Coronavirus: Number of infected people stands at 164; 14 cured and 3 dead

• An infected Indian Army soldier has been placed in an isolation ward at a hospital in Ladakh.
  
• UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath decided to form a high-level committee to provide financial assistance to daily-wage labourers in the state.
  
• A 67-year-old woman tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of cases in Karnataka to 11.
  
• Indian Railways on Tuesday (March 17) cancelled 85 trains due to low occupancy in different zones from March 18 to April 1.

The number of Coronavirus cases in India currently stands at 164, including 13 people cured of the disease and three who lost their lives, according to the latest data available on the ministry of health and family welfare website.

Maharashtra, the worst-hit state in India, has 42 active cases after one declared dead yesterday (March 18). Kerala stood in second place with 27 infected people. Whereas UP, after curing five people still have 16 cases in isolation.

Pune woman tests positive; Maha count climbs to 42

A 28-year-old woman from Pune with a travel history to France and the Netherlands has tested positive for COVID-19, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Confirming the case, District Collector, Naval Kishore Ram said, "The woman returned to India on March 15. She was admitted to hospital here on March 17".

Indian soldier tests positive in Ladakh

An Indian Army soldier has been placed in an isolation ward at a hospital in Ladakh after he was found infected with coronavirus, sources in the Army told IANS.

It is the first positive case of coronavirus in the Army. The Ladakh Scouts soldier is currently admitted in the SNM hospital in Ladakh. It was found that the soldier’s father had a travel history to Iran and has also tested positive. His father is also undergoing treatment at a Ladakh hospital.

UP government to provide aid to daily wagers

As the UP government extended the shutdown in the state due to the COVID-19 scare on Tuesday (March 17), it announced that it would provide financial assistance to daily-wage labourers in the state who will be hit by the shutdown.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath decided to form a high-level committee under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Suresh Khanna, comprising agriculture and labour ministers, to decide the nature of the assistance to the labourers.

“There is a section of poor people who go out for work daily to eke out a living, but these restrictions could affect their livelihood. In order to ensure that the daily-wage labourers are not affected, a three-member committee has been formed under the chairmanship of the state finance minister.”

The committee will submit its report to the Chief Minister in three days.

Goa government-issued health advisory and seized over 1000 spurious masks

The Goa government on Tuesday (March 17) issued a health advisory on the usage of anti-coronavirus masks, even as a series of raids conducted by the Goa government’s legal metrology department resulted in the seizure of more than 1000 spurious masks.

The mask usage guidelines were introduced in Goa, which has been emulated from the advisory issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, urging people not to wear masks unnecessarily. It also recommends private sector employers to explore the possibility of getting employees to work from home. The guidelines also lay down methods for selection of the right quality masks as well as its disposal once used.

Meanwhile, in a series of raids department, more than a 1,000 spurious masks, many of them touted to be of the N-95 specification, were seized.

Bengal reported its first case

A first confirmed novel coronavirus case was detected in West Bengal on Tuesday (March 16), as a youth who returned from the UK recently tested positive.

The patient had a sore throat and a slight cold and was being given supportive treatment for the symptoms. The 18-year-old youth, who came back from the UK on March 15, was admitted to the state’s referral hospital for infectious diseases ID Hospital, Beliaghata, on Tuesday morning.

His sample, sent to the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED), was found to be positive in the evening.

Karnataka’s infected number at 11 after woman tests positive

A 67-year-old woman tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of cases in Karnataka to 11, state Health Minister B. Sriramulu said on Tuesday.

“The 11th victim who tested positive is a resident of Bengaluru and returned to the city from Dubai via Goa on March 9. She is a known case of chronic kidney disease,” Sriramulu said in a tweet.

Though the woman was in home isolation since returning from Dubai, she was admitted to a designated hospital on Monday.

“In all, 21 high-risk contacts have been identified, including five family members. They all are under strict home quarantine,” the minister said.

Railways cancel 85 trains over COVID-19 crisis

Following the coronavirus outbreak, the Indian Railways on Tuesday (March 17) cancelled 85 trains due to low occupancy in different zones from March 18 to April 1.

A senior Railway Ministry official said the decision to cancel the trains was taken in view of the low occupancy amid the coronavirus outbreak in several states.

An official said that Central Railway cancelled 23 trains, followed by South Central Railway cancelling 29 trains, Western Railways cancelling ten trains, northern Railways five, North Western Railways four, East Coast Railways five and South Eastern Railways cancelling nine trains from March 18 to April 1.

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