A lift operator stands inside a dedicated lift for people suspected to be infected with the new coronavirus at the Government Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, India, Monday, March 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A)
Coronavirus outbreak Highlights: The Kerala government on Sunday warned of strict action, including prosecution, against those hiding overseas travel history in view of the three fresh coronavirus patients not disclosing their visit to Italy. With five fresh cases being reported this morning, the total count in the country climbed to 39 today.
The Health department warning said, failure to inform authorities would be considered a crime, as the state police separately said it was “illegal and punishable” to hide such information. Arunachal Pradesh too stepped up its security measures and has banned foreigners from entering the state in view of the outbreak, PTI reported.
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Break up of total COVID-19 cases in India
➡ Kerala: Eight positive coronavirus cases. Three of the five new patients travelled from Italy, two were in contact with them. Three others who were previously infected have been discharged
➡ Ladakh: Two persons tested positive. They have a travel history to Iran
➡ Tamil Nadu: One person, who has a travel history to Oman, has contracted the disease
➡ Delhi: Three confirmed cases. One of the infected persons has travelled from Italy, another from Malaysia
➡ Agra: Six family members of a Delhi patient tested positive
➡ Rajasthan: Sixteen Italian tourists in Jaipur and one Indian who accompanied them got the infection
➡ Ghaziabad: One man who returned from Tehran contracted the disease
➡ Telangana: One who tested positive has Dubai travel history, Singapore contact
➡ World: 1,05,836 Coronavirus cases reported across the world which included 3,595 deaths across 95 countries.
Globally, Bangladesh on Sunday confirmed its first three cases according to a Dhaka Tribune report. In Iran, 49 new deaths were reported, making it the highest single-day death toll since the outbreak in the Islamic Republic, according to news agency AFP. In China, 10 people were killed after a hotel which was being used as a quarantine facility collapsed, late last evening. At least 23 people are still feared trapped under the debris as evaucation process is underway.
A man wearing a mask walks away from the entrance of the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., near Seattle, Tuesday, March 3, 2020. The facility has been tied to several confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In view of the coronavirus outbreak, the Karnataka education department has declared holiday for all pre-primary schools (aided and private), including pre-KG, LKG and UKG schools, in urban and rural areas of Bengaluru from March 9, “till further orders.” The decision was taken according to advice received from the Health Commissioner, Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar confirmed.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Sunday asked citizens of Thane to not panic and rush to buy masks in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Addressing an awareness programme, Dr Vedhas Nimkar, Joint Secretary of IMA's Thane Chapter, said only those people who are advised to use masks by doctors should use them. The event was attended by doctors and local people. (PTI)
Offering Holi wishes to the state, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani Sunday appealed to people to help “purify the air” by adding cow ghee, dry neem leaves, mustard, camphor and resin to Holika pyres, along with traditional ingredients like coconut, dates and popcorn. Rupani said the festival should be turned into ‘Arogya Raksha Parv’, at a time when the world is gripped by the novel coronavirus outbreak. Read full story
Italy announced a sweeping quarantine early Sunday for its northern regions, igniting travel chaos as it restricted the movements of a quarter of its people in a bid to halt the new coronavirus' relentless march across Europe. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, signed a decree shortly after midnight, affecting 16 million people in the country's north, including the Lombardy region and at least 14 provinces in neighbouring regions, AP reported.
All the 47 samples of suspected coronavirus infection in Gujarat have tested negative, the state government said on Sunday. The state government has set up a laboratory testing facility at Jamnagar medical college, a second such unit after the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad. "All the 47 samples of suspected coronavirus cases have tested negative, which included five such samples which tested negative in Ahmedabad laboratory on Sunday," a state government release said.
A dozen new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Singapore, taking the total number of people infected by the deadly virus in the country to 150, the Health Ministry here said on Sunday. Out of the 12 new cases reported, nine are in critical condition in the intensive care units of hospitals. The latest infections bring Singapore's total number of COVID-19 cases to 150. A total of 60 of them are still hospitalised, though their health is improving, the ministry said. One of the new cases is a 42-year-old male Singaporean who had been in Thailand from March 4 to 6.
Following IndiGo's footsteps, budget carrier GoAir has also said that it will not charge any fee on cancellation or rescheduling of tickets booked till April 30 amid the Coronavirus scare. This applies for all bookings made between March 8 and April 30 and for the travel period between March 8 and September 30, an airline statement said.
