Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the country’s chief ministers agreed on Saturday that the nationwide lockdown needed to be extended by another two weeks to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

At his videoconference with the chief ministers, Modi stressed the need to protect “jaan bhi, jahan bhi (lives as well as the world)”, while indicating the second phase of the lockdown could see certain relaxations for the sake of vital economic activities.

But he also appeared to hint that two more weeks of lockdown may not be enough, stressing the “criticality of the coming 3-4 weeks”, according to a government release.

Although Modi was yet to formally announce an extension of the lockdown, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that the “PM has taken correct decision to extend lockdown”.

“Today, India’s condition is better than many developed countries because we started lockdown early. If it is stopped now, all gains would be lost. To consolidate, it is imp to extend it,” Kejriwal wrote.

Sources said Modi was likely to announce the extension of the lockdown and spell out the relaxations in another address to the nation, to be delivered before the current three-week lockdown expires on April 14 midnight.

Modi reminded the chief ministers that when he had announced the lockdown in March, he had said: “Jaan hai to jahan hai (The world exists if life exists).”

“Now the stress will be on ‘jaan bhi, jahan bhi’,” the Prime Minister said, according to the release.

After the videoconference, Modi asked his council of ministers and bureaucrats of the rank of joint secretary and above to attend office from Monday or from Tuesday if they are taking the day off for Baisakhi, sources said.

Ministers and bureaucrats had been working from home during the lockdown.

Other required staff will continue to report for work in office on a rotational basis, as they have been doing.

“The government can’t be seen as paralysed by the virus. A lot of important work has to be done to ensure the economy suffers least damage,” an official attached to a senior minister said.

Sources said this might be a signal of the Prime Minister’s intention to allow some relaxations, particularly in core sectors of the economy, after April 14.

The government release said that most of the chief ministers sought a two-week extension of the lockdown.

A few states, such as Odisha and Maharashtra, have already extended the lockdown till the end of April.

“Talking about the exit plan from the lockdown, the Prime Minister said that there seems to be a consensus among the states on an extension of the lockdown by another two weeks,” the release said.

It quoted Modi as saying that although the combined efforts of the Centre and the states had helped reduce the impact of Covid-19, there was a need for constant vigil.

“He emphasised the criticality of the coming 3-4 weeks for determining the impact of the steps taken till now to contain the virus, adding that teamwork is the key to facing the challenge,” the release said.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was quoted by PTI as saying the lockdown should be lifted in a phased manner. “In our opinion, some districts need the restriction but some do not,” he said.

Kerala suggested that restrictions in the seven hotspots — Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram — continue till April 30, he said, adding that states should be given the authority to allow certain activities in other areas.

Modi urged the chief ministers to popularise the Aarogya Setu app, created by the Centre to spread awareness about the virus and air advisories. The app uses the location of a person’s phone to assess his likelihood of getting infected.

“He (Modi) also referred to the possibility of the app being an e-pass which could subsequently facilitate travel from one place to another,” the release said.

Modi said South Korea and Singapore had used a similar app for “contact tracing”.

The Prime Minister tried to assuage fears about the economy, telling the chief ministers the crisis was an “opportunity to become self-reliant and turn the nation into an economic powerhouse”.