Sixty-two people have died after being infected by the novel coronavirus, the centre said today. Three of those deaths were reported in the past 24 hours. Across the country the number of confirmed coronavirus cases is now 2,547, with 478 new cases detected in the past 24 hours - biggest spike so far. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today urged people across India to light candles, lamps or mobile flashlights at 9 pm on Sunday, April 5, for 9 minutes to "raise the great power of 130 crore Indians" and make everyone feel that no one is alone during the coronavirus lockdown. "Please switch off your lights at homes on Sunday, light up candles, torch or mobile flashlights on your balconies for 9 minutes,' PM Modi said. He asserted that no one must gather on roads. "The only way to break the chain of coronavirus is to maintain social distancing," he said. He said amid the nationwide lockdown to fight coronavirus, no one should feel alone, the massive collective power of 130 crore people was with everyone.
Here Are The Live updates On The Coronavirus Outbreak In India:
A 24-year-old woman, who was the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Chhattisgarh, was discharged on Friday evening from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Raipur, a senior official said.
She was the fourth person to be discharged in the state, leaving the number of active COVID-19 cases at five, they said.
"The woman had returned from London on March 15 and got admitted in AIIMS on March 19 after she tested positive for the virus. Her two tests were negative after which a decision was taken to discharge her. She will have to follow mandatory quarantine," PTI quoted AIIMS Director Nitin Nagarkar as saying.
The man, whose swab sample was collected at a hospital in Mumbai, allegedly flouted the quarantine protocol and returned to Dhanuri, his native village around two days back.
However, he received a call from the hospital authorities in Mumbai that his samples have tested positive.
"That person came to know about his report through a phone call on Thursday night. He immediately conveyed it to the village panchayat and steps were initiated to take him to a hospital in Lohara. Our entire Thursday night was spent in finding out who had come in his contact ever since he arrived in the village," Ganesh Jadhav, a resident of Dhanori told PTI.
"The village has a population of around 4,000 people. When the residents came to know about his coronavirus positive status, they went in a state of shock," he said.
"After we alerted the officials of the health department and the police, their teams reached the village and he was quarantined at a government hospital in Lohara," he added.
"We immediately sealed our village after that to stop the entry or exit of people. Before his report came, the COVID-19 patient had visited different places in the village. He had also gone to the nearby villages to buy necessary things for farming," Mr Jadhav said.
Coronavirus death toll in Europe passes 40,000, According to news agency AFP's tally .
BJP has set up 35 control rooms across 35 states and Union Territories to help the needy amid nationwide lockdown over coronavirus.
Meanwhile, BJP president JP Nadda on Friday held interaction with party leaders in Uttar Pradesh and reviewed the actions being taken in combating the coronavirus, reported ANI.
Mr Nadda said that in this hour of crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government has taken several steps for the welfare of the villages, poor, farmers and women of the country.
"To strengthen the economic condition of the country, the central government has taken many decisions which everyone is appreciating but the Congress party does not see it because they are blindfolded," Mr Nadda said.
Six more have tested positive for the coronavirus in Uttarakhand on Friday, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 16, officials said.
This is the first time so many people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the state in a single day, reported PTI.
Five of the positive cases were reported from Dehradun and one from Udham Singh Nagar district, officials at the COVID-19 control room said.
Fifteen people were admitted in various hospitals in Maharashtra's Nashik district on Friday over suspected exposure to novel coronavirus, health officials said.
Their throat samples have been sent for testing to NIV in Pune and results are awaited, reported PTI. The district has one COVID-19 patient as on Friday, they said.
The Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway are converting more than 650 coaches into quarantine units amid the coronavirus
outbreak, officials said on Friday.
While the Eastern Railway is modifying 338 coaches as part of its COVID-19 preparedness, the South Eastern Railway is converting 329 coaches at various workshops, they said, reported PTI.
The Election Commission on Friday said it is using its constitutional powers to defer Rajya Sabha polls to 18 seats beyond the terms of the retiring members, keeping in mind the health hazard involved amid the coronavirus pandemic and the 21-day nationwide lockdown.
Last month, the poll panel had deferred the March 26 Rajya Sabha elections citing threat of coronavirus, saying a decision will be taken after reviewing the situation.
While 17 members from six states are retiring on April 9, one from Meghalaya is retiring on April 12.
