Coronavirus India Updates: Number Of Covid-19 Cases Rises To 283

The total reported number of Covid-19 cases in India rose to 283 on Saturday—an increase of 47 cases in just one day, according to the health ministry.

“The cases of Covid-19 have progressively increased in the last few days,” Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry, said in his daily press briefing on Friday. “We will need to adapt social distancing measures in some form or the other.”

More than 6,700 people are also being monitored, he said. Agarwal urged citizens to refrain from spreading misinformation and use the toll-free helpline 1075 to seek clarifications.

The total figure includes four deaths and 23 people cured or discharged.

A 72-year-old man who died in Punjab tested positive for Covid-19, on Thursday. The other three persons who have died were in Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Indian Railways today said rail travel will be "vastly reduced" during the so-called Janata Curfew on Sunday.

While intercity passenger trains will run between 7:00 am and 9:00 pm, suburban rail services in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Secunderabad will be reduced to the bare minimum.

• All passenger trains originating between midnight of Mar. 21-22 to 10:00 pm of March 22 are cancelled.
• All long-distance mail/express and intercity trains (including premium trains) originating between 4:00 am and 10:00 am will be cancelled.
• Trains which had commenced journey already prior to the above timelines will run up to their destinations.

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, nine new cases of coronavirus infections have been reocrded in Mumbai and its surrounding areas—increasing the tally of Covid-19 cases in the city to 30.

Of the nine, six patients have international travel history. As many as 306 international travellers are in quarantine facilities, according to the BMC.

According to latest central health ministry data, Maharashtra has 63 positive cases of the virus. One other person has died due to the disease.

Kerala has recorded 12 more positive cases of Covid-19, increasing the state's tally to 49, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. According to central health ministry data, the state at present has 40 people infected with the virus.

While six more people tested positive from Kasaragod, three each new cases were from Kannur and Ernakulam districts, Vijayan told reporters. All those who were diagnosed with coronavirus today had returned from Dubai recently, he said.

Three medical students from Wuhan in China, who had tested positive, have been cured and discharged from hospitals earlier.

At least 52,785 people are in home quarantine, while 228 are under observation in isolation wards at various hospitals.

Petrol pumps will remain open in Mumbai and its suburbs on Sunday but operate with minimal staff. From Monday to March 31, they will operate from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm only.

The city is under lockdown till the end of the month.

"The timing will be revised at the end of this month," the Mumbai Petrol Dealers Association said on Saturday. "No employees will lose their salaries for reduced working hours."

The 213-odd fuel pumps in the city normally operate 20 hours a day.

India now has 111 labs to carry out Covid-19 tests, Joint Health Secretary Lav Agarwal said on Saturday. The government is already is discussion with private labs and a detailed order on the same will be issued later today, he added.

According to Consumer Affairs Secretary PK Agarwal,

• Masks, hand sanitisers already under Essential Commodities Act.
• Prices capped at Rs 8 for two-ply masks, Rs 10 for three-ply masks.
• Prices of alcohol-based sanitisers capped at Rs 100 for 200 ml bottles.
• No selling above MRP for new products.
• The price cap of masks and hand sanitisers applicable till June 30, 2020.
• Deodorant manufacturers now allowed to manufacture hand sanitisers.
• Distilleries told to provide ethyl alcohol, etc., for making hand sanitisers.
• Hand-sanitiser makers can now increase production without any permission.

These are extraordinary circumstances and hence extraordinary measure have been taken, PK Agarwal added.

The Delhi government on Saturday announced relief for the poor affected by the virus' spread in the state.

• Rs 4,000-5,000 pension will be paid to 8.5 lakh beneficiaries by April.
• Free rations, with 50 percent more quantity than prescribed, will be extended to 72 lakh beneficiaries.
• Lunch and inner will be served free to each and every person at all night shelters.
• For those who need to be quarantined and are opting for the paid hotel facility, GST will be waived to make it more affordable.

The Railways Ministry has put out a statement which confirms that four passengers travelling on Godan Express (Train 11055) from Mumbai to Jabalpur on March 16 in coach number B1 have now tested positive for COVID-19.

The passengers had come to India from Dubai last week.

8 passengers who had travelled on AP Sampark Kranti Express from Delhi to Ramagundam on March 13 have also tested positive for COVID-19.

2 passengers marked with mandatory quarantine travelling had also boarded the Rajdhani travelling between Bengaluru & Delhi today. The passengers were immediately de-boarded and the entire coach was sanitised.

