coronavirus

Here is a look at the latest updates on the outbreak of coronavirus from India and around the world —

Shops for educational books, electric fans allowed during lockdown

Govt announces telephonic survey for feedback on Covid-19

Maha govt withdraws lockdown relaxations for Mumbai, Pune

Iran records 88 new virus deaths, has freed prisoners

Covid-19 recovery percentage stands at 17.48% in India

Global coronavirus deaths top 170,000

SC dismisses plea seeking free test, treatment for coronavirus infection

PM Modi lauds civil servants for leading fight against coronavirus

Over 25,000 Covid-19 related grievances addressed through Portal: Centre

WHO says currently not possible to determine precise source of coronavirus

Zydus to test use of Hepatitis C medicine for virus

Over 1,200 new Covid cases for third day; Maharashtra, Gujarat lead count

80% positive cases show no or mild symptoms, says govt

Covid-19 case-doubling rate slows down to 7.5 days from 3.4

Confusion and questions as parts of India return to work

Donald Trump signs order to temporarily suspend immigration into US

New York reports total of 247,512 cases, 14,347 deaths

NEW DELHI: A total of 1,336 new cases ofhave been identified which has taken the total number of the confirmed cases to 18,601 in the country. The death toll has climbed to 603, with 35 Covid-19 patients succumbing to the complications related to the infection in the last 24 hours in India.The ministry said that there are 15,122 active coronavirus cases in the country as of now and 3,260 people have been either cured/discharged/migrated, so far.The Union home ministry on Tuesday allowed opening of shops selling educational books and electric fans, services of bedside attendants of senior citizens and public utilities, including recharge facilities for prepaid mobile phones during the ongoing lockdown.The home ministry also said bread factories and flour mills located in urban areas can restart operations during the ongoing lockdown to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak.The government on Tuesday announced that it will conduct a telephone survey to garner feedback from citizens on prevalence and distribution of coronavirus symptoms and urged people to participate in the exercise in good measure.They will be called from the number 1921, the health ministry said, while cautioning against pranksters calling from any other number on the pretext of a similar survey.The survey will be conducted by the National Informatics Centre, government of India.The Maharashtra government on Tuesday withdrew its lockdown relaxation norms for Mumbai and Pune regions, both coronavirus hotspots, and revised its last week's guidelines prohibiting door-to-door delivery of newspapers and magazines in the state.The curb on doorstep delivery of newspapers and magazines will be in force only in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Pune city in view of the spread of coronavirus in these regions, the government said.Lockdown relaxation norms for Mumbai and Pune regions were withdrawn in view of a large number of people found commuting on April 20, it said.Iran on Tuesday announced 88 new deaths from the novel coronavirus as the country said it had released more than 1,000 foreign prisoners over the outbreak.According to health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour, the latest fatalities in the past 24 hours brought the total to 5,297, in one of the world's deadliest outbreaks.A total of 3,252 people have been cured of coronavirus in India so far, including 705 patients who were discharged on Monday, taking the recovery percentage to 17.48 per cent, the government informed on Tuesday.A total of 1,336 new cases of coronavirus have been identified which has taken the total number of the confirmed cases to 18,601 in the country, said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, Union health ministry.The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 170,000 people globally, close to two thirds of them in hardest-hit Europe, according to an AFP tally Tuesday at 0935 GMT.In total, 170,226 people have died from the virus around the world, including 106,737 in Europe. With 42,364 deaths, the United States has the highest mortality rate, followed by Italy with 24,114 fatalities and Spain's 21,282. France has 20,265 deaths and Britain 16,509.The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking direction to the Centre, all states and Union territories to provide free of cost treatment for coronavirus infection till COVID-19 pandemic is contained, saying it is for the government to take a call on it."Government has to decide on who to give free treatment. We do not have any funds with us," a bench headed by Justice N V Ramana said.The bench, which heard the matter through video-conferencing, observed that government hospitals across the country are giving free treatment to coronavirus infected patients."Today, on Civil Services Day I convey greetings to all Civil Servants and their families. I appreciate their efforts in ensuring India successfully defeats COVID-19. They are working round the clock, assisting those in need and ensuring everyone is healthy," PM Narendra Modi tweeted.Minister of state for PMO Jitendra Singh on Monday informed that over 25,000 Covid-19 related grievances have been redressed through portal in the last 20 days."Following the declaration of nationwide lockdown in the wake of corona pandemic, the grievance portal has received tremendous response from people from across the country in the last three weeks as a result of which, while on April 1, 332 COVID related grievances were registered by the public, within 15 days by April 16 the number increased to 5,566,"said Singh in a statement.As of now, no conclusions could be made, said Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. However, the available evidence suggests an animal origin, Kasai told an online press conference.Zydus Cadila announced that its biological therapy Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b, ‘PegiHep’, used in Hepatitis B and C, may emerge as one of the pathways to treat Covid-19. Interferon alpha-2b has been used in the treatment of Covid-19 in China and Cuba, and is a part of treatment guidelines of the Chinese government, it said. India registered more than 1,200 new coronavirus cases for the third straight day, with 1,267 reported on Monday, but the percentage growth of the infection dipped from Sunday’s high of 10.3% to 7.3%. As in the past few days, Maharashtra led the table with 466 fresh cases and nine deaths. It was followed by Gujarat (196 cases), Rajasthan (98) and UP (95). Delhi and Madhya Pradesh recorded 78 cases each.The health ministry on Monday said 80% of Covid-19 cases were either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms, emphasising on the need to follow lockdown rules and maintain social distancing even within the family to avoid further spread of the infection.The rate at which Covid-19 cases are doubling in India has gone up to 7.5 days from every 3.4 days before the national lockdown was imposed on March 24, underlining the impact of stringent social distancing and containment measures, officials said. As of now, 18 states have a better doubling rate than the national average of 7.5 days with Kerala and Odisha registering a rate of more than 30 days. In Kerala, the time of doubling of cases is now 72.2 days, whereas it is 39.8 days in Odisha.As parts of India stirred to life on Monday amid a conditional easing of the lockdown, confusion prevailed in Delhi and NCR on how to regulate the surge of people and traffic caused by absence of clarity on aspects such as who among the junior central government workforce would constitute one-third of the office turnout allowed on a given day. The attendance conundrum compelled police to permit movement solely on the basis of employee identity cards, resulting in even those not supposed to attend office moving around freely.US President Donald Trump said he will be signing an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States."In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States", Trump said in a tweet late on Monday.New York has confirmed 247,512 cases of the novel coronavirus, while the total number of fatalities has climbed to 14,347.In the United States, almost 766,000 have contracted the disease so far, and more than 40,000 have died, according to John Hopkins University.