Maharashtra government has decided to extend the lockdown in hotspot areas like Mumbai, Pune, Malegaon, Aurangabad and Solapur until May 31.

The announcement came after the state recorded 1,602 fresh novel coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally of confirmed Covid-19 patients in the state to 27,524, according to the state health department data.

This by far is the highest number of fresh cases reported in a single day in the state.

Of these fresh cases, Mumbai alone recorded nearly 1,000 new Covid-19 patients in the last 24 hours.Mumbai’s Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum, reported 33 new cases and two deaths today, taking the total number of cases in the area to 1061

The possibility of extending the lockdown was discussed in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

“In the rest of the state, the guidelines of the Centre will be implemented when they are announced before the lockdown 3.0 ends on May 17,” a state government official said.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil, Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, Industries Minister Subhash Desai, Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat and PWD Minister Ashok Chavan.

Meanwhile, the total number of coronavirus cases in India increased to 78,003, with the death toll rising to 2,549.