Coronavirus cases in Maharashtra rise to 38, countrywide total now 116
Maharashtra has the highest number of cases at 38, followed by Kerala at 22.
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The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in India climbed to 116, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced on Sunday.
The number includes 99 Indian nationals. Out of these, nine people have been cured and two have died.
Among the states, Maharashtra has the highest number of cases at 38, followed by Kerala at 22. According to officials, the total number of passengers screened at the airport so far is 12,76,046 (till March 15, 11:30 PM).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conference of SAARC leaders to discuss a strategy to combat COVID-19.
Here are the Live updates:
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal: All gyms, night clubs, spas to be closed till March 31st. Any gathering with more than 50 persons excluding weddings will not be allowed. For weddings also, we request if they can be postponed then please do so.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal: All gyms, night clubs, spas to be closed till March 31st. Any gathering with more than 50 persons excluding weddings will not be allowed. For weddings also, we request if they can be postponed then please do so. pic.twitter.com/vGLPB3EL6D
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2020
Maharashtra Health Ministry: Four more people have been tested positive for coronavirus in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, taking the total number of cases to 37 in the state.
Jitendra Rai, Senior Coaching Depot Officer, New Delhi: Blankets&curtains from trains are being removed by the Indian Railways for sanitization. Blanket sanitizer behind me sanitizes 1200 blankets per day at 40-degree temp using naphthalene balls.
Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal has directed to install portable handwash stations in various parts of Delhi.
Assam Government: All Tiger reserves, sanctuaries & national parks in the State to remain closed between March 17 to 29, to avoid the spread of #Coronavirus
Maharashtra Health Department: One more person has been tested positive for coronavirus in Pimpri-Chinchwad, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 33 in the state.
Uttarakhand: Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee has kept under 14-day isolation one foreign and eight Indian students on Covid19 suspicion.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to take review meetings via video conferencing of all district authorities today on containment measures against the spread of coronavirus. Deputy CM, Health Minister, Chief Secretary &Health Secretary to also join from Delhi Secretariat.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to take review meetings via video conferencing of all district authorities today on containment measures against the spread of #COVID19. Deputy CM, Health Minister, Chief Secretary &Health Secretary to also join from Delhi Secretariat. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/41XREbdmKj
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2020
Total number of confirmed COVID 2019 cases across India: 110 (including foreign nationals, as on 15.03.2020 at 11:30 PM)
Total number of confirmed COVID 2019 cases across India
Two more COVIDー19 cases reported in the state. One UK national, and a doctor - who returned from abroad & tested positive. The total positive cases in the state rises to 21: Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja
Of the two new positive cases, the UK national has been admitted to a hospital in Kochi and the doctor is in isolation ward in Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Health Minister
Number of coronavirus infected people in Maharashtra has risen to 33, most in Pune with 16 cases
Uttarakhand Additional Health Secretary, Yugal Kishore Pant: A trainee Indian Forest Service officer has tested positive for coronavirus. He has travel history to Spain. 25 samples were sent for test, reports of 18 have come and 17 have tested negative.
Directorate of Health Services, Uttar Pradesh: A total of 13 people have tested positive for coronavirus; eight are from Agra, two from Ghaziabad, one from Noida and two from Lucknow.
Andhra Pradesh Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar: We have decided to postpone the local body polls for six weeks in the wake of coronavirus spread. New dates will be announced once the spread of the virus is contained.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on local body polls postponed: It seems the state Election Commissioner is working at the behest of N Chandrababu Naidu. He was appointed when Naidu was Chief Minister and both belong to the same caste.
The University of Hyderabad has suspended all academic activities, including classes&examinations, with immediate effect until March 31, in view of Covid-19. All students have been advised to return to their homes and take adequate precautions.
The University of Hyderabad has also decided that all events such as conferences, seminars, workshops, meetings, and cultural activities stand cancelled, until further notice.
Some partners have made specific requests, including about medicine and equipment. My team has taken careful note of these. Let me assure you, that we will do our best for our neighbours: PM Modi
We have to fight this battle together, and we have to win it together. Our neighbourhood collaboration should be a model for the world: PM Modi
We believe that SAARC Secretariat does provide us a platform that can bring us together&we believe that we need to use this platform for pooling of resources; technical expertise, national experiences and even financing that can be used by SAARC members: Zafar Mirza
It is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has been reported from Jammu & Kashmir and in view of health emergency, it is imperative that all lockdown in the territory must be lifted immediately.
Let us ask our officials to maintain close contact & identify nodal experts from each of our countries & they can have similar video conference one week from now to follow up on our discussions today.
