Coronavirus: India reports 227 new cases in a single day; seven deaths take toll to 32

11 pm: Here are the top updates from Monday:

• India reported 227 new Covid-19 patients on Monday, taking the number of cases to 1,251. The number of deaths rose by seven to 32 by Monday night, the Union Health Ministry said. Both the increase in the number of cases and deaths were the highest ever in a single day.
• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that India is still in the stage of local transmission of the novel coronavirus and that there has been no community spread of the disease. Community transmission is said to take place when the source of infection for a large number of cases in an area cannot be traced: when individuals pick up the infection without having travelled to countries where the virus is circulating or having been in contact with known confirmed cases.
• The health ministry added that the incident of road disinfectant being sprayed on returning migrant workers in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, was “an overzealous employee acting out of fear or ignorance”.
• The Supreme Court asked for a status report from the Centre by Tuesday on the measures related to the large-scale migration of workers amid the Covid-19 outbreak in the country. The top court noted that the migration of labourers due to panic over the spreading Covid-19 was becoming a bigger problem than containment of the disease.
• Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court took suo motu cognisance of reports of police brutality against those breaking the lockdown norms, and said it cannot allow fundamental rights of citizens to be infringed.
• The Tokyo Olympics, postponed last week due to the coronavirus pandemic, will now be held from July 23 to August 8 in 2021, the International Olympic Committee confirmed. The Paralympic Games have been rescheduled for August 24 to September 5.

10.51 pm: India reported 227 new Covid-19 patients on Monday, taking the number of cases to 1,251. The number of deaths rose by seven to 32 by Monday night, the Union Health Ministry says. Both the increase in the number of cases and deaths were the highest ever in a single day.

9.41 pm: The Kerala High Court takes suo motu cognisance of police excesses against those breaking lockdown norms, reports Live Law. The court says it cannot allow fundamental rights of citizens to be infringed.

9.37 pm: Delhi Police says 145 FIRs were filed and 3,750 people were detained on Monday for violating lockdown norms, PTI reports.

9.19 pm: The Delhi government will ask police to file a case against the maulana of Markaz mosque in Nizamuddin locality, ANI reports. Around 300 to 400 people had reportedly attended a religious gathering there, after which 163 people from the locality have been admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital.

9.17 pm: The number of Covid-19 cases in Iran rose over 40,000 on Monday, AFP reports.

8.55 pm: A hospital official in Delhi says 174 “possibly infected” Covid-19 patients have been admitted at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, ANI reports. Out of these, 163 are from Nizamuddin.

8.49 pm: Delhi confirmed 25 new cases today. This takes the number of positive cases in the Capital to 97.

8.42 pm: World Health Organisation says countries should work hand-in-hand with communities to build trust and support resilience and mental health during the coronavirus pandemic.

8.40 pm: “We understand that many countries are implementing measures that restrict the movement of people,” says WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “In implementing these measures, it’s vital to respect the dignity and welfare of all people.”

8.38 pm: The World Health Organisation says ensuring free movement of essential health products is vital for saving lives and to curb the social and economic impacts of the coronavirus spread.

8.30 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath is seen shouting at officers at a meeting to discuss the coronavirus situation in the state, reports NDTV. “Stop this nonsense,” he says. “It is because of this nonsense that this is the situation today. Instead of fulfilling your responsibilities, passing the buck.”

Gautam Buddha Nagar in Noida has reported 33 of the 75 coronavirus cases in UP. Noida District Magistrate BN Singh has been removed. Action is likely against him after probe into leak of his leave application to media, reports PTI.

8.12 pm: Army personnel concealing coronavirus symptoms and failing to disclose contact with infected persons will face punitive action under the Army Act, says an advisory, according to PTI.

8.08 pm: Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir declare two villages in Shopian district as red zones following detection of positive cases of the coronavirus, reports PTI. The two villages are Ramnagri and Sedow.

“There would be no inward and outward movement of any person from the villages declared red zones and the people would stay in their homes to ensure complete lockdown,” says an official spokesperson.

