Coronavirus outbreak: 76-year-old man first death in India, says Karnataka govt

On Thursday, the health ministry tweeted a list of all COVID19 helplines from various states/UTs.

#CoronaVirusUpdate:

Here's a list of all #COVID19 Helpline numbers from various States/UTs. Please keep handy and share with others also.#SwasthaBharat#HelpUsToHelpYou pic.twitter.com/jkxGztli2N

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) March 12, 2020

Karnataka's Minister for Health confirmed the first coronavirus death in India. Taking to Twitter, his post read, "The 76-year-old man from Kalburgi who passed away and was a suspected COVID-19 patient had been confirmed for coronavirus. The necessary contact tracing, isolation and other measures as per protocol are being carried out."

The 76 year old man from Kalburgi who passed away & was a suspected #COVID19 patient has been Confirmed for #COVID19. The necessary contact tracing, isolation & other measures as per protocol are being carried out.

— B Sriramulu (@sriramulubjp) March 12, 2020

Prime Minister Modi had a telephonic conversation with British PM Boris Johnson and Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu today. In both conversations, they discussed coronavirus pandemic. Modi received a telephone call on Wednesday evening from Netanyahu and the leaders reviewed the "excellent progress" in bilateral relations, PTI reported.

“They are not letting me board the flight,” read a text from my friend Nadia Shaheen, who was to take a flight to Bhutan from Kolkata. My sister Taarini Chopra and I had just landed in Bhutan and were waiting for our third travel partner to join us when Bhutan confirmed its first Coronavirus case. Read more here

Canada PM Justin Trudeau is working from home as wife tested for COVID-19, AFP reported.

Following Delhi and Manipur government's footsteps, Uttarakhand government has also ordered schools to be shut till March 31 to ensure the safety of students, the order issued by Commissioner (Education- Schools) R Meenakshi Sundaram said.

Manipur government's Education department today issued an order to shut all schools in the state till March 31 in view of the Coronavirus outbreak. However, the notice added that state board examinations will be conducted as per schedule and will remain unaffected. All government, aided and private schools should b closed till the specified date to reduce mass gatherings, the order issued by Commissioner (Education-Schools) T Ranji said.

Two more persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Maharashtra Thursday. This includes one senior citizen who returned from Dubai to Mumbai and in Thane, an Indian citizen who had returned from France. Total confirmed cases in Maharashtra are now 14 - Mumbai 3, Thane 1, Pune 9 and 1 case in Nagpur. Health Minister Rajesh Tope told the Indian Express that one senior citizen is admitted to Mumbai's Hinduja Hospital. He had returned from Dubai and his condition is critical.

Slovakia will introduce border checks, stop international travel to and from the country and close schools as it steps up measures to battle the spreading coronavirus, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said on Thursday. The central European country, which has so far reported 16 cases of the new virus, also plans to close sport, leisure and entertainment centres such as ski areas, pools and clubs, and will shut all shopping centres this coming weekend. (Reuters)

The benchmark equity indices on the BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) witnessed their single-day fall in absolute terms after they settled over 8 per cent lower on Thursday, tracking a fall in the global markets. SEE MORE

The Ministry of Defence has set up seven more quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients, especially for Indian citizens being brought back from coronavirus-hit countries, an official said on Thursday. The facilities have been set up at Jaisalmer, Suratgadh, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Deolali, Kolkata and Chennai, PTI reported.

As more COVID-19 positive cases are being reported from different parts of India reflecting the same pattern across the world, Karnataka has reported five among them, all in Bengaluru, as of Thursday. The Karnataka government declared summer vacation for Bengaluru urban and rural schools. All schools in Bengaluru urban and rural will be closed from March 13, said Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S. Suresh Kumar on Thursday. As per the latest bulletin, 1,220 people have been identified for observation, out of them, 292 persons have completed 28 days of observation and 906 persons are continuing under home quarantine. These include persons who have travelled to COVID-19 affected countries and contacts of COVID-19 positive cases. As of Thursday afternoon, 18 people are admitted to selected isolation Hospitals in Karnataka. Till now, 579 samples of symptomatic persons are sent for testing and 460 samples were reported as negative.

Escalators in Thane station are being wiped every hour as a precautionary measure to combat coronavirus. The commute from Thane station towards CST and Harbour line is one of the most crowded routes.

A 31-year-old resident of Gilgit Baltistan was tested positive for novel coronavirus, bringing Pakistan's total number of cases to 21, PTI reported.

One more person tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, taking the number of confirmed patients of the disease in Pune city to nine. With this, the total number of confirmed cases in Maharashtra stands at 12 now. The 12th case is yet to be confirmed by the Health Ministry.

What's the situation at IGI airport. Let's find out.

