Hantavirus kills man in China, 32 co-passengers in bus being tested

BEIJING, Mar 24: A person from south China’s Yunnan province died of hantavirus infection, or the hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) while on his way to eastern China’s Shandong province, the tabloid Global Times reported in a tweet on Monday.

“He was tested positive for hantavirus. Other 32 people on the bus were tested,” the GT tweet said without elaborating.

According to the World Health Organisation, HPS is a zoonotic (which could spread from animals to human) viral respiratory disease, which could spread from rodents.

The disease symptoms are headache, dizziness, chills fever, muscle pain, and stomach problems, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, followed by sudden onset of respiratory distress and low blood pressure.

“The infection (in humans) is acquired primarily through inhalation of aerosols or contact with infected rodent excreta, droppings, or saliva of infected rodents,” the WHO said in a report on the spread of the disease in Argentina in 2018.

“Cases of human hantavirus infection usually occur in rural areas (e.g. forests, fields, and farms) where sylvatic rodents hosting the virus might be found and where persons may be exposed to the virus,” the WHO report said.

According to the WHO, between 2013 and 2018, 114 confirmed deaths from hantavirus were reported in Argentina, with a case-fatality rate of 18.6%, though this figure was close to “...40% for some provinces in the southern region of the country.”

According to the United States’ Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, hantaviruses are a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents and can cause varied disease syndromes in people worldwide. Infection with any hantavirus can produce hantavirus disease in people. Hantaviruses in the Americas are known as “New World” hantaviruses while other hantavirus, mostly in Europe and Asia, are known as “Old World” hantaviruses.

Mumbai had reported one death linked to the hantavirus infection in 2016 when a 12-year-old died. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had then linked the death to the lung infection caused by viruses in the saliva, urine, and droppings of rodents.

India Nears Total Shutdown

NEW DELHI, Mar 23: As the death toll rose to 10 on Monday and the number of confirmed coronavirus cases touched 471, the highest jump in a day, India is inching towards a near-total lockdown.

All domestic flights are also set to be grounded in view of the crisis.

West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported a casualty each on Monday. Seven deaths were earlier reported from Gujarat, Bihar and Maharashtra (two), Karnataka, Delhi, and Punjab.

As many as 30 states and Union Territories have imposed a complete lockdown covering 548 districts. Of these Maharashtra and Punjab were put under statewide curfews.

The states and UTs that are totally locked down are Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Haryana, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Assam, Tripura, Goa, Nagaland, Manipur, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Daman & Diu & Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The states and UTs that have imposed partial shutdown are Uttar Pradesh (17 districts), Madhya Pradesh (37 districts), Odisha (five districts and six municipal jurisdictions) and Lakshadweep. Only two states – Sikkim and Mizoram — are yet to announce any restrictive orders.

The extreme measures by the central and state governments were taken in light of the continued upward trajectory of the virus amid warning of legal action against those violating the restrictions imposed during the lockdown.

Punjab on Monday became the first state to impose a curfew all over it with no relaxations, only exempting essential services to prevent the infection, while Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said curfew will be imposed in the entire state from Monday midnight as the fight against coronavirus has reached a "turning point".

As many people continued to venture out despite the lockdown order, Puducherry also ordered a curfew.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked state governments to ensure that rules and regulations of the lockdowns are enforced, ruing that many people are not taking the measure seriously.

"Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously. I request state governments to ensure rules and laws are followed," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

Stepping up its efforts to tackle the unprecedented situation arising out of the coronavirus breakout, the aviation ministry announced that no domestic commercial passenger flight would be allowed to operate in the country from March 25 onward. India has already banned international flights for a week from Sunday. The authorities have also suspended all passenger train and inter-state bus services till March 31.

The Centre has issued directions to state governments, asking them to take legal action against those who are found violating the lockdown orders.

"States have been asked to strictly enforce the lockdown in the areas where it has been announced. Legal action will be taken against violators," wrote the Press Information Bureau, government's communication wing, in a tweet.

The country's premier medical institute in the national capital, AIIMS, decided to shut down its out-patient department (OPD), including speciality services, all new and follow up patients' registration, from March 24 till further order as it redirects its resources to control the Covid-19 outbreak.

Last week, the AIIMS had issued a circular postponing all nonessential elective procedures and surgeries and directed for only emergency life-saving surgeries with effect from March 21.

The virus, which originated from China's Wuhan nearly three months ago, has claimed over 15,000 lives globally and infected nearly 3.5 lakh people so far.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said a total of 20,707 samples from 19,817 individuals have been tested so far.

Amid rising cases, the national task force for COVID-19 constituted by ICMR has recommended hydroxy-chloroquine as a preventive medication for high-risk population.

According to the ICMR advisory, it should be given to high risk population -- asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 and asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases.

The protocol recommended by the National Task Force has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) for restricted use in emergency situations.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court directed all states and UTs to set up high-level committees to determine class of prisoners who could be released on parole, in a bid to decongest prisons to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Soon after, the Tihar Prison authorities said they are planning to release around 3,000 prisoners to ease congestion in jails over the coronavirus threat.

It also said prisoners convicted of or charged with offences having jail term up to 7 years can be given parole.

The court also ordered that a high-level committee should work in consultation with State Legal Service Authority for release of prisoners.

Dubbing coronavirus as a "lifetime challenge", the prime minister while speaking to representatives of television news channels through a video-conference said it needed to be tackled through new and innovative solutions.

"The tireless efforts of the reporters, camerapersons and technicians are a great service to the nation. The media should counter pessimism and panic through positive communication. COVID-19 is a lifetime challenge and it needs to be tackled through new and innovative solutions," Modi said.

According to an official release, he also thanked the media for understanding the gravity of the pandemic threat and appreciated the role played by the news channels in spreading awareness.

"A long battle lies ahead of us, whereby awareness on social distancing has to be spread and information about latest developments and key decisions needs to be communicated swiftly and professionally by the channels through an easy-to-grasp language," the prime minister said.

Loss Of Smell Could Be A COVID-19 Symptom: French Scientists

PARIS, Mar 23: The loss of the sense of smell, especially among the youth, could be a possible new symptom of Covid-19, according to French scientists who said they have been observing the phenomenon in recent days, and a section of British doctors are also of the same opinion, reports said on Sunday.

French health service chief Jerome Salomon, has said "the sudden disappearance of smell" in patients who did not have a blocked or runny nose appeared to be a symptom, albeit a rare one, the BBC reported.

A loss of taste was an even rarer symptom and that both seemed to be more prevalent in young people with the virus.

ENT UK, which represents ear, nose and throat specialists in the UK, has suggested that the loss of smell should be added to the current symptom criteria for people to self-isolate, the BBC said.

"There has been a rapidly growing number of reports of a significant increase in patients with Covid-19 infection presenting with loss of smell in the absence of other symptoms," it said in a statement with the British Rhinological Society.

In the UK, the NHS guidance is to self-isolate if you have either a high temperature or a new, continuous cough.

Other doctors have, however, cautioned that the research is not yet developed enough.

651 die in a day in Italy; toll reaches 5,476

ROME, Mar 22: The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen by 651 to 5,476, officials said on Sunday, an increase of 13.5% but down on Saturday's figure when some 793 people died.

The total number of cases in Italy rose to 59,138 from a previous 53,578, an increase of 10.4%, the Civil Protection Agency said — the lowest rise in percentage terms since the contagion came to light on Feb. 21.

Of those originally infected nationwide, 7,024 had fully recovered on Sunday compared to 6,072 the day before. There were 3,009 people in intensive care against a previous 2,857.

The hardest-hit northern region of Lombardy remained in a critical situation, with 3,456 deaths and 27,206 cases against a previously given 3,095 and 25,515 respectively.

Iran says coronavirus deaths up by 129, bringing total to 1,685

DUBAI, Mar 22: Iran says the new coronavirus has killed another 129 people, raising the death toll to 1,685 amid 21,638 confirmed cases.

That’s according to Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour, who gave the figures at a televised news conference Sunday.

His comments came after Iran’s supreme leader earlier refused US assistance to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be man-made by America.

Delhi lockdown till March 31

NEW DELHI, Mar 22: A lockdown will be imposed in Delhi till March 31, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday, announcing unprecedented curbs amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) that has infected 27 people in the city-state.

All private offices will remain closed but employees — both permanent and contractual — will be considered on duty, Kejriwal said. Companies will have to provide them salary, he said at a press conference also attended by lieutenant governor Anil Baijal.

