Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE updates: 'The assault on Duty Doctor at Gandhi Hospital treating COVID19 patients is condemned. Strong action against the culprits will be taken immediately. Anyone indulging in such acts of vandalism will not be spared,' said Director General of Police.
Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST updates: "The assault on Duty Doctor at Gandhi Hospital treating COVID19 patients is condemned. Strong action against the culprits will be taken immediately. Anyone indulging in such acts of vandalism will not be spared," said Director General of Police.
A 56-year-old man who tested positive for coronavirus from Mumbai's Dharavi died on Wednesday in Sion Hospital, reports said.
The Maharashtra health department on Wednesday said that four more coronavirus patients passed away in the state, taking the total statewide toll to 16. The total number of positive cases in the state has risen to 335, including 41 people who have been discharged.
'It is with great regret that the AELTC has today decided that The Championships 2020 will be cancelled due to public health concerns linked to the coronavirus epidemic. The 134th Championships will instead be staged from 28 June to 11 July 2021," the official statement by Wimbledon said on Wednesday.
BMC said that 191 areas in various locations of Mumbai have been marked as 'Containment Areas', where COVID-19 patients are confirmed. Entry/exit is restricted for all such areas and residents of the area are instructed to remain home quarantined.
The Maharashtra health department on Wednesday said that the coronavirus cases rose to 335 with 14 cases reported in Mumbai and one case in the Buldhana district.
Some of the people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat conference in Delhi and returned to the Thane and Nagpur districts of Maharashtra have been identified and quarantined, authorities said on Wednesday. The congregation, which was attended by over 2,000 people from all over the country and abroad, has become a hotspot of the coronavirus infection after several attendees tested positive.
Thane Police said that 13 Bangladeshi nationals and two people from Assam who visited the event and came to Thane afterwards have been home quarantined. "Their test reports will be available by tomorrow. On the basis of the report, further action will be taken," said Subhas Burse, DCP, Mumbra, Thane.
Meanwhile, Nagpur municipal corporation commissioner Tukaram Munde said, "54 people from Nagpur, who attended the Tablighi Jamat meet in Delhi's Nizamuddin, have been identified and quarantined."
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct class 10 and 12 examinations for only 29 main subjects which are crucial for promotion and admission to higher educational institutions, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal announced on Wednesday.
For rest of the subjects, CBSE will not hold board exams and instructions for their marking, assessment will be issued soon, he said.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the phone numbers of people who have been prescribed quarantine will be tracked to ensure compliance with the measure to curb the spread of coronavirus. He added that 1,1084 phone numbers have already been shared with the police and another 14,345 will be shared on Wednesday.
"These are the numbers of people who are supposed to be in quarantine. However, there have been complaints that people are violating this. Now, movement will be tracked though your phone — we will know of you have violated quarantine norms and also who else you have come in touch with."
Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal tweeted that the CBSE board has been advised to promote all the students studying in classes 1 to 8 automatically as regular schedules of exams have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Eight villages in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district have been declared as red zones after 10 people from the district attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin, PTI reported.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, in a press conference over coronavirus on Wednesday said that of the 87 confirmed cases in the state so far, 70 are returnees from the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi's Nizammudin.
"A total of 1,083 people had attended Delhi's event from the state and 585 people who return from Delhi have been tested. The state government is requesting private hospital help at this juncture," he added.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that a total of 2,344 people connected to the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi's Nizammuding have been evacuated, out of which 536 people have been admitted to hospitals and 810 have been quarantined.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the state governments are arranging food and shelter for the migrant workers. Joint Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said, "21,486 relief camps have been set up where 6,75,133 persons have been given shelter."
The health ministry on Wednesday said that so far, 1,637 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in India, including 386 new positive cases since Tuesday.
The statement also said that 38 people have died and 132 people have recovered. "The number of positive cases have gone since Tuesday and one of the main reasons for it is the travel by members of Tablighi Jamat," the statement said.
The Telangana government on Wednesday said that so far, about 1,100 attendees of the Tablighi Jamaat event in Deljhi have been traced in Telangana, out of which 940 people have been traced and 160 people are left.
Four more positive cases reported in Assam on Wednesday, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 5 in the state. 'All four were in Markaz, attended Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi,' said Assam health minister HB Sarma.
Five positive cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district, including two foreigners who had attended the Markaz in Nizamuddin, Delhi, according to the District Collector on Wednesday. A total of 34 people, including 29 foreigners, who had attended the religious gathering in Delhi were traced in Ahmednagar by the administration.
All the 43 patients tested positive for COVID19 on Wednesday in Andhra Pradesh had returned after attending the event at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz. Meanwhile, a total of 1,637 positive cases of coronavirus has been reported in India so far and 38 deaths have taken place due to the infection, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Uttar Pradesh reported its first coronavirus-related death on Wednesday after test reports of a 25-year-old man, who died two days ago, came COVID-19 positive.
The FIR filed by Delhi police in connection with the religious gathering held at Markaz Nizamuddin case holds seven people responsible for the gathering and the ensuing stay of people on the premises.
The Tabligh-e-Jamaat's Markaz in Nizamuddin West, which is among the major COVID-19 hotspots in the country, has been cleared after the evacuation of 2,361 people in the past 36 hours, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday.
An FIR has been filed in the case of the Nizamuddin Markaz event, 100 of whose attendees tested positive for coronavirus. The FIR in the case names Saad, Dr Zeeshan, Mufti Shehzad, Mursalin Saifi, Yonus and Mohd Salman. Saad has two houses in Delhi - one in Zakir Nagar and another in Nizamuddin.
The complaint further states that around 2,100 people were vacated from Markaz within five days, but it has not been sanitised completely.
