Jaipur, April 10: The lockdown imposed to contain coronavirus transmission has been extended till May 1 in Rajasthan, reports said on Friday. The decision was taken by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, in consultation with his Cabinet colleagues, considering the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases in all parts of India. Earlier in the day, the Punjab government also extended the lockdown till May 1 to curb the spread of virus. COVID-19 Live Tracker: Map The Spread of Coronavirus in All States of India.

The lockdown in all Indian states, announced between March 22 to 24, was scheduled to end on April 14 -- as per the announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, Chief Ministers of a number of states conveyed to the central government that lifting the restrictions at this stage would be disastrous. Punjab Extends Coronavirus Lockdown Till May 1, Other Indian States Expected to Follow.

Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao was the most vocal while demanding the central government to extend the pan-India lockdown. Any considerations of easing the restrictions to mitigate the economic impact would have fatal impact, he had warned. "The lockdown is the only weapon left with governments to fight the spread of coronavirus," he had said.

While most other states have appealed the Centre to extend the nationwide lockdown, Odisha became the first Indian province on Thursday to announce an extension in the restrictions across the state till April 30. Schools, colleges and other educational institutes would remain closed till June 17, announced Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, while speaking to reporters on Friday, said his state would relax the lockdown only for the farmers as the wheat harvesting season will begin from April 15. On the statewide level, he added, the restrictions would be tightened as the threat of "community spread" appears imminent.

Rajasthan has so far confirmed 486 cases of coronavirus. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had earlier said that his government is not in favour of easing any restrictions till the next two weeks. The worst-affected Indian state is Maharashtra, where the COVID-19 toll has breached the 1,300-mark.

The nationwide tally of coronavirus cases reached 6,761, whereas, the death toll jumped to 206. Worldwide, the number of coronavirus death has breached 101,000 mark and the number of positive cases climbed to over 1,600,000.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 10, 2020 11:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).