The 18 seats are spread across Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Meghalaya, reported PTI.
53 Oman nationals, stranded in Kerala due to COVID-19 lockdown in the country, were airlifted today from Cochin International Airport by Oman Air.
India has curtailed all international flights and later extended that suspension on domestic flights as well to curb the spread of coronavirus, reported ANI.
75 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Telangana. 2 more have died from the contagious virus.
67 test positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra taking the state's total to 490, reported PTI.
The centre has credited the first installment of Rs 500 to over four crore Jan Dhan accounts of poor women on Friday as part of a relief package in view of the lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Rural Development Ministry said.
The amount is being released by the ministry and will be credited to more than 20.39 crore Jan Dhan accounts of women by the end of April first week, PTI quoted officials as saying.
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday directed the labour department to deposit an additional Rs 1,000 into the bank accounts of 15 lakh construction labourers in the state, who have been hit by the 21-day national lockdown to check COVID-19 spread.
He gave the direction during a high-level meeting of ministers and officials to review the measures taken to control the spread of COVID-19 and implementation of lockdown in the state, reported PTI.
The government has already deposited Rs 1,000 into the accounts of 15 lakh construction labourers and the chief minister asked the Labour department to deposit additional Rs 1,000 to their accounts, an official statement said.
339 MPs from both houses of the parliament have so far contributed Rs 365 crore from their MPLADS funds to the central pool for use in measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Rajya Sabha Secretary PPK Ramacharyulu said, among the 339 MPs, 74 are from the Rajya Sabha and 265 from Lok Sabha, reported PTI.
While the Rajya Sabha MPs have made a total contributions of Rs 100 crore, the Lok Sabha members have contributed Rs 265 crore, he said.
The trauma centre at the Dr RML Hospital will function as a dedicated COVID-19 isolation ward while the Safdarjung Hospital's super specialty block has been converted into a state-of-the-art isolation management centre in Delhi, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Friday.
He made these announcements after visiting the Dr RML Hospital and the Safdarjung Hospital. The minister was at the health facilities to review their COVID-19 preparedness, reported PTI.
Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Friday asked the Delhi government to take help from retired doctors and medical students if the national capital witnesses a steep rise in COVID-19 cases in coming days, officials said.
The Lieutenant Governor (LG) held meetings with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Police Commissioner SN Srivastava and district magistrates and deputy commissioners of police via video conference, reported PTI.
A total of 91 new coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours in Delhi, taking the total number to 384.
Odisha government on Friday said 60 people from the state had attended the religious congregation at Nizamuddin in Delhi last month and one of them has tested positive, reported PTI.
Twenty seven of the Tablighi Jamaat participants, including seven foreign nationals, have returned to Odisha after attending the congregation at Nizamuddin, an official said.
"Of the 27 people back in Odisha, 21 have tested negative while a resident of Cuttack was detected as positive to COVID-19," said the state governments COVID-19 Chief Spokesperson Subroto Bagchi.
The positive cases of COVID-19 rose to 75 in Jammu and Kashmir out of which 70 are active cases, Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary, Planning, J&K UT administration, said on Friday.
Five new cases were reported today, reported ANI.
Mr Kansal, who was addressing a press meet, said: "A total of 75 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Jammu and Kashmir, with five cases being reported today out of which 70 are active. Four of the new cases are from Kashmir while one is from Jammu."
India's oldest COVID-19 patient, a 93-year old man and his wife were discharged from the government Medical College Hospital in Kerala's Kottayam on Friday, days after they fully recovered, in what is being dubbed by the medical community as a "miracle cure", officials said.
Thomas Abraham and 88-year old Mariyamma have recovered after days of life-and-death battle against the deadly coronavirus since their admission to the hospital on March 9, officials said.
"They are fine now. The decision to discharge them was taken after their latest sample test turned negative for coronavirus," a state government official said.
The couple had contracted the virus from their son, daughter-in-law and grandson who returned from Italy last month, reported PTI.
Out of these, 199 calls were related to areas outside Delhi which were referred to the respective state police, they said.
The market serves the huge provincial capital city of Pietermaritzburg. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) ordered the closure of the market for two days.
Four people tested positive for COVID-19 in Assam on Friday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 20, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
All the patients are linked to a religious congregation in Tablighi Jammat Markaz in Delhi's Nizamuddin West last month, he said, reported PTI.