Looking ahead, we could create a common Research Platform, to coordinate research on controlling epidemic diseases within our South Asian region. The Indian Council of Medical Research can offer help coordinating such an exercise: PM Modi
We had set up an Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal to better trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted. We could share this Disease Surveillance software with SAARC partners, and training on using this: PM Modi
We are assembling a Rapid Response Team of doctors and specialists in India, along with testing kits and other equipment. They will be on stand-by, to be placed at your disposal, if required: PM Modi
I propose we create a COVID-19 Emergency Fund. This could be based on voluntary contributions from all of us. India can start with an initial offer of US $10 million for this fund: PM Modi
It is clear that we have to work together. We can respond best by – Coming together not growing apart, Collaboration not Confusion, Preparation not Panic: PM Modi
Zafar Mirza, State Minister of Health of Pakistan: With over 155,000 infections, 5833 deaths and 138 countries involved, no nation & no region on earth can afford to be unresponsive
Zafar Mirza: Pakistan shares common concern over the potential of COVID19 affecting South Asia. All our countries have confirmed cases. There is no room for any complacency. While hoping for the best we have to be prepared for the worst.
Bhutan PM Lotay Tshering:I think it is very timely&would like to thank PM Modi for his excellent leadership to bring all of us together because togetherness is required at all times but when the world is fighting one common disease, it is very imp to leave behind our differences.
Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli: I would like to thank PM Modi ji for taking this important & timely initiative. Our collective wisdom and efforts will help us devise a sound and robust strategy for the SAARC region as we fight COVID-19
Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh: I thank PM Modi for taking this initiative. I also thank him for bringing and hosting 23 of our students from Wuhan (China) along with Indian students
Sheikh Hasina: To continue this dialogue at technical level, our Health Ministers, Health Secretaries & health experts should also hold this kind of video conferences to discuss specific areas of cooperation.
President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa: First, I must thank PM Narendra Modi for initiating this to share our experiences, ideas, best practices and to understand the challenges & discuss measures to be taken.
Our economy has taken serious blow, particularly tourism sector which was just recovering after last years' terrorist attack. I strongly recommend SAARC leaders to formulate mechanism to assist our economies to tide over difficult period: Sri Lanka President
Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih: I too will begin by thanking PM Modi for this timely call for regional initiative to combat the increasing threat of coronavirus. No country on its own can succeed in combating the virus.
The Maldives is fortunate to have received general assistance from India and I convey my Government's appreciation to Mr Modi and people of India: President Solih
President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan now sharing his views on the “unknown territory” the world now finds itself in and need for a common cooperative framework
President Ghani: We should create a common framework for tele-medicine to combat coronavirus. The closing of borders will result in a significant problem of availability of food, medicines & basic goods.
Since India is both a very imp member of SAARC and a member of Shanghai Cooperation, it can coordinate between SAARC & Shanghai Cooperation and share how much experience of China is replicable to our situation and how do we learn from their experience: President Ghani
Our people-to-people ties are ancient and our societies are deeply interconnected. Therefore, we must all prepare together, act together and succeed together.
We also responded to the call of our people abroad. We evacuated nearly 1400 Indians from different countries. We also similarly helped some of the citizens of our neighbourhood countries: PM
We have made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups. We have worked to quickly ramp up capacity in our system including through training our medical staff across the country: PM
We started screening entry into India from mid-January itself, while also gradually increasing restrictions on travel. The step-by-step approach has helped avoid panic: PM Modi
As we prepare to face this challenge, let me briefly share India’s experience of combating the spread of this virus so far. “Prepare, but don’t panic” has been our guiding mantra: PM
As we all know, COVID-19 has recently been classified by WHO as a pandemic. So far, our region has listed fewer than 150 cases. But we need to remain vigilant: PM Modi
I would like to thank you all for joining this special interaction at short notice. I specially thank our friend Prime Minister Oli who has joined us almost immediately after his recent surgery: PM Modi
Chalking out a plan to combat the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus with SAARC leaders. https://t.co/l9H0Nidn6a
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 15, 2020
Here is the state-wise list of the confirmed cases.
- Delhi: 7
- Haryana: 14 (All foreign nationals)
- Kerala: 22
- Rajasthan: 2 (All foreign nationals)
- Telangana: 3
- Uttar Pradesh: 11 (1 foreign nationals)
- Ladakh: 3
- Tamil Nadu: 1
- Jammu and Kashmir: 2
- Punjab: 1
- Karnataka: 6
- Maharashtra: 32
- Andhra Pradesh: 1
Meanwhile, a Dubai bound flight from Kochi with 286 passengers on board was grounded before take-off and its passengers were quarantined after one the passengers tested positive on Sunday. The patient was a UK national and had slipped out of a quarantine in Munnar before boarding the flight.