Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said the process of lifting the lockdown in the state would be done in a stepwise manner. The threat of Covid-19 still persists, Thackeray said on Saturday, and added that he does not want a second wave of the deadly viral infection in the state.

The Maharashtra government last month extended the lockdown in the state till August 31. Till Saturday, the state reported 5,84,754 Covid-19 cases and 19,749 deaths due to the disease, as per official figures.