Covid-19: India reports highest rise in cases with 1,463 new infections, taking total to 10,815

10.55 pm: Here are the top updates of the day.

10.47 pm: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announces a week-long curfew in Old City and Danilimbda areas of Ahmedabad from Wednesday 6 am to contain coronavirus spread, reports PTI. The curfew in the two localities, which have a large minority population, will continue till 6 am on April 21.

10.45 pm: Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike declares 38 hotspots in Bengaluru to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

10.33 pm: Airline revenues will plummet 55% or $314 billion this year, AFP quotes the International Air Transport Association as saying. Three weeks ago, the industry’s losses were predicted to be around 44% or $252 billion.

Currently, airlines are not flying 80% of the flights that were running at the same time in 2019, the report says.

“The scale of the crisis makes a sharp V-shaped recovery unlikely,” says IATA chief executive Alexandre de Juniac. “Realistically, it will be a U-shaped recovery with domestic travel coming back faster than the international market. Without urgent relief, many airlines will not survive to lead the economic recovery.”

10.26 pm: Mumbai Police file an FIR against 800 to 1,000 unidentified people in connection with the gathering of migrants in Bandra earlier today, ANI reports.

9.44 pm: After more than a thousand migrant labourers gathered in Bandra, Mumbai, this evening, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tells migrants not to believe rumours during the lockdown. He says buses are being arranged for migrants to be taken to their homes and that the Capital has enough food and accommodation for them, PTI reports.

9.42 pm: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh says he has ordered an investigation into the rumours that triggered the gathering of migrant workers in Bandra.

“I have given orders to investigate who has spread rumours that trains will start running in the state,” he tweets. “Strict action will be taken against those who are spreading rumours after the investigation.”

9.30 pm: The number of cases in Delhi rises to 1,561, as 51 more people have tested positive, reports ANI. Seven more areas are added to the list of containment zones – the Capital now has 55 such containment zones.

8.55 pm: Thackeray adds that once the coronavirus outbreak is under control, the economic situation will need to be managed, ANI reports. The state has formed committees to plan how to revive the economy.

Regarding Covid-19 updates from the state, he says 10 districts in Maharashtra have no cases of the virus. Mumbai and Pune are hotspots and testing centres will be increased here, while containment zones are the main focus for testing and sampling.

8.51 pm: Uddhav Thackeray says the gathering of migrant workers in Bandra today was “unfortunate”, ANI reports. He says it’s likely they gathered thinking that trains would resume from April 14 and they would be able to return home.

8.50 pm: There are 350 new coronavirus cases in Maharashtra today, taking the state’s total to 2,684, reports ANI. This includes 259 people who have recovered. Eighteen people have died in the state due to the disease.

8.37 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray assures migrant labourers in his state that they are safe, ANI reports. “The day when lockdown is lifted, not only me but the Centre will also make arrangements for you,” he says.

8.35 pm: Maharashtra minister Aditya Thackeray thanks the Centre for taking immediate cognisance of the Bandra incident and assisting the state with it, ANI reports. This comes after Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to the chief minister regarding the gathering of migrant workers in Bandra.

However, former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis calls the situation “worrisome”. The BJP leader says the state needs to take responsibility and provide food and ration to all, even those who do not have ration cards, according to ANI. He claims the state government failed to make arrangements for migrant labourers.

8.25 pm: The closing down of the iconic Taj Mahal last month is an evocative symbol of how India’s travel and tourism landscape has changed due to Covid-19. The country’s travel and tourism sector, more dependent than others on the free and confident movement of people, is staring at millions of disappearing jobs and a grey future.

As a result of the nationwide lockdown, with no travel possible, the tourism industry is being “badly hit”, a government press release said on April 10.

Read more: India’s Covid-19 lockdown may cause 38 million job losses in the travel and tourism industry

7.47 pm: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma says they have traced 2,000 contacts of the doctor who tested positive for the coronavirus in the state, PTI reports. “We have established 2,000 contacts approximately. We have also established about 200 primary contacts including his immediate family members and those who had come in close contact with the patient,” he says.

Two branches of Bethany Hospital, where the infected doctor works, have been closed.

