At least 14 doctors and nurses have tested positive for coronavirus at a Delhi government hospital in Jahangirpuri, which has emerged as one of the biggest cluster outbreaks in the capital. The total number of infections in Delhi stands at 2,376 while the death toll has increased to 50 as 128 more tested positive on Thursday.

The tally of coronavirus cases in Mumbai, meanwhile, has crossed the 4,000-mark with the addition of 478 new patients on Thursday, while the death toll increased to 168, the city civic body said.

Maharashtra registered 778 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day jump in numbers since the first coronavirus case in the state in the first week of March. Over the last four days alone, the state has registered 2,000 new cases, taking its total to 6,427.

Among those who tested positive was Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad. He was admitted to hospital on Tuesday night, 10 days after he had put himself under home quarantine after coming in contact with a person who tested positive for coronavirus. Sources close to the NCP leader said he was moved to a private hospital after developing fever. A hospital spokesperson said his condition was stable.

After Mumbai, Pune, which remains the second worst-hit in the state, saw five deaths while one death each occurred in Nandurbar, Navi Mumbai and Dhule.

The central government has said that it has been able to “cut coronavirus transmission”, minimise its spread and increase the doubling time of COVID-19 cases in the country during the 30-day period of the nationwide lockdown.

While asserting that the growth of coronavirus cases in the country has been more or less linear and not exponential, it also said testing has been ramped up consistently.

Addressing a daily press conference on the COVID-19 situation in the country, C K Mishra, the chairman of Empowered Group Two, said, “One crucial weapon we employed during the 30-day lockdown period is RT-PCR test to ascertain if one has contracted the disease or not.”

As on March 23, nearly 15,000 tests were done across the country and by April 22 more than 5 lakh tests were conducted, which is about “33 times in 30 days”, he said, adding, “But we are conscious of the fact that this is not enough and we have to continuously ramp up testing in the country and we will do that.

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“We were attacked. This was an attack. This wasn’t just the flu by the way. Nobody has ever seen anything like this, 1917 was the last time,” Mr. Trump told reporters at his daily White House news conference on Wednesday.

He was responding to a question about the growing U.S. national debt as a result of the multi-trillion dollars stimulus packages that his administration has come up with to help people and businesses in distress as a direct fallout of the pandemic.

“We have no choice. Do we have a choice? I’m always concerned about everything. We had to fix this problem,” he said.

“We had the greatest economy in the history of the world… Better than China, better than any place,” he said.

“We built it in the last three years and then one day, they came and they said you have to close it. Now, we’re going to open it again and we’re going to be just as strong or stronger but you have to spend some money to get it back open,” he said.

“We saved our airlines. We saved numerous companies that are great companies that two months ago were having the best year they’ve ever had. Now all of a sudden, they’re totally shut out of markets,” he added.

Mr. Trump said the number of new positive cases continue to decline nationwide.

“Recent hotspots appear to be stabilising. They are going in the right direction.

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“On the basis of worldwide analysis, 80 per cent of the COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic or show mild symptoms. Around 15 per cent patients turn into severe cases and 5 per cent may become critical,” Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry, said at a daily press briefing.

The asymptomatic patients may pass on the infection to other people, he earlier had said while stressing on maintaining social distancing in the community and infection prevention and control practices in hospital set ups.

Head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar said 80 out of 100 infected people do not show any symptoms.

Officials said as of now, there is no plan to further widen the testing criteria.

As part its revised strategy to fight the spread of COVID-19, the government has started testing people with fever, cough and sore throat in hotspots or cluster areas and evacuees centres.

Also, all hospitalised patients with severe acute respiratory illness, shortness of breath, fever and cough are being tested for COVID-19 infection.

Direct and high-risk contacts of confirmed cases are also being tested once between day five and 14 of coming in his/her contact.

Besides, all asymptomatic individuals who undertook international travel and developed symptoms, all symptomatic contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases and all symptomatic health care workers were being tested for the infection as per the guidelines.

The apex body for biomedical research had recently revised its strategy to contain the spread of the virus more effectively and provide reliable diagnosis to all individuals meeting the inclusion criteria of COVID-19 testing.

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 559 and the number of cases climbed to 17, 656 in the country on Monday, according to the Union health ministry.

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“In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States,” Trump said in a tweet.

It’s the latest measure taken by Trump and his administration to restrict the U.S. border amid the pandemic. Trump has imposed broad travel restrictions on China, Europe, Canada and Mexico to curb the virus’s spread, and the State Department last month temporarily suspended routine visa services at embassies and consulates.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has also already suspended routine in-person services, but is still offering some emergency services.

The president has often said the pandemic has strengthened his desire to further restrict access to the U.S., and even to manufacture certain products on home soil.

Cracking down on illegal immigration and a promise to erect a wall at the Mexican border formed the centerpiece of Trump’s election campaign in 2016.

