NEW DELHI: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said that coronavirus is "not a natural virus" rather "from a laboratory" and research for its vaccine, including in India, is underway.

"We have to understand the art of living with corona. This is not a natural virus. It is an artificial virus and now many countries in the whole world - they are researching on it for a vaccine. The vaccine is not available, it is expected that vaccine will be available as soon as possible, then there will be no problem," Nitin Gadkari said in an interview to a leading channel.

"The second problem is detection methodology. We need some good methodology for that so that we can immediately identify the virus. This is unexpected because this a virus from laboratory, this is not natural virus, so the world is now prepared, India is now prepared, scientists are prepared. After finding a solution for that, we can create confidence. After taking a vaccine there will be no problem," the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises minister added.

On migrants leaving the states, the road transport minister said that they left due to fear and expressed confidence that the workers would come back once businesses opened again. He said that the lockdown can not be further extended.

"We need to fight coronavirus but we are also fighting an economic war. We are a poor country and can't increase the lockdown from month to month," he was quoted saying.

Earlier, the minister told retailers to learn the "art of living" with the coronavirus pandemic while assuring them of looking into their demands for MSME status. He assured the retailers to look into their demands of financial aid from the government, which he would put forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Also Read: Two Killed In Reactor Blast At Zaheerabad Bio-Diesel Plant