Sitharaman

coronavirus

Here are the top developments: 1 India The government announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore stimulus that included free foodgrain and cooking gas to poor for three months, and cash doles to women and poor senior citizens as it looked to ease the economic impact of the nationwide lockdown.

While over 80 crore poor ration card holders will each get 5 kg of wheat or rice and one kg of preferred pulses free of cost every month for the next three months, 20.4 crore women having Jan Dhan bank accounts would get one-time cash help of Rs 1,500 spread over three months.

The government also announced an insurance cover worth Rs 50 lakh per person for sanitation workers, ASHA workers, doctors, nurses and paramedics who are on the frontlines of the corona battle.

The Central government allowed doorstep delivery of medicines to people during the 21-day nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The health ministry said that 17 states have started work on earmarking hospitals for dedicated treatment of Covid-19 patients.

The ministry of health has said that the "community transmission phase" of coronavirus will start if the community and government will not work collectively and follow guidelines.

All international commercial passenger flights will remain suspended till April 14, aviation regulator DGCA announced.

The CRPF has launched a WhatsApp-based helpline - 7082814411 - that will provide medicines and other essential items to the needy.

As many as 1,600 wholesale fruit and vegetable mandis have started functioning smoothly and 300 more will operate from Friday after the central government on Thursday stepped in to normalise the supply during the lockdow.

The Indian Air Force has created nine quarantine facilities at its nodal bases across country. 2 States Karanataka: A 70-year old woman, who became the second COVID-19 related fatality from Karnataka, is among four new positive cases of coronavirus confirmed in the state, taking the total number of the affected to 55.

West Bengal: An elderly man tested positive for COVID-19 in West Bengal, taking the total number of cases in the state to 10.

Gujarat: The death toll due to coronavirus reached three in Gujarat after a 70-year-old COVID-19 patient died in Bhavnagar district early Thursday morning.

Maharashtra: Three more persons -one each from Nagpur, Mumbai and Thane -- tested positive for coronavirus infection, taking the number of such patients in the state to 125. Shops selling essential commodities will be allowed to stay open 24 hours of the day in Maharashtra.

Delhi: The Delhi government will allow shops selling essential items such as groceries and vegetables to operate round the clock.

Arunachal Pradesh: Border point of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh which witnessed chaotic situation on Wednesday night is clear as people who were stranded there were either sent back or those willing to undergo quarantine have been allowed into the neighbouring state

Bihar: The state reported two more Covid-19 cases, taking the total count to six. The government also announced a relief package of Rs 100 crore and has decided to convert schools into shelter homes.

Kerala: The state reported 19 more positive cases of coronavirus, taking the total number of infected people under treatment to 126.

J&K: Two siblings, both minors, were tested positive for coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir, taking the number of cases to 13.

Odisha: The state will set up the country's two biggest COVID-19 hospitals with a combined capacity of 1,000 beds.

Rajasthan: Two more persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Rajasthan, taking the total number of confirmed cases of the infection to 40 in the state.

Assam: The Assam government is constructing a coronavirus isolation centre at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, also known as Sarusajai Stadium, in Guwahati on a war footing.

Tamil Nadu: The government announced extending the ongoing lockdown of the state to stem the spread of coronavirus till April 14.

Uttar Pradesh: Four more people test positive for coronavirus in UP as the number of cases rises to 42.

Punjab: The number of coronavirus patients continued to surge in Punjab with two more persons testing positive for the infection, taking total cases to 33 in the state.

Madhya Pradesh: The number of COVID-19 cases in the state rose to 21 with six more patients - five in Indore and one in Shivpur - testing coronavirus positive. 3 World Saudi Arabia's King Salman urged G20 leaders to take "effective and coordinated" action to combat the global crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, and called on them to assist developing nations.

Germany has boosted its coronavirus test rate to 500,000 a week, with the early detection helping in part to keep the country's death toll relatively low, a virologist said Thursday.

Sri Lanka will allow chartered flights from any country to land and fly out their citizens stranded in the island nation.

The coronavirus death toll in Spain surged to 4,089 after 655 people died within 24 hours.

Iran announced 157 new deaths from coronavirus, raising the official number of fatalities to 2,234, as it slapped a ban on intercity travel to try to curb the spread of COVID-19.

China is set to drastically cut its international flight routes in a bid to blunt the number of imported cases of the new coronavirus, the civil aviation authority said on Thursday. Flights out of China will be capped at just one route a week to each country, with international airlines also permitted only one route.

Singapore on Thursday unveiled a "landmark" package of SGD 48.4 billion (USD 33.17 billion) to support its workers and businesses as the country stepped up measures to deal with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NEW DELHI: As the number of coronavirus cases mounted to 694 in India, finance minister Nirmalaon Thursday announced a relief package for the poor and migrant workers amid a 21-day countrywide lockdown to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 ) pandemic. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia 's King Salman urged G20 leaders to take "effective and coordinated" action to combat the global crisis, amid forecasts of a deep economic recession.