“We have decided to impose a lockdown in Delhi from 6am tomorrow (23rd March) to the midnight of March 31,” Kejriwal said, announcing stringent measures taken to stop the spread of the highly contagious Sars-Cov-2 virus, which causes Covid-19. That capital’s borders will be closed during this period.

Though Kejriwal announced all domestic flights flying into Delhi will be cancelled, an official of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a clarification soon after, saying all domestic flights to and from the national capital will continue to operate.

Dairies, grocery shops, chemists and petrol pumps will remain open, Kejriwal said, adding that essential services including medical services will function.

But no public transport services, including private buses, autos and e-rickshaws, will be allowed during the lockdown, and just 25% of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus fleet will be on the roads to carry people delivering essential services.

“During the lockdown, no document or proof will be sought from people if they say that they are out on streets to provide or avail any essential service,” he said.

“We know people will face difficulties, but lockdown is necessary to contain the spread of coronavirus,” he said.

On Sunday, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) that prevents the assembly of four or more people were clamped in Delhi.

The order bans demonstrations, protests, processions among other types of assemblies for social, cultural, political, religious, academic and sports.

Also, Delhi Metro, along with other metro services across the country, have been suspended till March 31.

Angela Merkel In Quarantine After Meeting Coronavirus Positive Doctor

Berlin, Mar 22: German Chancellor Angela Merkel will quarantine herself at home after being treated by a doctor who has since tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a government spokesman said Sunday.

"The Chancellor has decided to quarantine herself immediately at home. She will be tested regularly in the coming days... (and) fulfil her official business from home," Steffen Seibert said in a statement.

The doctor had visited Merkel Friday to vaccinate her against the pneumococcus bacteria.

It could take some time to determine whether the chancellor is herself infected as "a test would not yet be fully conclusive," Seibert said.

During her 15-year term in office Merkel has largely enjoyed robust health, although she suffered repeated shaking spells in public appearances during a summer 2019 heatwave that were never fully explained.

In response to the tremors, she chose to sit on a chair when receiving guests with military honours outside the chancellor's office in Berlin.

Previously the veteran leader broke her pelvis in a cross-country skiing accident in 2014.

Italy Reports 793 New Coronavirus Deaths, Total Now At 4,825

ROME, Mar 21: Italy on Saturday reported 793 new coronavirus deaths, a one-day record, taking total number of deaths to 4,825 -- 38.3 percent of the world's total. The number of COVID-19 infections rose by 6,557 to 53,578, another record.

The total number of fatalities in the northern Lombardy regions around Milan surpassed 3,000. It accounts for nearly two-thirds of Italy's fatalities.

Italy has reported 1,420 deaths since Friday, a grim figure that suggests the pandemic is breaking through the government's various containment and social distancing measures.

Italian police enforce the closure of beaches in Ostia, outside of Rome, as part of one of the last measures put in place to face the new coronavirus emergency. Italy reported a record 627 new coronavirus deaths Friday and saw its world-topping to...

The Mediterranean nation of 60 million has been under an effective lockdown since March 12, when public gatherings were banned and most stores shuttered.

Police were out in force across the streets of Rome on Saturday, checking documents and fining those outside without a valid reason, such as buying groceries.

Joggers were asked to run around the block of their houses, parks and beaches were closed, and the government in Rome prepared to extend school and other closures into the summer months.

But the outbreak keeps gathering pace in the new global epicentre of a virus that was first reported in December in China and has since transformed the world, straining health care systems, upending lives for millions and pummelling stock markets globally.

The figures released Saturday showed deaths still largely contained to Italy's richer north, whose world-class healthcare system is creaking but still not breaking.

But it is much better that what is available in the poorer south, whose regions have registered a few dozen deaths each -- and which the government in Rome is watching closely.

The Lazio region that includes Rome has recorded a total of 50 deaths and 1,190 infections.

Italy with 3,400 deaths passes China's coronavirus record

ROME, Mar 19: Italy, with a population of 60 million, surpassed China as the country with the most coronavirus deaths, as its number of fatalities reached 3,405, roughly 150 more than in China, and the pandemic’s global spread accelerates.

With Europe now the epicenter of the outbreak, Italy has 41,035 total cases of the virus, civil protection officials said on Thursday. This includes 4,440 who have recovered from the illness. The country has been under a nationwide lockdown since earlier this month.

The number of deaths over the past day fell to 427 on Thursday from 475 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, no new infections were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began, and new cases have slowed to a trickle across China, a dramatic plunge from the height of an outbreak that has killed more than 3,000 there. Epidemiologists warn the country could face subsequent waves of infections.

While the pandemic is spreading rapidly through Spain, France and other European countries, the disease has taken the heaviest toll on Italy.

There, the first cases were detected in late January among two Chinese tourists, but the virus then went undetected for about three weeks until a man in the northern region of Lombardy was diagnosed with the virus.

By that time the pathogen may already have been spreading, and the country reported its first deaths on Feb. 23. Since then the flareup has been even more rapid than in China, despite ever tighter restrictions on people’s movement across Italy after an initial quarantine of the towns at the heart of the outbreak proved inadequate.

Despite the devastating impact of containment measures on the economy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Thursday that he he will extend a nationwide lockdown beyond its original March 25 deadline. Schools, which had been scheduled to reopen April 3, will stay closed longer than originally planned.

With the caseload surging, hospitals in Lombardy -- which includes Italy’s economic and financial capital of Milan -- have been overwhelmed. Intensive-care beds are running short and strapped medical professionals are having to make triage decisions about whom to treat with life-saving equipment, according to docotrs on the front lines.

One ray of hope may be that the rate of new confirmed coronavirus diagnoses has slowed in recent days. Italy, like some other European countries, has scaled back testing as the virus spreads, so more new cases may also be going undetected.

Europe overtook China in the total number of cases on Wednesday, with more than 80,000 diagnoses in each region. The official tally may vastly understate the actual infections, though. Health authorities in the U.K. have said the actual number of cases is probably more than 20 times the reported figure.

No foreign flights in India from March 22 for a week

NEW DELHI, Nov 19: The government banned on Thursday all international commercial flights from landing in India for a week starting March 22 and instructed states to enforce work-from-home protocol for all private sector employees, except essential services, as part of a raft of measures aimed at staving off the coronavirus epidemic that has claimed four lives in the country.

In an advisory, the Centre also advised children below 10 and citizens above 65 – except government servants, medical professionals and public representatives -- to stay at home and not “venture out”.

“States are being requested to enforce work from home for private sector employees except for those working in emergency/essential services,” the statement read. The statement came hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation at 8pm on Thursday.

The decision was taken after a meeting of the group of ministers (GOM) formed to monitor the outbreak, including Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri, health minister Harsh Vardhan and external affairs minister S Jaishankar. Officials at the national aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), said about 300 incoming flights will be impacted.

The government also suspended all concessional travel on trains and flights, except for students, patients and disabled people. The national transporter at present provides a total of 53 category of concessions out of which only 15 categories can be availed as per the new orders.

All group B and C central government employees have been asked to attend office on alternate weeks, with staggered timings.

The DGCA had earlier prohibited travel of passengers from the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey, and United Kingdom from March 18 till March 31. India also issued an order expanding compulsory quarantine for a minimum period of 14 days for passengers coming from or transiting through the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.

“Amidst the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 virus and increasing number of cases in India, it has become imperative to curtail its spread and protect the most vulnerable group of population i.e people with chronic illness and especially senior citizens. Withdrawal of such concessions is also a part of a wider plan to discourage unnecessary travel by all concerned and hence concessional booking of all tickets have been withdrawn except patients, students and divyangjan [disabled] category for both unreserved and reserved segments,” the railway ministry said.

The Railways have seen a decline of Rs 454 crore in its earnings over the last week as at least 164 trains have been cancelled in the wake of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.

India is currently grappling with stage 2 of the coronavirus outbreak, with 169 cases and four deaths. The Indian Council of Medical Research has ruled out community transmission – where the origin of the infection is not known -- as of Thursday morning.

Coronavirus claims fourth life in India

NEW DELHI, Nov 19: The health ministry website on Thursday evening updated the number of deaths due to coronavirus in the country to four from three reported till late Thursday afternoon. According to the ministry website, the latest death has been reported from Punjab which had two positive cases of covid-19. The total number of infected cases in the country has jumped to 167 as per the latest data released by the ministry.