The number of novel coronavirus cases in the world stood at 105,836, including 3,595 deaths, across 95 countries and territories by Sunday, according to a report compiled by AFP from official sources. China —excluding the territories of Hong Kong and Macau —where the epidemic emerged at the end of December had 80,695 cases, of which 3,097 were fatal. There were 44 new infections and 27 deaths there since 1700 GMT Saturday. Outside China, a total of 25,141 cases have been recorded around the world since the epidemic began, including 498 deaths.
As the universal screening of all international passengers entering Karnataka continues, one new symptomatic patient was admitted to an isolation hospital in Dakshina Kannada district on Sunday. With this, the total number of persons still admitted in isolation wards have risen to six in Karnataka - one each in Bengaluru, Ballari, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Hassan, and Dakshina Kannada, according to top officials of the health department. "A total of 16 samples collected from symptomatic patients from different parts of the state were sent for testing on Sunday," the media bulletin reads. However, Karnataka has not recorded any positive cases to date.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar says he has been greeting people with traditional 'namaste' instead of shaking hands as a precaution against Coronavirus.
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Taking a serious view of three fresh coronavirus patients not disclosing their Italy visit, the Kerala government on Sunday warned of strict action, including prosecution, against those hiding such travel to affected countries and symptoms of the infection. The health department directed that those who come from coronavirus-affected nations should inform it at the earliest. "Otherwise, it will be considered as a crime. Those who come from abroad should be in-house surveillance for 28 days," a release from the health department said.
Bangladesh confirmed its first three cases of coronavirus in the country on Sunday, according to a media report. The cases include— two men and a woman— who have tested positive for the coronavirus infection on Saturday, the Dhaka Tribune reported. "Among them, two of the victims had recently returned from Italy while the other is a relative of one of the returnees," Meerjady Sabrina Flora, the director of Institue of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research was quoted as saying by PTI.
NIV scientists working 'round-the-clock' to ensure smooth coronavirus testing across the country. Around 4,000 samples from across the country have been tested in past one month. Everyday, an average of 25 samples are being tested at National Institute of Virology, Pune, a Indian Council of Medical Research scientist told PTI.
Iran’s health ministry on Sunday reported 49 new deaths caused by Covid-19, making it the highest toll within 24 hours since the start of the outbreak in the Islamic Republic, news agency AFP reported. The new count brings the number of those killed by the virus in the country since mid-February to 194, one of the highest tolls outside of China, where the disease originated. The virus has spread to all of Iran's 31 provinces with 6,566 confirmed cases.
As evacuation process of Indians stranded in Iran is underway, NCP chief Sharad Pawar today urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishnkar to ensure medical help and general assistance for them. "In the wake of the alarming Covid-19 issue, I voiced my concerns to Dr. S. Jaishankar ji, Union Minister of External Affairs regarding more than 40 Indian citizens stranded at Qom city in Iran. They are distressed and in urgent need of medical help and general assistance," Pawar tweeted.
A man was booked in Arunachal Pradesh's East Siang District for posting misleading information on social media regarding coronavirus, officials said on Sunday, PTI reported. A case was lodged against Subu Kena Tsering based on a complaint filed by district medical officer Kaling Dai on Friday at Pasighat police station, they said. Tsering posted in a Facebook group that coronavirus has reached Pasighat and two patients have been referred to Dibrugarh in Assam, officials said.
With Indian festival Holi approaching, an effigy of a demon representing the rapidly spreading Coronavirus has been created for burning on March 9 as part of the festival in a chawl in Mumbai's Worli.
An ITBP bus in which Italian passengers travelled in Rajasthan and Agra was disinfected at the Chawla camp in Delhi, ANI reported. The total number of positive cases reported in India stands at 39 currently.