Sangma says the doctor might have been infected by his son-in-law, who visited a few countries with many Covid-19 cases. The man’s son-in-law might be an asymptomatic case of Covid-19.

7.39 pm: Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac on Tuesday castigates Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not announcing any additional financial package to help the economy deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read more: Covid-19: ‘States need financial aid, not appreciation,’ Kerala finance minister hits out at Modi

7.38 pm: According to today’s new figures, Maharashtra is still the worst-hit state, with the most Covid-19 cases.

Read more: Coronavirus: India’s total count rises to 10,815, Maharashtra worst-hit with 2,377 patients

7.36 pm: This segregation of milder and more severe Covid-19 patients has been recognised in several countries as crucial to the fight against a disease that has infected more than 16 lakh people around the world and killed nearly one lakh. But most states in India, other than Kerala, are struggling to enforce this distinction.

Grouping both mild and severe cases in the same hospitals carries the risk of aggravating the condition of the less-severe patients. It also further endangers the hospitals’ health workers, who are already struggling with acute shortages of personal protective equipment. More significantly, it increases the burden on hospitals.

Read more: India is failing on a crucial Covid-19 front: Keeping mild cases away from hospitals

7.27 pm: The toll in the United Kingdom in the last 24 hours is 778, reports AFP. This takes the country’s toll to 12,107.

7.25 pm: Here are some state updates:

(All figures from ANI)

• Number of new cases in Punjab today: 8, making state total 184
• New cases in Kerala: 8, with the state’s total now 173 active cases
• New cases in Tamil Nadu today: 31, taking the state’s total to 1,173
• New cases in Jammu and Kashmir: 8, taking the territory’s total to 278
• New cases in Karnataka: 13, taking state’s total to 260

7.07 pm: Actor and politician Rajinikanth releases a message with Tamil New Year greetings, in which he urges people to stay indoors and protect themselves from the coronavirus, PTI reports. “In whichever country you live, follow the restrictions and protect yourself. This is the biggest gift you are giving this year to your relatives and family members,” he says. “Live well, don’t worry. This too shall pass.”

7.04 pm: The US’ Department of Homeland Security says it will accept applications to extend H1-B visas that are due to expire soon, Livemint reports.

“DHS also continues to take action to protect the American people and our communities, and is considering a number of policies and procedures to improve the employment opportunities of US workers during this pandemic.”

7.01 pm: The number of containment zones in Delhi increases to 51, reports NDTV.

6.57 pm: State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh says the crowd at Bandra is under control and that the migrants may have thought the prime minister ordered that state borders be opened, PTI reports.

6.46 pm: Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray blames the crowd of migrant workers in Bandra on the central government. He says the crowd that gathered to demand they be allowed to return home is a “result of the Union Govt not being able to take a call on arranging a way back home for migrant labour. They don’t want food or shelter, they want to go back home.”

Thackeray tweets that the state has “time and again” asked the Centre for a plan on sending the migrants back to their home states. He says Maharashtra had asked for trains to be allowed to run for 24 hours longer, after the lockdown was announced, so the workers could go home.

6.34 pm: The United Kingdom’s economy can shrink 13% in 2020 because of the pandemic, The Hindu quotes the Office for Budget Responsibility as saying. “The resulting 13 per cent fall in annual GDP in 2020 would comfortably exceed any of the annual falls around the end of each world war or in the financial crisis,” OBR says.

6.30 pm: Arvind Kejriwal says it’s worrying that the number of cases in Delhi has increased every day. The Hindu reports. He also speaks of a “rift” between Hindus and Muslims. “It is very saddening that some people are trying to create a rift between Hindus and Muslims at this time when we are all going through a pandemic. Nature will never forgive such people who are trying to spread hatred,” he says.

6.16 pm: The International Monetary Fund projects a 1.9% GDP growth rate in 2020, PTI reports. This comes amid global economic turmoil due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We project global growth in 2020 to fall to -3%,” PTI quotes IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath as saying. “This is a downgrade of 6.3 percentage points from January 2020, a major revision over a very short period.” She says the pandemic will impact growth across the world.

India and China are the only two major nations that are likely to register positive growth this year, the IMF says. The organisation predicts China will grow at 1.2% in 2020.

