Suspected Case Commits Suicide
A suspected COVID-19 patient who had returned from Sydney, Australia committed suicide at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West Delhi) told ANI.
HRD Ministry Postpones CBSE, JEE Exams
The Human Resource Development Ministry has postponed CBSE Board exams and all University exams to after March 31 amid the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.
It has also postponed JEE for IIT, engineering college admissions
Maharashtra Case Count Reaches 45
Maharashtra confirmed 3 more cases taking the count to 45
A male with travel history to Philippines currently in Pimpri Chinchwad, a female related to the family of the man travelling from US and who tested positive yesterday in Mumbai, and a man with travel history to Dubai currently in Ratnagiri, have tested positive for COVID-19.
UP Confirms 17 Cases
The Directorate of Health Services, Uttar Pradesh stated that a total of 17 people have tested positive for coronavirus: 8 are from Agra, 2 from Ghaziabad, 4 from Noida and 3 from Lucknow.
Karnataka Records 14th Case
A 35-year-old man with travel history from the USA has tested positive for COVID-19 taking Karnataka's count of positive cases to 14.
The Tourism Ministry in a Parliamentary panel stated that business worth 5 lakh crore rupees was affected due to the ongoing COVID-19
Niti Aayog Member V K Paul on Wednesday chaired a meeting with the government's Principal Scientific Adviser K Vijay Raghavan on the R&D requirement for developing a vaccine for Covid-19. India has successfully isolated the SARS-COV-2 strain.
India Evacuates Citizens From Iran, Malaysia
The Ministry of External Affairs stated that they have evacuated another 195 Indians from Iran were brought back by a special plane on Wednesday evening, an official said here. They landed at Rajasthan's Jaisalmer airport and were shifted to an Army's wellness facility after screening, defence spokesperson Col Sombit Ghosh said.
India has also evacuated its 405 citizens, including students, stranded at Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Indian High Commission reported to ANI.
Minister Announces Total Beds For Quarantine
Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan announced that over 59,587 beds have been set up across India to tackle COVID-19.
As of March 17, quarantine facilities with a combined capacity of 59,587 beds have been set up across India, including 11,934 beds at central govt facilities, 26,153 beds at state governments facilities and 21,500 beds at Haj facilities: Union Health Ministry #Coronavirus
— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2020
Four persons with 'home quarantine stamp' on their hands were deboarded from the Garib Rath train here on Wednesday, said Ravinder Bhakar, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Western Railway.
They had returned from Germany and were asked to be home quarantined. The Mumbai airport had stamped the home quarantine stamps on their palms which fellow passengers on the train witnessed and complained about.