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

Indian Railways Increases Platform Tickets

Indian Railway Official: Platform ticket price has been increased to Rs. 50 at about 250 stations in 6 Divisions-Mumbai, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Ratlam, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, till further orders, to ensure crowd control.

All shops in Pune have been shut down for three days on the call of Federation Of Association Of Pune due to Coronavirus.

Himachal Pradesh Shuts Govt- Run Temples

The Himachal Pradesh government has shut down all state run temples and has asked devotees to go for online darshan. 

Shirdi Sai Baba temple, and Shani Shringapur temple have also decided to shut down owing to the increasing cases of COVID-19 in the country. 

Maharshtra Local Elections To Be Postponed

The Maharashtra State Election Commissioner said the government had requested that the elections be postponed in view of coronavirus infection. Maharashtra has 39 cases of COVID-19. 

ICMR Testing Random Samples For COVID-19

Since March 15, the Indian Council of Medical Research has begun testing for a random sample of people who display flu-like symptoms but don’t have any history of travel to outbreak zones to determine whether community transmission is taking place.

Each of the 51 designated labs are studying 10 samples each week. Before this, the ICMR had picked up 20 samples and tested them at 13 labs to check for community transmission between February 15 and 29.

ICMR spoke to Economics Times, where they stated that their experts aren’t convinced about following South Korea’s strategy, which has reported more recoveries from Covid-19 than new infections through aggressive testing without any lockdowns. Indian experts said they will revise the testing protocol depending on the situation.

The ICMR is conducting a press conference on March 17, 2020. 

ICMR Suggests Private Labs Could Conduct COVID-19 Tests

The Indian Council of Medical Research officials on Tuesday informed that initial talks are on for involving private laboratories to conduct COVID-19 tests. As of March 17, 2020, 71 labs across the country are testing for the presence of the virus. 

Uttarakhand Declares Epidemic

Uttarakhand govt has declared Coronavirus as an epidemic. Medical stores have been advised not to sell medicines to person suffering from cold & cough without medical prescription. Masks & hand sanitizers should be sold at MRP only, stated Pankaj Pandey, Secy Medical, Health&Medical Education Dept

25 Doctors Among 75 Quarantined In Kerala

Seventy five employees of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology were quarantined after one among them tested for COVID-19 and had returned from Spain. 

Twenty five of them are doctors at the Institute. 

Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar To Be Closed

The Taj Mahal and the Qutub Minar will be closed for tourists from March 17, 2020 onwards. The Qutub Minar is said to be closed till March 31 post which further instructions will be awaited. 

The Taj Mahal officials stated that these orders were communicated to them by the Ministry of Tourism on Monday, March 16, 2020. 

All ticketed monuments and museums have also been asked to be closed until March 31. 

Gurgaon, Noida, Kalaburgi, Ladakh Report New Cases

A 29-year-old woman from Haryana's Gurgaon district has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a health official said on Tuesday. The woman is an employee of a Gurgaon-based company and had recently travelled to Malaysia and Indonesia, the official said. This is the first confirmed Indian case in Haryana. Earlier, the 14 Italians had tested positive in the state. 

Noida confirmed two new cases: One with travel history to France while travel history for the second one could not be traced. Both have been kept in isolation wards, Gautam Buddh Nagar's CMO, reported to news wire agency, ANI. 

Meanwhile, a doctor treating the patient who died in Kalaburgi, tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, officials told ANI. 

Ladakh reported 3 more positive cases for COVID19. Two cases are from Leh, one is from Kargil district stated Commissioner Secretary Rigzin Sampheal. Ladakh now has six positive cases.