Of the four new cases, three were reported from Nalbari and one is from South Salmara, the minister said.
The first positive case in the state was reported from Silchar on March 31. Twelve cases were reported the next day -- four in Guwahati and eight Jorhat -- and later three people tested positive in Goalpara.
All the eight patients testing positive in Jorhat are from Golaghat district and include four women who accompanied their family members to Delhi. They are undergoing treatment at the Golaghat Civil Hospital.
The patients who tested positive here are being treated at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Pune grew by 11 on Friday to 71, Collector Naval Kishore Ram said.
Of the total, 57 are from Pune city limits and 14 from neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad area, he added, reported PTI.
"The 11 new cases are from two private hospitals, state-run Sassoon Hospital and Pune Municipal Corporation's Naidu Hospital," he said.
The government on Friday said there is no shortage of medical supplies across the country to fight the contagious coronavirus.
"Government of India is making sure that all the essential medical supplies are in place to fight COVID-19. 62 lifeline UDAN flights transported over 15.4 tons of essential medical supplies in last five days," Union Minister for Chemical and Fertilizers DV Sadanada Gowda said in a tweet.
The government is also paying full attention to the manufacturing activities of essential items like pharmaceuticals and hospital devices, reported PTI.
For this, over 200 units in SEZs are operational, he added.
"A Central Control Room has also been set up for close monitoring of the distribution of essential medical items and to address logistic related issues," Mr Gowda said.
RSS workers have distributed ration to the sex workers in Delhi's GB Road area amid the countrywide lockdown enforced to combat COVID-19.
The RSS workers wore protective gear to prevent themselves from getting infected and distributed ration to the sex workers and their families, reported ANI.
Speaking to ANI, Joint General Secretary, Delhi RSS, Anil Gupta said, "We have launched a helpline and have been getting 10,000 calls everyday. So one of our workers got a call about the conditions of these women here."
"We did a survey and accordingly prepared a list of 986 sex workers living here and categorised them into 250 joints (groups of workers living together). Today, we distributed 250 kits," he said.
The 5,500 km-long international borders in the northeastern region has been effectively closed during the 21-day lockdown imposed to check the spread of coronavirus, Union Minister Jitendra Singh was told on Friday.
During a video conference with officials of the Ministry of the Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER), North Eastern Council and others, Mr Singh was informed that the lockdown is being effectively enforced in the entire northeastern region, reported PTI.
The police in Madhya Pradesh's Indore on Friday adopted a unique approach to stop people from violating the COVID-19 lockdown, by using "ghosts" to scare the violators back indoors.
The Vijay Nagar police enlisted the help of some social workers, who wore black masks and clothes with images of lungs, and walked around slums and crowded colonies to frighten residents into staying home, an official said.
The police filmed the "ghost" drive and posted videos of it on social media, reported PTI.
"We have formed a special group of six social workers, who are reaching out to people living in slums and educating them about COVID-19," the official said.Indore police took ghost look to aware people about #Corona#Coronafighters #IndoreFightsCorona #CoronaVirusUpdate @TrafficIndore pic.twitter.com/cPQkCCrDUS
- Aabid_khan (@Khan_Aabid64) April 3, 2020
10 people, who were put under home quarantine in Pune's Shirur, ran away today morning. Pune rural police have registered an FIR against all of them and have started a search operation to find them, Pune Rural Police said, reported ANI. They were put under home quarantine by the administration on 1 April as a precautionary measure. All of them belong to the Tablighi Jamaat but they didn't attend the event in Delhi. It's suspected that they've moved to Delhi so information has been shared with Delhi Police, they said.
A 55-year-old man and his son tested positive for coronavirus in Noida on Friday, taking the total number of cases in Gautam Buddh Nagar to 50, officials said.
"The two new patients are a man (55) and his son (25) from Sector 93B in Noida," a Health Department official said.
Two other people, who had earlier tested positive for COVID-19, were discharged from the hospitals after treatment, taking the total number of cured patients to 8, the officials said.
They added that the total number of active cases now stands at 42 in the district, reported PTI.
Gautam Buddh Nagar, adjoining Delhi in western Uttar Pradesh, is one of the hotspots of coronavirus in India and in the state.