The other three deaths were reported from Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

The fourth victim is said to be a 70-year-old man who had arrived from Germany via Italy at Delhi airport on March 7 before heading to Punjab on the same day. He was a known case of diabetes and hypertension and was confirmed as COVID positive only yesterday.

The details of the fourth victim, however, have not been confirmed officially yet.

Punjab became the first state in the country to announce a ban on public transport from Friday to cut down on the chances of community transmission of the disease that has killed over 8000 people globally.

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has also urged the Central government to allow private hospitals and labs to conduct covid-19 tests.

The first victim to die of coronavirus was a 76-year-old man from Karnataka’s Kalburgi who succumbed on Tuesday last while being transported from one hospital to another.

It was followed by death of a 68-year-old woman from Delhi, she had picked up the infection from her son who had returned from abroad and the third death was reported from Mumbai two days ago on March 17, when a 64-year old succumbed to the disease at Kasturba Hospital in the city.

Janta curfew this Sunday, don’t step out: Modi

NEW DELHI, Mar 19: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged the country to observe ‘Janta Curfew’ on Sunday (March 22) as he addressed the nation on government measures to tackle coronavirus.

“I am requesting your support for ‘Janata Curfew’. The curfew will be in place from 7 am to 9 pm on Sunday, March 22,” PM Modi said.

“The Prime Minister said that this will be a symbol of self-control,” the Prime Minister said, adding that every person of the country should choose 10 people and inform them - through phones etc - about this and urge them to stay at home.

He also shared two mantras to tackle coronavirus disease Covid-19, which has affected more than 2,00,000 people and killed more than 8,000 people. “The two mantras are: Resolve and self-control,” said the Prime Minister.

He said that the measure would be “in the interest of the country to follow and prepare us for future challenges”.

The Prime Minister said that the curfew will not be applicable on those who are involved in essential services, like healthcare, media etc.

There are emergency workers out on the field who have high chances of getting infected but are delivering their duties, Modi said, acknowledging the contribution of health staff and other such workers.

“I want that on March 22 we thank all these people. And the way this is done can unite citizens,” he said. “At 5pm, we will stand at the door or in the balcony for five minutes to thank them... by clapping... we will encourage them,” Modi added.

“The whole world is going through a very serious phase. Generally, whenever a natural crisis occurs, it is limited to a few countries or states. But the coronavirus outbreak has put the entire human race in crisis,” Modi said in his 30-minute television address to the nation.

The total number of coronavirus positive cases has reached 173 in India. Three people have died - one each from Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Countries across the globe have pushed for more drastic measures to contain the pandemic disease that has now surpassed over 2,00,000 cases and over 8,000 deaths globally.

Coronavirus claims third life in India

NEW DELHI, Mar 17: With a third death and about a dozen new novel coronavirus infections reported on Tuesday, the government took a series of steps to calm fears that the disease has begun spreading at the community level in India, chiefly through pre-emptive actions like roping in more private laboratories for testing.

The third death was of a 63-year-old man from Mumbai, adding to the toll in Karnataka and Delhi.

By the end of day, 138 cases were reported by the government, and all of them are either those who have been infected on international travel or a relative who had come in contact with them, the government said. West Bengal reported its first positive case on Tuesday evening.

There has been no evidence of any of these cases spreading beyond these close relatives into the wider community, government officials said.

“So far, we are in the second stage of the transmission, where only people with foreign travel and their relatives are getting the disease. We have not reached the third stage, of community transmission, but we are taking pre-emptive action to prepare for it," said Lav Aggarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday issued guidelines for private sector laboratories that want to initiate testing for the disease, according to which laboratory test should only be offered when prescribed by a qualified physician as per ICMR guidance for testing.

The government also “appealed" that private laboratories should offer Covid-19 diagnosis at no cost, and said that many private labs had assured the testing will be done for free. The government is acquiring about 2 million more testing kits, and also plans to increase the number of government-owned testing laboratories from 72 to 121.

The government also plans to rope in private hospitals and has asked them to incrementally increase the number of dedicated wards, a senior government official said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) also issued an advisory detailing preventive measures to be taken by employees of ministries and departments to control the spread of the virus, including installation of thermal scanners and mandatory placing of hand sanitizers at the entrance of buildings.

The government had on Monday urged states to close schools and places of social contact, while encouraging social distancing in public transport. However, so far, no public transport has been banned, except for international travel from a few countries.

“Our target is to manage the situation without panicking and while being aware. However, because this is an evolving situation, the government will take a decision when it comes to it," Aggarwal said when asked about the possibility of banning local public travel when the situation worsens.

Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday told Rajya Sabha during the supplementary question hour that the government has kept over 54,000 people across the country under community surveillance through health workers. The health minister also said that doctors and health workers are required to keep a social distance of about 1 metre for dealing with patients.

During question hour, members of Parliament (MPs) cutting across party affiliations praised the efforts of paramedical staff and nurses.

Harsh Vardhan urged MPs to visit quarantine facilities in their areas and suggest ways to improve the facilities. “I can agree with you that the facilities may not be good. It is quite possible that at some places bathrooms may not be 5-star type. We are conveying in strongest possible manner on such complaints. These are rare complaints," he said.

'We Are At War': France Announces Lockdown To Tackle Coronavirus

ZURICH: French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday ordered people to stay at home to avoid spreading the new coronavirus, saying only necessary trips would be allowed and violations would be punished.

Macron's orders came as France's national health agency announced 21 more coronavirus deaths and 1,210 new cases of infection in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 148.

In the 20-minute address to the nation, he said the French had to "severely restrict movements for the next 15 days at least" and limit social contacts as much as possible.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner later said anyone outside would have to provide proof of their reasons for travelling and 100,000 law enforcement officers would be enforcing the measures.

Anyone who does not observe the confinement, Castaner added, could be fined 135 euros ($150).

Macron said under the new regime gatherings among friends and family would no longer be allowed, only "necessary movements" like shopping, medical visits or working when tele-commuting was not possible.

In addition, he said the European Union would close all external borders for 30 days from Tuesday to curb the outbreak, though citizens of EU countries would be allowed to return.

And on the domestic front, the second round of municipal elections set for this weekend has been postponed to June 21 after the first round of voting Sunday was marred by record no-shows.

Given the urgency of the crisis, Macron also said he would ask parliament on Thursday to approve a law granting his cabinet the power to govern by decree, "only in areas required to manage this crisis".

France had already announced stringent new measures to close bars, restaurants and cinemas, which came after the closure of schools and a ban on large gatherings.

Macron said the new measures were needed after people flocked outside in defiance of warnings over the weekend.

"Even while medics were warning about the gravity of the situation, we saw people get together in the parks, busy markets and restaurants and bars that did not respect the order to close," Macron said.

"As if life had not changed," he said, warning such behaviour put the lives of others in danger.

With concern growing over the economy, Macron also vowed that "no company would be abandoned to the risk of bankruptcy" because of the draconian measures that have seen businesses shut and factories forced to idle factories.

"Those facing difficulties will not have to spend any money, not for taxes or social charges," Macron said. He also indicated that rents and utility bills could be suspended for small and medium-sized companies in distress.

France will also ensure that all bank loans to companies are backed by a state guarantee totalling 300 billion euros ($340 billion), he said.

He also suspended the application of his signature reform of the country's pension system, which had prompted France's longest transport strike in decades over the Christmas holidays.

"Because we are at war, the entire focus of the government and parliament must be on fighting this epidemic," he said.

"That is why I have decided that all reforms under way will be suspended, starting with the pensions overhaul."

India bans entry of travellers from EU, Turkey, UK from March 18

NEW DELHI, Mar 16: In an effort to restrict instances of infected travellers spreading coronavirus in India, the government on Monday prohibited airlines from carrying passengers from the European Union, European Free Trade Association member states - Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Swiss Confederation - United Kingdom and Turkey.

“Travel advisories have been tightened as a preventive measure,” said health ministry joint secretary Lav Aggarwal.

The blanket ban on passengers from these countries will come into effect from 5.30 pm on Wednesday, 18 March.

An order by India’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation said travel of passengers from member countries of these groupings had been prohibited from 18 March 2020.

“No airline shall board a passenger from these nations to India with effect from 1200 GMT (17.30 IST) on 18th March. The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure,” the order said.

Passengers from four other countries - UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait - will be quarantined for 14 days irrespective of their medical condition.

