India’s virus cases nears 16,000

India's Maharashtra state, the country's largest regional economy, will allow a limited number of sectors to resume business today, after a weeks-long shutdown to slow the spread of coronavirus left millions out of work.

Maharashtra, home to financial centre Mumbai, has the biggest share of India's caseload of 15,713 infections, including a large number now ripping through its densely-packed slums.

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Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray yesterday told a news conference on that some activity would be permitted in the least-affected parts of the state while observing a strict lockdown in the red zones that have the maximum number of cases.

"We need to start the economic wheels again. We are giving selective permissions from tomorrow, especially in orange zones and green zones," he said, referring to areas with lower levels of infection.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended the nationwide lockdown that began late last month until May 3, but the federal government has allowed states to restart activity as amid economic distress in rural areas.