Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Sunday said that the lockdown imposed to contain the novel coronavirus will end on April 15, as scheduled, but asserted that a mechanism should be evolved to ensure crowding does not subsequently take place, PTI reported. Adityanath made the remarks during discussions with MPs via video conferencing.

“Lockdown will be lifted on April 15,” Adityanath said. “We have to ensure that crowding doesn’t take place. Your help and cooperation is needed in this regard. The reason is that after the lockdown is lifted and if crowding takes place, then all of our efforts will go in vain. So, I want that we evolve a mechanism, and for this, I would invite your suggestions.”

Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Mahendra Nath Pandey, who attended the video conference, said the chief minister told the MPs about the measures the state had taken to curb the spread of Covid-19.

As many as 3,374 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in India so far, and 77 people have died, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Two hundred and sixty six patients have recovered. Uttar Pradesh has had 227 cases, of whom 19 were discharged and two people died.

On April 2, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting of all chief ministers through videoconferencing. In the meeting, Modi said the Centre and states must have a “common exit strategy for staggered re-entry of population” after the three-week nationwide lockdown, which began on March 25.

He also urged the chief ministers that the collective goal of the country should be to ensure minimum loss of life, according to a press statement on the meeting. “In the next few weeks, testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine should remain the areas of focus,” Modi added.