8.03 pm: Jammu and Kashmir Principal Secretary Rohit Kansal says three more positive coronavirus cases have been detected in Kashmir, taking the total number of cases to 48. “11,644 persons under observation,” he adds. “722 samples tested so far.”

8 pm: Uttar Pradesh Health Department says there are 96 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state so far, reports ANI. Of these, 17 people have been discharged after their recovery. Test results of 89 people are still awaited.

7.57 pm: “Extraordinary times require extraordinary solutions,” says Modi.

7.56 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi tells Indian missions abroad to identify best practices, innovations, scientific breakthroughs to deal with coronavirus, reports PTI. He also appreciates the role played by them in taking care of stranded Indians.

7.53 pm: Iran’s toll from the coronavirus has increased to 2,757 with 117 new deaths in the past 24 hours, reports Reuters. The total number of cases has risen to 41,495.

7.50 pm: “India has taken unprecedented and early steps to deal with coronavirus pandemic and prevent its large outbreak,” Modi tells 130 Indian missions abroad in a video conference, reports PTI.

7.47 pm: Delhi Police Public Relations Officer MS Randhawa says they have provided food to over 1.5 lakh people during the lockdown, reports ANI. He adds that people can call the helpline number 112 or 23469526 in case of any emergency.

7.45 pm: Spain confirms 812 deaths in 24 hours from the coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths to 7,340, reports AFP.

7.32 pm: The government will distribute 5 kg food grains per person under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana for next three months to ensure availability of food to the poor during the 21-day lockdown.

7.26 pm: Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) RP Meena says notices have been served for holding religious event in Nizamuddin, reports ANI. “We are examining the matter,” he adds. “Action will be taken if required and then FIR will be filed immediately.”

7.22 pm: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi says that bodies of all coronavirus victims should be cremated irrespective of the religion, reports ANI. “Burial will not be allowed,” he adds. “The funeral should not involve more than five people.”

7.20 pm: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation says 47 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Mumbai metropolitan region, reports PTI.

7.18 pm: At least 93 people have died of the coronavirus in the Netherlands in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 864, reports Reuters.

7.15 pm: The police in Haryana seal state borders, urge migrant labourers to move into shelters, reports PTI.

7.12 pm: Singapore confirms 35 new coronavirus cases, taking the total to 879, reports Reuters. Nine of the 35 cases were imported while the others were locally transmitted.

7.07 pm: Yoga guru Ramdev says he will Rs 25 crore to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s coronavirus fund, reports PTI.

7.05 pm: Air India pilots urged the Centre to provide them better medical care when they go abroad to evacuate stranded Indians amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read more here

7 pm: The Karnataka government directs people in home quarantine to send selfies with their GPS coordinates every one hour, reports The Hindu. A press release by Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar states that the selfie needs to be sent every one hour, except between 10 pm and 7 am.

6.56 pm: Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind offers premises under its control in various parts of the country to be used as isolation and quarantine centres to treat coronavirus patients, reports PTI.

6.50 pm: Vistara asks staff to self-quarantine after a passenger who took March 22 Mumbai to Goa flight tests positive for Covid-19, reports PTI.

6.46 pm: A chart of testing done in India so far.

6.40 pm: The Goa State Human Rights Commission issues notice to the state government on a petition filed by a group of social activists objecting to the deployment of two Central Industrial Security Force
battalions to enforce the coronavirus lockdown, reports PTI.

Also read: In Goa, panic runs high as household food stocks run low

6.29 pm: Delhi Police to post its personnel in various parks to take action against walkers and joggers for violating the 21-day lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reports NDTV. “There is Section 144 everywhere in the national Capital,” Shalini Singh, the joint commissioner of police says. “If you need to come out it has to be only for essential services. You cannot move around everywhere.”

6.26 pm: Coronavirus toll tops 25,000 in Europe, according to AFP count.

6.24 pm: British heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, who had tested positive for coronavirus, is out of self-isolation after seven days and is in good health, says his spokesperson.

6.19 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath directs the health department to constitute teams for Gautam Buddha Nagar, Meerut and Ghaziabad to control the coronavirus spread in the areas, reports PTI.

