India to remain in lockdown till May 3, announces PM Modi

India will remain under lockdown till May 3 to contain COVID-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Tuesday.

The 21-day lockdown, which was announced by the Prime Minister last month, was slated to end today.

"Till 20th April, all districts, localities, states will be closely monitored, as to how strictly they are implementing norms. States which will not let hotspots increase, they could be allowed to let some important activities resume, but with certain conditions," Modi informed the nation in a televised address.

Earlier, the Prime Minister had on Saturday held consultations with Chief Ministers through video-conferencing, during which talks were held over the need for extending the lockdown further after taking into consideration the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

During the course of the meeting, he had said that there seems to be a consensus amongst the States on the extension of lockdown by another two weeks. The Prime Minister underlined that the motto of the government earlier was 'jaan hai to jahaan hai' but now it is 'jaan bhi jahaan bhi'.

Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have already announced the extension of lockdown.

India's total number of Coronavirus positive cases has climbed to 10,363 including 8,988 active cases, 1,035 cured/discharged/migrated and 339 deaths, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said today.