A woman died in Maharahstra today after contracting the coronavirus infection, taking the death count in India to three. Maharashtra has reported maximum cases of the highly contagious illness in India. Coronavirus or COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation. As the total number of infected people reached 142, the government has stopped incoming travel from a number of nations, including the European Union, Malaysia, Philippines and Afghanistan.
The death in Maharashtra comes as number of COVID-19 cases rose to 125 in India. Last week two people - a 68-year-old woman in Delhi and a 76-year-old woman in Karnataka - died. Both the deaths were linked to COVID-19, which originated in China's Wuhan city at a meat market in December.
Amid widespread scare, the centre on Monday declared a countrywide lockdown of schools, colleges, gyms and swimming pools -- crowded areas that could allow for exponential spread of the virus. The government had last week declared the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country a "notified disaster", in a move it called "a special one-time dispensation".
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said the coronavirus pandemic that has killed thousands and brought life in countries across the world grinding to a halt could end by July in the United States. Worldwide, over 7,000 people have died, more than one lakh have been infected in 143 countries.