PM Modi said some essential activities could be allowed after April 20 in parts of the country that showed some improvement in fighting the infection, he explained. The government will put out detailed guidelines on the lockdown on Wednesday.

PM Modi also put out a seven-point charter for people to follow, which included social distancing, taking care of the elderly and the poor, protecting jobs and preventing attacks on doctors and other frontline COVID-19 workers.

Hours before the Prime Minister's address, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in a video message praised the coronavirus warriors, saying they were fighting the pandemic despite the lack of resources.

States that have the most coronavirus cases are Maharashtra (2,334), Delhi (1,510), Tamil Nadu (1,173), Rajasthan (873) and Madhya Pradesh (604).

Delhi registered 356 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours on Monday, the sharpest single-day spike that took the capital's tally to 1,510. Four more people have died, taking the total to 28, health officials said.

Chennai has made protective masks mandatory for those stepping out of their homes in the city. Chennai has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu. On Monday, Chief Minister K Palaniswami has ordered the extension of the complete lockdown in the state by two weeks. Tamil Nadu is the sixth state to announce the extension of the lockdown. Earlier, Maharashtra, Punjab, Odisha, West Bengal and Telangana had extended the lockdown till April 30.

Meghalaya had its first coronavirus case on Monday when a well-known doctor at Shillong's Bethany Hospital was tested positive. The patient has no travel history, sources say, adding he might have contracted the virus through a "silent carrier".

In Kerala, the coronavirus curve has started to flatten, a state minister tweeted on Monday. The state has a high number of recoveries. second only to Maharashtra.

The United States recorded 1,509 deaths related to the coronavirus pandemic over the past 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The outbreak has now claimed the lives of at least 23,529 people in the US, the most of any country.