The government has already mandated a 14-day quarantine for all passengers from China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany.

Monday’s fresh restrictions come against the backdrop of four new coronavirus cases - one each from Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Kerala - had been confirmed, taking the total number of cases to 114 on Monday. This number includes 10 discharged, three cured and two reported deaths.

After the Group of Ministers meeting, the government has also proposed social distancing measures to be in force till March 31, the ministry official told reporters. The ‘contact tracing activity’ of these positive cases has led to identification of more than 5,200 contacts, who are kept under surveillance, they added.

The fresh restrictions come against the backdrop of instances where people entering the country brought the infection. One more such case came to light on Monday when a researcher who recently returned from Italy tested positive for the coronavirus.

The 33-year-old patient who reached Delhi from Italy on March 6 and travelled to Bhubaneswar by train on March 12 is being treated at the Capital Hospital in the Odisha capital Bhubaneswar.

Italy reports 349 new coronavirus deaths, taking total to over 2,100

ROME, Mar 16: Italy on Monday reported 349 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, taking its total since last month to 2,158, the most after China.

The number of official COVID-19 fatalities has more than doubled since Thursday, when Italy's toll topped 1,000 for the first time. Italy now has 27,980 infections, compared to 15,113 four days ago.

It has reported more than 700 deaths in two days.

Among specific regions, the overwhelming majority of the fatalities remained largely confined to northern regions, where the virus first started spreading around cities such as Milan.

The Italian financial capital's Lombardy region recorded 1,420 deaths, of 66 percent of Italy's total -- about the same share it has had throughout the crisis.

But the neighbouring Piedmont region around Turin, which is home to the Italian auto industry, has seen its number of deaths and infections nearly double in two days.

Piedmont reported 111 deaths and 1,516 infections on Monday, compared to 59 deaths and 873 infections on Saturday.

The Lazio region around Rome has recoded 19 deaths and 523 infections.

Taj Mahal to close amid coronavirus fears

NEW DELHI, Mar 16: India will close the iconic Taj Mahal to visitors from Tuesday as part of measures to try and combat the coronavirus pandemic, the tourism ministry said on Monday.

Most schools and entertainment facilities, including cinemas, have already been closed across India, the world’s second-most populous country with 1.3 billion people.

India has reported 114 positive cases and two deaths from the virus.

Worldwide, the number of deaths has passed 6,500 with more than 168,000 infections in 142 countries and territories.

“All ticketed monuments and all other museums have been directed to be closed until March 31,” Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel tweeted late Monday.

The UN cultural agency UNESCO calls the white marble Taj the “jewel of Muslim art”. US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania visited the site last month during his official visit to India.

The closure of the Taj came as the central bank, after an emergency meeting, said Monday it would boost cash injections into financial markets by one trillion rupees ($13.5 billion) to address the economic impact of the pandemic.

The Reserve Bank of India also announced another round of foreign-currency swap to inject $2 billion into the market to stabilise the rupee, which fell to record lows last week.

First coronavirus positive case reported in Gurugram

GURGAON, Mar 16: Haryana’s first positive case of coronavirus disease (covid-19) was reported from Gurugram on Monday.

The official bulletin released by the state health department said the sample report of one suspect had been found to be positive by the national institute of virology, Pune.

Senior doctors of the department said that the patient is a 26-year-old female and a resident of Gurugram. She had returned from Malaysia and Indonesia a few days ago and had some symptoms of coughing and sneezing. She had informed the department and quarantined herself at her home.

The health teams swung into action on Monday after the confirmation of the virus and shifted her to an isolation ward besides quarantining all her family member and other people who had been around her. “Samples of all these people have also been sent to the Pune lab," a top doctor said.

Meanwhile, people in general and all the employees – from top to bottom – would see an intensive awareness drives to check the spread of coronavirus disease (covid-19) in their very respective offices across the state from Tuesday.

The chief secretary Keshni Anand Arora held video conferencing with the top officials of state, division and district levels and senior doctors of health department during the day and stressed the urgency to focus on the prevention of the said virus though awareness in the context.

She sought imparting of awareness and training about hygiene-centric etiquettes of coughing, sneezing, distancing and washing of hands among all the employees.

The state government which has already ordered the closure of all the government, private universities, colleges, ITIs, schools, cinemas, gyms, swimming polls, theaters, clubs and night clubs till March 31, 2020, has also prohibited all political, religious, sports, cultural gatherings (of more than 200 people). The government has also begun sanitising buses and other public transport systems across the state.

India's confirmed coronavirus cases rise to 112

NEW DELHI, Mar 15: A sharp surge in cases in Maharashtra took the number of Covid-19 patients in India to 112 on Sunday from 93 reported the previous day.

The 19 new cases detected include 15 from Maharashtra, which surpassed Kerala as the state with the highest number of reported cases. The four other cases include two from Kerala, one from Rajasthan and one from Karnataka.

Maharashtra now accounts for 33 cases. The surge in infections in the state prompted chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s government on Saturday to shut down schools, colleges, and malls till 31 March.

Kerala accounted for the second-highest number of Covid-19 cases in India, at 24, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 12, and seven each in Delhi and Karnataka. Out of the 112 Covid-19 cases across the country, 10 patients have recovered, while two died last week.

“Both deceased patients had pre-existing co-morbidities. Contact tracing of these cases is being rigorously pursued. So far, this has led to the identification of more than 4,000 contacts who have been put under surveillance," the Union health ministry said.

The central and state governments have over the last few days shut down schools, colleges, malls and cinemas, closed most border checkposts, quarantined international air passengers, and issued advisories asking people to practise social distancing, to slow down the spread of the disease.

On Sunday, the government of Gujarat, a state that has not recorded a single Covid-19 case, also declared an epidemic in the state and empowered certain officials to take action against suspected cases to curb its spread. The state government has shut down all educational institutions, including tuition classes and anganwadis till 29 March, joining states such as Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Odisha, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh. Out of the 77 samples that have been tested in the state, 72 have returned negative while the results of five are pending.

Public health experts have expressed concern over the infections spreading at a fast pace. “What makes pandemics particularly dangerous is that the population generally does not have immunity to the disease and this can cause outbreaks beyond the traditional winter flu season. From an economic perspective, the key issue is not just the number of Covid-19 cases, but the level of disruption to economies from containment measures," said Himanshu Sikka, chief strategy and diversification officer and lead, health, nutrition, and wash at IPE Global, an international development consulting company.

The Union health ministry has said that all cases detected so far either have a travel history to Covid-19 hit regions or were relatives and friends who came in contact with the patient. The ministry has maintainted that there has been no indication of community transmission. Meanwhile, the patient in Buldana, Maharashtra, who was in a private hospital and died on Saturday, tested negative for Covid-19, the government said.

The number of cases globally has ballooned to more than 156,400 across the world with 5,833 deaths in more than 142 countries, since the outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December. This has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a pandemic.

The spread of the disease has subsided in China, with the number of total cases settling around 80,000. However, Covid-19 has spread rapidly in other countries, especially in Italy and Iran. The two countries together have nearly 34,000 cases now, with more than 2,000 people dying of the disease.

This prompted the Indian government to conduct rescue operations in the two countries. Early Sunday morning, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar said that 234 Indians stranded in Iran, including 131 students and 103 pilgrims, arrived in Delhi in a Mahan Air flight. Later in the morning, an Air India flight brought back 218 Indians, including 211 students, back from Milan in Italy to Delhi.

“All (evacuated Indians) will be quarantined for 14 days. GoI (Government of India) is committed to reach out to Indians in distress, wherever they are!" minister of state for external affairs V. Muaraleedharan tweeted on Sunday.

India has been evacuating its citizens from Covid-19-hit countries. “These evacuees are quarantined at the ITBP camp at Chhawla, as per protocol. In addition, the third batch of 236 evacuees from Iran has arrived today. They are being quarantined at the Army facility in Jaisalmer. They have already been tested prior to their departure from Iran. All are reported to be asymptomatic at present," the Union health ministry said.

In the first two flight operations from Iran, the Indian government had evacuated 102 citizens.

A total 265 passengers from Covid-19-affected countries have been quarantined at Thiruvananthapuram, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.

Union minister of health and family welfare, Harsh Vardhan, on Sunday reviewed the status and the action taken by the states, and advised them to maintain hygiene and cleanliness in hospitals and adhere to all protocols for containment and management of Covid-19.

