Coronavirus Updates: Health Ministry declares 170 districts hotspots, 207 as non-hotspots

Coronavirus News Live Updates: With India entering the 22nd day of a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Health Ministry Wednesday said that districts across the country have been divided into hotspots, non-hotspots, and green zone. While 170 districts have been classified as hotspots, a total of 207 districts have been declared as non-hotspots. Health Ministry's Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said that 1,173 cases were reported in the last 24 hours taking the total number to 11,439, including 1,306 people who have recovered. The death toll now stands at 377. Agarwal also said that approximately 11.41% patients are recovering.

The Ministry of Home Affairs Wednesday issued revised guidelines for the extended lockdown, in which it gave relaxation to agriculture, e-commerce and select industrial activities from April 20. The government also granted exemptions to all health services, financial services, MNREGA works, public utilities, supply of goods and cargo services, saying strict action will be taken against those violating it. The lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday for another 19 days till May 3.

Globally, the total number of novel coronavirus cases has neared 2 million at 1,982,552, including 1,26,577 deaths. The death toll in the United States crossed 25,000 on Tuesday with the country witnessing the highest single-day tally of 2,129. In total, 25,981 Americans have died due to the deadly virus, Johns Hopkins University said. This is followed by Italy (21,067) and Spain (18.056). The total number of infections is also highest in the US at 608,458 followed by Spain (173,060), Italy (162,488), Germany (132,210) and France (131,361).

(Inputs and image from theindianexpress.com)