Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held an all-party meeting via videoconference to discuss the fight against coronavirus. He met with floor leaders of parties whose combined strength in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adds up to 5 MPs. Life will not be the same again after COVID-19, said the PM, adding that there would be "pre-corona and post-corona" for times to come.

Several states, including BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, have indicated that they would prefer an extension. Telangana, which also suggested an extension of lockdown, quoted a survey by Boston Consulting Group, which advised lockdown till June 3. According to it, the coronavirus cases in the country will peak by June 1, state minister KT Rama Rao told NDTV on Tuesday. Assam and Chhattisgarh too have said they would like to keep the state borders closed or allow only restricted entry while they dealt with the infections.

Schools and colleges are unlikely to open next week. A Group of Ministers that met Tuesday recommended that all educational institutions stay closed for another four weeks. It also suggested continuing the ban on religious gathering and meetings.

States that have the most coronavirus cases are Maharashtra (1018), Tamil Nadu (690), Delhi (576), Telangana (364) and Kerala (336). The testing across the country has nearly doubled in the last couple of days. From around 60,000 tests as of April 2, around 1,15,000 tests have been conducted till April 7.

Municipal authorities in Mumbai have announced that wearing protective masks will be mandatory in public places and that violators could be arrested.

Hotspots across 15 districts of Uttar Pradesh - places which have seen multiple cases of coronavirus - will be sealed till April 15, the state Chief secretary said. These include capital Lucknow and Noida near Delhi.

A recent study by the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) - the nodal agency for battle against COVID-19 - shows that if an infected person practice social distancing or is not quarantined, she or he can infect 406 people in 30 days. The Health Ministry said nearly 70 per cent people affected with coronavirus either show mild or very mild symptoms of the disease and may not require admission to dedicated hospitals.

More than one-third of the total number of coronavirus cases in India is linked to a religious gathering in Delhi last month, which has been identified as a hotspot for the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.

Amid rising pressure over the export of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which is being tested as a coronavirus cure, the government on Tuesday said it will allow limited exports of the key drug to "nations that have been badly affected" by the pandemic.