6.15 pm: Five new positive coronavirus cases have been detected in Karnataka, taking the total number to 88, reports ANI. Four of the cases are primary contacts of the employee of a pharmaceutical company in Mysuru who tested positive. Another is a close contact of an earlier patient.

6.12 pm: Kerala now has 213 coronavirus cases, the highest in India.

6.11 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says 32 new coronavirus cases have been reported in the state. Of these, 17 have foreign travel history.

6.06 pm: Moscow imposes a lockdown in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus, reports AFP. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin directs regional authorities to make similar preparations.

6 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi discusses the coronavirus situation with heads of diplomatic missions.

5.59 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says all 22 districts in the state will have at least one dedicated coronavirus nodal hospital, reports PTI.

5.56 pm: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor points out the lack of transparency in the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund and its operations where many have donated in hundreds of crores.

“This is important,” he says in a tweet. “Why not simply rename PMNRF as PM-CARES, given the prime minister’s penchant for catchy acronyms, instead of creating a separate Public Charitable Trust whose rules and expenditure are totally opaque? PM you owe the country an explanation for this highly unusual step.”

5.50 pm: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has set up a control room on Covid-19 to coordinate with state organisations to step up humanitarian help to tackle the pandemic.

5.42 pm: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia says students studying in nursery to Class 8 will be promoted directly to the next standard. He adds that the government will begin online classes of two subjects for Class 12 students.

5.36 pm: Chandigarh administration reports few new coronavirus cases, taking the total positive cases in the Union Territory to 13, according to ANI. This includes a couple with travel history to Canada and another patient is the mother of a person who had tested positive earlier.

5.33 pm: Uttar Pradesh Principal Health Secretary AM Prasad says the number of Covid-19 cases in the state has risen to 88, reports ANI. This includes 14 of those who have been cured. “Maximum 36 cases have been reported in Gautam Budh Nagar following by Meerut with 13 cases,” he adds. “Thus, 50% cases reported in two clusters where containment exercise is underway.”

5.28 pm: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go into quarantine after an aide tested positive for the coronavirus, says his office. Netanyahu has undergone a test and is awaiting the results.

5.22 pm: Japanese organisers and the International Olympic Committee says the Tokyo Olympic Games has been rescheduled for July 23, 2021, and will run until August 8, reports AP.

The International Olympic Committee had decided last week to delay the games, which had been scheduled to begin in July amid growing pressure from athletes and teams, to 2021, due to the coronavirus epidemic.

5.20 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says insurance cover for those helping tackle the Covid-19 crisis has been increased from Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 10 lakhs, reports ANI. This includes staff at both private and government offices.

5.16 pm: Spain’s health emergency chief Fernando Simon, who leads the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, has tested positive for the coronavirus, reports AFP.

5.12 pm: Drones have been deployed in Nizamuddin area in New Delhi to monitor movement of people after a group of at least 175 people who may have attended an event were tested for the coronavirus in various hospitals.

5.08 pm: State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited extends the validity and talk time for prepaid mobile users till April 20 following the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, reports News18.

5 pm: A chart showing new cases in India.

4.52 pm: A chart showing the cumulative figure of the coronavirus cases in India.

4.45 pm: Health ministry says not a single doctor has been infected due to lack of personal protective equipment.

4.41 pm: On the doctor who took anti-malaria drug and died, the health ministry says: “Two doses do not kill a patient unless the patient already has cardiac issues...But we do not know the profile of the doctor.”

4.39 pm: We are taking required action where Covid-19 cases are found, says health ministry.

4.35 pm: Luv Aggarwal says the focus should be on how to contain the spread of the coronavirus in India. “We should break the chain of transmission,” he adds.

4.30 pm: The health ministry says home secretary has asked states and Union Territories to direct respective authorities to ensure food, shelter for stranded workers.

4.27 pm: Health Ministry says there are protocols in place, and that they have a containment strategy when asked about hotspots in the country.