Italy's prime minister announced a sweeping coronavirus quarantine early Sunday, restricting the movements of about a quarter of the country's population in a bid to limit contagions at the epicenter of Europe's outbreak. Shortly after midnight, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree affecting about 16 million people in the country's prosperous north, including the Lombardy region and at least 14 provinces in neighboring regions. The extraordinary measures will be in place until April 3. "For Lombardy and for the other northern provinces that I have listed there will be a ban for everybody to move in and out of these territories and also within the same territory," Conte said. "Exceptions will be allowed only for proven professional needs, exceptional cases and health issues." (AP)
After a hotel which was used as a quarantine facility collapsed on Saturday late evening, seven people were killed, official media sources were quoted by news agency PTI. Nearly, 71 people were feared trapped in the hotel which collapsed in Quanzhou city of the province, state-run Xinhua reported. The hotel was being used to accommodate and quarantine people who had come to the province amid Coronavirus outbreak. 23 people still remain trapped under the rubble.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his press conference said Delhi is fully prepared to deal with coronavirus. Appealing to people to not panic, he said 168 isolation beds set up at 25 hospitals for coronavirus patients.
The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to temporarily suspend issuing Protected Area Permits (PAPs) to foreigners to check the spread of coronavirus, officials said on Sunday. Foreigners require PAPs to enter the state that shares a border with China. Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar directed all PAP issuing authorities to suspend the issue of permits till further orders, they said.
# Kerala: Eight positive coronavirus cases. Three of the five new patients travelled from Italy, two were in contact with them. Three others who were previously infected have been discharged
# Ladakh: Two persons tested positive. They have a travel history to Iran
# Tamil Nadu: One person, who has a travel history to Oman, has contracted the disease
# Delhi: Three confirmed cases. One of the infected persons has travelled from Italy, another from Malaysia
# Agra: Six family members of a Delhi patient tested positive
# Rajasthan: Sixteen Italian tourists in Jaipur and one Indian who accompanied them got the infection
# Ghaziabad: One man who returned from Tehran contracted the disease
# Telangana: One who tested positive has Dubai travel history, Singapore contact
Kerala Health Minister K K Shailja put out details of the two flights in which the three of the patients, who tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday, travelled and asked all of their co-passengers to get in touch with the nearest medical officer. She has also put out a helpline number.
The concern shared by the health minister is that there are two elderly people in the family of those who have now tested positive. The elderly couple has begun exhibiting symptoms so they will be admitted to the hospital soon and their samples sent for testing.
Three of the people who tested positive in Kerala have a travel history to Italy. They came from Venice to Doha by Qatar Airways flight on February 28 and subsequently travelled to Kochi. The other three were in contact with them.
Five fresh cases of coronavirus were reported from Kerala on Sunday taking the total count to 39 in India. Three of those who tested positive for the virus have a travel history to Italy and two others were in contact with them. They have been admitted to the general hospital in Pathanamthitta and the conditions of all of them are stable.
Italy closes cinemas, theatres, museums nationwide in a measure to prevent spread of coronavirus, AFP reported.
China on Sunday reported around 44 new coronavirus cases, nearly all in Wuhan, recording the lowest number of infections erupting in a day since January. The death toll in the country also dropped to 27, the lowest in more than a month, mounting the total toll to 3,097, China's National Health Commission said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday as the number of coronavirus cases in New York rose to 89, which include a Queens driver who worked for Uber and two unexplained positive tests of patients 200 miles to the north. Moving on multiple fronts to curb the spread of the virus, the governor said the state of emergency would allow New York’s government to respond faster by lifting regulations. Read more...
Italy’s government weighed Saturday the extraordinary step of locking down much of the country’s north, restricting movement for about a quarter of the population in regions that serve as the country’s economic engine. If implemented, it would be the most sweeping effort outside China to stop the spread of the coronavirus and would be tantamount to sacrificing the Italian economy in the short term to save it from the ravages of the virus in the long term. Read more...