The Confederation of All India Traders has decided to keep all major wholesale and retail markets shut in Delhi for the next three days.

The association has pegged the loss of business at approximately Rs 500 crore per day.

271 individuals have tested positive for coronavirus in India so far, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research. This includes Indian citizens and foreign nationals, according to the release.

Maharashtra continues to have the highest number of cases, with the total tally rising to 63.

2 out of the 11 new cases are in Pune, according to the District Magistrate who spoke to ANI.

The market regulator lowered the limit of positions that can be taken in the futures and options market, increased margin requirements and capped derivatives exposure as it looks to counter volatility and short-selling triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The regulator has brought down market wide position limit—the maximum number of open positions in F&O contracts of a particular underlying stock—from 95 percent to 50 percent, subject to conditions, according to a statement by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. It also increased margin requirement on F&O stocks having positions above this new cap, among other measures.

Stock exchanges, clearing corporations, depositories, stock brokers and SEBI-registered participants operating through these institutions will be exempted, Thackeray clarified.

On the other hand, health care services, banks, grocery stores, and media are among the private corporate establishments that will be exempted from the shutdown, according to the BMC.

Here’s a list of establishments that will remain open:

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has also clarified that eateries will be allowed to remain provided they stick to the guidelines.

"Restaurants, cafes, eateries and dhabas may continue if they can self-impose 50% customer capacity and maintain distance of 3 feet between each customer", said the BMC in a statement issued last night.

Restaurant Association Says Establishments Will Remain Shut.

Non-essential shops in malls, in the Delhi National Capital Region will remain shut till March 31, starting midnight.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made the announcement in a press conference today, after meeting the state’s department heads and secretaries.

Speaking about the government offices, Kejriwal said all non-essential staff are being directed to work from home and all permanent and contractual employees will be paid for this period.

All non-essential shops and offices in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Pimpri, Chinchwad and Nagpur will remain shut starting midnight, tonight, till March 31 as per an announcement by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Government offices will operate at 25 percent attendance, Aaditya Thackeray - state Tourism Minister - said on his Twitter handle.

He clarified that essential goods such as groceries, milk and other day to day items shall remain available.

Maharashtra has the most number of cases at 47, compared to other states, with a majority of those in Mumbai and Pune.

Total number of cases in India rose to 195 on Friday - 30 more than the last update by the Health Ministry. This is the largest spike India has seen in a day, so far.

The Delhi government issued an advisory for the private sector to allow their employees to work from home till March 31 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Friday.

In the advisory, the government also asked people, particulary senior citizens, pregnant women and those affected with hypertension and diabetes, to remain at home.

On Thursday, the total number of coronavirus cases in the national capital rose to 14.

According to the Health Ministry data, the Covid-19 cases in India rose to 195 on Friday after 22 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country.

Source: PTI

In a bid to meet the increasing demand for masks during the coronavirus pandemic, prisoners at Maharashtra's Nagpur Central Jail have started manufacturing the essential protective gear.

Prisoners working in the jail's stitching department manufacture hundreds of masks every day and these are supplied to several prisons and government departments in the state, jail superintendent Anup Kumre said.

At least 300 masks were supplied to Chandrapur district jail, while 200 were sent to Bhandara Jail and 350 will be delivered to Washim Jail soon, he said.

Source: PTI

The Health Ministry’s reported 195 total coronavirus cases today morning - with 30 new active cases compared to last night’s update - making this the largest single-day spike so far.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday addressed the nation, asking citizens to maintain discipline and patience in fighting coronavirus. He advocated social distancing, self isolation, working from home and announced a ‘Janata Curfew’ on Sunday.

Two positive cases of the novel coronavirus have been found in Gujarat, said health department officials on Thursday.

One of the Covid-19 patients is from Rajkot, while the other is from Surat, said the officials of the Health and Family Welfare department.

Source: PTI

A 23-year-old woman, who returned recently from London, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the first confirmed case of the infection in the union territory, an official said on Thursday.

The woman had arrived at the Amritsar airport from London on March 15.

Source: PTI

Rajasthan Chief MInister Ashok Gehlot has called for shutdown of government, semi-government, autonomous institutions till March 31, PTI reported citing an official statement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing the nation on the coronavirus outbreak.

His speech comes after the confirmed cases of Covid-19 spiked to 169 on Thursday. Four deaths have been confirmed. Yesterday, Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the steps being taken to control the spread of the virus.

