Amid the alarming spike in coronavirus cases across Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government will decide on imposing a lockdown in the state after April 2.

Pawar, who reviewed the situation in the state on Friday, warned people to strictly follow COVID-19 norms else the government will be forced to impose a lockdown.

"We are going to monitor the coronavirus cases in the state till April 2 and if we observe that people are not following social distancing norms, then the government won`t be left with any option and go for lockdown," Pawar said.

On Thursday, the state reported nearly 36,000 fresh coronavirus cases, raising concerns among the authorities. Mumbai, which is one of the worst affected cities in India, reported over 5,500 coronavirus cases, its biggest single-day spike since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.

Expressing concerns over the spike in cases, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has asked Maharashtra and five other states - Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Gujarat - to ramp up "testing and tracking" to break the chain of the infection.

On Thursday, it said three states -- Maharashtra, Kerala, and Punjab -- account for 74.32 percent of total active cases in the country which has increased to 3.95 lakh and comprises 3.35 percent of the total infections.

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