The US Congress on Monday inched toward a $450 billion deal to help small businesses and hospitals hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying negotiators had come to terms on the ‘principles’ of the package as the Senate set a Tuesday session for a potential vote.

Thousands of Americans concerned about their economic bottom line have been protesting across the country for days, and on Monday, the focal point was Pennsylvania and its capital Harrisburg.

Trump has cheered on the protests, even as health officials warn that a too-rapid reopening could risk a resurgence of deadly outbreaks.

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The city government said in a social media posting that it had added 1,290 deaths to the tally in Wuhan, where the global pandemic emerged and which has suffered the vast majority of China’s fatalities from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

That brings the total number of deaths in the city to 3,869.

The change also pushes the nationwide death toll up by nearly 39 percent to 4,632, based on official national data released earlier on Friday.

China has come under increasing pressure over the coronavirus pandemic from Western powers led by the United States, which has raised doubts about Chinese transparency and is probing whether the virus actually originated in a Wuhan laboratory.

China has said the virus emerged from a Wuhan food market whose merchandise reportedly included exotic wild animals sold for human consumption.

Wuhan’s epidemic prevention and control headquarters cited several reasons for the missed cases, including the fact that the city’s medical staff were overwhelmed in the early days as infections climbed, leading to “late reporting, omissions or mis-reporting”.

It also cited insufficient testing and treatment facilities, and said some patients died at home and thus their deaths were not properly reported.

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The stark reversal comes as nations across the world have shut down in a desperate effort to contain the pandemic, with more people now infected and having died abroad than in China.

There were no new cases in Wuhan — the central city where the virus first emerged in December — for the first time since authorities started publishing figures in January, according to the National Health Commission.

Wuhan and its 11 million people were placed under strict quarantine on January 23, with more than 40 million other people in the rest of Hubei province entering lockdown in the following days.

The rest of China also enacted tough measures to limit public gatherings.

There were eight more deaths in China — all in Hubei — raising the nationwide total to 3,245, according to the commission.

There have been nearly 81,000 infections in China but only 7,263 people remain sick with the COVID-19 disease.

The global number has shot past 200,000, with more than 8,700 deaths.

On March 10, President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan for the first time since the outbreak began and declared that the spread of the disease was “basically curbed”.

On the same day, Hubei officials allowed people to travel within the province for the first time since January, excluding Wuhan.

On Wednesday, Hubei authorities announced they were partially opening its borders to allow healthy people from low-risk areas to leave the province if they have jobs or residences elsewhere. This also excludes Wuhan.

Life has slowly started to return to normal in the rest of the country, with people back at work, factories up and running, and schools in some regions resuming or preparing to go back to class.

But there is concern about a second wave of infections due to an influx of cases from abroad, with an average of 20,000 people flying into China every day.

Beijing and other regions are now requiring most international arrivals to go into 14-day quarantine in designated hotels.

The National Health Commission said there were 34 more cases brought in from abroad, the biggest daily increase in two weeks, with 189 in total now.

“We should never allow the hard-won and continuous positive trend to be reversed,” Xi said at a Communist Party leadership meeting on Wednesday.

The disease is believed to have jumped from an animal to humans at a market that illegally sold wild game in Wuhan late last year.

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There are a total of 35,713 confirmed cases in the country, with more than 4,000 having successfully recovered.

Lombardy, the worst-hit region, recorded 319 deaths in one day.

Italy is the world’s worst affected country after China, where the virus originated last year. At least 8,758 people have died, most in China.

The vast majority of the more than 200,000 confirmed cases – 80% – have occurred in Europe and the Western Pacific region, which includes much of Asia, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

Many countries have taken drastic measures, including social distancing and cancelling major events to help slow transmission and reduce pressure on the health systems.

“But to suppress and control epidemics, countries must isolate, test, treat and trace,” the WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said.

Italy has been on lockdown for almost two weeks as authorities try to halt the progress of the virus.

People have been asked to stay indoors – but the number of deaths has continued to spiral.

The coronavirus pandemic, which has infected over 2.1 lakh people around the world and killed more 8,000, is causing fear worldwide as more countries initiate partial or full lockdowns to combat its spread. The disease, which spreads through the droplets of an infected person, can stay on various surfaces for a long time. Thus, its reccomended to not touch objects and keep one’s hand away from the face, as well. .

The 2020 edition of Sydney Film Festival stands cancelled amid the spread of coronavirus. The movie gala, which was scheduled to be held from June 3 to June 14, has been called off for the first time ever, reported Deadline.

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One more person has tested positive for Coronavirus in Pune. The person has travel history to France and Netherlands. Total number of positive cases reaches 18 in Pune and 42 in Maharashtra: Naval Kishore Ram, District Magistrate of Pune, Maharashtra.

China reported just one new domestic case in the coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday, but a dozen more imported infections from overseas. For the second consecutive day there was only one more fresh infection in Wuhan, the central city where the virus first emerged late last year, the National Health Commission said. New cases in Hubei province have now been in the single digits for the past seven days, down from a peak of several thousand per day in early February.