The minister Vardhan directed the scaling up of capacity of the 24x7 control room helpline (011-23978046) by adding more lines and human resource, to answer queries on Covid-19.

‘Prepare but do not panic’: Modi conveys India’s message on coronavirus to SAARC nations

NEW DELHI, Mar 15: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India’s message to the rest of the SAARC nations for battling the deadly COVID 19 was “prepare but do not panic” and added that the region which housed one-fifth of the world population had to be ready to deal with this contingency.

“So far our Saarc region has registered fewer than 150 cases but we need to remain vigilant as our SAARC region is home to nearly one-fifth of total world population,” the prime minister said while making the opening address.

The prime minister said there were “significant challenges to health care facilities” in the region. Therefore, he added, “we must all prepare together, we must all act together and we must all succeed together.”

Prime minister said India had taken swift steps to upgrade its medical infrastructure to deal with coronavirus while ensuring that there is no panic.

“Prepare but do not panic, has been our guiding mantra. We have been careful to not underestimate the problem but also to avoid knee jerk reaction. We have tried to take proactive steps including upgraded response mechanisms. We started screening in mid-January itself. The step by step approach has helped in spreading panic,” Modi said.

Prime minister said New Delhi has made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups.

“We have worked to quickly ramp up our systems including training of our medical staff,” he said.

Prime Minister’s appeal for videoconferencing for a joint strategy for the region was made on Thursday and received a prompt response from Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, and the Afghan government, all of them welcomed the proposal.

With 368 new coronavirus deaths, Italy toll reaches 1,809

ROME, Mar 15: Italy on Sunday reported a one-day record death toll and leaders warned of a bed and artificial respirator shortage in the European epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.

Official data showed the number of fatalities shooting up by 368 to 1,809 -- more than half of all the cases recorded outside China.

The Vatican took the drastic step of cancelling Easter week celebrations that were set to begin on April 5 as the country of 60 million braced for an extended crisis.

Only occasional joggers and a few locals carrying grocery bags could be seen on the streets of Rome on a sunny afternoon of Italy’s first weekend under effective lockdown.

“I am not really interested in what people tell us about religion,” pensioner Roman said after the Vatican announced that its Easter observances “will take place without the physical presence of the faithful”.

“I’m interested in what people tell us about our health.”

Milan’s Lombardy region governor Attilio Fontana said the situation in areas around Italy’s financial capital was “getting worse”.

“We are close to the point where we will no longer be able to resuscitate people because we will be out of intensive care unit beds,” Fontana told Italy’s Sky TG24 channel.

“We need those machines (doctors) use to ventilate lungs, artificial respirators that unfortunately we cannot find,” Fontana said.

“As soon as those respirators arrive from abroad, we will be ready to go on the attack.”

The Lombardy region has recorded 1,218 of the deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 over the past three weeks -- more than the rest of Europe combined.

The region of 10 million -- slightly smaller but more economically productive than neighbouring Switzerland to the north -- also has 13,272 reported infections and 767 people in intensive care.

Milan mayor Beppe Sala said he had managed to secure shipments of surgical masks from China to help cover a growing shortage.

“Milan has always had excellent relations with the main Chinese cities and I made a few phone calls over the past few days in search of masks,” the Milan mayor said ai

“The first shipment arrived (Friday) and we will now distribute them to doctors, to our staff.”

European Commission also announced the imminent delivery of one million masks from Germany.

Yet the situation remained critical despite Lombardy enjoying a world-class healthcare system that has been consistently praised by the World Health Organization for its level of equipment and organisation of staff.

Lombardy welfare councillor Giulio told reporters Saturday that “there are no more ambulances” in areas around Milan.

The governor of Venice’s Veneto region to the east also called on “everyone to remain in isolation” to avoid putting hospitals under further strain.

“If you do not follow the rules, the health system will crash and I will have to impose a curfew,” Veneto governor Luca Zaia warned.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte insisted on Sunday that his government was paying “maximum attention” to the situation in the north.

His government was set to unveil a new crisis plan that reportedly includes family relief measures such as parental leave pay and help for the self-employed.

The government said it was also in discussion with banks about a suspension of some family mortgage payments.

India’s first coronavirus death is confirmed in Karnataka

BENGALURU, Mar 12: India recorded its first case of coronavirus caused death in Karnataka on Thursday after the state health department confirmed that the 76-year-old man from Kalburgi who passed away on Tuesday had tested positive for the disease that has infected 74 people in the country so far.

“76-yr-old man from Kalburgi who passed away & was a suspected COVID-19 patient has been confirmed positive for COVID-19,” said commissioner of Karnataka’s health department.

He added that the administration had begun contact tracing and isolation of all those who came in touch with the man after his arrival and before his death. The man had also been treated in a hospital in Hyderabad, Telangana.

The man had recently returned from Saudi Arabia and Karnataka officials till yesterday had said that his death was not due to coronavirus.

Karnataka Minister B Sriramulu had said that the man was suffering from pneumonia, hypertension and asthma and the government was waiting for the lab results from the National Institute of Virology, Pune before his death could be attributed to coronavirus.

The government officials, however, released a statement on Thursday evening confirming the death was due to coronavirus. Senior State health official Dr Suresh Shastri said the lab test has confirmed that the deceased man had Covid 19. The statement was soon retweeted by minister B Sriramulu.

“The necessary contact tracing, isolation and other measures as per protocol are being carried out,” added the release.

The man’s condition had deteriorated shortly after his return from Saudi Arabia on February 29 and he is reported to have died on Tuesday night in an ambulance while being moved from Telangana to Karnataka

The man was first admitted to a hospital for flu-like symptoms on March 5 in Kalburgi and was later moved to a Hyderabad hospital by his family.

Telangana government was also informed about the case in order to facilitate contact tracing, isolation and other preventive measures in the state.

Sriramulu had said on Wednesday that the district health department has taken some precautions for the funeral of the deceased.

the state government had also suspended one Kalburgi district health official on the charge that he had revealed details about the patient including his name.

Delhi shuts Cinema halls, schools till March 31

NEW DELHI, Mar 12: In the wake of coronavirus outbreak in India, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced that all movie theatres will remain shut till March 31. The Delhi government also declared the coronavirus an epidemic.

Schools and colleges where exams are currently not being conducted will also remain shut in Delhi.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting attended by Kejriwal, LG Anil Baijal and top government officials.

As a precautionary measure to control coronavirus spread, all the public places in Delhi will be disinfected. Whereas the vacant flats owned by Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board will be used for quarantine, Kejriwal said.

“Disinfecting all public places, including government, private offices and shopping malls, has been made compulsory,” Kejriwal added.

Delhi so far has recorded six positive cases of coronavirus. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases across India, including foreign nationals, shot to 73. Out of these 73 people, 56 are Indian citizens.

As a measure to tackle the spread of COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that no central government minister will travel abroad in the coming days.

“Say No to Panic, Say Yes to Precautions. No Minister of the Central Government will travel abroad in the upcoming days. I urge our countrymen to also avoid non-essential travel. We can break the chain of spread and ensure safety of all by avoiding large gatherings,” Modi tweeted on Thursday.

On Wednesday evening, India suspended most visas including visa-free travel facility extended to Indian-origin foreigners from Friday to 15 April in an effort to stop instances of incoming travellers spreading the infection in the country.

WHO declares coronavirus outbreak a pandemic

GENEVA, Mar 11: The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, saying cases outside China have risen 13-fold. The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci told lawmakers the pathogen is 10 times more deadly than the seasonal flu.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the global health agency is “deeply concerned by the alarming levels of spread and severity" of the outbreak. He also expressed concern about “the alarming levels of inaction."

“We have, therefore, made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic," he said at a briefing in Geneva.

“If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace and mobilize their people in the response, those with a handful of cases can prevent those cases becoming clusters and those clusters becoming community transmission," the WHO chief added.

WHO's Dr Mike Ryan said the situation in Iran was "very serious" and the agency would like to see more surveillance and more care for the sick.

Britain announced a $39 billion stimulus package, hours after the Bank of England cut interest rates. German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to do “whatever is necessary," and the European Central Bank’s president warned of a significant shock. U.K. cases jumped 22% to 456.

New York reported 20 more cases. The state will ask businesses to consider staggering shifts and allowing employees to work from home, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. Washington recommended that all large gatherings be canceled in the nationa’s capital.

