MUMBAI: Maharashtra, which has reported the highest number of coronavirus cases so far in India, has confirmed 12-14 infected patients with no evidence of history of foreign travel.

These could be cases of community transmission, where a person does not necessarily have to have a travel history. In community transmission, the source of infection is not known.

Maharashtra's capital and India's financial centre has reported 10 new cases since Friday, of which eight have returned from abroad recently. A new case has been reported from Pune, taking the state’s tally to 63.

The new case in Pune, a woman in her early 40s, does not have any history of travel to a foreign country but had attended a wedding in Navi Mumbai's Vashi on 3 March, according to news agency PTI.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope appealed to people to stay indoors and prevent the spread of the virus. He also asked offices to turn off centralised air conditioning as it harbours the virus in shared spaces for longer duration, the minister said in a press statement.

On Friday, the state's chief minister Uddhav Thackeray imposed a ban on all non-essential services in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur till 31 March.

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