A 64-year-old patient died in Argentina as a result of the new coronavirus, the first such death in Latin America, health authorities announced Saturday. The Ministry of Health said the person lived in Buenos Aires and had been confirmed with COVID-19. The patient, who suffered kidney failure, already had diabetes, hypertension and bronchitis before being infected with the virus, a statement said. (AP)
Two more people succumbed to the novel coronavirus in Washington state, officials said on Saturday, bringing the nationwide toll to 19, while the number of confirmed cases in New York jumped by 21 overnight and a cruise ship with infected passengers remained stranded outside San Francisco. More than half of all U.S. states have reported cases of the coronavirus, which originated in China last year and causes the sometimes deadly respiratory illness COVID-19. As the outbreak takes root, daily life has become increasingly disrupted, with concerts and conferences canceled and universities telling students to stay home and take classes online. (Reuters)
A person in Washington, D.C., has had a "presumptive positive test" for the coronavirus, Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Twitter on Saturday. The person who was not identified. (Reuters)
Facebook is temporarily banning advertisements for medical face masks as part of an effort to prevent use of its platform to exploit people's concerns about the new coronavirus. The ban covers advertisements on the social media platform as well as commercial listings on Facebook Marketplace, the company said. Facebook said it would begin to enforce the ban over the next few days. “Our teams are monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely and will make necessary updates to our policies if we see people trying to exploit this public health emergency,” Rob Leathern, Facebook's director of product management, said in a statement issued late Friday. (AP)
With two suspected coronavirus cases reported in Jammu and Kashmir, the administration Saturday ordered the closure of government and private schools up to the primary level in six districts and suspended biometric attendance across the region till March 31.
“A preliminary report of their samples sent to AIIMS, Delhi, shows they have tested positive. We are waiting for the final test reports before officially declaring them as confirmed cases,” said epidemiologist Dr Deepak Kapoor. Read more
EVEN AS the Delhi government announced that all schools in the Capital will remain closed till March 31 owing to the coronavirus outbreak, in the absence of any formal advisory by the state education department, schools in the city have issued their own advisories.
From asking students to carry hand sanitisers and packs of hand tissues to advising parents not to send children to school in case of the slightest of symptoms, schools are using all means of communication from apps to emails and broadcast text messaging to reach out to stakeholders. Read more
The panic sparked by coronavirus has become a business opportunity for many in slums and villages where face masks are being manufactured in dingy rooms and homes on sewing machines, and sold at a much higher rate. The most common is a 3-ply face mask. The rate offered in slums is Rs 15-18 while the original cost before the outbreak was Rs 1.5 to Rs 3.
According to the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED), the country has a capacity to manufacture 20 million masks in a month by standard manufacturers. However, it has risen three-fold by rough estimates. Read more
Panic over coronavirus spread has hit several sectors, but the tourism industry perhaps has been the worst affected so far. While several travellers in Pune city have shelved their domestic or foreign travel plans, travel industry representatives said, travel restrictions imposed by several countries, including India, has deepened the crisis for the sector further. “There are no fresh bookings. Most of the calls we receive these days are requests for booking cancellations,” an international tour booking agent, who did not wish to be named, said. Read more
Sixteen people in France have died from coronavirus, the head of the country's public health service, Jerome Salomon, said on Saturday, an increase of five since the previous toll. France now has 949 confirmed cases of coronavirus, Salomon said.
Italy coronavirus toll passes 200, cases near 6,000
A day after Tamil Nadu Health Minister C VIjayabaskar said the state is well prepared to prevent or manage the spread of coronavirus, a 45-year-old man who had returned to India from Muscat, Oman, has been tested positive for the virus on Saturday. The man has been admitted to an isolation ward at the Rajiv Gandhi Hospital in Chennai. The man had travelled from Chennai to Oman in last the week of February. After returning to Chennai, the man visited the Rajiv Gandhi Hospital on March 5 complaining of fever and cough. His samples were taken and sent to the Virology Institute in Pune for testing.
The leader of Italy’s co-ruling Democratic Party (PD), Nicola Zingaretti, said on Saturday he had tested positive for coronavirus becoming the first senior Italian politician to be infected. “I have coronavirus too”, Zingaretti said in a video posted on Facebook, adding he was well and in self-isolation at home. Italy has been the country hit hardest by the epidemic in Europe with a total of 4,636 cases and 197 deaths as of Friday, and is reporting more deaths per day form the virus than any other nation in the world. Read more
The licences of five medical stores in Ghaziabad have been cancelled after they were found to be selling hand sanitisers and face masks at inflated rates in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic scare, news agency PTI reported. The drug department conducted raids on a number of retail and wholesale medical stores in the district following several complaints of black marketing of precautionary equipment to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 infection, such as masks and sanitisers.
About 70 people were trapped in a collapsed hotel in the city of Quanzhou, in southeastern Fujian Province, the city government said on its website. The collapsed hotel is used for coronavirus quarantine, according to the official People’s Daily. Click here to know more.
In Telangana, on Saturday, 32 persons self-reported for testing samples for novel coronavirus at ICMR-VRDL in Gandhi hospital. Total number of suspects in Telangana now stands at 676. Of the 676, as many as 429 are asymptomatic and quarantined at their homes.