The new coronavirus is the cause of the first pandemic since 2009, when a novel influenza strain swept around the world, infecting millions of people.

India suspends most visas for foreigners to prevent coronavirus spread

NEW DELHI, Mar 11: India on Wednesday evening suspended most visas including visa-free travel facility extended to Indian-origin foreigners from Friday to 15 April in an effort to stop instances of incoming travellers spreading the infection in the country.

A government announcement said all visas except those issued to diplomatic, official, international organisations, employment and project visas were being suspended till 15 April. The restrictive policy would come into force from 1200 GMT on 13 March at the port of departure (5.30 pm IST on 13 March).

The group of ministers tasked to oversee the government’s response also ordered suspending visa-free travel facility granted to Overseas Citizens of India card holders till April 15 2020. This means that only travellers who board aircrafts to India before 1200 hours GMT may be allowed to enter the country.

The Health Ministry, which was given special powers under the country’s Disaster Management Act to take requisite steps to control the spread of coronavirus, has also advised all incoming travellers including Indians to avoid non-essential travel and cautioned that they can be quarantined for a minimum of 14 days on their arrival in India.

India’s decision to severely curtail people from travelling to the country comes against the backdrop of the National Institute of Virology, the lead agency for testing for coronavirus, or Covid-19 infection, confirming that 60 people had already been confirmed to have tested positive. The number is expected to continue to increase over the next few days.

In India, the central government has also told states to invoke the British-era Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 to enforce all advisories. The 1897 Act gives the states power to take special measures and issue orders to inspect people travelling in public transport and take steps to segregate people suspected to have contracted the infection in hospitals or other temporary accommodation.

India closes door on nationals of France, Germany, Spain amid coronavirus outbreak

NEW DELHI, Mar 10: Amid the rising cases of coronavirus affliction globally, India on Tuesday barred entry of the nationals of three more countries -- France, Germany and Spain -- suspending the regular as well as e-Visas granted to them till date.

“All regular (sticker) Visas/e-Visas granted to nationals of France, Germany and Spain and issued on or before March 11 and who have not yet entered India stand suspended with immediate effect,” said a Bureau of Immigration notification issued late Tuesday night.

Regular visas, including e visas, granted to all foreign nationals who have travel history to these countries on or after February 1 and who have not yet entered India also stands suspended, it said.

The new notification was issued shortly after Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Tuesday held a high-level meeting of secretaries of various ministries and departments, grappling to contain the spread of the deadly Covid-19.

The meeting was held to review the status, actions, preparedness and management of COVID-19 cases in the country, an official statement of Union Health Ministry said after the meeting.

With more than 100 countries across the world now having reported cases of COVID-19, the Union Health Ministry in its advisory also urged its citizens returning from abroad to self-monitor their health and follow the recommended do’s and dont’s.

Italy locked down as coronavirus toll reaches 463

ROME, Mar 10: Italy woke up on to deserted streets in an unprecedented lockdown on Tuesday after the government extended quarantine measures across the entire country in a bid to slow Europe’s worst outbreak of the coronavirus.

The measures came after the latest data showed the coronavirus outbreak continuing to rise, with 9,172 positive cases recorded as of Monday and 463 deaths, the second highest-level in the world after China.

The measures, announced late on Monday by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, widen steps already taken in the rich northern region of Lombardy and parts of neighbouring provinces, clamping down on movement and closing public spaces.

“The future of Italy is in our hands. Let us all do our part, by giving up something for our collective good,” Conte said in a tweet, encouraging people to take personal responsibility.

For at least the next three weeks, people have been told to move around only for reasons of work, for health needs or emergencies or else stay at home. Anyone travelling will have to fill in a document declaring their reasons and carry it with them.

Large gatherings and outdoor events, including sports, have been banned, while bars and restaurants will have to close from 6 p.m. Schools and universities will remain closed until April 3.

“The whole of Italy is closed now,” was the headline in the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

As day broke, the streets of Rome were erily much quieter than normal, with cars circulating freely under a clear blue sky in the normally traffic-clogged centre, reflecting the atmosphere in the financial capital Milan, already under stricter controls.

Rome commuters could easily find seats in the usually jam-packed underground system during the morning rush hours.

People wearing masks in the streets of the capital was more widespread than before.

Shortly after the measures were announced, shoppers in Rome rushed to late-night supermarkets to stock up on food and basic necessities, promoting the government to declare that supplies would be guaranteed and urging people not to panic buy.

Shops are allowed to remain open as long as customers maintain a minimum distance of a metre between them.

The World Health Organization has praised Italy’s “aggressive” response to the crisis, since the first cases emerged near Milan almost three weeks ago but the economic cost has been huge.

On Monday, the Milan stock exchange dropped over 11% and Italy’s borrowing costs shot up, reviving fears that an economy already on the brink of recession and struggling under the euro zone’s second-heaviest debt pile could be plunged into crisis.

Conte has already promised “massive shock therapy” to help deal with the immediate economic impact of the crisis and on Tuesday, Industry Minister Stefano Patuanelli said the government would approve measures worth around 10 billion euros.

Coronavirus cases rise to 45 as six more test positive in India

NEW DELHI/ Ernakulam, Mar 9: India reported six fresh cases of Covid-19 on Monday, increasing the national toll to 45 as the viral epidemic continues to intensify globally rattling governments and investors.

The new cases include a three-year-old child from Ernakulam in Kerala, a 63-year-old woman from Jammu and a software engineer from Bengaluru. A case each has also been detected in Delhi, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, the Union health ministry said.

The woman from Jammu, the first person to test positive from the Union territory, had visited Iran recently and was among two people said to have “high viral load cases" by the administration over the weekend. The other, who had returned from South Korea, has not yet been confirmed as a positive case, said a person who declined to be named.

The child in Kerala, the youngest person in the country so far, tested positive for the virus after returning from Italy via Dubai. The child’s health, as well as of his parents, are stable and they are in an isolation ward in Ernakulam Medical College, said Amar Fettle, doctor and head of Kerala’s task force to battle Covid-19.

Five others, who also returned from Italy, were announced as positive on Sunday, making the state’s total toll to nine people—the highest for any state in India so far. Of these nine, three have recovered.

The person who tested positive from Uttar Pradesh had come in contact with one of the six patients from Agra, the person said, adding the six people were related to the first patient from Delhi.

In Karnataka, a 40-year-old software engineer with a recent travel history to the US has tested positive, K. Sudhakar, Karnataka’s medical education minister said. The person had travelled from Austin, Texas, on 28 February through New York and then to Dubai, before landing in Bengaluru on 1 March. His wife and daughter have been lodged in a health facility in the city.

The person who tested positive in Punjab is a resident of Hoshiarpur who recently returned from Italy, a state government official told Mint.

With cases mounting, the government has moved into overdrive with surveillance and outreach to people across India through caller tunes creating awareness on basic protection measures to monitoring at airports. The government also introduced a comic book to educate children on the disease and steps to curb its spread.

A total of 1,116 people are under surveillance in Kerala, the state’s health minister K.K. Shailaja said. Of this, 967 people are in home quarantine and the rest 149 isolated in hospitals, she said. Educational institutions in virus-affected Pathanamthitta and Kottayam districts have been shut for three days starting Monday to prevent a potential spread.

Meanwhile, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan and health ministry officials on Monday met Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and other state government officials.

“We have discussed with the Delhi government and chief minister (Kejriwal) that we need to be prepared with isolation wards, quarantine facilities, provision of right treatment by doctors at the right time, contact tracing, and even with precautions that communities have to take and ways to contain the disease in clusters," Vardhan said. “We have been able to contain the spread of the disease in such a large country by pre-empting and preparing for it beforehand. But that does not mean that we can be complacent now."

Among the 45 cases confirmed so far, 16 are Italian tourists. Of the five cases confirmed in Kerala on Sunday, three people had a travel history to Italy.

The government has meanwhile sent a C-17 military transport plane to Iran at 8.30 pm on Monday to bring back its citizens stranded in the nation, the health ministry said in a tweet. So far, the government has brought back 890 Indians and other nationals stranded in nations hit by Covid-19.

On Monday, foreign minister S. Jaishankar on a visit to Kashmir met relatives of some of the people stranded in Iran. This followed his Twitter post on Sunday saying that efforts were underway to ensure the return of Indians from Iran.