6.11 pm: Migrant workers gather in Bandra, Mumbai, asking for permission to go back to their homes, ANI reports.

6.02 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says it was necessary to extend the lockdown. He says if people follow lockdown rules, the virus can be managed.

Kejriwal adds that he will visit some containment areas in the Capital on Wednesday, PTI reports.

6 pm: Private airline IndiGo says it will resume flight services “in a phased manner” from May 4, PTI reports.

“Initially, starting with a slightly curtailed capacity, the airline will increase the operating capacity over the subsequent months, also reopening selected international flights, depending on the existing international travel guidelines,” IndiGo says in a press release.

5.47 pm: The health ministry’s updated figures say there are now 10,815 cases of the virus, and 353 people have died of it so far. This is the highest rise in cases in 24 hours, with 1,463 new cases reported.

5.21 pm: The global Covid-19 toll crosses 1,20,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

5.17 pm: Iran’s daily Covid-19 toll drops below 100 for the first time in a month, AFP reports.

5.14 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says India is facing shortage of testing kits because the government delayed purchase.

5.10 pm: Health ministry says 1,211 new cases and 31 deaths were reported in last 24 hours.

4.58 pm: A private hospital in Lucknow has been closed and 65 staff members of the government-run King George’s Medical University have been placed under quarantined after a patient who had been to both the hospitals tested positive for coronavirus, PTI reports. The patient had visited the private hospital for the treatment of fever and cough over a week ago. On Saturday, he was brought to the Lucknow’s King George’s Medical University after he complained of breathlessness.

4.53 pm: On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac says the states need assistance and not just praise to tide over the coronavirus crisis. “The prime minister, in his address to the nation, praised the states for the effective dealing of the pandemic,” he says, according to PTI. “I feel that states just don’t require praise alone, but financial assistance.”

4.46 pm: Here is the graph showing new coronavirus cases reported in India.

4.41 pm: Here is a graph showing the number of coronavirus cases reported in India as of Tuesday morning:

4.36 pm: Lav Agarwal says if no Covid-19 cases are reported from a place for 28 days straight, it is believed that there will be no more cases from there.

4.31 pm: Finance Ministry official Rajesh Malhotra says the Centre is ensuring swift implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package to provide relief to the poor. “More than 32 crore people have been given direct cash support of Rs 29,352 crore under the package,” he says.

4.26 pm: Lav Agarwal says 1,036 people have recovered from Covid-19 in India.

4.16 pm: Here’s how the figures on Covid-19 testing in India look until Monday:

4.10 pm: Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal says all districts will be evaluated for the extent of Covid-19 spread on April 20 and then the decision to lift or continue restrictions will be made.

4.08 pm: Dr R Gangakhedkar from the Indian Council for Medical Research says 2,31,902 samples were tested for Covid-19 until Monday. “We are ordering close to about 33 Lakh kits for RT-PCR [Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction] and 37 Lakh rapid kits are expected to arrive soon,” he says.

4.01 pm: The Centre begins its daily press briefing on the coronavirus.

3.47 pm: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh urges the Centre to reconsider its directives asking industries and other commercial establishments to continue paying full wages to their workers during the lockdown, saying that it may push them to bankruptcy.

3.44 pm: The Delhi government directs district magistrates to identify paid quarantine facilities in their respective areas, PTI reports. Last month, the government had identified paid quarantine facilities at three hotels in Aerocity.

3.39 pm: Four hospitals and two nursing homes in Kolkata and Howrah have been partially or completely closed after patients and doctors tested positive for Covid-19, The Indian Express reports.

3.31 pm: Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain says the Capital now has 47 red zones. He adds that a place with three coronavirus cases will now qualify as a red zone.

3.28 pm: Russia reports 2,774 new cases of coronavirus, a record daily rise, bringing the nationwide tally to 21,102, Reuters reports.

3.22 pm: Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, one of the nodal facilities to combat the coronavirus, has reported the most Covid-19 deaths in Delhi, PTI reports, citing official data. Till Sunday, 12 of the 24 deaths reported from Delhi had taken place at the hospital. “Most of the Covid-19 deaths that have occurred in our hospital are of the patients who were referred from other hospitals at an advanced stage and had significant comorbidities,” the hospital said in a statement, according to the news agency.

