Coronavirus update: All Delhi cinema halls, schools to remain closed till end of this month

All cinema halls to remain shut in Delhi till 31 March due to coronavirus concerns. Schools and colleges where exams are not being held will also remain closed, announced chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Following the virus outbreak in the national capital, Kejriwal also declared coronavirus an epidemic. "Delhi govt has declared Coronavirus an epidemic. We need to exercise abundant caution to contain the disease," the CM tweeted.

"We are continuing the ongoing measures to check the spread of coronavirus in Delhi. Along with that, we have decided to close all the cinema halls and schools which are not having examination till March 31," Kejriwal told media on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Delhi on Thursday recorded the sixth positive case in the national capital. The patient is the mother of a 46-year-old man, who tested positive for novel coronavirus. The 69-year-old woman has also been detected with the virus, making her the sixth patient in the national capital, officials said on Thursday.

The patient is admitted to RML Hospital. Her son has a history of travel to Japan, Geneva and Italy. They are residents of West Delhi's Janakpuri.

Eight other members of their family were found to be asymptomatic.

Total number of novel Coronavirus cases reached 73 on Thursday in India, data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Of these 56 are Indian nationals and 17 are foreigners. The data took into account cases compiled till 11 a.m. on the day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the government is fully vigilant about the situation due to coronavirus and urged people to say "no to panic" and "yes to precautions".

The World Health Organisation declared the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 as pandemic on Wednesday. The death toll of COVID-19 has crossed the 4,000 mark and confirmed cases globally have touched 1 lakh as per the reports.

With inputs from agencies