According to sources, the Centre is thinking to extend the 21-day lockdown, which will end on April 14, till the end of the month after many states and experts made a request for it.

Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao cautioned that if the Covid-19 lockdown is lifted it could cost lives adding that he will appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus in the country.

A senior government official indicated that Uttar Pradesh may also extend the ongoing lockdown beyond April 14, citing the rising number of COVID-19 positive cases in the State including those linked to the Tablighi Jamaat.

The senior official’s statement came two days after Mr. Adityanath himself said that the lockdown in U.P. would come to an end on April 15, but would be implemented in phases.

A senior bureaucrat in Punjab has also favoured an extension of the lockdown. On Friday, a minister in Maharashtra, the worst-hit state in the country, also said that the restriction should not end on April 14.

On the day fourteen of a 21-day lockdown, the Health Ministry in a press briefing said 354 new cases, 8 deaths in last 24 hours have been registered.

Meanwhile, in another major development India has approved some exports of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug being touted as a possible coronavirus treatment, after apparent pressure from Donald Trump, who has been urging Americans to take it.

India, the world’s largest producer of hydroxychloroquine, had put a temporary export ban on the drug in order to preserve domestic stocks.

The partial lifting of the export ban comes after Trump confirmed he had called Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, over the weekend threatening “retaliation” if the country did not release its stocks.

“I spoke to him (Narendra Modi) Sunday morning, called him, and I said, we’d appreciate you allowing our supply to come out. If he doesn’t allow it to come out. That would be OK. But of course, there may be retaliation. Why wouldn’t there be,” the US President saidat a White House press briefing.

India’s neighbouring countries, such as Sri Lanka and Nepal, have also put in orders for the drug. India said it would consider all exports on a case-by-case basis.