3.15 pm: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) asks the government to provide immediate help the poor marginalised sections with cash transfers. “It is imperative that the government must immediately implement a Rs. 7500 ex-gratia cash transfer to all non-Income Tax paying families and resort to universal distribution of free foodgrains to all needy people,” the party said in a statement.

3.12 pm: Spain’s Covid-19 toll crosses 18,000, AFP reports.

3.03 pm: Ahmedabad builds India’s largest Covid-19 care centre with a capacity to accommodate 2,000 patients, PTI reports. Created in a hostel complex, the facility seeks to ease burden on government hospitals by admitting Covid-19 patients who do not suffer from underlying medical conditions, officials say.

2.59 pm: The number of coronavirus cases in Rajasthan rises to 969 with 71 new patients. Here is a district-wise breakup of the total number of cases:

2.55 pm: People crowd a market in Mangalore, defying social distancing norms to contain the coronavirus.

2.53 pm: The World Health Organization praises India for its tough and timely efforts to control the spread of coronavirus, PTI reports. “It may be early to talk about results in numbers, but a six-week nationwide lockdown to facilitate effective physical distancing, coupled with the expansion of core public health measures such as detection, isolation and tracing contact of coronavirus positive people, would go a long way in arresting the virus spread,” WHO’s South-East Asia Regional Director, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh says.

2.25 pm: Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur direct shop owners to not provide essentials to people coming to them without protective masks, PTI reports. “Medical stores, grocery stores, petrol pumps, gas agencies and seed stores have been directed, if people turn up without wearing a face mask, then they should not be given any item,” Balrampur Superintendent of Police Devranjan Verma says.

2.22 pm: The Centre says metro train services will remain suspended till May 3.

2.15 pm: Amazon sacks two employees, who criticised working conditions at the e-commerce giant’s warehouses amid the coronavirus pandemic, for “repeatedly violating internal policies”, Reuters reports. Just weeks ago, the company had fired another employee for flagging health and safety concerns for people working through the outbreak.

2.12 pm: Odisha Police fines 167 people for not wearing masks while stepping out of their homes, PTI reports, quoting a senior police officer.

2.06 pm: Judges in Manipur form a panel to identify and help families facing shortage of food amid the lockdown, PTI reports.

2.02 pm: Uttar Pradesh government directs all district magistrates in the state to appoint nodal officers at the district-level to help people from other states and foreign countries amid the lockdown, PTI reports.

1.54 pm: The Indian Railways says a full refund will automatically be provided to online customers for trains cancelled up to May 3.

1.43 pm: Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party say Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to address economic concerns during his address to the nation, PTI reports. “He [Modi] could have announced a package on behalf of the central government to help the poor, those working in the unorganised sector who are the worst hit due to the lockdown,” Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik says.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Tayade says the prime minister’s speech lacked substance. “He [Modi] could have elaborated steps to be taken to tackle coronavirus,” she says. “There was nothing substantial [in the address].

1.39 pm: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri says the government will consider lifting restrictions on flights after May 3.

1.34 pm: British financial services company Barclays cuts India’s growth forecast for 2020 to 0% from its earlier projection of 2.5%, PTI reports.

1.24 pm: Andhra Pradesh reports 34 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths, according to the state government’s health bulletin. The number of Covid-19 deaths in the state has now increased to nine. The total number of cases stands at 473.

1.21 pm: A 95-year-old man is the oldest person to die of Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu, The Hindu reports. Tamil Nadu has 1,173 cases of coronavirus including 11 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

1.16 pm: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar says an expert committee formed to suggest ways to combat coronavirus and to help rebuild the state’s economy will submit its report to the government by April 30, PTI reports.

1.13 pm: Two hospitals in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district will use robots to give food and medicines to Covid-19 patients in an effort to protect healthcare workers from infection, PTI reports.

1.08 pm: The number of coronavirus cases in Karnataka rises to 258, including nine deaths.

1.04 pm: Indian Navy develops an air evacuation pod to airlift Covid-19 patients with minimum risk of the spread of infection.

1.00 pm: UNESCO says governments should recognize media as an “essential service” to stop the spread of misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic.