Twenty more people tested positive for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, taking the total number of such cases in the state to 86, a health official said. Among the new cases, 19 were reported from Indore and one from the neighbouring Khargone district, he said.
Two more COVID-19 patients died in Maharashtra, taking the state toll to 12, health officials said on Wednesday. One was a 75-year-old man from Mumbai, while the other, a 50-year-old man, died in adjoining Palghar district, the officials said.
Eighteen new positive cases of coronavirus have been reported in Maharashtra, taking the total count to 320. 16 new cases are reported in Mumbai, while two were reported in Pune. The toll in Maharashtra climbs to 12 after the death of two more coronavirus positive patients, said Health official on Wednesday.
Four more fresh coronavirus positive cases were reported from Vishakhapatnam on Tuesday. This takes the total number of those infected with the deadly virus in Andhra Pradesh to 44.
The Centre on Tuesday said that there has been an increase of 146 novel coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 positive cases to 1,397 in India.
The total number includes 1,238 active cases, and 124 people who have been cured/discharged/migrated and 35 deaths. Three deaths — two in Punjab and one in Maharashtra — were reported on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court asked the Centre on Tuesday to prevent migration of people due to coronavirus and set up within 24 hours a portal for disseminating real-time information on the pandemic to counter the panic being spread through fake news.
Meanwhile, a religious congregation of the Tablighi Jamaat held from 1 to 15 March in Delhi's Nizamuddin West has become a point of concern for authorities after several people showed symptoms of coronavirus after taking part in the congregation. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has ordered the registration of an FIR against a cleric for leading the congregation
State-wise figures
The cases of coronavirus in Maharashtra, which is one of the worst-affected states by the pandemic, have gone up substantially, reports said on Tuesday adding that there are now 302 positive cases in the state. News18 reported that there are 59 cases in Mumbai, two each in Pune, Thane, KDMC and Navi Mumbai.

Representational image. PTI
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that seven positive cases have been reported in the state, two each in Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod. He said that additionally, one each was reported in Kollam, Thrissur, and Kannur. The total active cases are now 215 in the state.
Thirteen new cases of coronavirus were reported in Karnataka in the last 21 hours, reports said. The total number of positive cases in the state rose to 101, including three deaths and eight discharged/cured cases.
Additionally, reports said that 88 COVID-19 patients (including one pregnant woman) are in isolation at
designated hospitals and are stable, while two are in the ICU.
In Assam, a 52-year-old person has been found positive for coronavirus, state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. Sarma said that it is Assam's first COVID-19 patient. He is undergoing treatment at Silchar Medical College and his condition is stable, the minister said.
In Madhya Pradesh, the total number of coronavirus positive cases on Tuesday rose to 66 in the state, of which 44 positive cases have been reported in Indore. Five people have died due to the infection till now in the state.
However, in what comes as a positive development, several patients have been successfully cured of the disease across the country. News18 India reported that in Rajasthan's Bhilwara, 13 out of 26 positive cases have been cured.
The first three COVID-19 patients in West Bengal have recovered, reports said, adding that they will remain in quarantine for the time being. Meanwhile, two new cases were confirmed for the infection in the state on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 27.
Row over Tablighi Jamaat event
At least 24 members of the Tablighi Jamaat tested positive in Delhi and another six died in Telangana due to the virus, nearly two weeks after attending a congregation in its Nizamuddin West centre.
Following this, the Centre has asked all states and Union territories to immediately trace and quarantine the estimated 2,000 foreign workers of the organisation present in India.
The Home Ministry in a letter to all chief secretaries and police heads told them to deport all foreign Jamaat followers who test negative for the deadly virus to their countries "by the first available flights".
"Presently, it is estimated that about 2,000 foreigners, on tourist visa, from over 70 countries are spread all over the country for Tabligh work. Majority of these foreign nationals belong to Bangladesh (493), Indonesia (472), Malaysia (150) and Thailand (142) and their period of stay in the country is up to six months," the Ministry of Home Affairs said in the letter.
Some Jamaat members in Erode district of Tamil Nadu and eight Indonesian nationals, part of a Jamaat team in Hyderabad in Telangana, tested positive for the virus recently.
Kejriwal said that the congregation at the Nizammudin markaz (centre) in Delhi, which was attended by around 2,000 people, was "highly irresponsible".
Prevent migration, SC tells Centre
The Supreme Court asked the Centre to prevent migration of people due to coronavirus and set up within 24 hours a portal for disseminating real-time information on the pandemic to counter the panic being spread through fake news.
"Panic will destroy more lives than the virus", the top court said and asked the Centre to get trained counsellors and community leaders of all faiths to calm down the migrants, who are kept in shelter homes across the country.
It said these shelters should be run by volunteers and not the police, and there should be no use of force and intimidation.
It asked the Centre to prevent migration of people and take care of their needs of food, shelter, nourishment and medical aid.
The Centre told the apex court that the suggestion by a petitioner to sprinkle water and chemicals on migrants to sanitise them does not work scientifically and is not the right way.
Meanwhile, the Centre, in an affidavit, also sought a direction from the Supreme Court on Tuesday that no media outlet print, publish or telecast anything on coronavirus without first ascertaining facts from the mechanism provided by the government.
It said that in an unprecedented situation of this nature, any deliberate or unintended fake or inaccurate reporting either in electronic, print, social media or web portals has a serious and inevitable potential of causing panic in large sections of the society.
Considering the very nature of the infectious disease which the world is struggling to deal with, any panic reaction by any section of the society based upon such reporting would not only be harmful for such situation but would harm the entire nation," it said.
The government said that though an act of creating panic is a criminal offence under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, appropriate direction from the top court would protect the country from any potential and inevitable consequence resulting from a false alarm having the potential of creating panic in a section of the society .
With inputs from PTI