Coronavirus: The number of coronavirus cases in India increased to 24,942 (AFP)
Six people who went to a salon for haircut and a shave were later found to be infected with the novel coronavirus at a village in Madhya Pradesh, officials said. The entire village has been sealed by the police.
According to reports, the barber at the salon in village Bargaon in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone district used the same cloth to shave and cut hair of the six customers.
A man from the village who works at a hotel in Indore recently came home and got a haircut on April 5. He was later found to be infected with COVID-19, chief medical and health officer of Khargone Dr Divyesh Verma said.
Later, the samples of 12 more men who went to the same salon on the same day were sent for testing. Of them, six from village Bargaon tested positive.
The barber has tested negative for the highly infectious virus. Khargone has reported 60 positive cases till date and six deaths.
The number of coronavirus cases in India increased to 24,942, including 779 deaths, the Home Ministry said today, adding that 1,490 cases and 56 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.
Amid a countrywide lockdown to check the spread of the highly contagious illness, which began on March 25, the government last night issued an order to allow neighbourhood shops to remain open with conditions; malls across India continue to remain shut.
The ease in restrictions comes nearly two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a call to revive economic activities that have been affected due to the pandemic. An improvement has been recorded over the last week in the recovery rate which indicates the number of people who have successfully fought off the illness, the government data shows. The recovery rate stood at 20.66 per cent this morning.