On Sunday, a high surge in cases in Maharashtra took the number of coronavirus patients in India to 112. The 19 new confirmed cases reported includes 15 cases from Maharashtra, which has exceeded Kerala with the highest number of confirmed cases. The 4 other confirmed cases include two from Kerala and one each from Rajasthan and Karnataka. Maharashtra has reached for 33 confirmed cases. The rise in infections in the state has forced to shut down schools, colleges, and malls till 31st March.

Kerala has accounted for the 2nd highest number of coronavirus cases in India which has total number at 24, which is followed by Uttar Pradesh at 12 confirmed cases, and 7 each in Delhi and Karnataka. Out of the 112 coronavirus confirmed cases inIndia, 10 patients have recovered, whereas two people died last week.

The central and state governments had shut down schools, colleges, malls and cinemas. They had closed most border check posts, quarantined international air travelers, and also issued advisories requesting people to practice safe social distancing to control the spread of the disease.

The government of Gujarat, has also declared an epidemic in the state and allowed certain officials to take action against suspected cases to prevent the spread of infection. Gujarat has not recorded a single COVID-19 case.

The state government has closed all educational institutions along with tuition classes and anganwadis till 29th March 2020. The joining states are Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh. Out of the 77 samples tested in the state, 72 have reported negative whereas the results of 5 are still pending.

The patient in Buldana district of Maharashtra, who was in a private hospital died on Saturday was tested negative for COVID-19.

Globally, the number of cases has blown up to more than 156,400 with 5,833 deaths in more than 142 countries, since the outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December. This had impelled the World Health Organization to declare it as a pandemic.

The Indian government had evacuated 102 citizens from Iran. A total of 265 passengers from coronavirus affected countries have been quarantined at Thiruvananthapuram, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad.

On Sunday Union Minister of health and family welfare, Harsh Vardhan, reviewed the status of the states taking precautions and instructed them to maintain hygiene and cleanliness in hospitals and to follow all protocols for control and management of coronavirus.

Source: live mint