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

CISF Cancels Holi Celebration

In view of COVID-19, all Central armed police forces have cancelled their 'Holi Milan' programmes as a preventive measure. Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has postponed it's Raising Day as well which was to be held next week.

Six Indian Badminton Players Skip All England Open

Six Indian shuttlers- HS Pronnoy, Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Manu Attri, Sumeeth Reddy and Samir Verma have pulled out of All England Open Badminton Championships as a precautionary measure to the Coronavirus outbreak in many countries as reported by sources from the Badminton Association of India to news wire agency, ANI. 

Top Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and Sai Praneeth are expected to participate in the tournament. 

Indian Parliament To Restrict Entry To Visitors Due To Coronavirus

In the wake of COVID-19, the government has been issuing advice to avoid mass gatherings, the Parliament is restricting entry to visitors. 

Next week onwards, MPs from both houses will not be able to meet their visitors inside the parliament. MPs will also not be allowed to take their visitors on a parliament tour. 

Govt In Talks To Bring Back Indians From Iran

The government is in talks with Iranian authorities to bring back Indians from Iran.

A flight from Iran is expected to land in the country tonight and would be bringing around 300 swabs (samples) of Indians

Iran's Mahan Air would operate the flight to Delhi and would carry Iranians back in the return flight, DGCA chief Arun Kumar said.

Two Microsoft Employees Test Positive In Washington

Two Microsoft employees in Washington state have contracted the coronavirus.

Both employees are located in Puget Sound, the area that includes Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters, a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC in an email on Thursday evening. One is an employee of Microsoft subsidiary LinkedIn who works remotely, a LinkedIn spokesperson told CNBC in an email.

“Local health experts have determined that this individual had no known contact with other employees while infected and, based on that fact, there is no risk to those who work at LinkedIn from this case,” the LinkedIn spokesperson wrote. “We are doing everything we can to support our colleague and will continue to keep the health and safety of our employees, customers and partners as our top priority, working closely with public health officials globally.”

On Wednesday, Microsoft instructed employees in the Puget Sound and California’s Bay Area to work from home if they can over the next few weeks. The company also limited employee travel.

On March 5, a fake graphic suggesting that Indian news channel Times Now reported two positive cases of Coronavirus in the hill station of Lonavala, Maharashtra went viral. 

The graphic was debunked by Times Now stating that they did not make the graphic. 

#FakeNews #Alert | Dear Viewers/Followers, it has come to our notice that some miscreants on social media are spreading FAKE NEWS by illegally using the TIMES NOW brand logo. TIMES NOW urges all to be watchful and follow news posted on @timesnow only. pic.twitter.com/qltBRpqArW

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) March 5, 2020

Iranian Tourists Quarantined at Amritsar Hotel

A group of 13 Iranian tourists have been quarantined at a hotel in Amritsar and have been asked to not go out till their medical examination is completed, an official said. They reached Amritsar on Thursday night, the official added. They have been quarantined at their hotel rooms, Amritsar Civil Surgeon Prabhdeep Kaur said. We are conducting a proper medical examination, she said, adding that they have been asked to not leave the hotel till their medical examination gets over as a precautionary measure. 

Bhutan Confirms First Coronavirus Case

The isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has reported its first case of the coronavirus after a US tourist tested positive, the prime minister said today. The 76-year-old man arrived in Bhutan from India on March 2, and was admitted to hospital on March 5 with a fever, where he tested positive for COVID-19, the office of Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said in a Facebook post.

India Confirms 31st Case

The number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 31, as another Delhi resident has tested positive. The person has a travel history of Thailand and Malaysia, is stable and under constant observation. 

Change in temp will not impact coronavirus spread: ICMR chief