4.26 pm: “At the highest level, action has been taken,” says the health ministry about the video of migrant workers being sprayed with disinfectant in Uttar Pradesh. “I don’t think I need to comment on this anymore.. This was an overzealous employee acting out of fear or ignorance.”

4.24 pm: R Ganga Ketkar of the Indian Council for Medical Research says 38,442 tests have been conducted till now, and of these 3,501 were done on Sunday, reports ANI. He says India is still at less than 30% of the testing capacity. “In the last 3 days, 13,034 tests have been done in private labs,” he adds.

4.22 pm: “Community word should not be used,” adds Aggarwal. “We should ban that word. We are in a phase of local transmission and there is no community transmission anywhere.”

4.20 pm: We are technically only in local transmission of the coronavirus, says Health ministry Joint Secretary Luv Aggarwal.

4.18 pm: The health ministry urges people who have existing health problems and the elderly to strictly follow lockdown guidelines.

4.17 pm: “Coronavirus disease should be nipped in the bud, we should, as a country, be prepared for any situation,” says the health ministry.

4.14 pm: “We don’t need to panic, we need awareness about the coronavirus,” says Luv Aggarwal.

4.11 pm: Health ministry Joint Secretary Luv Aggarwal says 92 new cases of Covid-19 and four deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours. The total cases stands at 1071 and the number of deaths is 29 in India, he adds.

4.10 pm: The Union Health Ministry addresses a press conference regarding the coronavirus situation.

4.06 pm: Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal sanctions Rs one crore from his Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme fund for both Leh and Kargil districts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

3.53 pm: Doctor of Indian origin in the United Kingdom warns hospitals in the country are ‘about to be flooded’ with covid-19 patients, BBC reports. UK has 19,784 cases of coronavirus and more than 1,200 people have died.

3.14 pm: Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya donates her one-month salary to PM CARES fund. The fund to fight coronavirus was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

3.09 pm: Officials in Assam’s Kamrup district direct more than 2,500 people to quarantine themselves at home, PTI reports. No positive case of the coronavirus has been reported from Assam

3.05 pm: Migrants labourers were screened for covid-19 at a hospital in Bihar’s Rohtas district on Sunday.

2.55 pm: Railways to run parcel vans to ensure supply to essentials to local markets.

2.48 pm: Police arrest two men in Mumbai for hoarding around 10,000 bottles of hand sanitisers, ANI reports.

2.44 pm: Police officers deliver sweets to an 83-year-old man in Lucknow amid lockdown

2.43 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with members of social welfare organisations through video conferencing.

2.42 pm: The Central Reserve Police Force directs its field offices to set up 24x7 helplines, backed by quick reaction teams to assist the families of soldiers, PTI reports.

2.37 pm: A committee headed by a Delhi High Court judge asks authorities to release inmates on emergency parole to reduce overcrowding in jails, reports PTI.

2.29 pm: The Uttar Pradesh government issues licences to 42 companies to manufacture 40,000 litres of sanitisers every day in order to ensure adequate supply, PTI reports.

2.23 pm: A 22-year-old police constable walked 450 km from his hometown in Uttar Pradesh to Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh to join duty on Saturday, PTI reports. The cop said he was on leave from March 16 to 23 to take his college exams but they got postponed due to the lockdown.

2.17 pm: Migrant labourers who returned to Uttar Pradesh were sprayed with a disinfectant upon their entry to Bareilly on Monday. A video of officials dressed in protective gear and spraying the disinfectant on the workers who are squatting on the road has gone viral on social media.

Also read: Migrant labourers sprayed with disinfectant meant for sanitising buses in UP

1.55 pm: The toll in Gujarat goes up to six as one more patient succumbs to the infection, reports PTI. The number of cases in the state is now 69 as six more people test positive, says Principal Secretary (health) Jayanti Ravi.

1.50 pm: Kerala High Court grants interim bail to undertrials till April 30, reports ANI.

1.31 pm: The Goa government commissions a virology lab at a state-run facility to test samples for coronavirus infection, reports News18. Health Minister Vishwajit Rane says they got a certification from the Indian Council of Medical Research to start the virology laboratory at the Goa Medical College and Hospital.