Watch his speech and track live updates on his address here

The government is focused on adapting to how things are progressing globally and in the country, Joint Health Secretary Lav Agarwal said when asked about the possibility of a lockdown in India in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

“(We) have always been ahead in terms of preparedness in this infectious disease. Extra efforts have been helping us,” he said. “Whatever steps the government has taken are preventive, only to avoid escalation. It is an evolving situation and we will react accordingly.”

On shortage of masks, Agarwal said N95 masks are available in sufficient quantity.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says all restaurants in the city will remain closed till March 31, but food deliveries and takeaways are permitted.

State governments will issue appropriate directions so that all citizens above 65 years of age are advised to stay home. Children below 10 years of age should also be advised to stay at home.

State governments have been requested to ensure work from home for private sector employees except those working in emergency/essential services.

According to Joint Health Secretary Lav Agarwal,

• Group C and D central government employees shall be allowed to come office on alternate weeks; staggered timings for all employees.
• Detailed advisory has been issued to all health establishments to avoid non-urgent hospitalisation.
• Government to take necessary action against anyone charging exorbitant prices for masks, sanitisers and other health-related logistics material.

According to the joint health secretary, the govenrment has started work on how to engage private healthcare firms in fighting the spread of the coronavirus in India. The government will provide the protocol within which quality can be maintained, he said.

India will bar all incoming flights to the country for a week from March 22 in its efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Indian Council of Medical Research has started monitoring the presence of community transmission of Covid-19 in the country.

Community transmissions are when people without any travel to an infected region or contact history to an infected person start showing up symptoms.

Since Feb. 15, ICMR started setting up sentinel surveillance systems at various sites in the country. As of March 15, they had 51 surveillance sites.

The apex health research body said that 826 samples of people suffering from a severe acute respiratory infection, or influenza-like illness, have been tested at the sites. None of them were found to be positive.

The surveillance systems are now being expanded to specifically include more areas where Covid-19 cases have been reported.

The Food and Drugs Administration personnel raided a hand sanitiser manufacturing unit in suburban Nahur and seized substandard sanitisers worth Rs 25 lakh, officials said according to PTI. The number on the Health Ministry’s website, however stands at six.

The sanitisers were manufactured illegally and were being exported without any valid licence and necessary permissions, officials said on Wednesday.

Source: PTI

The number of coronavirus cases in Telangana reached 13 with a group of seven Indonesians and a youth, who returned from Scotland, testing positive for the virus on Wednesday.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the state stood at six after the Scotland-returned youth tested positive for the virus.

However, it went up to 13 after a special media bulletin on COVID-19 issued by the state government late on Wednesday night stated that seven Indonesians, who came for religious activity, tested positive.

An Indonesian citizen, who is part of the group, had already positive for the virus on Tuesday.

Source: PTI

All ongoing examinations, including the CBSE boards and university exams, have to be rescheduled after March 31, the Ministry of Human Resource Development said. The directive includes competitive examinations like the JEE-Main.

ICSE board exams have not been postponed, will be held as per schedule, secretary Gerry Arathoon clarified.

BMC has put out a list of all the isolation facilities available across Mumbai. As per the municipal body, isolation beds are available at these hospitals:

• Jaslok Hospital - 5 Beds
• H.N.Reliance Hospital - 2 Beds
• Hinduja Hospital, Mahim -20 Beds
• Kokilaben Hospital - 17 Beds
• Raheja Hospital - 12 Beds
• Jagjivan Ram Western Railway Hospital – 10 Beds
• Gurunanak Hospital - 2 Beds
• St. Elizabeth Hospital – 2 Beds
• Bombay Hospital– 4 Beds
• Lilavati Hospital– 15 Beds

Talks are on between the government and the private healthcare sector to assist in scaling up coronavirus testing, according to Apollo Hospitals’ Joint Managing Director Sangita Reddy.

"The private sector will get involved in testing because it is important to scale up capacity. As for, which laboratories, how they will scale up, pricing, etc - these are all functions of the Covid-19 partnership between government and private sector," Reddy told BloombergQuint.

As many as 276 Indians have been infected with coronavirus abroad, including 255 in Iran, 12 in United Arab Emirates and five in Italy, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said the total number of Indians infected by coronavirus is 276 -- 255 in Iran, 12 in UAE, five in Italy, and one each in Hong Kong, Kuwait, Rwanda and Sri Lanka.

A fourth batch of 53 Indians returned to India from Iran on Monday, taking the total number of people evacuated from the coronavirus-hit country to 389.