12.57 pm: The Ministry of Labour and Employment sets up 20 control rooms across India to address wage-related grievances and to mitigate problems faced by migrant workers amid the lockdown, PTI reports. The control rooms are being managed by labour enforcement officers, assistant labour commissioners, regional labour commissioners, and deputy chief labour commissioners of the respective regions.

12.50 pm: Union Home Minister Amit Shah assures people that there will be no shortage of essential commodities in the country. “As India’s Home Minister, I assure citizens that there is sufficient stock of essential commodities in the country,” he wrote on Twitter. “I appeal to people to help the poor.”

12.47 pm: France extends its lockdown till May 11, AFP reports. France has 1,37,877 cases of coronavirus and has reported more than 14,000 deaths.

12.44 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa welcomes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to extend the nationwide lockdown till May 3, PTI reports. “Our government will strictly implement the Centre’s guidelines which will be issued tomorrow,” he says.

12.39 pm: Congress leader Manish Tewari says the prime minister in his address only spoke about what the government expects the people to do instead of what the government is doing for them, PTI reports. He says Modi did not speak about scaling up testing for Covid-19.

12.31 pm: The number of coronvirus cases in Maharashtra rises to 2,455, ANI reports, quoting the state’s health department.

12.22 pm: Ministry of Civil Aviation says all domestic and international flights will remain suspended till May 3.

12.15 pm: Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja says that even though the number of Covid-19 cases are reducing in the state, there is a need to follow guidelines strictly. “Cases are coming down in the state which is very positive sign but we can’t say everything is over,” she says, according to ANI.

Also read: Coronavirus curve has begun to flatten in Kerala, claims state finance minister

12.11 pm: The number of coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh rises to 730, PTI reports quoting the state’s health department. In the last 24 hours, 126 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Madhya Pradesh.

12.09 pm: Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi says Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation was rhetorical and lacked concrete details.

12.01 pm: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah says the decision to extend the nationwide lockdown till May 3 was necessary.

11.39 am: “All passenger train services on Indian Railways including Premium trains, Mail/Express trains, Passenger trains, Suburban Trains, Kolkata Metro Rail, Konkan Railway etc shall continue to remain cancel till the 2400 hours of 3rd May 2020,” tweets Ministry of Railways.

11.32 am: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweets after the nationwide lockdown announcement: “Delhi will fully implement PM’s lockdown measures.”

11.29 am: Congress leader P Chidambaram reacts to Modi’s address to the nation. “It is obvious that livelihood for the poor — their survival — is not among the priorities of the government,” he tweets. “CMs’ demand for money elicited no response. Not a rupee has been added to the miserly package of March 25, 2020. The poor have been left to fend for themselves for 21+19 days, including practically soliciting food. There is money, there is food, but the government will not release either money or food.”

11.24 am: Indian Railways to extend suspension of passenger services till May 3, reports PTI, citing a senior official.

11.12 am: The Mumbai Police have deployed drones for keeping an eye on hotspot areas of Dharavi and Worli, reports ANI. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh says: “These drones are being used to spread awareness about social distancing and for surveillance.”

11.11 am: The Indian Council of Medical Research has said emerging research suggests that transmission of the coronavirus from mother to child before birth, or at the time of delivery is possible.

Read more here

11.09 am: Two vegetable vendors in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh were allegedly misbehaved with and stopped from selling their goods by a group of people who accused them of being members of the Tablighi Jamaat and of spreading the coronavirus.

Read more here

11.06 am: Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi reacts to the prime minister’s address to the nation. “Amazing PM address,” he tweets. “Exhortation, rhetoric, inspiration.....yet hollow on specifics! No financial package, no details, no concrete item. Neither for poor nor middle class nor industry nor businesses. Lockdown is good but cannot be end in itself! Where is single livelihood issue?”

Also read:

Covid-19: In video message, Sonia Gandhi thanks workers at forefront in fight against pandemic

11 am: Nagpur Municipal Corporation reports seven new Covid-19 cases. The Union Ministry of Health has confirmed 2,334 cases in Maharashtra, and 160 patients have died, reports ANI. Out of the total cases in the state, Nagpur has 25, according to the Centre.