Experts warn against ‘false hope’, say summer may not help tackle coronavirus

NEW DELHI, Mar 9: The summer heat may not necessarily kill or significantly weaken Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19), say some experts, who have warned against “false hope” following an analysis from China that said the number of cases decreased after average temperatures crossed 8.72 degrees Celsius.

Epidemiologists say that while rising temperature and humidity may lead to modest declines in the potency of Sars-CoV-2, countries should not depend on warm weather to slow transmission, as the new virus may not react to seasonal changes in the way that other seasonal viruses causing flu and common cold do.

The China study found that in cold regions, every 1°C rise in average temperatures led to an a cumulative increase in cases by 0.83, while in the higher-temperature group, every 1°C increase in the minimum temperature led to a fall in the cumulative number of cases by 0.86.

There may be a best temperature for the viral transmission and the virus’s sensitivity to high temperature could prevent it from spreading in warmer countries during the summer, concluded the study, after analysing the cases from around the world from January 20 to February 4, against meteorological data for January from China and the capitals of the affected countries.

The study from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou in Guangdong province was published on February 22. It is yet to be peer reviewed.

Another study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, however, points to sustained Sars-CoV-2 transmission in diverse climate conditions, from cold and dry provinces to tropical locations even within China. Kerala, the state with the first cases in India and where further transmissions were reported this week, has humid weather and a maximum temperature of around 32 degrees Celsius.

“Weather alone, such as an increase of temperature and humidity in spring and summer in the northern hemisphere, will not necessarily lead to decline in case counts without implementing extensive public health interventions,” said the Harvard study, which is also awaiting scientific review.

“If Sars-CoV-2 behaves like other betacoronaviruses, it may transmit more efficiently in lower temperature than in the summer heat, but the size of the change is expected to be modest, and not enough to stop transmission on its own,” said Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, and one of the co-authors of the study.

“It’s a false hope to say it will disappear like the flu [in the summer] … we can’t make that assumption. And there is no evidence,” said Mike Ryan, executive director of World Health Organistaion Health Emergencies Programme, in a statement.

“We cannot depend on temperature alone. Rising temperatures lower the survivability of viruses on surfaces, but this is a modified virus that has started infecting humans. We don’t know how these changes will affect the survivability of the virus with changes in temperature or humidity,” said Dr Lalit Kant, former head of epidemiology at Indian Council of Medical Research, and communicable disease advisor with Public Health Foundation of India. “Screening, contact tracing, testing, isolating cases, quarantining contacts and social are the way to control infection,” he added.

Massive containment efforts, and not rising temperatures, helped end the 2003 outbreak of Sars-Cov, the virus closest to Sars-CoV-2. “Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) did not die of natural causes. It was killed by intense public health interventions in mainland China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Canada, and elsewhere... but in Toronto, Sars resurged after the initial wave and precautions were discontinued. The resurgence confirms that it was control measures that stopped transmission the first time,” said Lipsitch.

With little evidence on how this new virus will behave, epidemiologists are falling back on the behaviour of coronaviruses, particularly Sars-CoV, with which it shares the most similarity among the six other human coronaviruses, including Sars-Cov and seasonal coronaviruses OC43, HKU1, 229E, and NL63, which cause the common cold.

“Seasonal flu outbreaks show new viruses don’t follow seasonality associated with the common cold and flu viruses as people have no immunity against novel viruses, which makes infection in the first wave more potent. This makes it is difficult to predict behaviour. As infections reach a critical mass, people build herd immunity and the symptoms get milder. In countries like India, along with the seasonal peaks, we get flu and common cold cases throughout the year,” said an epidemiologist with the health ministry on condition of anonymity.

India confirms 30th coronavirus patient, 30,000 people under watch

NEW DELHI, Mar 6: India confirmed its 30th coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patient on Thursday and authorities widened the number of people under watch for the illness to close to 30,000, ramping up containment efforts that also included an order for all primary schools in the national capital to be closed for the rest of the month.

The confirmed patient identified on Thursday is a 57-year-old Ghaziabad resident, who returned from Tehran, Iran, on February 23 and was approached by health workers on Monday. He was isolated and swabbed for samples, which turned out to be positive.

The country now has 27 active patients – three patients in Kerala recovered last month – and authorities are now looking for more people who may have been in close contact with them.

Till Thursday, “28,529 people with history of travel to a Covid-19-affected country, or contact with a positive case, are have been brought under community surveillance and monitoring,” Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said in Parliament, where he made a suo motu statement on the outbreak in both Houses.

The contact-tracing operation is crucial to avert a wider community transmission. “…in addition to Covid-19 cases related to travel, some cases of community transmission have also been observed, it has been decided to involve district collectors and States have been asked to form rapid response teams as the district, block and village levels,” the Union health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

All confirmed patients are stable, including the three from Kerala who are now discharged and disease-free, the ministry statement added.

All but three current patients – two in Jaipur and one in Hyderabad – out of the 27 are in hospitals in the national capital region (NCR). These include the Delhi resident who was confirmed a patient on Monday, his relatives from Agra; a group of Italian tourists, and an Indian who worked as a driver for them.

The latest patient, a businessman, has been taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital. “His sample was taken and sent for testing on March 3 and on afternoon of March 4 he was shifted to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in Delhi after he developed symptoms of headache and fever. We have quarantined his two family members at home as well as three people who worked at his office in Ghaziabad. They are under close surveillance,” said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer (CMO) of Ghaziabad.

The number of people sickened by the rapidly spreading virus was close to 97,000 on Thursday evening, with over 3,300 of these believed to have succumbed to the consequent illness. The pathogen, similar to the Sars virus that spread in 2002-2003, leads to cough, fever and, in serious cases, respiratory distress that can turn fatal.

The virus started spreading in China in late December, but is now recording an exponential spike outside of the country. Iran, South Korea and Italy are among the nations where the outbreak is now most serious.

“We are calling on every country to act with speed, scale and clear-minded determination,” WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing at the UN health agency’s Geneva headquarters.

Tedros also voiced concern that “some countries have either not taken this seriously enough, or have decided there is nothing they can do”.

He added: “This is not the time to give up. This is not a time for excuses. This is a time for pulling out all the stops.”

India has activated its massive health care machinery to trace and isolate new infections, tapping into a network of more than 300,000 workers who are deployed across the country.

Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the administration has order all primary schools to close till March 31.

“As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of Covid-19 amongst our children, the Delhi Government has directed immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20,” Sisodia said in a tweet.

India also revised its travel advisory and asked passengers from South Korea and Italy to produce a certificate saying they are Covid-19 free.

“In addition to Visa restrictions already in place, passengers travelling from /having visited Italy or Republic of Korea and desirous of entering India will need certificate of having tested negative for Covid-19 from the designated laboratories authorized by the health authorities of these countries. This will be enforced from 0000 Hrs of 10 th March, 2020 and is a temporary measure till cases of COVID-19 subsides,” said health ministry in statement.

Till Thursday, 649,452 passengers from 6,550 flights had been screened for signs of an infection.

Death toll from coronavirus in Italy rises to 148

MILAN, Mar 5: Italy reported 41 new deaths from coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 148, the second highest outside of China, where just over 3,000 people have died since the outbreak began in December.

The virus has reached all 22 regions of Italy, and prompted Rome to take unprecedented measures, including suspending all schools and universities and unveiling an $8.4-billion rescue plan.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom reported its first death from coronavirus on Thursday, an elderly person with underlying health conditions, while Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and South Africa reported their first cases.

In the United States, Congress has voted for a $8.3bn emergency funding package to fight the coronavirus as the death toll rose to 11.

Globally, more than 95,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the vast majority in China.

Iran coronavirus toll climbs to 107

TEHRAN, Mar 5: Iran on Thursday reported 15 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and 591 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the toll to 107 dead and 3,513 infected.

“Until today, samples have been taken of 23,327 suspected cases, only 3,513 of which have been confirmed,” health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a televised news conference.

“Unfortunately 15 people have passed away, raising the total number of the dead to 107,” he added, noting that the provinces of Tehran, Qom, Gilan and Esfahan are the worst hit.

India suspends visas for travellers from Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan

NEW DELHI, Mar 3: India has intensified medical screening a day after two more positive cases of coronavirus were reported in the country. Five people are now infected with coronavirus in India.

The government has said that all the visas (regular and e-visa) issued to nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan on or before Tuesday have been suspended. “They may not enter India from air, land or seaport. Those requiring to travel to India due to compelling reasons, may seek fresh visa from nearnest Indian Embassy/Consulate,” the government said in a statement.

