MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday (April 8, 2020) regretted the inconvenience caused to the people due to the ongoing lockdown but said that there is no other left to combat the deadly coronavirus.

Addressing a press briefing, the Shiv Sena chief said, “I understand that people are facing different types of issues while staying at home. People are getting bored. I am sorry about that but there is no option other than staying at home to beat COVID-19.’’

While urging people to wear masks while stepping out of their homes, Uddhav Thackeray stressed on following social distancing norms and staying indoors as much as possible. ‘’People should use masks while stepping out of their homes, stay indoors and follow social distancing norms,’’ the Maharashtra CM said.

He also made an appeal to all retired Army personnel who have experience of the medical field, nurses, ward boys, and all those who have completed the training but didn't work for some reason to join the state health workers engaged in dealing with COVID-19 cases.

‘’You all must come forward to join us. Maharashtra needs you,’’ Uddhav Thackeray said.

“All these people can reach out to us through CovidYoddha@gmail.com. This email id should not be used for sending any complaints,’’ the Maharashtra CM added.

The Maharashtra government also launched mahainfocorona.in web portal to give information on the measures taken by the state to tackle the coronavirus pandemic as the number of cases in the state crossed over 1,000 today.

The number of coronavirus cases in Mumbai, Maharashtra, has been rising amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Maharashtra is the only state to have crossed the 1,000-mark in terms of positive cases while 12 more died in the state on Monday to take the toll to 64.

At least 40 have died in Mumbai alone while more than 600 have tested positive in the country's financial capital.

The Maharashtra health department said that 150 more COVID-19 positive cases were reported in the state on Tuesday, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 1,018.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held a meeting with floor leaders of parties in Parliament, whose combined strength in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adds up to 5 MPs, to review the COVID-19 situation in the country.

The meeting was held through video conferencing. With an increase of 773 cases in the last 24 hours, India`s tally of COVID-19 cases crossed the 5,000-mark with 5,194 cases, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.

Out of the 5194 cases, 4,643 cases are reported to be active cases while 401 people have recovered/discharged and one migrated, the Ministry said.

The Health Ministry has reported 10 new deaths in the last 24 hours increasing the toll to 149.