10.59 am: Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat B Ashu says the government will procure 135 lakh metric tonnes of wheat crop in the coming one-and-a-half months. “Around 40 lakh metric tonnes of rice will also be delivered to us,” he tells ANI. “We have sufficient stock to supply to the entire country.”

10.56 am: Gujarat’s Health Department says 45 more Covid-19 cases have emerged in the state, reports ANI. The total number of coronavirus cases rise to 617, including 55 recovered patients and 26 deaths.

10.53 am: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation says six more Covid-19 cases and two more deaths related to the virus reported in Mumbai’s Dharavi. The total number of positive cases in the area is 55, and 7 patients have died, reports ANI.

10.42 am: Modi has said rules for the lockdown will be stricter for the next one week.

Read more here

10.33 am: The prime minister has said new guidelines on the extended lockdown will be released tomorrow.

10.24 am: Modi says: “First, take care of the elderly at home, especially those with underlying diseases. Second, follow guidelines on lockdown and social distancing. Third, build your immunity, and follow AYUSH ministry’s guidelines.”

The prime minister has urged employers to not fire their employees, and called for showing respect to the “corona warriors” of the country, which includes doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, and police personnel.

10.22 am: The prime minister asks people to follow seven guidelines to fight Covid-19.

10.21 am: “The virus is spreading fast,” Modi says. “I held multiple meetings with chief ministers, authorities to find out ways to control the spread with minimum effect on the growth of India.”

10.20 am: The prime minister says some relaxations may be allowed after April 20 in areas where there are no hotspots.

10.12 am: Modi says lockdown will have to be extended till May 3 after taking all suggestions into consideration.

10.09 am: “If India did not go for a holistic, integrated approach, then the situation in India today could have been worse,” Modi says. “Social distancing and lockdown have been fruitful for our country.”

10.08 am: India did not wait for the problem to grow, and measures were taken to contain Covid-19 immediately, Modi says.

10.07 am: Modi says the country had started isolation for those arriving from other countries before cases reached 100.

10.05 am: The prime minister says this is a time for festivals in the country. “The way people have followed rules, and the way in which everyone stayed at home even during festivals is commendable,” Modi says.

10.04 am: Modi takes note of the hardships faced during lockdown, and lauds people for following the guidelines.

10 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his address to the nation.

9.58 am: In India, visuals from Madanpura area that has been declared as Covid-19 hotspot. Uttar Pradesh has 558, and five patients have died.

9.54 am: United States President Donald Trump has said that his country was making “critical progress” in the war against Covid-19, reports PTI. “This was really a bad week, there are still going to be a lot of deaths but we are starting to see in some areas now that kind of flattening particularly in a place that was a hotspot like New York,” said Dr Anthony Fauci, director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health, and a member of the White House Task Force on Covid-19.

9.53 am: Telangana Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao has announced that nearly 74 lakh bank accounts would receive Rs 1,500 as support during the lockdown, reports PTI.

9.51 am: Rajasthan and Maharashtra has been recommending hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure against Covid-19 to its police personnel, reports The Indian Express.

9.48 am: A man has been arrested in Delhi for allegedly abusing and beating up a vegetable vendor for not showing his identity card, reports NDTV.

9.46 am: The Delhi government began its sanitisation drive in the areas affected by Covid-19 on Monday. Technologically-advanced machines from Japan, and of the Delhi Jal Board were deployed for the drive, reports NDTV.

9.44 am: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has asked anyone looking for job opportunities in the state to contact the local district magistrate. However, this opportunity is said to be unavailable to those above 60 years of age, reports NDTV.

9.30 am: Meghalaya has reported its first coronavirus case on Monday after a doctor at Shillong’s Bethany Hospital tested positive, reports NDTV. “It is quite surprising for us. We have a challenge now in front of us,” Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has said.

9.28 am: Assam has launched a helpline for residents stranded outside the state during lockdown. “To help people of Assam stranded in other states we have launched an Assam COVID Helpline No 96-1547-1547,” state’s minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has tweeted. “Once people call here, they get an automated response with a link requesting them to submit their details. Upon verification, we shall submit an amount to help them.”

“Those who are not able to fill the links themselves, we have a group of young volunteers from Gauhati University, Assam Engineering College and Cotton College who assist these people in filling the details. Volunteers will call back everyone to take details.”

