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A third death related to COVID-19 has been reported in India. The Union Health Ministry has confirmed this unfortunate development. According to media reports, on Tuesday, a 64-year-old senior citizen infected with the SARS-CoV-2 died at Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai. Reports suggest that the deceased had recently returned from Dubai. The victim's wife and son are also said to be suffering from coronavirus infection.
Significantly, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of coronavirus cases. However, this is the first death caused by this deadly virus here. Earlier, a 70-year-old man was killed in Kalaburagi district of Karnataka and a 68-year-old woman in West Delhi. That is, all the people who have died so far in the country from the coronavirus fall in the elderly category. The same pattern has been observed all over the world.
(Read more - How to make a hand sanitizer at home)
Total number of cases in the country rises to 126
The Union Health Ministry confirmed 12 new cases on Tuesday morning, taking the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India to 126. According to this morning's update, seven cases have been reported in Maharashtra, two in Karnataka and one each in Telangana, Haryana and Kerala. With this, the total number of cases in Maharashtra has increased to 39, 24 in Kerala, eight in Karnataka and four in Telangana. This is the first time a case has been reported in Haryana. However, media reports put the total number of patients slightly higher at 127 to 129.
The government imposed new restrictions on air travel
The central government took new steps on Monday to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country. Under this, it has banned flights coming from the European Union, European Free Trade Association, Turkey and the United Kingdom. In addition, travellers coming from Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait have also been mandated to be quarantined. The new instructions will be applicable from 18 March to 31 March. Until now, this restriction was only for China, Italy, Iran, Korea, France, Spain and Germany.
ICMR will not conduct medical examination of all suspects
On the other hand, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that instead of conducting a medical examination of all the suspects, it will monitor the spread of the community transmission level by investigating only special cases. The ICMR says it has taken this decision to avoid 'futile' medical examination. According to media reports, ICMR said, "There has been a lot of discussion on this. There is no community transmission [of coronavirus] yet [in India]. In such a situation, why should we investigate those who have not taken any recent visits nor have come in contact with an infected person?"
In fact, ICMR argues that India's population is very large, so examining all the people on the basis of suspicion will not test those who really need it. In a statement, ICMR scientist Nivedita Gupta said, "Although we are preparing a list of all people, we also need to ensure that we are not in such a situation where we waste our capacity to testing those who needn't be tested. If tomorrow [confirmed] cases increase, then I have to say that we put our full testing kit elsewhere. In a country like India, we have to make appropriate decisions."
Other latest and important news related to COVID-19 in India
- The Health Ministry issued a directive to the local authorities not to allow people to gather in large numbers in their respective areas.
- The number of coronavirus screening laboratories in the country is 62.
- There are reports of a woman infected with Coronavirus in Gurgaon, Haryana. No official confirmation yet.
- V Muralitharan, Union Minister of State for External Affairs isolated himself in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
- Relatives and close relatives of people imprisoned in Tamil Nadu jails are not allowed to visit them for two weeks.
- The government banned people from Afghanistan, Philippines and Malaysia.
- Reports of two more cases in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
- Two suspected cases surfaced in Nashik, Maharashtra.
- Malls, cinema halls and entertainment centers in Jharkhand also closed till 14 April.
Finally, do not forget to follow our live-tracker of all COVID-19 cases in India