1.29 pm: Two domestic manufacturers are producing 50,000 N95 masks per day, says the health ministry. “It’s expected to go up to 1 lakh per day within next week. Hospitals in India have 11.95 lakh N95 masks in stock,” it adds. An additional 5 lakh masks have been distributed in the last two days and another 1.40 lakh today.

1.26 pm: The Centre has also placed an order for 10 lakh PPE kits to a Singapore-based platform.

1.25 pm: 3.34 lakh PPE coveralls are available with hospitals in the country, says the government. Another 3 lakh donated will arrive by April 4. The government has placed an order for another 21 lakh to be produced by 11 domestic makers.

1.23 pm: Agva Healthcare in Noida will manufacture 10,000 ventilators within a month. Their supplies are expected to commence in the second week of April, says the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

1.22 pm: Bharat Electronics Limited will manufacture 30,000 ventilators in the next two months. The Defence Research and Development Organisation too will begin manufacturing 20,000 N-99 masks per day within the next week, says the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

1.14 pm: Rajasthan now has 60 confirmed cases, state Health Minister Raghu Sharma tells ANI. Of these, Bhilwara has 25 cases.

1.10 pm: Doctors on Covid-19 at Delhi government’s Lok Nayak Hospital and GB Pant Hospital will be housed in Hotel Lalit.

1.05 pm: A 65-year-old man from Nayagaon tests positive, says Chandigarh Department of Public Relations, according to ANI.

1.04 pm: 17 new cases reported in Tamil Nadu, says state health department. The total number of cases in the state is now 67.

12.56 pm: Another man tests tested positive in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, reports PTI. He had gone to Delhi to attend a religious programme. He returned to Port Blair via Kolkata on March 24. The Union Territory now has 10 confirmed cases, officials said.

12.52 pm: Madhya Pradesh is releasing about 5,000 convicts on emergency parole of 60 days, reports ANI. Another 3,000 undertrials will be released on interim bail of 45 days in the next two days. of 60 days.

12.48 pm: An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tested positive for coronavirus, say officials, according to Reuters. However, it is not yet clear if the 70-year-old leader had been exposed. “We will take action in accordance with Health Ministry directives,” an official says, announcing the diagnosis of the parliamentary aide, whom Israeli media described as being in good condition.

12.38 pm: The bench says it will take up the matter again on Wednesday when the Centre files an affidavit.

12.37 pm: The bench, headed by CJI, SA Bobde, tells petitioner advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava that they deal with everything, but not with what the Centre is already doing, reports ANI.

12.34 pm: The Supreme Court of India is hearing a plea, through video conferencing, seeking food, water, shelter and other urgent facilities for migrant workers and their families, reports ANI.

Here are the top international updates so far:

• United States President Donald Trump has acknowledged for the first time that the country could witness at least 1,00,000 deaths, adding that if the toll stayed at that number or below then: “we all together have done a very good job”, reports CNN.
• The number of Covid-19 deaths in Italy has fallen for the second straight day on Sunday, but the country is still likely to see an extension of stringent steps towards containment, reports Reuters. The Civil Protection department said 756 people had died on Sunday, taking the total to 10,779 – over a third of global deaths from the virus. 
• The Chinese mainland has reported 31 new Covid-19 cases by Sunday-end, bringing the nationwide total to 81,470, according to the National Health Commission, reports CNN. Four more Covid-19 patients have died on Sunday, all of them from Wuhan, where the virus is said to have originated last year.
• On Sunday, Spain’s Health Ministry said 838 people died from the virus over a 24 hour period – its highest daily number yet, reports Bloomberg.

12.15 pm: Funerals in Iraq are being restricted, leaving bodies piled up at morgues due to concerns about spread of Covid-19, reports AFP. The country has 547 Covid-19 cases, and at least 42 patients have died.