9.17 am: The quarantine period of Islamic evangelical organisation Tablighi Jamaat’s leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi and six others has ended on Monday. They will now join the Delhi Police’s investigation into allegations that Kandhalvi encouraged people to gather for the event and stay at Markaz Nizamuddin, reports NDTV.

Also read:

Tablighi Jamaat: How did the government fail to detect a coronavirus infection hotspot?

9.14 am: The Centre has reasserted the availability of all essential medicines, including anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine. “Indian pharma industry is producing enough stocks of essential medicines particularly HCQ to meet both domestic demand and to meet export obligations,” a spokesperson said, according to Hindustan Times.

9.10 am: The ICMR has said antiviral drug remdesivir, used during the Ebola outbreak, may prove to be highly effective in halting the replication mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 that causes Covid-19, reports PTI. ICMR official Raman R Gangakhedkar said this while citing a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

9.08 am: Rapid testing kits that India awaits are now expected to arrive by April 15, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research, reports Hindustan Times.

Also read:

Covid-19: India awaits rapid testing kits from Chinese firms, a week after deadline

8.53 am: Two more people test positive in Mohali, reports ANI. The total number of positive cases in Mohali is 56, says Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan.

8.50 am: There have been an increase of 1,211 new cases and 31 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the health ministry.

8.38 am: India’s tally crosses 10,000-mark. The Union health ministry says there are 10,363 cases so far. Of these, 339 people have died and 8,988 active cases. Over 1,000 people have recovered.

8.10 am: Municipal workers at Godowlia Chowk in Varanasi carry out sanitisation drive.

7.27 am: United States records 1,509 deaths in past 24 hours, reports AFP.

7.26 am: 15 state transport corporation buses in Rohtak, Haryana, have been converted into mobile clinics.

7.23 am: New York’s governor claims the “worst is over”. Andrew Cuomo says lower average hospitalisation rates and intubations are suggesting a “plateauing” of infections. “The worst is over if we continue to be smart going forward,” he tells reporters. “I believe we can now start on the path to normalcy.” He, however, adds that things could worsen if restrictions are lifted too quickly.

The toll in New York has crossed 10,000.

7.21 am: French President Emmanuel Macron extends the lockdown till May 11. “It will be progressive and the rules can be adapted according to our results,” he adds.

7.20 am: According to latest figures released by the National Health Commission in China, the number of new Covid-19 cases reported in the country on Monday was recorded at 89, of which the 86 were imported.

7.17 am: US President Donald Trump says the the aggressive strategy to combat Covid-19 is working as the number of daily new infections remained flat nationwide over the weekend. “America is continuing to make critical progress in our war against the virus,” he says. “Over the weekend the number of daily new infections remained flat nationwide; hospitalisations are slowing in hotspots like New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Louisiana.”

7.15 am: Here are the top updates from Monday

•   India has so far reported 9,352 coronavirus cases and 324 deaths, according to the health ministry’s latest update. The country recorded 905 new positive cases and 51 deaths in the last 24 hours. 
• Ten states and one Union Territory have extended the lockdown to rein in the coronavirus pandemic till April 30. This includes Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and West Bengal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation tomorrow at 10 am and is expected to extend it until the end of the month.
• The Supreme Court modified its April 8 order directing the Centre to make coronavirus tests free of cost in private laboratories, and said free testing will only be available to persons eligible under the flagship healthcare programme Ayushman Bharat, and any other category of economically weaker sections of the society as notified by the government.
• The top court dismissed a petition that questioned the legality of the creation of the “PM-CARES fund” formed to fight the spreading coronavirus pandemic in the country. The court also refused to pass any interim orders in a petition seeking action against the media for communalising the coronavirus pandemic in light of the Tablighi Jamaat meeting held in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin area in early March. 
• The Kerala government has said the state’s Covid-19 curve is now flattening and the number of patients who have recovered may soon be more than the number of active cases. Meanwhile, Delhi has classified areas hit by Covid-19 outbreaks as red and orange zones, and began a sanitisation drive there on Monday.
• Congress President Sonia Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking the government to offer increased rations to people who are identified as beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act as well as vulnerable sections who may not enlisted under the Act during the nation-wide lockdown.