Covid-19 positive cases in India rise to 43 with four more cases each from Ernakulam, Delhi, Jammu and Agra testing positive today; Special Secretary Health Sanjeeva Kumar debunks the media reports saying no death reported in country due to Coronavirus; Union Cabinet Secretary holds meeting to review the current situation and preparedness; In view of rising cases of Covid-19 from France, USA and Spain, Government decides to have dedicated aerobridges for these countries.

The Government is keeping a close watch on the situation and a number of measures have been taken to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Union Cabinet Secretary took the 16th review meeting on Sunday and the preparations to bring Indian citizens from Iran were elaborately discussed which are at an advance stage.

Since the disease has spread over more than 90 countries with over 1 lakh cases worldwide, the States and Union Territories have been asked to enhance community surveillance as per the list of passengers provided to the States/UTs.

In view of rising cases from France, USA, Spain, it was decided to have dedicated aero-bridges of these countries also in addition to the 12 countries.

It was also stressed that people need to be made aware about the use of mask. As of Sunday, there are 39 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Five new cases have been confirmed in Kerala.

They have travel history to Italy. Union Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan is continuously monitoring and reviewing the status, actions taken and future preparedness of states.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has assured full support to over 40 Indian citizens stranded at Qom city in Iran in urgent need of medical help and general assistance.

In a tweet, the minister said "Efforts underway for return of Indian pilgrims in Qom in Iran. Screening process has started & follow up arrangements are being discussed with Iranian authorities. This is top priority & Embassy team @india_in_iran is fully engaged on this."

On the welfare of Indian fishermen stuck in Iran, S Jaishankar said that "Our Embassy in Iran continues to maintain close contact with Indian fishermen in Iran. No case of COVID19 has been reported among them. Ensuring that they have adequate supplies. Will continue to monitor their welfare.

Ten people died in the Chinese city of Quanzhou, after the place which was being used to quarantine individuals under observation for the coronavirus collapsed. The hotel began to collapse on Saturday evening. 48 individuals have been rescued from the site of the collapse. Of that total, 10 have been confirmed dead, with the rest being treated in hospitals.

Italy imposed a virtual lockdown across a swathe of its wealthy north yesterday, including the financial capital Milan, in a drastic new attempt to try to contain a rapidly growing outbreak of coronavirus.

The unprecedented restrictions, which will impact some 16 million people and stay in force until April 3.

The new measures say people should not enter or leave Lombardy, Italy's richest region, as well as 14 provinces in four other regions, including the cities of Venice, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia and Rimini.

Italy has been hit harder by the crisis than anywhere else in Europe so far, with the number of coronavirus cases jumping more than 1,200 in a 24-hour period - the biggest daily rise since the epidemic began in the country two weeks ago. The latest total of cases stood at 5,883 with 233 deaths.

France has banned gatherings of over a thousand people to contain coronavirus. Though, with some exceptions of protests and the use of mass public transport.

French health authorities also reported three new coronavirus deaths yesterday, taking the country's death toll from the outbreak to 19, as the number of reported infections also rose to 1,126.

France remains on level two of its outbreak response plan, which seeks focuses on containment. Level three is the highest level.

South Korean army and medical staff were mobilised at hospitals yesterday in Daegu, the city at the centre of the worst coronavirus outbreak outside mainland China.

South Korea has reported an additional 179 new coronavirus cases, for a total of 272 new cases over the previous 24 hours.

The new cases bring South Korea's total to 7,313, the largest number of any country outside of China. The daily increase was the lowest in at least a week.

Meanwhile, several embassies in North Korea have been closed today and as many diplomats were flown out following weeks of tight quarantine restrictions imposed by Pyongyang over the spread of the novel coronavirus.

North Korea has not confirmed a single infection but has imposed strict rules, including closing its borders and putting thousands of its own people into isolation.

As per world health organisation's latest situation report on the COVID19 outbreak globally, over 100 countries have now reported laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID19.

China reported 22 new deaths today from the Novel Corona virus epidemic and the lowest number of fresh cases since it started reporting the data in January this year.

There were 40 new cases nationwide, the National Health Commission said, with most in Hubei, the central province at the epicentre of the outbreak. The 22 new deaths bring the country's toll to 3,119. More than 80,700 people have been infected in total in mainland China.