It also said that the visa suspension for Chinese nationals on or before February 5 will remain in force. The visas of all the other foreign nationals issued on or after February 1, and who are in countries affected by coronavirus, have been suspended. Such people will have to get a fresh visa if they want to enter India due to unavoidable circumstances, said the government.

“Diplomats, officials of UN and other international bodies, OCI cardholders and aircrew from above countries are exempted from such restrictions on entry,” said the government statement, adding that they will have to compulsorily undergo medical screening.

The people who are entering India from these countries will have to undergo medical screening and are required to furnish the details of their travel history, the statement further added.

The two new cases - one from Delhi and one from Telangana - have increased the chances of community transmission of the virus (called Sars-Cov-2) in India.

One of the cases is that of a 45-year-old man who has been admitted to an isolation ward in Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital along with four other members of his family who are awaiting test results. With instances of infected people with no symptoms spreading the infection to others being reported, the health ministry’s surveillance team is now visiting and calling up everyone the man travelled with or came in contact with since his return on February 26.

In most people, the virus causes symptoms such as fever, fatigue, dry cough, muscle pain and difficulty breathing. A few get headaches, dizziness, nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Those without symptoms will be quarantined at home and asked to call if they develop symptoms, while those with symptoms will be isolated and tested, according to the health ministry. But it is near impossible to track all the strangers the man may have come in contact with over the past week.

Till Monday night, 3,245 samples have been tested at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) labs, of which five tested positive (including the three cases in Kerala). Another 23 samples where the disease is suspected are being tested, with 15 labs under ICMR equipped to test for Covid-19.

More than 2900 dead as China virus cases cross 80,000

BEIJING, Mar 2: China on Monday said 202 new confirmed cases and 42 deaths were reported across the country in the last 24 hours as authorities here tightened measures against imported cases with the outbreak situation rapidly worsening globally.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 80,026 by the end of Sunday with 2912 people dying of the Covid-19 epidemic, national health commission (NHC) officials said Monday.

The number of new Covid-19 cases at the outbreak epicentre Wuhan fell below 200 for the first time in 34 days, state media reported adding that 196 new cases reported in Hubei Province in the last 24 hours, with 14 cities reporting zero new cases

According to reports in state media outlets, eastern China’s Zhejiang province reported an “imported” case of Covid-19 from Italy, becoming another region in China that has seen a case from abroad after Beijing, Guangdong and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

In all, five imported cases have been reported in China, two of which are in Beijing.

“The two imported cases of Covid-19 reported in Beijing on Saturday were Chinese nationals, who had flown in from Iran and had been in close contact with the first confirmed Covid-19 patient who came back to Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region from Iran,” the Global Times reported Monday.

China has adopted strict measures on entry-exit epidemic control including requiring to submit a declaration of health to screen people with epidemic symptoms, Lin Wei, an official at the General Administration of Customs has said.

“Anyone entering or exiting ports and airports should have their temperatures checked and strict inspections will be carried out on people with symptoms, those from regions severely hit by the virus and those who have had contact with confirmed patients,” Lin said.

Meanwhile, a new research led by top respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan, who is leading the NHC’s anti-outbreak campaign, has found that the median incubation period of the coronavirus disease was four days and nearly half of the patients did not have a fever when first admitted to the hospital.

The team’s study on the disease in China based on a dataset of 1099 Covid-19 patients from 552 hospitals during the first two months of the outbreak.

It was published in the prestigious medical journal, The New England Journal of Medicine.

Zhong and his team calculated the data after removing the extreme cases of incubation: Two patients from the sample were found with an incubation period of as long as 24 days, and for those living in Wuhan, Hubei Province for a long time or in contact with Wuhan residents, the incubation period was usually zero days.

The study found that the most common symptoms were fever (43.8 per cent on admission and 88.7 per cent during hospitalisation) and cough (67.8 per cent).

Among the patients included in the study more than 23 per cent had at least one coexisting illness like hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Italy virus toll 34; 1,694 new cases in just 24 hours

PARIS, Mar 2: Coronavirus cases surged in Italy, and France closed the world-famous Louvre Museum on Sunday as the deadly outbreak that began in China sent fear rising across Western Europe, threatening its tourism industry.

The number of countries hit by the virus climbed past 60, and the death toll worldwide reached at least 3,000.

New fronts in the battle opened rapidly over the weekend, deepening the sense of crisis that has already sent financial markets plummeting, emptied the streets in many cities and rewritten the routines of millions of people. More than 88,000 around the globe have been infected, with the virus popping up on every continent but Antarctica.

Australia and Thailand reported their first deaths Sunday, while the Dominican Republic and the Czech Republic recorded their first infections.

Italian authorities announced that the number of people infected in the country soared 50% to 1,694 in just 24 hours, and five more had died, bringing the death toll there to 34. France raised its number of reported cases to 130, an increase of 30 from the day before, and said it has seen two deaths.

The U.S. government advised Americans against traveling to the two northern Italian regions hit hardest, among them Lombardy, which includes Milan. Major American airlines began suspending flights to Milan.

The travel restrictions against Italy and the rising alarm in France could deal a heavy blow to the countries’ tourism industries. Spring, especially Easter, is a hugely popular time for schoolchildren to visit France and Italy.

“We had already registered a slowdown of Americans coming to Italy in recent days,” Bernabo Bocca, president of Italy’s hotel association, said in a statement Saturday. “Now, the final blow has arrived.”

Tourism accounts for 13% of the economy in Italy, with its world-class art museums, archaeological sites and architectural treasures. More than 5.6 million Americans visit Italy every year, representing 9% of foreign tourists.

Iran, Iraq and South Korea, among other places, also saw the number of infections rise. Cases in the U.S. climbed to at least 74 with the first death in the United States reported on Saturday — a man in his 50s in Washington state who had underlying health problems but hadn’t traveled to any affected areas.

Panic-buying of daily necessities emerged in Japan, where professional baseball teams have played spring-training games in deserted stadiums. Tourist attractions across Asia, Europe and the Mideast were deserted. Islam’s holiest sites have been closed to foreign pilgrims. And governments have closed schools and banned big gatherings.

The United Nations said Sunday it is releasing $15 million from an emergency fund to help countries with fragile health systems contain the virus.

“We must act now to stop this virus from putting more lives at risk,” U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said. The aid “has the potential to save the lives of millions of vulnerable people.”

In France, the archbishop of Paris told parish priests to put the Communion bread in worshippers’ hands, not in their mouths. French officials also advised people to forgo the customary kisses on the cheek upon greeting others.

The Louvre, home of the “Mona Lisa” and other priceless artworks, closed after workers expressed fear of being contaminated by the stream of visitors from around the world. Staffers were also concerned about museum workers from Italy who had come to the Louvre to collect works by Leonardo da Vinci that were loaned for an exhibition.

The Louvre, the world’s most popular museum, received 9.6 million visitors last year, almost three-quarters of them from abroad.

“We are very worried because we have visitors from everywhere,” said Andre Sacristin, a Louvre employee and union representative. “The risk is very, very, very great.” While there are no known infections among the museum’s 2,300 workers, “it’s only a question of time,” he said.

The shutdown followed a government decision Saturday to ban indoor public gatherings of more than 5,000 people.

Among the frustrated visitors was Charles Lim from Singapore. He and his wife, Jeanette, chose Paris to celebrate their first wedding anniversary and bought tickets in advance for the Louvre.

“We waited for about three hours before giving up,” he said. “It was incredibly disappointing.”

China, where the outbreak began two months ago, on Sunday reported a slight uptick in new cases over the past 24 hours to 573, the first time in five days that the number exceeded 500. They remain almost entirely confined to the hardest-hit province of Hubei and its capital, Wuhan.

South Korea reported 210 additional cases and two more deaths, raising its totals to 3,736 cases and 20 fatalities. South Korea has the second-largest number of infections outside China, with most of the cases in the southeastern city of Daegu and nearby areas.

South Korea’s president used a speech marking the 101st anniversary of an anti-Japanese independence uprising to call for national unity to overcome the crisis.

Iran’s death toll climbed to 54 as the number of confirmed cases jumped overnight by more than half, to 978. The new figures represent 11 more deaths than reported on Saturday.

Around the world, many cases of the virus have been relatively mild, and some of those infected apparently show no symptoms at all.