Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu governments, on Sunday, extended the lockdown in the states till May 31.
Maharashtra Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta has issued an order notifying extension of the lockdown, an official said.
"The calibrated phase-wise relaxation/lifting of lockdown orders will be notified in due course," the order said. The present lockdown was valid from May 2 to 17.
"Lockdown 3.0 ends today. Lockdown 4.0 will come into effect tomorrow and will be valid till May 31. There will be some relaxations in the fourth phase," he said. "The green and orange zones will get more relaxations, in terms of starting more services. As of now only essential services are operational,” he said.
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Maharashtra has recorded 30,706 COVID-19 cases of which 22,479 are active. The death toll is 1135, while 7,088 patients have been discharged after recovery.
Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, lockdown was extended till May 31 in Tamil Nadu by Chief Minister K. Palaniswami, who announced new relaxations such as resumption of intra-district transportation in 25 districts after a hiatus of nearly two months.
In 12 other districts, including Chennai, there will be no change in the curbs and they will continue as existed during the third phase of lockdown, set to end on Sunday, he added.
Citing consultations with top officials, public health and medical experts, he said the lockdown is extended till May 31 and the curbs including bar on functioning of educational institutions, public entry into religious places and relaxations already in force will continue throughout the state.
Palaniswami announced new relaxation in curbs for 25 districts, including Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Tirupur, Namakkal and Karur, where people could avail government and private buses for commute within the district and they do not need "TN e-pass," (permission for travel), he said.
Effective from March 24 evening, public transport ceased to operate in the state as part of lockdown measures.
Punjab had already announced on May 16 that the lockdown will be extended till May 31. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday evening said the coronavirus lockdown in the state will continue till May 31, though his government will lift the curfew restrictions.
From May 18, there will be no curfew in the state. But the lockdown will be there till May 31, said the chief minister in a live Facebook interaction as part of his #AskCaptain initiative.
He further indicated the resumption of limited public transport services and the "maximum possible relaxation" in the non-containment zones from May 18.
He said the state government will announce more relaxations from May 18 but sought support of people in containing the COVID-19 spread in the state.