Whereas, of the 247 symptomatic patients, 232 have been tested negative so far, results are 14 samples are awaited and one was earlier declared positive. 4,656 passengers were subjected to thermal screening at RGI Airport health desk on Friday, taking the total number to 31,763 passengers till now
Pope Francis has cancelled his regular appearances in public to avoid crowds gathering to see him and will stream them on the internet from inside the Vatican because of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, news agency Reuters reported. The Vatican said that on Sunday the pontiff will not address crowds from a window overlooking St. Peter's Square, and will also not hold his general audience from there this Wednesday.
A commuter looks through a water-stained window wearing a mask and gloves to help guard against the Coronavirus, on a public bus in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020. (AP)
A tourist wears a protective mask while waiting for a flight back to South Korea at the Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel. As many as 21 confirmed cases of the coronavirus have been detected in Israel so far. (AP)
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Three more cases positive cases of coronavirus have been found in India, taking the total number of cases to 34. Out of the three cases, two are from Ladakh with travel history from Iran, while the other one is from Tamil Nadu with travel history from Oman.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday reviewed the coronavirus situation in the country at a meeting with officials and directed them to identify locations for sufficient quarantine facilities and make provisions for critical care in case the disease spreads further.
Issues related to the need for a continued vigil at all airports, seaports and land border crossings, community-level surveillance as per protocol, and ensuring the availability of sufficient beds for isolation were also discussed.
The final report of two of the three people who came from Italy to Hoshiarpur in Punjab is still awaited and is expected to come later in the day, state Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu told. The duo was tested positive for coronavirus in a preliminary report by AIIMS hospital in New Delhi earlier today.
With 31 people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will conduct a review meeting on Saturday to study the impact of the infection. COVID-19 has infected more than one lakh people in 90 countries and claimed the lives of over 3,400 so far. Ahead of his meeting, the Prime Minister asked people to refrain from believing information that was not verified by officials or a doctor. He also asked people to avoid shaking hands, and greet each other with ‘namaste’ instead. Click here to read more.
All primary schools in Srinagar shall remain closed till further orders by administration amid coronavirus outbreak. "As a precautionary measure, I have ordered the closure of primary schools in four districts of the valley (Srinagar, Baramulla, Bandipora, and Budgam) till further orders," Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan said.
A flight from Tehran on Saturday brought to the national capital swab samples of Indians in Iran who are suspected of having coronavirus infection, news agency PTI reported. On Friday, officials had said around 300 swab samples of Indians suspected of having coronavirus infection would be brought in a ferry flight from Tehran. The news agency reported that the swabs are likely to be taken to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune for tests. Based on the outcome of the tests, those passengers who test negative would be allowed to come to the country later.
IndiGo Airlines on Saturday announced waiving of cancellation and rescheduling charges on flight bookings till March 31 due to the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak. The cancellation fee has been waived off on existing and new domestic and international bookings made between March 12 and March 31, IndiGo said in a statement. Also, there will be no fee charged for date change for flights booked between March 12 to March 31, it said.
According to a Reuters tally of government announcements, as many as 1,02,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world and more than 3,480 people have died from it.
In view of coronavirus, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel cancelled the March 9 'Holi Milan' programme as a preventive measure. Earlier today, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had appealed to people to refrain from attending social functions in view of coronavirus. "Coronavirus is an infectious virus and its infection spreads from one person to another. Therefore, protection is more important than treatment," he had said in a tweet.
Iran's virus death toll jumps to 145 with 21 new deaths, more than 1,000 infections confirmed overnight.
The number of coronavirus patients in Germany stood at 684 on Saturday morning, the country's public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute, said, an increase of 45 over Friday evening. The cases are concentrated in the west and south of the country, with 346 in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia and over 100 each in the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, where the country's initial cases were registered, news agency Reuters reported.
With 31 people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will conduct a review meeting on Saturday to study the impact of the infection. COVID-19 has infected at least one lakh people in 90 countries and claimed the lives of over 3,400 so far.
Ahead of his meeting, the Prime Minister asked people to refrain from believing information that was not verified by officials or a doctor. He also asked people to avoid shaking hands, and greet each other with ‘namaste’ instead. Click here to know more.