Arjun Deshpande, 17-year0old founder and CEO of Generic Aadhaar, an innovative venture in the Pharmaceutical Industry has donated his three-months' salary to the PM CARES fund. He made this contribution to be a force multiplier in the fight against COVID-19, reported ANI.
Kerala Chief Minsiter Pinarayi Vijayan said, "Shashi Tharoor has provided the first batch of 1000 rapid test kit and 2000 more will come by Sunday. 250 flash thermometers and 9,000 PPEs are yet to come. We thank Mr Tharoor for his support."
BSNL, under a new initiative, have decided to grant one month free broadband service to all BSNL customers. The package will include 5GB/day, he said.
3 people with links to the Nizamuddin Markaz gathering have tested positive for coronavirus in Kerala today, taking the toltal number of cases linked to the event to 5 in the state.
9 new cases have been reported today from across the state: 7 from Kasaragod, 1 from Thrissur and 1 from Kannur, taking the total number of cases in the state to 295.
Of the 295 cases, 206 had come from abroad, 7 are foreigners and 78 were infected through primary contact.
11 CISF jawans posted at Mumbai airport have tested positive for coronavirus, reported ANI. 142 jawans were under quarantine for the last few days. Of them 4 tested positive yesterday and others tested positive today, the force, in charge of providing security to over 60 airports across country, said.
Two sisters, aged 6 and 10, broke their piggy banks and donated their savings to help those hit by the lockdown imposed to fight the coronavirus outbreak.
Maysha Arora (6) and Alia Arora (10), daughters of businessman Gaurav Arora and students of La Martiniere Girls' College in Lucknow, have contributed Rs 5,000 each which they had saved over a period of time.
Maysha said they were inspired by their grandfather Kulbhushan Arora, who is the president of the Bahraich Udyog Vyapar Mandal, to donate their savings and help the needy.
District Magistrate Shambhu Kumar too lauded the girls' contribution and said they have set an example by donating their small savings.
"In these difficult times, the young children have opened the locks of their treasure and have contributed their small savings to the Prime Minister's relief fund. By doing so, they have proved that age has nothing to do with compassion," Mr Kumar said, reported PTI.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addressed the media with details of cornavirus cases in the national capital. He said, out of the total 384 cases in the city, 58 have a history of foreign travel. These 58 had further infected 38 people when they came in contact.
259 people who were taken out from the Nizamuddin Markaz have tested positive, the chief minsiter said.
"With all our efforts - the efforts of the centre, state and the citizens of Delhi - we have stopped the spread inside Delhi. So far, 5 people have died with one death in the last 24 hours. The man who died yesterday was from the Markaz," Mr Kejriwal said.
"Two patients are on ventilator and they are a little critical. All others are stable. There's no reason to worry. But we need to follow social distancing and lockdown. And, if god forbid, the virus spreads and there is an increase in the number of cases in the city, we are ready, he said.
"71 lakh people with ration-card are being given 7.5 kg ration for free. 60% of them have already received. We will also give free ration to those without a ration-card," Mr Kejriwal said.
8 lakh senior citizens, widows and people with disbilities have been given Rs 5,000 in their accounts. We will credit an additional Rs 5,000 in the next few days. Auto, E-Rickshaw, taxi, RTV drivers will also be given Rs 5,000 each, the chief minister said.
1,780 centres across Delhi have been set up to provide lunch and dinner. 6,52,850 people were served lunch yesterday and 6,30,000 were served dinner. There is provision for 10 lakh people per day.
328 places have been set up across the city for the homeless - including migrants who wanted to leave the city. These places can accommodate 57,270 people but only 11,443 are currently staying.
The chief minsiter further said that there are almost 44 lakh students in schools across Delhi who are currently at home. They have questions about the current situation. He, along with Manish Sisodia and a panel of experts, will speak to the children and parents at 3pm on Saturday in a programme named "Parenting In Times Of Corona".
Several companies in Punjab have come forward to manufacture protective gear and low cost-ventilators for medical professionals and patients to combat the contagious coronavirus.
More than 20 companies including technical textile makers in Punjab are in the process of developing and producing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) bodysuits, N-95 masks, three ply masks and low-cost ventilators, officials said.
At least three companies have even managed to secure necessary approvals for producing PPE body suits from the SITRA (South India Textile Research Association), Coimbatore and several others are in the process of sending their samples for nod, they said.
