'Maha may extend lockdown if people don't follow discipline'

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government may not lift the current lockdown on April 14, when the countrywide restrictions end, if the people of the state do not observe discipline and the number of COVID-19 cases rises, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Saturday.

Tope urged people to observe strict discipline so that the number of cases goes down, which will then pave the way for lifting of the lockdown.

He, however, said that the lockdown will be lifted in phases whenever it is done, so that “not all the people can be allowed to come on to the streets at one go”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the 21-day lockdown in the country to combat the spread of the coronavirus on March 24.

“People must strictly observe discipline. But if they do not (by stepping outside homes unnecessarily) and the number of patients continues to go up, there will remain no other alternative left and the lockdown will have to be extended,” Tope said.

“Hence, people should strictly observe discipline. If they do so, the number of patients will reduce and then we can lift (the lockdown),” he added.

Tope said people living in densely-populated urban areas, in particular, should observe strict discipline.

The minister also informed that the number of COVID-19 positive cases in the state rose by 47 on Saturday, taking the tally to 537 from 490 on Friday.

Twenty-six people have died due to the disease in the state till now.