a fourth phase of the lockdown will be implemented after May 17, but the rules for it will be very different with many more relaxations likely.