"Three companies - JCT Mills, Phagwara; Evershine, Ludhiana and Navyug Laminates, Ludhiana have got approvals for making PPE suits and a few others have got their samples ready for testing," Punjab Additional Chief Secretary (Industry & Commerce) Vini Mahajan told PTI on Friday.
The state industry department is actively engaged with industry players for extending all help including arranging low-cost finance to them for making life saving products in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the state reached 166, Rajasthan Health Department said on Friday, reported ANI.
The latest tally includes 21 evacuees at Army camps in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, 29 Tableeghi Jamaat attendees and 2 Italians who tested positive for coronavirus. The highest number of cases in the state were reported from Jaipur where 53 people tested COVID-19 positive.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare earlier today informed that there are 2,301 cases in the country and 56 deaths.
The COVID-19 death toll in Palghar district near Mumbai rose to two after a patient died late Thursday night, officials said.
The district, part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, has 11 positive cases of novel coronavirus while the reports of 109 samples sent for testing are awaited, said a release from the Palghar district administration, reported PTI.
Close contacts of COVID-19 patients who have been quarantined stood at 111, it said.
406 people have completed their 14-day observation period, the release said.
The Out-Patient Department (OPD) services at the LNJP Hospital and the GB Pant Hospital in Delhi will be closed from April 4, the state government authorities said on Friday.
Both these hospitals are among the five facilities in Delhi designated for treatment of COVID-19 patients, reported ANI.
The decision was taken during a meeting held on Thursday by the Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain.
It was decided that OPD services at the LNJP and GB Pant hospitals will be closed, the order issued on Friday said. The order will come into effect from April 4, it said.
Odisha reported its sixth COVID-19 positive case from Cuttack, Odisha Health Department said. The man had recently travelled to Delhi, they said.
"In view of the fact that one resident of Cuttack has been found positive for COVID-19, Cuttack city is also being included under the complete lockdown for 48 hours from 8 PM from today till 8 PM of Sunday, along with Bhubaneswar and Bhadrak," said Asit Tripathy, Odisha Chief Secretary, reported ANI.
"Grocery and other essential services will not be allowed for these 48 hours starting from 8pm tonight in these towns. Currently issued passes will not be valid for these 48 hours," said DGP Abhay.
The lockdown period will be used for aggressive contact tracing of the patient, he added.
No new case has been reported from Gautam Buddh Nagar of Uttar Pradesh over the last two days, said Suhas LY, District Magistrate (DM) of Gautam Buddh Nagar.
So far, the district has recorded 48 cases, out of which six have recovered.
"No positive COVID-19 cases reported in Gautam Buddh Nagar in the last 24 hours. A total number of cases in Gautam Buddh Nagar is 48 till now, of which 6 have been cured and discharged," the DM said while speaking to ANI.
The total number of coronavirus positive cases has risen to 2,301 in India on Friday and 56 have died.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi conducted a sanitisation drive in the city's Narela area with the help of drones on Friday, reported ANI.
Sanitisation drives and various other initiatives have been organised by the government in order to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country.
Today is the 10th day of the 21-day lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 as a precautionary measure against the spread of the deadly virus.
He had appealed to all Indian citizens to stay inside their homes and maintain social distancing. He also asked all people to take necessary precautions in order to stay safe.
Eight more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Haryana on Friday. Out of the eight new cases, five are from Gurugram while the rest are from Nuh.
The Haryana State Department said that these eight new cases take the total number of positive coronavirus cases in the state to 43, including 13 cured or discharged cases, reported ANI.
The total number of COVID-19 positive cases on Friday rose to 2,301 in India.
Messages were put up outside mosques in Bengaluru requesting people to offer Friday prayers at home during the lockdown.
In light of the coronavirus outbreak, several Muslim organisations and mosques across various states have temporarily halted the congregational prayers.
The usually bustling Jama Masjid area, today, wore a deserted look, reported ANI.
Telangana: State Police Personnel have been deployed at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, following the incident of 1st April when some patients in #Coronavirus isolation ward allegedly attacked doctors. pic.twitter.com/S9UA682jgJ
- ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2020
Delhi: A meeting of Group of Ministers (GoM) on #COVID19 underway at Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's residence. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other Ministers also present. pic.twitter.com/L841UqOBHP
- ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2020
Delhi: Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare visited Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, today. #COVID19Pandemic. pic.twitter.com/GwpkYi5UWo
- ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2020