(Source: PTI)

Number of novel coronavirus cases in Mumbai remained constant and no new case was recorded on Wednesday morning, a senior civic official said.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani said the number of Covid-19 cases remained constant in the metropolis with no fresh case being detected till 11 a.m.

Until now, 15 Covid-19 cases have been found in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Source: PTI

Students of classes one to eight of all government primary schools in Uttar Pradesh will get promoted without having to appear in examinations in view of the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Wednesday.

Examinations in primary schools were scheduled between March 23 and 28.

Source: PTI

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediuyurappa on Wednesday called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the coronavirus outbreak and indicated the lock- down in the state will continue.

"I have called an emergency cabinet meeting this afternoon; Speaker (of legislative assembly) has also called a meeting. We will discuss and will take what more stringent measures that needs to be taken," he said.

Responding to a question on whether the lock-down in the state would continue, the Chief Minister said, "most probably it will continue."

Source: PTI

The Western Railway and Central Railway on Tuesday hiked platform ticket rates from the present Rs 10 to up to Rs 50 to discourage unnecessary crowding at stations in view of the coronavirus scare.

Read more here.

A man, who recently returned from England, on Tuesday tested positive for the novel coronavirus, making it the first case in West Bengal, a health department official said.

The man was admitted to Beleghata ID Hospital in Kolkata after he showed symptoms of Covid-19.

Source: PTI

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has ordered all malls, mills, cinema halls, clubs and pubs to be closed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Besides, the BMC has also directed all public and private officers, that do not provide essential services, to allow only up to 50 percent of their staff to attend office on any day. Establishments that provide essential services like drinking water, banking services, rail and likewise will be excluded from the directive.

BMC has also announced a Rs 1,000 fine for spitting.

The announcements came with at least 15 cases being reported in Mumbai. Of these seven are in the city, while eight are out of Mumbai.

Mumbai also witnessed the third coronavirus-related death in India today when a 63-year-old male died earlier this morning.

To contain the coronavirus spread, the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday extended the closure of all educational institutions, cinemas, multiplexes and tourist places in the state till April 2.

Competitive and other examinations too have been postponed till April 2.

The Rajasthan government also banned all gatherings at public places exceeding 50 people till March 31 to fight the coronavirus outbreak, said an official statement.

The ban will be in force till March 31 after which the situation will be reviewed and appropriate decision taken, it added.

The Indian Council of Medical Research has appealed to private laboratories that they offer testing for Covid-19 free of cost.

The ICMR is also engaging with high-quality private laboratories to understand the modalities to increase access to the tests while ensuring appropriate safeguards, Balram Bhargava, Director General of ICMR, said in a media conference. The government earlier gave it's not to private labs for conducting Covid-19 tests.

There are 72 functional ICMR laboratories in the government sector for testing, Bhargava said. He added that 49 more will be active by the end of the month.

ICMR is also operationalising two high-output systems which can test up to 1,400 samples per day. They will be ready by the end of this week.

On the risk of community transmissions, the ICMR DG said that currently, their study suggests no evidence of that. He added that they have requested WHO to provide one million probes for testing of coronavirus and orders have been placed for another one million.

Watch the media briefing here.

Cracking the whip on misinformation being spread about novel coronavirus infection, the Maharashtra Medical Council has issued a notice to a Mumbai-based doctor who had termed the virus as a "Chinese fad" which will not survive in the Indian summer.

The MMC has sought explanation from Dr Anil Patil from Dadar in central Mumbai whether he has any study to substantiate his claims. "The notice has been issued to Dr Anil Patil about whether he has any study or database to substantiate his claims about the virus," MMC president Dr Shivkumar Uttekar said on Tuesday.

He said Dr Patil had made several claims in his interviews that are prima facie violative of advisories issued by the Central government.

Source: PTI

A 63-year-old Covid-19 patient died at Mumbai's Kasturba hospital, according to the Health Ministry. The patient was admitted in a private hospital for five days being shifted to Kasturba hospital. He had recently travelled to Dubai, which he did not disclose at the time of his admission to the private hospital. His wife has also tested positive for Covid-19 and is stable.

This takes the total number of deaths caused by the virus in India to three. The number was confirmed by the Health Ministry website dedicated to tracking cases.

The other two deaths took place in Delhi and Kerala last week. Both patients were more than 60 years old.

In a bid to protect police personnel from novel coronavirus infection, Maharashtra Highway Police has suspended breath-analyser tests needed to check drunk driving, a senior officer has said. A circular in this regard was issued by Vinay Kargaonkar, Additional Director General of Police, Maharashtra Highway Police, on Monday.