At Indira Gandhi International Airport for a domestic flight. What’s the situation? Panic or calm? I’ll try to find out. #CoronaOutbreak pic.twitter.com/Eec71qr8bg

— Aaron Pereira (@aaronpereira) March 12, 2020

The number of coronavirus patients in the country has risen to 74 with 14 fresh cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. The total number of 74 confirmed cases includes 17 foreigners — 16 Italian tourists and a Canadian.

Excessive information on coronavirus also has its flip-side, as Mumbai-based doctors have realised in the last few days. So much so that many have received patients suffering from a combination of anxiety and phobia over coronavirus-related updates. The medication being prescribed — mild tranquillisers and anti-anxiety pills.

Taking dramatic action, President Donald Trump sharply restricted passenger travel from 26 European nations to the U.S. and moved to ease the economic cost of a viral pandemic that is roiling global financial markets and disrupting the daily lives of Americans. Trump, in a rare Oval Office address to the nation Wednesday night, said the monthlong restriction on travel would begin late Friday, at midnight. After days of playing down the coronavirus threat, he blamed Europe for not acting quickly enough to address the ``foreign virus'' and claimed that U.S. clusters were ``seeded'' by European travelers. (AP)

The Haryana government Thursday declared novel coronavirus an ‘epidemic’ and also directed deputy commissioners and other senior officers of the district administration and state government to enforce ‘stringent measures’ at places where the positive cases of the virus are found. So far, Haryana has detected 14 positive cases of coronavirus. 

The global coronavirus pandemic could be over by June if countries mobilise to fight it, Beijing’s senior medical officer said on Thursday, as China declared the peak had passed there and new cases in Hubei fell to single digits for the first time. Around two-thirds of global cases of the coronavirus have been recorded in China’s central Hubei province, where the virus first emerged in December. But in recent weeks the vast majority of new cases have been outside China. Read more here

Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency funding to help it fight the coronavirus outbreak that has hit the Islamic Republic hard, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday. The escalating outbreak in Iran - the worst-affected country in the Middle East - has killed 429 people and infected 10,075. The outbreak has damaged Iranian businesses and is bound to hit its non-oil exports after many neighbouring countries and trade partners shut their borders. The IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, "has stated that countries affected by #COVID19 (coronavirus) will be supported via Rapid Financial Instrument. Our Central Bank requested access to this facility immediately", Zarif said in a tweet. (Reuters)

Railway authorities in Mumbai have trained their staff to identify commuters with symptoms of the coronavirus and help them reach the hospital where such patients are being treated, an official said on Thursday. Local trains of the Central railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) ferry around 80 lakh commuters every day, which account for nearly half of the total number of passengers who travel by trains in the country daily. (PTI)

Sri Lanka on Thursday announced the closure of all schools across the country to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The Education Ministry announced that all schools will remain shut down till April 20, as second person in Sri Lanka tested positive for the virus. The second patient, identified as a 44-year-old man, is said to have had close contact with the first patient detected with the virus in the country, Director-General of Health Services Anil Jasinghe said. (PTI)

The government on Thursday informed Lok Sabha that India has not imposed a total ban on the entry of foreign nationals as part of efforts to check the spread of coronavirus. Responding to a series of questions by members in Lok Sabha following his statement on COVID-19, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar clarified that "India has not imposed a ban."

"India has said that if people from certain countries who are coming here, they have to go through quarantine -- in certain cases compulsory quarantine and in some cases discretionary quarantine -- and Indian citizens who are coming back will obviously come back to quarantine conditions if that is required," he said. (PTI)

Two students from Maharashtra's Amaravti district are among the 150 Indians stranded at Milan in Italy who were allegedly not allowed to check-in to their Air India flight (AI138) to Delhi by the airline staff on March 10, a day before the government announced the clampdown on foreign arrivals in India.

Pranav Vairale from Amravati city and Suraj Bundele from Achalpur town in the district studying in Italy had booked their ticket on the flight scheduled to take of at 8 pm on Tuesday, March 10, according to their parents Gopal Vairale and Shyam Bundele. "The flight was rescheduled for 10 pm. But they were later told that they can't board the flight since the government had announced a ban on travelers' entry into India. They were surprised since they had no information about any such announcement. We later gathered that the government had made it on March 11 and yet they was disallowed to take the flight a day earlier," Gopal Vairale, principal of a college at Badnera told The Indian Express.

A day after the World Health Organisation declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic, the Union Health Ministry asked people not to panic in the wake of an increasing number of coronavirus cases in the country, which stood at 73 on Thursday. In a media briefing, the Union Health Ministry’s joint secretary Luv Aggarwal also debunked several myths, while allaying fears and relayed precautionary measures to be undertaken while asserting that there was no instance of any community transmission. “We have managed to isolate the coronavirus, we have 11 such isolates. Vaccines will take a minimum of 1.5 to 2 years,” PTI quoted the Health Ministry as saying. Read more here

As a precautionary measure against the spread of COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus, the Rashtrapati Bhavan will remain closed for exploratory tour visits from tomorrow, March 13, till further notice.

