India confirmed two new cases of COVID-19 on March 2, 2020 long after three of the earlier confirmed cases recuperated and were discharged from hospitals in Kerala. Two Indian nationals in Delhi and Hyderabad returning from Italy and Dubai tested positive for the virus.
India's new cases come amidst a spurt in the number of cases and deaths in Iran, Italy, and South Korea which are now the newer epicenters of the virus along with many other countries declaring their first positive cases of the novel Coronavirus.
Indonesia, Portugal, Scotland, Czech Republic, Iceland, Andorra, Dominican Republic, Luxembourg, Nigeria, Qatar reported their first positive confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Here are the latest updates about the virus:
Coronavirus in India
India confirmed two new cases of COVID-19. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is tracking people who were in contact with the tested patients.
Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan held a press conference to announce all the steps that the Union government is taking to tackle the COVID-19 cases.
The Minister mentioned that India has suspended air travel to Iran and China and is screening passengers from the 12 countries of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Italy, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Nepal Thailand and Iran at 21 airports. Air travel to other countries could be restricted depending on their coronavirus status.
The government is also screening 1,186 people who travelled from Iran since February 1, 2020.
They have already screened 5,57,431 people at the airports, 12,000+ across 12 major and 65 minor ports, and 10,24,922 people living in regions of Uttarakhand, Bengal, Bihar, and Sikkim which share a border with Nepal.
Five cases have tested positive, results of 23 are awaited while 3217 cases tested negative from all the samples that were tested across 15 laboratories in the country.
The government aims to open another 19 laboratories to hasten the testing process across the country.
Paracetamol's cost increased by 40% after the confirmed cases.
The government also specified that they did not use drugs meant for HIV to successfully treat the earlier three confirmed cases.
Global Developments
Vital Stats
The virus has so far claimed over 3050 lives with 66 in Iran, 34 in Italy, 26 in South Korea, 12 in Italy, 6 in Japan, 6 from the Diamond Princess, two each in USA, Hong Kong and France while one each in Philippines, Taiwan. The rest of the deaths are from mainland China which remains the epicentre of the outbreak. This is higher than the SARS toll.
The total number of confirmed cases for the Coronavirus have risen to more than 87,200 spread across 67 countries.
According to a real time data monitor by John Hopkins University, over 45,150 people have recovered globally. Most of the recovered cases are still under observation while some have been discharged.
International Organizations
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has recommended that ministers and diplomats skip a meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York next month due to the coronavirus outbreak to be held from March 9 to 20, 2020.
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, (OECD), the recent outbreak of COVID-19 proves to be one of the greatest dangers for the world economy since 2008.
Developments in China
According to Forbes, COVID-19 could bring an end to the reign of China 's supremacy over the global manufacturing market.
China has also launched an application, Alipay Health Code, run by the sister company of Alibaba to detect, tap and control the quarantine of people living in the country. The application is actively being used in over 200 cities. According to NY Times, the app uses citizens' data to regulate their movements as well as shares this data with the police. The users are assigned a health code on the basis of their health status but the methodology of denoting a colour code has not been discussed openly. This has created a sense of fear among people willing to use the application.
Other developments
The Diamond Princess, the cruise parked in Japan, recorded four deaths from its earlier quarantined patients and the number of positive cases has risen to 705. The cruise is disembarking its crew members and quarantining them at other places in Japan.
Three VIP officials have died due to the COVID-19 in Iran as the number of confirmed cases reach over 1,500.
The European Union has raised the virus risk to high from moderate with Italy confirming around 1700 cases and Germany reporting around 150 cases.
USA reported two deaths in Washington as New York reported its first confirmed case of coronavirus
Australia reported its first two cases of community transmission as a woman and a doctor with no travel history to China tested positive for 2019-nCoV.
Thailand and Qatar GP as well as the Japan Fashion Week were cancelled amid the rising fear of COVID-19.
Dutch news agency ANP said Nike's European headquarters in the Netherlands would be closed on Monday and Tuesday following the infection of an employee with coronavirus.
The priest of the South Korean church which is linked to half of South Korea's 4000 cases issued a public apology for the spread of the virus.
Read our previous monitor here.
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Misinformation around Coronavirus
The misinformation surrounding Coronavirus is increasing daily.
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BOOM has been actively debunking misinformation surrounding the virus.
#Thread🚨: Since the outbreak of #CoronaVirus, we have debunked #FakeNews around the novel Coronavirus. A WhatsApp forward is viral falsely claiming @MoHFW_INDIA has issued an emergency notification. (1/n) #CoronaVirusFacts @WHO https://t.co/0lbBu7FIfO
— BOOM FactCheck (@boomlive_in) January 30, 2020