"Outbreak of coronavirus has been reported in the state. To contain the spread of the virus, the police personnel need to take precautionary measures accordingly. Hence, Traffic Police personnel in all police units should not conduct breath-analyser tests for alcohol consumption by motorists," the circular stated.

Source: PTI

After banning visitors from Europe and U.K. last night, the Indian government has applied the same limitations on entry of passengers from Philippines, Malaysia, Afghanistan till March 31.

All schools, colleges, cinema halls, gyms, amusement parks and swimming pools will be closed in Tamil Nadu till March 31.

All monuments and museums under the Archaeological Survey of India will remain closed at least till March 31.

India has barred airlines from boarding passengers from European Union countries, U.K. and Turkey, according to a circular by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

• Airlines will have to enforce this at the port of initial departure from March 18.
• Compulsory 14-day quarantine for passengers coming from or transiting through UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait.
• Measures to be effective until March 31 and will be reviewed after that.

Health Ministry says:

• Four new cases, from Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Orissa, and Kerala have come up since the last update. There are a total of 114 cases as of today.
• Require the whole of society and government approach to deal with Covid-19.
• States can also now use the state disaster relief fund to establish labs quarantine centers, labs over and above other funds.
• The government had earlier decided to restrict the number of emigration check borders on land borders. From today, the traffic India-Pakistan border has been stopped

Delhi and Mumbai have moved to convert some private properties as quarantine facilities as the coronavirus outbreak count in India rose to 114.

The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has now readied three hotels near the airport for special 'pay and use quarantine' facilities for Covid-19.

These are RedFox Hotel, IBIS Hotel and Lemon Tree Hotel.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation too has activated Mirage Hotel, near the Mumbai airport, as a paid facility for travelers coming from abroad and choosing to quarantine.

After 24 hours, the guests will then be asked to be home quarantined.

This is the second such facility the BMC has activated after Seven Hills Hospital in Andheri.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that the central bank stands ready to act whenever needed to tackled the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Calling Covid-19 a "human tragedy", the governor said that India is not immune to the pandemic and the economy could be directly impacted by way of supply chain disruptions.

Das said that there is likely to be a synchronized global economic slowdown due to the virus, of which India will also be a part of.

Catch all updates from the RBI Governor's press conference here.

Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das is holding a press conference at 4 pm on Monday as market mayhem continues due to concerns coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. There are speculations that Das may announce a rate cut.

If it happens, this will be first inter-meeting rate reduction since the monetary policy committee was instituted in February 2016.

The hurried presser comes amid widespread call for a rate cut following similar steps by the world's leading central banks.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has cut the policy rates to near zero levels in a span of 10 days.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked to the city to cancel all gatherings of more than 50 people excluding weddings, to help fight the coronavirus outbreak. “All gyms, night clubs, spas to be closed till March 31st...For weddings also, we request if they can be postponed then please do so,” he told ANI.

Delhi so far, has seen seven confirmed cases of the illness with one casualty.

Here are the key steps taken by the Delhi government today:

• Operations of spas, gymnasiums and night clubs suspended till March 31.
• Operations of all weekly bazaars suspended till March 31.
• Any gathering - social, political, religious, etc. except weddings - is restricted to 50 persons till March 31.
• All shopping malls to be disinfected daily and make provisions of hand sanitisers at main entrance and individual shops for visitors. Entry will only be allowed after hands are sanitised.

Four new cases of novel coronavirus infection have been detected in Maharashtra, taking the state tally to 37 on Monday.

Of the four cases, three were reported from Mumbai and one from Navi Mumbai, a state government official said. "The total number of coronavirus positive cases increased to 37," he said.

Source: PTI

Three people of the 236 who were evacuated from Iran on Sunday were checked for coronavirus and the tests were found to be negative, officials said.

Only three people were checked as they were showing some symptoms.

Two Air India flights carrying 236 Indians from coronavirus-hit Iran landed in Jaisalmer on Sunday morning and the passengers were quarantined at the Indian Army Wellness Centre.

Two Air India flights carrying 236 Indians from coronavirus-hit Iran landed in Jaisalmer on Sunday morning and the passengers were quarantined at the Indian Army Wellness Centre.

"Preliminary screening of the people was undertaken at the airport upon arrival. Thereafter, they were moved to the Army Wellness Centre at Jaisalmer," Defence Spokesperson Colonel Sombit Ghosh said.

Source: PTI

Watch | How Prepared Is India To Fight The Coronavirus Threat?