The sixth case of coronavirus has been reported in Delhi.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Thursday said that all cinema halls will remain shut in Delhi till March 31. Schools and colleges where exams are not being held will also remain closed.

As governments race against time to keep people safe and find a way to contain the novel coronavirus, some have begun to panic, leading to them hysterically stockpiling on some unusual items. Among other things, it is the toilet paper that is swiftly going off the market in many countries. First it was the masks, then hand sanitizers, and now, toilet rolls are seeing a sudden surge in sales. So much so that while retail outlets in countries like US and Canada have put a cap on the number of packs that a customer can buy in one trip, grocery stores in Australia have hired guards to prevent people from people from buying too many toilet rolls. Read more here 

Iran says the new coronavirus has killed 75 more people, raising the death toll to 429 amid over 10,000 cases in the Islamic Republic. That's according to a Health Ministry spokesman who spoke in a live, televised news conference on Thursday. Iran is the hardest-hit country in the Mideast by the new coronavirus, which sickens but largely doesn't kill those afflicted.

When is an epidemic considered a pandemic, and what is the difference? What do health officials mean when they recommend “self-quarantining” or “social distancing”? As the coronavirus spreads around the world, new terms are entering the lexicon — and we’re here to help. Here’s a guide to the words and phrases you need to know to keep informed of the latest developments. Read more

The coronavirus outbreak "is a controllable pandemic", the head of the World Health Organization said on Thursday. "We are deeply concerned that some countries are not approaching this threat with the level of political commitment needed to control it," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told diplomats in Geneva, according to AFP.

The Ministry of External Affairs Thursday advised against conducting IPL, adding that the final decision lies with the organisers though. The ministry also advised Indians to stay put wherever they are and only travel under compelling reasons.

Karnataka confirmed its fifth positive case of COVID-19. The latest addition is a 26-year-old male patient who came from Greece. "Patient is admitted and isolated at hospital and is stable. All primary contacts traced, asymptomatic," the Karnataka Health Department said in its latest media bulletin.

#Karnataka confirms fifth positive case of #COVID19. The latest addition is a 26-year-old male patient who came from Greece. "Patient is admitted and isolated at hospital and is stable. All primary contacts traced, asymptomatic," the @DHFWKA media bulletin reads. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/salXwsQxiP

— Ralph Alex Arakal (@ralpharakal) March 12, 2020

A man who returned from Italy to Nellore last week tested positive for coronavirus, making it the first such case in Andhra Pradesh, the Medical and Health Department said on Thursday. The person developed dry cough and was admitted to the isolation ward in the government hospital at Nellore on his return from the European Nation on March 6, PTI reported. 

Iran announced Thursday 75 more deaths due to coronavirus, taking total to 429, AFP reported.

Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister said that no Minister of the Central Government will travel abroad in the upcoming days. His post further read, "I urge our countrymen to also avoid non-essential travel. We can break the chain of spread and ensure safety of all by avoiding large gatherings.

Say No to Panic, Say Yes to Precautions.

No Minister of the Central Government will travel abroad in the upcoming days. I urge our countrymen to also avoid non-essential travel.

We can break the chain of spread and ensure safety of all by avoiding large gatherings.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 12, 2020

President Donald Trump has announced that he will instruct the Treasury Department to allow individuals and businesses negatively affected by the coronavirus to defer their tax payments beyond the April 15 filing deadline. In an address from the Oval Office, Trump said on Wednesday he would use his emergency authority to allow individual taxpayers ad businesses to defer paying their taxes by next month's deadline if they have suffered adverse effects from the spreading virus. (AP)

The benchmark equity indices on the BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) witnessed their single-day fall in absolute terms after they settled over 8 per cent lower on Thursday, tracking a fall in the global markets. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 2,919.26 points (8.18 per cent), its biggest one-day fall in absolute terms, to settle at 32,778.14. During the intraday trade, the 30-share benchmark slipped as much as 3,204.30 points (8.98 per cent) to 32,493.10. From hitting a high of 42,273 on January 20, the Sensex is now down by over 23 per cent, in the bear phase. Read more here

Coronavirus outbreak is a matter of "great concern" and the government's initial focus is to bring back Indian pilgrims stranded in Iran, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday. Speaking on the situation arising out of the spread of the coronavirus, he said there are over 6000 Indian nationals in various provinces of Iran. These include about 1100 pilgrims mainly from the union territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, and Maharashtra. Besides there are nearly 300 students, primarily from Jammu and Kashmir; about 1000 fishermen, including from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat; and others who are on longer-term stay in Iran for pursuing their livelihood and religious studies. (PTI)

A 69-year-old man who had visited Italy and had a pre-existing illness has become the first person in Austria to die of the coronavirus, the city of Vienna said on Thursday. His death comes a day after sweeping restrictions were imposed across the country to slow the disease's spread from neighbouring Italy, the hardest-hit country in Europe. Border controls are in place and indoor gatherings of more than 100 people banned with only few exceptions. (Reuters)

Dismissing rumours, the Health Ministry Thursday clarified that there is no evidence or study that proves high temperature helps in killing the virus though flu is not common in summer.

