A Hindustan Times report quoted the Chief Minister to add that he believed it would be difficult to control people once the lockdown was lifted.

"All the efforts we had put in all these days, braving financial loss, would go waste, if situation comes back to square one due to the lockdown being eased,” he was quoted as saying by the publication.

Rao said that while it was possible to recover from financial losses, and revive the economy later, it was not possible to revive the "large number" of people who could become casualties of the virus if the lockdown was no longer in place.

The Boston Consulting Group report that KCR appears to have been referring to has preojected that India will reach its peak number of cases around the third week of June.

As per the report, if after hitting this peak, India decided to lift the lockdown immediately, that would mean that the lockdown would be in place till the last week of June.

As per the BCG report, the lockdown is expected to be lifted anywhere between the last week of June and the second week of September.

The suggested lockdown end dates are based on how the virus outbreak in China and Wuhan and the subsequent lockdown played out, as well as country-specific adjustment based on health system assessment and government effectiveness.