Coronavirus cases in the country have jumped beyond 3,500. On Sunday, the Ministry of Health updated the number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,577. The figure includes 3,219 active cases and 274 patients who have been cured. As many as 83 people have died from Covid-19 so far.
On Sunday evening, scores of citizens switched off their residential lights and lit up diyas and candles for 9 minutes at 9 pm in solidarity amid the coronavirus outbreak.
India entered the thirteenth day of the 21-day lockdown on Monday.
Here are the key developments:
1. India is likely to start rapid antibody testing on Thursday, with people in high-risk areas (containment zones), “large migration gatherings” and evacuation centres expected to be the first to get undergo this simple blood test that checks the presence of antibodies created by the body to fight the Sars-Cov-2 virus.
2. The number of deaths from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) topped 100 on Sunday as the total infections crossed 4,000 – 503 of them in Delhi, state figures show.
3. About 21,200 people linked to a gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat in the Capital’s Nizamuddin Basti, which has emerged as a hot spot of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), have been quarantined in India, according to government officials. The number includes 2,000 foreigners.
4. More than 50 doctors and other healthcare workers have tested positive for the coronavirus disease across India, putting the spotlight on their vulnerability and the possibility of hospitals emerging as high-risk places to contract the infection.
5. Odisha recorded the highest single-day surge in positive Covid-19 cases on Sunday with 18 cases being reported from the state capital Bhubaneswar hours after the government allayed fears of community transmission. From 21 cases till Saturday, the number of positive cases surged to 39 on Sunday.
6. Four more people, who attended the Tablighi Jamaat’s events, tested positive for Covid-19 in Uttarakhand on Sunday, taking the number of cases in the state from 22 to 26.
7. As of Sunday morning, at least 1,023 cases in 17 states and Union Territories, or over 30% of India’s total Covid-19 infections, could be linked to the mid-March gathering that has prompted authorities to launch a complex exercise to trace the footsteps of those who fanned out across the country.
8. Nearly the entire top brass of Madhya Pradesh’s health department is under quarantine after 11 of the department, including two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers and the director of health services, have tested positive for Covid-19 since Saturday.
9. A Covid-19 positive case in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, which came to light on March 30, has forced Asia’s largest onion trading market, Lasalgaon, to suspend operations, affecting supplies, an official of the market said.
10. As many as 62 new positive cases for Covid-19 were reported in Telangana on Sunday, taking the cumulative number of positive cases in the state to 333.
