Here are the top developments: 1 India Around 400 districts in India are free from coronavirus, however, the next 2-3 weeks are going to be most crucial in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, said Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

Encouragement to the rural economy is the focus of relaxations given under the consolidated revised guidelines issued by the Home Ministry for the extended lockdown period to contain the spread of coronavirus, a senior official said.

Home secretary Ajay Bhalla on Wednesday wrote to all the states and union territories asking them to ensure strict compliance with the consolidated revised guidelines of the lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country.

The Railways has decided to produce over 30,000 Personal Protective Equipment coveralls in April and also plans to manufacture 1,00,000 of the same in May 2020 for medical and health-care personnel.

The National Disaster Response Force has launched a round-the-clock helpline - 9711077372 - over phone and social media, to provide assistance to the needy during the ongoing lockdown. 2 States Uttar Pradesh: UP reported 67 fresh coronavirus cases and 3 fatalities, taking the total number of COVID-19 patients to 727 and the death toll in the state to 11.

Maharashtra: Maharashtra reported 117 more COVID-19 cases, taking the state tally of virus-infected people to 2801.

Rajasthan: The total number coronavirus cases in Rajasthan reached 1046 with 12 new cases reported today.

Haryana: A total of 190 people have been found positive of coronavirus in Haryana till date.

Bihar: Four new coronavirus cases were reported in Bihar, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 70.

Meghalaya: The first COVID-19 patient of Meghalaya passed away, while six of his contacts have also tested positive for the infection.

West Bengal: Twelve new COVID-19 cases were reported in West Bengal in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of active cases to 132 now & 7 deaths till date.

Karnataka: 19 more COVID-19 cases were reported in Karnataka taking the total number of coronavirus positive cases in the state to 279, including 80 discharged & 12 deaths.

Arunachal Pradesh: Arunachal Pradesh's first COVID-19 patient has tested negative for the virus three times after being kept in isolation for 13 days under the observation of doctors.

Odisha: The state has reported 60 COVID-19 cases so far while 18 persons have recovered from the disease.

Punjab: The number of coronavirus cases rose to 186 in Punjab with two more people testing positive for the infection.

Himachal Pradesh: The state government said that 115 people were tested for COVID-19 today, of which 23 were negative and the results of 92 are awaited.

Currently, the total number of positive coronavirus cases in the state is at 33.

Madhya Pradesh: The State has reported 987 positive COVID-19 cases, so far.

Assam: 32 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Assam, while one patient has died, so far.

Tamil Nadu: Two men died of COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu and 38 more people tested positive, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 1,242.

J&K: The number of COVID-19 patients in Jammu and Kashmir reached 300 as 22 more people tested positive for coronavirus.

Kerala: Only one new COVID-19 case was reported in the state today, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 387, of which 167 are active. 3 World More than two million cases of the new coronavirus have been officially registered around the world, half of them in Europe.

The coronavirus death toll in the United States crossed 25,000 with the country witnessing the highest single-day tally of 2,129. As of Tuesday, more than 6,05,000 Americans had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The number of people who have died in hospital in Britain from the coronavirus has risen to 12,868.

The World Health Organization is purely focused on saving lives and halting the coronavirus pandemic, its chief said after US President Donald Trump announced he was freezing funding for the WHO.

Iran said new deaths from the coronavirus remained in double figures for the second day in a row. The health ministry said 94 deaths from the COVID-19 disease were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall toll to 4,777.

Japan has more than 8,800 confirmed coronavirus cases and 131 deaths, including about 700 cases from a cruise ship that was quarantined at a port near Tokyo earlier this year.

Spain recorded 523 deaths from the coronavirus, a decline from the previous day, but the number of new daily confirmed cases was the highest in six days.

The new deaths reported by the health ministry take the total number of fatalities to 18,579.

The UAE announced the country's first full genome sequencing of COVID-19, an important tool to trace the origin of the deadly infection. In the UAE, the infection has claimed the lives of 25 people and left over 4,000 affected.

Germany is poised to extend restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus to May 3, regional government sources said, hours ahead of key talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel on the issue.

The number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan reached 5,988 after 272 new infections were reported in the country.

NEW DELHI: The Union health ministry has identified 170 districts as COVID-19 hotspots and 207 districts as potential hotspots, officials said on Wednesday, reiterating that there has been no community transmission of the disease in the country so far. Meanwhile, India's tally of coronavirus cases has gone up to 11,933 while the death toll has reached 392, said the Union health ministry.