With nine days to go for the lifting of the lockdown 3.0 enforced to curtail the spread of coronavirus, guesswork is widespread on the option of an extension of lockdown in some areas of the nation that are categorised into ‘red zones’ and have witnessed a continuous rise in the past week.

Maharashtra is the worst affected State in the country, totalling for almost one-third of all coronavirus cases in India with the toll crossing over 17,000 cases. The two major cities Mumbai and Pune which are in Red Zones, have seen close to 15,000 cases.

Referring for the context, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday had a meeting with all party leaders of the State. Uddhav also had a session of meetings with senior government officials of the State to analyse the surge in the coronavirus cases.

CM Thackeray said that State had succeeded to control the spread of coronavirus due to the ongoing lockdown, but now efforts were on to stay cautious till the end of May.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray among others were present for the meeting.

A senior official from Maharashtra CMO was asked by ANI about the option of prolonged lockdown, answered that this could not be ruled out.

The official said, “We cannot rule out the possibility of an extended lockdown at this stage, but it is too early to comment on it as there are still ten days left for the current lockdown to get over.”