Hyderabad, April 12: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced that students from Class 1 to 9 of all public and private schools in the state will be promoted to the next class.

"The parents of students from class 1-9 need not worry about their exams. Today Cabinet has decided that all the students from Classes 1 to 9 of both public and private schools will be promoted to the next class," Rao said while addressing the media after a state Cabinet meeting on Saturday. Coronavirus Outbreak in Maharashtra: All School Students of Classes 1 to 8 to Get promoted Without Exams, Class 10 SSC Board Exam 2020 to be Held as Per Schedule, Says State Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad.

The state Cabinet meeting was held after the video conference of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with all Chief Ministers wherein they discussed coronavirus and lockdown situation in the country. In his address to the media, KCR announced that the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has been extended to April 30 in the state.

Announcing the same, the Chief Minister said, "Till now there are 503 positive cases reported in Telangana state. At present, there are 393 active cases of which 96 have been discharged and 14 deaths have been reported. After the video conference held with the Prime Minister, we decided to extend the lockdown till April 30 in the state and it will be implemented immediately. The extension of the lockdown will be informed to the PM through a letter.

"The Chief Minister said that farming and related activities will be allowed to continue during the course of the lockdown. He also said that as many as "243 containment areas have been identified in the state" and hoped to "get good results".

"Essentials will be delivered door-to-door in containment areas. Not a single person is in serious condition in the state. There is a possibility that by April 24 we can see the total cure of all the positive cases in the state," he added. The Chief Minister also urged all religious leaders to avoid mass gatherings during the extended course of the lockdown and appealed to the people to cooperate by staying inside their houses.

"Luckily, if there is control in spreading of the virus, the lockdown after April 30 may happen in different phases according to the decision taken by the Centre. Till now the public have co-operated very well by staying at home, I request you all to do it for some more days so that we can avoid the spreading of the disease," he said. He also added that the state government will seal the border with Maharashtra if there is an increase in cases in the coming days.

Earlier, Odisha, Punjab, and Maharashtra have also announced an extension of the 21-day nationwide lockdown in their respective states. The total number of COVID-19 cases in India reached 7,703, as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on April 11 at 9 pm.

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