Coronavirus LIVE: Cases rise to 137; no proof of community transmission
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic LIVE Updates: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Tuesday clarified that the country is still at Stage 2 and assured that an additional 49 laboratories under the government sector will be set up by the end of the week. "We already know that we are in stage 2. We are in not in stage 3, clearly. Currently the laboratory expansion of ICMR is engaged, we are expanding our number of laboratories and as we speak, today we have 72 functional laboratories in ICMR system," ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava said during a press conference. Bhargava also urged private labs to provide tests for the virus. So far, 137 people have been tested positive for the virus, the Health Ministry said.
The infection claimed its third life in India today as a 64-year-old man, who was tested positive in Maharashtra, passed away at Kasturba Hospital. The man had returned from Dubai. Maharashtra has the highest number of positive cases in the country. Before this, a man in Karnataka and a woman in Delhi had succumbed to the infection. The government today also imposed fresh travel restrictions, prohibiting the entry of all passengers from Afghanistan, Philippines, Malaysia with immediate effect.
As the number of deaths due to coronavirus topped 7,000, countries across the globe are increasing precautionary measures to tackle the pandemic. The United States limited social gatherings to 10 or fewer people. Meanwhile, US researchers gave the first shot to the first person in a test of an experimental coronavirus vaccine, leading off a worldwide hunt for protection even as the pandemic surges.
China, which is the epicenter of the virus, reported one new domestic coronavirus infection but found 20 more cases imported from abroad. Hong Kong has also announced that it will quarantine for 14 days all people entering the Chinese-ruled city starting midnight on Thursday to prevent the spread of the infection.
(Inputs from theindianexpress.com and image from livemint.com)
