By Online Desk

India's first coronavirus death was confirmed in Karnataka taking the total number of cases to 79. A 76-year-old man from Kalburgi who passed away on Wednesday has been confirmed for COVID-19.

Kerala also saw a spike in cases after two more gulf returnees from Kannur and Thrissur tested positive.

One Andhra student who tested positive has been admitted to the Government General Hospital in Nellore and his condition is reported to be stable.

Earlier, Indian markets suffered a bloodbath after the government shut its doors on visa holders and US President Donald Trump banned all travel from Europe, with the exception of the UK. Over eleven lakh crore of investors’ wealth was wiped out in trading on Thursday.

The Sensex crashed by nearly 3000 points, while the Nifty shed over 860 points. These are levels the two indices have not breached on the lower side since late 2017 and early 2018.

The market panic stemmed from the sharp escalation in the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent containment measures announced by the world's major economies, including the United States, India and several European nations.

United States President Donald Trump's decision to announce a 30-day ban on all travel from Europe to the US and India announcing the suspension of all visas until April 15 triggered investor panic as the scale of the disruption seems likely to be a lot larger than earlier expected.

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