Coronavirus outbreak: Sample of Karnataka man who died on Tuesday tests positive

Amid rise in novel coronavirus cases, the government on Thursday asked people not to panic, saying no community transmission of the virus has been observed and there has only been cases of local transmission so far. Asserting that the safety and welfare of its citizens abroad have always been a priority for India, the government said starting from Friday, three back-to-back evacuations will be made to bring back Indians from Iran. With novel coronavirus being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), health ministry officials said even though the virus is difficult to isolate, scientists at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, have been successful in finding about 11 isolates, but developing a vaccine will take at least one-and-a-half to two years.

One more person has tested positive for the coronavirus here, taking the number of confirmed patients of the disease in the city to nine, a senior official said on Thursday. District collector Naval Kishore Ram said a person who had travel history to the United States has tested positive. With this, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra has reached 12. Apart from nine confirmed patients in Pune, two persons have tested positive for the virus in Mumbai and one in Nagpur.

Senior health ministry officials said on Thursday that it will take around one-and-a-half to two years for India to develop a vaccine for novel coronavirus even with expedited clinical trials.

Two Indian-origin researchers, one in Australia and the other in the US, have led their teams to develop coronavirus-specific risk checker apps to counter the fear and confusion surrounding the infection, declared a pandemic by the WHO.

The final day of the Ranji Trophy summit clash between Bengal and Saurashtra will be played without any spectators due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the BCCI said