Coronavirus LIVE Update: India's Cases Rise To 59,92,532; 94,503 Dead

Curfew Imposed In 4 Areas Of Surat Till April 22

Curfew has been imposed in four police jurisdictions of Surat until April 22 starting tonight. Women will be allowed to go out to buy essentials from 1PM - 4PM.

Healthcare workers from hospitals under Max Healthcare (18,000 workers), BLK Hospital (3,000) and Nanavati Hospital, Mumbai (3,000) will be tested over the next few weeks as precautionary measures

Maharashtra Crosses 3000 Cases

Maharashtra became the first state to cross 3000 cases as Mumbai reported 107 new cases. 

Ola Collaborates With BMC

Cab aggregator Ola has provided a fleet of its cabs to Brihanmumbai Municipal Coroporation for ferrying the health officers and BMC officials fighting to tackle COVID-19. 

Mumbai Police To Assist People Wishing To Leave Mumbai

The Mumbai police tweeted that a phone number and website link for people who wish to leave the city due to unavoidable reasons during the extended lockdown

IMF Expects Asia To Grow At 0% in 2020

A blog by the International Monetary Fund expects Asia to grow at 0% in 2020 - expecting it to be Asia's worse performance in 60 years. Relatively, Asia performed better during the 2008 financial crisis (4.7%) and the Asian financial crisis (1.3%). However, the IMF also expects Asia to be among the better performing regions in the world in terms in activity.

India To Receive First Round Of Kits From China

China has dispatched 6.5 lakh medical kits to India and will be sending over two million others over the next 15 days, Indian Ambassador to Beijing Vikram Misri told Press Trust of India

These include 5.5 lakh rapid antibody testing kits from two organizations and 1 lakh RNA extraction kits 

Government Extends Vehicular & Health Insurance Premium Deadlines

The government has extended deadlines for the payments for the payment of premiums of for health insurance and for statutory vehicle third party insurance premium payments. Those whose policies are due for renewal between March 25 and May 3, and who cannot make the renewal premium payments can now do so up till May 15. In the grace period, the policy shall continue to apply, and valid claims can be paid.

Google To Slow Hiring For 2020

Google will slow hiring for the rest of the year, Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai told the company’s staff in a memo on Wednesday.

“We’ll be slowing down the pace of hiring, while maintaining momentum in a small number of strategic areas, and onboarding the many people who’ve been hired but haven’t started yet”, a Google spokesperson said.

India Reports 447 New Cases, 22 New Deaths

The morning update of the Ministry of Health and Family updated reported 12,380 cases, an increase of 447 cases over the evening tally of April 15. The ministry also reported 414 deaths, an increase of 22 death over its previous tally.

Cases were reported by Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Andhra Pradesh crossed the 500-cases mark, and Gujarat crossed the 700 cases mark.