Coronavirus: India count at 73 after five test positive
Two cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh, and one each in Delhi, Ladakh and MaharashtraKerala has 17 cases, while Delhi has six
PremiumNEW DELHI: The number of cases of novel Coronavirus infection, or COVID-19, in India has now risen to 73, according to health ministry’s latest update on its website.
On Thursday, two cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh, and one each in Delhi, Ladakh and Maharashtra. One of the cases in Uttar Pradesh is a foreign national.
The new case in Uttar Pradesh is counted as a resident of Noida, an official with the state’s health department said. However, that is a technical ground as he is a native of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, but has houses in Noida and Uttar Pradesh. He was infected with the disease after coming in contact with some foreign nationals, the official said.
With the new cases in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, the two states have the second-highest number of cases at 11. Kerala has 17 cases, while Delhi has six.
While there have been no cases in Haryana, the state has been declared the disease an epidemic, Haryana health minister Anil Vij said on Twitter. The state bordering the national capital, however, has 14 Italians admitted at Medanata hospital in Gurugram after they were confirmed in Jaipur.
The declaration by Haryana comes hours after the World Health Organization classified Covid-19 a pandemic from the earlier category of Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
With cases rising in the country, the home ministry conferred health secretary Preeti Sudan with special powers under the Disaster Management Act, following which Sudan suspended all existing visas issued to nationals of any country with some exceptions.
Since the outbreak started in Wuhan, China, there have been more than 126,000 cases globally, with around 80,000 in China, and more than 30,000 from Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, Spain Germany and the US. There have been 4,638 deaths from the cases, but over 68,000 of the infected have recovered.
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