Wuhan and its 11 million people were placed under strict quarantine on January 23, with the rest of Hubei province going under lockdown in the following days. In recent days, there has been an easing of restrictions in some parts of the province, with China saying it has “basically curbed” the spread of the virus.

Over 1.86 lakh passengers who have returned from the coronavirus-affected countries have been screened at the Delhi airport till date and placed under surveillance, Delhi Health Department authorities said on Tuesday. The total coronavirus cases in Delhi now stands at eight. As many as 4,458 passengers from the coronavirus-hit countries were screened on Tuesday, according to a statement released by the Delhi Health Department. India had reported its second casualty due to coronavirus on Friday with the death of a 68-year-old woman in Delhi.

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Xi’s visit came as unprecedented quarantine measures that have sealed off Wuhan and the rest of central Hubei province since late January.

During Xi’s trip, Hubei announced it would ease travel restrictions to allow healthy people in low-risk areas to travel throughout the province

Wearing a protective mask and accompanied by a retinue of military and health officials, Xi – who initially came under criticism for not acting in time to stem the virus when it first showed up in December last year, but later won praise for a decisive follow-up action – visited a makeshift hospital and community residents and frontline workers in Wuhan.

Xi, 66, vowed to resolutely fight for a victory in the war against the coronavirus during his inspection tour of Wuhan, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

During his visit, Xi said the spread of coronavirus had been basically curbed in Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan where over 50 million people lived in total isolation since January 23 following a complete lockdown of the areas.

The initial success has been made in stabilising the situation and turning the tide in Hubei and Wuhan, Xi said.

Ahead of the President’s visit on Tuesday, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) announced a dramatic drop in number of COVID-19 cases both of which fell below 20 mark for the first time since the NHC began daily reporting of cases in later part of January.

The NHC reported 19 new confirmed cases of infection and 17 fatalities on Monday. All the 17 new deaths were in Hubei province and in Wuhan, while Beijing and other cities geared up for “imported cases” with the return of large number of Chinese and foreigners to re-join work.

The overall confirmed cases in the Chinese mainland have reached 80,754 by the end of Monday. This included 3,136 people who died of the disease. 17,721 patients are still undergoing treatment while 59,897 patients have been discharged after recovery, the NHC said.

While the virus has abated in China, it has spread to over 100 countries. The death toll has reached 4,011 globally with more than 110,000 cases of infection.

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Six more cases have tested positive in Agra, Uttar Pradesh having contact history with case in Delhi. Required action as per Cluster Management plan has been initiated. Further, an Italian Tourist & his wife have tested positive in Rajasthan. 14 other accompanying tourists in this group and their Indian bus driver tested positive on their return to Delhi. All of them are reported to be stable. A recent positive case has also been reported in Delhi yesterday (having travel history from Italy) and is stable.

The ever increasing magnitude of this outbreak globally calls for a concerted effort by not only health but all sectors of Government. Honourable Prime Minister is personally monitoring the preparedness and response on a regular basis .Government of India has initiated a series of action to prevent entry of the disease and to contain it. I am daily reviewing the situation. A Group of Ministers consisting of Minister of External Affairs, Minister of Civil Aviation and Minister of State for Home Affairs, Minister of State for Shipping and Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare chaired by me have been constituted to monitor the situation.

The Group of Ministers has met four times since its inception on 3rd February, 2020. Cabinet Secretary is taking regular reviews with all related Ministries of Health, Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, Civil Aviation, Home, Textiles, Pharma, Commerce and other officials including with State Chief Secretaries. My own Ministry is constantly reviewing the evolving scenario. Video Conferences are being held with States every other day.

Government of India has also taken several measures to control the risk of novel Corona virus infection spreading to India. Our First Travel Advisory was issued on 17th January 2020 and as situation is evolving, the travel advisories are accordingly getting revised.

Presently it prescribes, All regular (sticker) Visas/e-Visa (including Visa on Arrival for Japan and South Korea) granted to nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, Japan and issued on or before 03.03.2020 and who have not yet entered India, stand suspended with immediate effect.

Regular (sticker) visa / e-Visa granted to nationals of Peoples Republic of China, issued on or before 05.02.2020 were suspended earlier. It shall remain in force.

Regular (sticker) visas/e-Visas granted to all foreign nationals who have travelled to Peoples Republic of China, Iran, Italy, South Korea and Japan on or after 01.02.2020, and who have not yet entered India stand suspended with immediate effect.

Diplomats, officials of UN and other International bodies, OCI cardholders and Aircrew from above countries are exempted from such restriction on entry. However, their screening at point of entry is compulsory.

Passengers of all international flights entering into India from any port are required to furnish duly filled self-declaration form (including personal particulars i.e. phone no. and address in India) and travel history, to Health Officials and Immigration officials at all ports.

Indian citizens are advised to refrain from travel to China, Iran, Republic of Korea, Italy & Japan and advised to avoid non-essential travel to other COVID-19 affected countries.

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