Spain's equality minister Irene Montero Thursday tested positive for coronavirus and has been quarantined along with her partner, AFP reported.

"Coronavirus is difficult to isolate and developing vaccine will take at least one-and-a-half to two years", said Health Ministry official.

The Ministry of Health said in its briefing Thursday that 3 planes will be sent to Iran in next three days to bring back stranded Indians.

The Ministry of Health also advised all incoming international passengers returning to India to self- monitor their health and follow required Do’s and Don’ts as detailed by the Government.

The Ministry of Health said that screening at airports was started on 17th January at 3 airports (Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata) which were extended to 4 more airports (Chennai, Cochin, Bengaluru, Hyderabad) on 21st January, 2020 and subsequently extended to 30 airports.

Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry, said that right now, luckily for India we do not have any community transmission. "We have only a few cases that have come from outside and they have primarily affected their close family members.", he added.

Rubina Ali, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, said that 130-150 passengers from Iran are expected to take an Iran Air flight and land day after tomorrow.

The Health Ministry Thursday also said that a mask is not always necessary, if a person maintains effective social distance then a mask is not needed. 

One lakh COVID2019 testing kits are currently available in the country, the Health Ministry is procuring more such kits. 52 testing facilities are located across the country and there are a total of 56 sample collection centers. Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health, added that over 1,500 people are under observation for coming in contact with the 73 coronavirus cases.

The Ministry of Health Thursday confirmed that 73 positive cases have been reported in India so far, out of which 56 are Indians and 17 are foreigners. The Government of India has also evacuated 900 Indian citizens along with 48 belonging to other nations like Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, US, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa, and Peru.

Amid the ongoing coronavirus scare and at a time when the infection has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), a leaflet sent by SpiceJet airlines to its passengers claiming that it’s safe to travel during the outbreak has drawn flak online. “Really, @flyspicejet? Most countries, including India, disagree with you,” tweeted New York Times journalist Vindu Goel while sharing the image of the informative, which has now gone viral on several social media platforms. Read more here

US President Donald Trump addressed the nation as the number of cases of novel coronavirus in the country continued to increase. However, viewers who were watching President Trump’s national address about the pandemic on C-SPAN Wednesday night got to witness some behind the scenes moments too. In a televised address to the nation from the Oval Office, Trump announced he is suspending all travel from Europe, except the UK, to the US for the next 30 days to stop the spread of virus that has affected over 1,000 Americans. But it was not just his tax roll out or ban that got many talking online. Read more here

South Africa reported the first case of local transmission of the coronavirus on Thursday, fuelling concerns that sub-Saharan African health systems could be overwhelmed if local transmission accelerates. Sub-Saharan Africa has reported far fewer cases of coronavirus than in Europe or China, but some analysts worry it could spread rapidly in poor or overcrowded areas. South Africa's Health Ministry said a 32-year-old man contracted the virus after contact with a Chinese businessman. (Reuters)

As the battle against coronavirus intensifies, a Chhattisgarh-based law university has suspended its classes till March 18 as a precautionary measure after a few of its students were found suffering from cough, cold and fever. The management of the Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU) in Raipur district has asked its students to vacate by Thursday evening the hostels located in the campus. 'Taking preventive measures regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the university is suspending its classes for students till March 18,' an order issued on Wednesday by university registrar (in-charge) Dr Ayan Hazra said. (PTI)

A 35-year-old Indian-origin doctor from Canada, who came to visit her relatives, has been tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) at the KGMU and her samples have been sent to Pune's National Institute of Virology for reconfirmation, a senior doctor said on Thursday. She has been kept in an isolation ward while her husband, who had accompanied her, has also been tested but has been found to be negative in the two tests conducted on him, Professor D Himanshu of King George's Medical University's Medicine Department said. The 35-year-old doctor of Indian origin is based in Toronto, Canada and had arrived here on March 8. She was tested positive on Wednesday night and her samples have been sent for reconfirmation to NIV, Dr Himanshu said. Though she did not show any symptoms during screening at the Lucknow airport, she developed fever and cough later and contacted the doctors at KGMU, he said. The doctors are also identifying those who had interacted with her between March 8 and 11 and they will all be tested, he added. "Her husband is also under observation in the hospital but he will be discharged by evening today," Dr Himanshu said. (PTI)