Coronavirus Cases In India Reach 108, Maharashtra Highest With 32 Cases

Coronavirus cases in India reach 107, Maharashtra highest with 31 cases, says Union Health Ministry.

Highlights

The country has reported two deaths due to the coronavirus so far
Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic: WHO
Most schools and colleges in the country have shut down

New Delhi: The number of coronavirus cases in the country reached 108 today, with Maharashtra reporting the highest number of cases -- 32. Most of the 23 new cases are from the state and the Mumbai police imposed prohibitory orders banning large gatherings as a preventive measure against the virus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conference with other SAARC nations to evolve a joint strategy to fight the outbreak that has killed more than 5,000 people worldwide. As part of the preventive measures against the virus, most schools and colleges in the country have shut down, offices are encouraging their employees to work from home, cinema halls are shut and festivals and convocations stand cancelled. Parliament has barred visitors.

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"Twenty-three new cases of coronavirus has been detected since the last update - 17 from Maharashtra, two from Telangana, one from Rajasthan and three from Kerala. There are now 107 confirmed cases of COVID19 in the country, including 9 discharged cases," said Sanjeeva Kumar, Special Secretary, Ministry of Health.Maharashtra later reported one more case, taking the total number of cases in the state to 32.
Kerala has reported 22 cases of the virus and Uttar Pradesh 11. All 14 patients in Haryana are foreign nationals. Delhi has reported seven cases so far. Two patients have died, one from Delhi and the other from Karnataka.
An Air India flight from Milan, Italy arrived in Delhi this morning carrying 218 evacuees, the health ministry has said. In addition, the third batch of 236 evacuees from Iran arrived today. All the passengers have been quarantined -- the first group at the at the ITBP camp at Chhawla and the second at the Army facility in Jaisalmer. Also, a total 265 passengers coming from COVID-19 affected countries have been quarantined at Trivandrum, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, the ministry said.
As part of the precautions, the Supreme Court will have just 6 benches on Monday, which would hear just the urgent cases. Usually 15 benches sit on Monday and Fridays. After an advisory issued by the government, Chief Justice of India held a meeting with stake holders and decided to avoid gatherings that are considered unsafe.
The railways have decided to temporarily suspended the distribution of blankets in air-conditioned coaches as a precautionary measure. The temperature in AC coaches will be increased accordingly. However passengers can bring their own blankets and shawls, the railways said.
Actor Amitabh Bachchan asked his fans to not gather at his bungalow, Jalsa, due to the Coronavirus scare. The Sunday meet and greet outside the actor's Mumbai residence has been long-standing ritual.
The government has announced various measures to combat the outbreak, which includes suspension of all visas - except a few like UN and diplomatic visas - till April 15 and the shutting of 18 of 37 border checkposts to international traffic.
Various state governments have also responded with measures to stop the spread of the virus -- shutting down crowded public spaces such as malls and cinema theatres, closing schools and colleges. On Saturday, leading IT major Infosys announced it would temporarily close a Bengaluru office and sanitise premises after a suspected COVID-19 case.
The COVID-19 outbreak began in a market in China's Wuhan district in December last year. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a pandemic, meaning it has spread worldwide and affected huge number of people.China has reported 81,021 cases -- 18 of them new – and 3194 people have died. Outside China, 61,518 people have been infected and 2,199 people are dead.
Yesterday, the Director General of the World Health Organisation said Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined -- apart from China.