12.08 pm: A journalist has been booked in Himachal Pradesh’s Baddi police district for allegedly spreading fake news on social media regarding buses transporting stranded migrant workers amid the lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, reports PTI. Superintendent of Police Rohit Malpani said the reporter had posted that buses were plying from Baddi police station to various parts of the state for those stranded.

12.01 pm: The Bar Council of Delhi has approached the Delhi High Court highlighting the need to make sure that no advocate is evicted during Covid-19 pandemic, reports Live Law. The council has asked the court proclaim required directions to the Centre, the Delhi government, and the Delhi Police.

11.59 am: The Supreme Court will hear two pleas, one related to migrant exodus and another on quarantine measures amid rise in Covid-19 cases, reports Live Law.

11.55 am: Images of a police officer in Karnataka drawing “Corona danger – stay away from me” in a bid to raise awareness against Covid-19.

11.50 am: India’s only Formula One racing track – the Buddh International Circuit – in Uttar Pradesh will be turned into a shelter home with quarantine facilities for stranded migrants, reports Hindustan Times.

“As per provisions under Chapter 12 of the Uttar Pradesh pandemic Covid-19 guidelines, 2020, we have decided to use Jaypee Sports City, along Yamuna Expressway, as shelter home to provide medical, food and residential accommodation to those, who are from GautamBuddha Nagar district or stuck without homes in our district,”

11.07 am: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath will visit the GautamBuddha Nagar district on Monday, reports NDTV. Ahead of the visit, paramilitary personnel and the police were seen on the streets of Noida making announcements.

“Nobody should be seen on roads,” a police officer said during the announcements. “If anyone is found on roads for unnecessary reasons, strict action will be taken [against him or her] under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code. Please follow orders, in interest of the country and your families.”

11.06 am: With the public health sector already under strain, unable to provide sufficient beds, ventilators or intensive care units, several state governments have pressed private hospitals into service.

Read more here:

Coronavirus: Three states take over private hospitals. What does the fine print say?

11.05 am: How did China overcome the significant handicaps and manage to reduce new domestic Covid-19 cases to nearly zero over the span of two months?

Read more here:

Lessons from China: What India can do to flatten the Covid-19 curve despite limited state capacity

11.02 am: Amid lockdown, how is doorstep delivery of food and medicine working in urban India?

Read more here

10.50 am: Oil prices have touched 17-year lows as the pandemic spreads around the world, reports PTI.

10.42 am: The Union health ministry’s 10.30 am update says India has 1,071 confirmed cases. Of these, 942 are being treated, 99 have recovered, 29 people have died, and one person has migrated.

10.36 am: Three Indians are among the 42 new Covid-19 patients in Singapore, reports PTI, citing the health ministry. The three patients are a 35-year-old woman with a long-term pass, a 34-year-old man with a Singapore work pass. Both of them have a travel history to India. Another 34-year-old man with the country’s work pass was infected locally.

The total number of infections in the country are 844.

10.32 am: A 35-year-old man who came back to Maharashtra’s Palghar district from the United States last week has been booked for flouting the home quarantine order, reports PTI.

10.31 am: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi has decided to turns its trauma centre building into a hospital for Covid-19, reports PTI.

10.29 am: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath has transferred a total of Rs 611 crore into the bank accounts of 27.5 lakh workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme amid Covid-19 lockdown, reports ANI.

10.17 am: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan takes note of rise in suicide cases following the ban on the sale of alcohol amid measures against Covid-19, reports ANI. The chief minister has asked the excise department to provide liquor to those with a prescription from doctors.

The department has also been asked to provide free treatment, and admit people with withdrawal symptoms to de-addiction centres. The state is also mulling online sale of alcohol.

10.15 am: Visuals from a shelter home set up at a community centre in Chandigarh.

10.13 am: In Uttar Pradesh, the Lucknow district administration has acquired four hotels temporarily for providing quarantine facilities to doctors and paramedical staff who are treating Covid-19 patients, reports ANI.

Hyatt Regency and Fairdeal Hotel have been acquired for the medical staff of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences. The Piccadily hotel and Lemon Tree Hotel have been acquired for the medical personnel of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences.

