Deadly coronavirus continue to spread its tentacles taking India’s tally to 468 cases on Monday with new cases being reported from Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Bihar. The tally also includes 34 cured cases as well as death toll which rose to nine on Monday.
Confirmed coronavirus cases in India have more than doubled in just the last four days. Total number of active coronavirus cases in India stands at 434, as per latest ICMR report. Multiple States and over 100 cities across the country are in lockdown till March 31. According to data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 18,383 samples from 17,493 individuals have been tested for COVID-19.
Maharashtra is worst hit with 89 confirmed cases. Kerala has the second highest number of cases at 67. Delhi has reported 30 positive cases. Telangana has reported 26 cases. Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have reported 28 cases so far. In Haryana, there are 17 cases, which include 14 foreigners. Apart from these, seven confirmed cases have been reported in West Bengal, three in Uttarakhand, 13 in Ladakh, four in J&K, 5 in Chandigarh, seven in Tamil Nadu including two foreigners, 21 in Punjab, 1 in Puducherry, 2 in Odisha, 6 in Madhya Pradesh, 2 in Himachal, 30 in Gujarat, 1 in Chhattisgarh, 2 in Bihar and five in Andhra Pradesh. The deadly coronavirus, which has infected over 3,25,000 people and killed over 14,000 globally.
Gujarat, Bihar and Maharahstra reported a death each on Sunday, while four deaths were earlier reported from Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra and Punjab, the Health Ministry said.Eighty cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru went into complete lockdown till 31 March. Trains, metros and inter-state buses have been shut from today, only essential services like milk, vegetables, medicines, grocery and ATMs will be available during the shutdown.Meanwhile, nearly 500 Indians, who were evacuated from Iran in batches and quarantined at three Army facilities in Jaisalmer, are presently asymptomatic, a defence spokesperson said on Monday.The staff at the Army wellness facilities is working overtime to ensure that the centres remain clean, he said. In addition to sanitisation of the entire premises, daily motivational lectures are conducted by the Army medical authorities to make people understand the importance of the mandatory quarantine to combat the spread of COVID-19, the spokesperson said.He said the people are enjoying their time by playing games, watching television, praying and utilising the available resources in the wellness facilities.Interestingly, the Kerala Government has decided to allow outlets of the State-run beverages corporation to sell liqour, while shutting down bars across the State in the wake of the spread of COVID-19. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the decision after a COVID-19 review meeting here.”Beverage outlets will remain open, we have had some bad experiences when the Government stopped the sale of liquor. It will create many social issues,” Vijayan told reporters.Coming down against the decision, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said this shows the Government’s adamant attitude against shutting down all liqour outlets which would push the State further into a dangerous situation.It was only after the realising that the situation was worsening, the Government decided to indefinitely shut down the bars in the State, Chennithala said.In many districts, people were seen queuing up before beverages outlets in large numbers, this would only help in spreading the coronavirus.