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,Mr 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.

It is more important how to lift the lockdown than when to come out of it, Mr Thackeray said in a video interaction with a team of doctors who are part of the task force set up by his government to combat COVID-19.

"Those who hurriedly lifted the lockdown had to impose it again. I don't want a second wave of coronavirus in the state," the chief minister said.

"The state government's ''Mission Begin Again'' initiative is being implemented step-by-step. The momentum of chase the virus' campaign should not stop since the threat of the virus still persists and monsoon is still active in the state. We have to be careful about rain-related ailments as well," he said.

Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the divisional commissioners, municipal commissioners and district collectors to bring down the mortality rate due to Covid-19 in the state. He said the mortality rate should be brought down under any circumstances. In a stern message he also said that there should be no negligence to trace the contacts and to focus more on the containment zones.

Joint Secretary in the ministry of health and family welfare, Lav Agrawal who also attended the video conferencing asked the concerned officials to undertake effective measures in districts where there is high prevalence of Covid-19 cases. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said that jumbo facilities on the lines of those set up in Mumbai will be made available in other big cities of Maharashtra on priority basis. Stating that nobody should remain negligent, he said that it is everybody's duty to ensure that second wave of Covid-19 do not hit Maharashtra.

Joint Secretary in the ministry of health and family welfare, Lav Agrawal said that 80 per cent contacts of a Covid positive patient should be traced and within 72 hours their tests should be conducted. He said one should not be over confident even as his antigen test comes out negative and the person should go for an RT-PCR test if symptoms are of Covid-19. He said it is also necessary to take measures to bring down the coronavirus affecting the health workers in Maharashtra which is 21 per cent as compared to the national average of 7 per cent