10.05 am: Maharashtra’s Ministry of Health Department confirms 12 new coronavirus cases in the state, reports ANI. Five of them are in Pune, three in Mumbai, two in Nagpur, and one each in Kolhapur, and Nashik. The total number of coronavirus cases in the state rises to 215.

10.04 am: In Uttarakhand, Nepalese migrant workers are stranded at the Indo-Nepal border town of Dharchula, reports ANI.

10.02 am: Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba refutes reports on the extension of the 21-day lockdown. “I am surprised to see such reports, there is no such plan of extending the lockdown,” he says, according to ANI.

9.43 am: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has said his state will be rid of Covid-19 by April 7, reports ANI. He has said there are a total of 70 confirmed cases in the state, and 11 patients have recovered. “All the necessary diagnosis is done and the patients are being discharged after the formalities,” he said. “58 people are under treatment.”

9.38 am: The International Table Tennis Federation has suspended all its scheduled events till June 30.

Read more here:

Coronavirus: ITTF suspends all scheduled events until June 30 owing to pandemic

9.35 am: West Bengal records its second death of a Covid-19 patient after a 44-year-old woman dies at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, reports The Hindu.

“She passed away early in the morning,” PK Deb, the principal of the medical college and hospital says. “We are trying to isolate the doctors and medical staff who treated her. Attempts are also being made to isolate the patient’s relative who seem to spread across north Bengal.”

9.31 am: In India, Punjab has reported its second Covid-19 death after a 68-year-old man in Hoshiarpur died at the Guru Nanak Dev hospital in Amritsar. The man was in close contact with the state’s first Covid-19 patient who died on March 18.

“One Covid-19 death today [Monday] in Punjab,” tweeted KBS Sidhu, Punjab’s chief secretary. “One positive contact of Baldev Singh [the Nawanshehar rogue case], died today evening in Government Medical College Hospital, Amritsar. He was suffering from diabetes and hypertension, age about 60-65 years – was medically vulnerable.”

8.30 am: China reports 31 new cases of coronavirus – 30 imported ones. The toll reached 3,304 with four more fatalities in Hubei province. The sole local case is from Gansu province.

7.50 am: The Indian Navy has reached out to the fishermen community at Jammu and Kashmir’s Wular Lake to spread awareness about Covid-19, reports ANI.

7.45 am: The Mumbai Police check passes and identity cards of amid the nationwide lockdown.

7.40 am: Grammy awardee and country music singer Joe Diffie has died due to coronavirus.

7.35 am: United States President Donald Trump has said the country will see a spike in the death rate in two weeks due to the pandemic, reports AFP. Trump has extended “social distancing” guidelines until April 30.

“Easter [April 12] should be the peak number,” Trump said. “The modelling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks. It should start coming down – and hopefully very substantially – from that point.”

7.30 am: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world has gone up to 7,21,817, and 33,968 patients have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. Covid-19 has affected 177 countries or territories.

Here is what happened on Sunday:

• India confirmed 1,024 Covid-19 cases, out of which 901 are being treated, 27 people have died, 95 have recovered, and one person has migrated.
• During his monthly “Mann ki Baat” radio programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologised to Indians who were suffering through hardships during the 21-day lockdown.
• As migrant workers in India attempted to get back home, the Centre asked all states and Union Territories to ensure that all state borders are sealed to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The Uttar Pradesh government ordered 14-day quarantine for around one lakh migrants. Meanwhile, with no private rooms in village huts, seven migrant labourers quarantined themselves on trees in West Bengal.
• Agriculture and allied activities in India were exempted from the 21-day nationwide lockdown to ensure that farmers do not face difficulties in harvesting and transporting crops and there is an uninterrupted supply of foodgrains.
• Thomas Schaefer, the minister of finance in Germany’s Hesse region, took his own life on Saturday. State premier Volker Bouffier linked Schaefer’s death to worries about the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout.
• The United States decided against issuing quarantine orders for New York state and instead instructed officials to issue a “strong advisory” against domestic travel. The country has the most Covid-19 cases in the world right now, and New York is the worst-hit state.