Coronavirus Updates: Total Cases In India Rise To 10,815 As India Extends Lockdown Till May 3

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 infections in India crossed the 10,000-mark as the prime minister announced a further extension of the nationwide lockdown.

India has seen 1,463 new cases over the last 24 hours taking the number of cases to 10,815 on Tuesday evening, according to the health ministry’s website. This includes 1,190 who have been discharged and 354 deaths.

While it took the country 70 days to report its first 5,000 cases, the next 5,000 have come in just six days, indicating a rise in the doubling rate of the infection. Recoveries, however, improved over the last two days with India reporting more 200 patients who’ve been discharged.

India’s lockdown has now been extended till May 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. Some states like Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra and Telangana have already extended the lockdown. There will be stricter measures in place till Aprril 20. However, after that, if hotspots are able to curb the spread of the virus then some relaxations may be considered, Modi said. Follow live updates here.

Globally, total confirmed cases exceed 1.87 million while deaths top 1,16,000, according to data by John Hopkins.

Track latest news updates and developments on how the coronavirus situation is evolving in India here:

Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extension of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown till May 3, a large number of migrant workers came out on the road in Bandra West, Mumbai demanding transport arrangements to go back to their native places.

Daily wage workers have been rendered jobless ever since the lockdown was announced late last month to stem the spread of Covid-19, making their life a constant struggle.

Though authorities and NGOs have made arrangements for their food, most of them want to go back to their native places to escape the hardship brought by the sweeping curbs.

According to a police official, daily wage earners, numbering around 1,000, assembled at suburban Bandra (West) bus depot near the railway station and squatted on road at around 3 p.m.

The daily wage earners, who reside on rent in slums in the nearby Patel Nagri locality, were demanding arrangement of transport facilities so that they can go back to their native towns and villages.

Heavy police deployment was made at the protest site to tackle any untoward incident.

Personnel from other police stations were called at the spot to maintain order, the official added.

Source: PTI

India added 1,463 new Covid-19 cases taking the total tally in the country to 10,815.

• Active cases: 9,272
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 1,190
• Deaths: 354

Source: Health Ministry (As of April 14, 5 p.m.)

India tested 21,635 samples for Covid-19 on Monday, showing a gradual ramp up in testing in the country.

18,644 tests were done in labs under the government's network while 2,991 tests were done by private labs, ICMR Chief Epidemiologist RR Gangakhedkar said in a press brief. Till Monday, over 2.31 lakh samples had been tested.

There are 166 labs under the ICMR's network and 70 from the private sector.

Gangakhedkar also said that India received another instalment of Rt-PCR testing kits that should help cover India "for a long period of time".

Additionally, we are ordering 33 lakh more Rt-PCR kits and 37 lakh rapid antibody testing kits, Gangakhedkar said. They are expected to come soon.

India has 602 dedicated Covid-19 hospitals with 1,06,719 isolation beds and 12,024 ICU beds, ICMR noted.

The Indian postal network has tied up with drug manufacturers for medical deliveries, joint health secretary Lav Agarwal said in his daily press briefing.

The network is in agreement with drug manufacturing associations and online pharmaceuticals for doorstep deliveries to hospitals and individual customers, Agarwal said.

Besides, he added, women self-help groups are also playing an important role on the ground.

The number of coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh has gone up to 730 with 126 more people testing positive for the disease in the last 24 hours, a senior health official said on Tuesday.

In the last 24 hours, 1,171 people were tested for coronavirus in the state. Of these, 126 were found positive for coronavirus in the reports received till Monday night, taking the total number of Covid-19 patients in Madhya Pradesh to 730, state health commissioner Faiz Ahmed Kidwai on Tuesday.

So far, 50 people have died in the state due to coronavirus, he said.

There are total 278 containment zones formed in the coronavirus affected districts of the state, he said.

Source: PTI

India's railways and domestic airline operations will remain suspended till May 3.

"We have taken the decision keeping in view the extended lockdown period. More updates will be available shortly," Indian Railways officials said.

Meanwhile, the ministry of civil aviation said all domestic and international scheduled Airlines operations shall remain suspended till 11.59 pm of May 3, 2020.

Six new cases were detected in Dharavi taking the total toll in Mumbai’s largest slum to 55. Seven people have died till now.

Read the full story here.

One more person, who had come in contact with those who had attended a religious event in Delhi, tested positive for novel coronavirus in Assam on Tuesday, taking the state’s tally to 31,

Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The 31 cases include one person who had died due to the virus.

The latest Covid-19 patient hails from Goalpara district. The case was confirmed late on Monday night and further details will be available during the day, he said. This is the fourth confirmed case in Goalpara district, where all other three Covid-19 patients had attended a congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area.

Thirty of the 31 confirmed cases in Assam are linked to the event.

Source: PTI

As many as 657 people have tested positive so far for coronavirus, which has claimed five lives in Uttar Pradesh till now, a state Health Department official said on Tuesday.

Joint Director-cum-State Surveillance Officer Vikasendu Agrawal of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme on Tuesday said, "A total of 657 corona-positive cases have been reported from the state. Till now, the state has reported five deaths -- one each in Basti, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Varanasi and Agra."

On Monday, 75 persons tested positive for coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh, taking the total in the state to 558.

Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Awanish Awasthi said 80 to 85 per cent of the cases have been reported from identified hotspots.

The total number of samples sent for testing so far in the state is 13,278. Of these, results of 177 samples are awaited, the statement said.

Source: PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that the nationwide lockdown, which was to end today, will be extended further till May 3.

However, some relaxations may be considered after April 20.

Read all updates from PM Modi’s address here.

• Maharashtra: 2,334 cases
• Delhi: 1,510 cases
• Tamil Nadu: 1,173 cases

India added 1,011 new cases overnight taking the total number of Covid-19 infections in the country to 10,363.

• Active cases: 8,988
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 1036
• Deaths: 339

Source: Health Ministry (As of April 14, 8 a.m.)

The Indian Council of Medical Research, on Monday, said that the first consignment of rapid antibody Covid-19 testing kits from China will be received on April 15. Such kits are expected to drastically reduce the time taken for test results.

Delhi reported 356 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday—the biggest single day jump the national capital has seen.

Total number of cases in Delhi is now at 1,510. Of these, 28 have died, while 30 have been discharged.

Dharavi recorded four new coronavirus cases, including one death, on Monday as the highly contagious pathogen spreads rapidly in the crowded lanes of Mumbai’s biggest slum.

Dharavi—a sprawl of shanties spread over 240 hectares, with a population of 8.5 lakh and over 13,000 small businesses—has so far recorded 49 Covid-19 cases, including five deaths.

As on Monday, BMC has screened 13,224 people in Dharavi for symptoms of Covid-19. Of that, 113 people were referred for testing while swab samples of 85 were taken. The survey was started on Saturday.

Read the full story here.