Coronavirus in India live updates: Fourth positive case of COVID-19 reported from Gurugram

Maharashtra Cyber Police has warned of strict action against rumour-mongers who spread misleading and unverified information on social media regarding Covid-19, an official said on Wednesday. According to the official, police have stepped up online surveillance to identify senders of such fake news and other content. At 42, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country so far.

After the state health department announced shutdown of educational institutions, coaching classes and even cinema halls and swimming pools, students taking competitive exams and their parents were left concerned over their studies. However, a number of coaching classes across Ahmedabad have begun taking mock tests online and making study modules available online.

With government efforts raising awareness about the Covid-19 pandemic, eateries have taken a hit as citizens have become reluctant to visit spaces frequented by large numbers of strangers, which have have higher risks of cross-contamination and infection. With malls and multiplexes temporarily shut down and the government advising people to stay indoors and try to remotely work from home, footfalls at restaurants and eateries across the city dropped by at least 30% over the last 7-10 days. Even the numbers of takeaway orders have declined. Citizens have begun to prefer the relative isolation of their homes and the peace of mind provided by home-cooked food.

Around 150 students from Gujarat are stranded in a city near Philippines capital Manila after the government of India suspended flights to several coronavirus-hit countries including those in Southeast Asia. The Philippines is the one of the worst-affected countries by Covid-19 and President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a state of calamity for a period of six months after 12 deaths and nearly 142 positive cases. According to Indians residing there, the government has shut down Manila and its surrounding cities since March 12. The country gave 72 hours starting Monday evening local time to foreign citizens to leave the country.

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to promote students till class 8th to the next class without examination. Their assessment will be done on the basis of performance throughout the academic session. The directive to this effect was issued by Additional Chief Secretary Renuka Kumar on March 17, 2020.

In the first case of the coronavirus in the Indian Army, a 34-year-old soldier has tested positive for the infection in Leh, army sources said on Wednesday as the the total number of cases in India rose to 147. The soldier, a resident of Chuhot village in Leh, came in contact with his father, who had returned from a pilgrimage in Iran by an Air India flight on February 20 and tested positive for COVID-19. He is currently in quarantine at the Ladakh Heart Foundation since February 29.

Unprecedented demand for hand sanitizers to keep oneself safe from Covid-19 has resulted in a flood of applications for manufacturing the disinfectant at the Gujarat Food & Drugs Control Administration (FDCA). The local regulatory body has granted a record 227 licences in the past fortnight, of which 200 or roughly 90% were issued in past seven days alone.

In view of the novel coronavirus outbreak, IIT Bombay has announced a virtual shutdown of its campus at Powai here till March 31. In the Tuesday night decision, the IIT-B decided to ask students to vacate hostels by March 20 evening.

The state government is coordinating with the Centre to ensure the safe return of Kannadigas stranded in Italy, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, deputy chief minister CN Aswath Narayan informed the legislative assembly on Tuesday. Italy is currently in lockdown and India has also imposed stringent restrictions on entry of people from abroad, including Indian nationals.

“We’ve been successful in tackling Covid-19 in Bengaluru but Kalaburagi is a ticking time bomb,” admitted a senior health department official. The IAS officer attributed it to P6 — codename for 76-year-old priestcum-marriage counsellor who died in Kalaburagi on March 10. He flew from Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to Kalaburagi via Hyderabad on February 29. Preliminary reports indicated he had come in contact with over 300 persons, including 45-50 primary contacts, before he died. The district administration, based on contact tracing, estimated that around 1,200 residents of Kalaburagi are “under risk”. Two who tested positive in Kalaburagi till Tuesday are the khaji’s daughter and family doctor.

A 67-year-old Bengaluru woman who returned from Dubai via Goa on March 9 tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases in Karnataka to 11. After her return, the woman was placed under home quarantine. On March 16, she was taken to a government hospital when she showed symptoms of fever and cough. She has a history of chronic kidney disorder. This comes a day after a UK-returned Bengaluru woman, 20, tested positive and she has since been admitted to an isolation hospital in Bengaluru. She was on home isolation until she developed symptoms. Her primary and secondary contacts are being traced.

With the scarcity of hand sanitizers becoming a challenge in fighting Covid-19, many educational institutions in the city have started making sanitizers on their own, for use within the campus, using ethanol or isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) in their laboratories. Institutes have taken the initiative after the state health department launched Break the Chain campaign that envisages promotion of hygiene habits and mandatory hand-washing at public places, offices and educational institutions.

The number of people who have been quarantined in the district crossed 1,000 on Tuesday. A total of 998 people are in home quarantine with 21 in isolation wards at Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery and Muvattupuzha Taluk Hospital. On Tuesday alone, as many as 257 people were placed under quarantine in the district. Of these, 149 were in contact with the UK citizen, who tested positive for Covid-19, during his March 6-8 sojourn in Ernakulam. One more person was moved to the MCH isolation ward on Tuesday, while 10 were discharged.