With 17 Deaths, 724 Active Cases, COVID-19 Tightens Its Grip Across India; Global Toll Crosses 25,000
While four deaths were reported from Maharashtra, three people lost their lives in Gujarat. Karnataka has reported two deaths whereas Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have reported one death each.
New Delhi: The COVID-19 pandemic continued to tightened its grip on India as the death toll climbed to 17 and the number of people infected with the deadly coronavirus climbed to 724 on Friday. While four deaths were reported from Maharashtra, three people lost their lives in Gujarat. Karnataka has reported two deaths whereas Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have reported one death each.
Addressing a press conference, Lav Agarwal, a health ministry official said that 75 new cases of coronavirus and 4 deaths have been reported in 24 hours. Most deceased persons were either diabitic, or had a heart problem or hypertension. Mostly were elderly patients.
He asserted that the government is taking preemptive and proactive approach to tackle the situation.
Risk of Community Transmission if People Violate Lockdown
Meanwhile, health experts have asserted that there could be a risk of community transmission if people violate lockdown. “The masses must diligently comply with the nationwide lockdown to decelerate the spread of coronavirus as the country runs the risk of getting into the community transmission stage of the contagious disease if people violate quarantine norms”, many health experts have warned.
Doctors at the country’s leading hospital groups also cautioned that the lockdown would only ‘slow down the multiplication of the virus’.
NEET, JEE Exams Postponed
In view of the three-week nationwide lockdown, the Centre has postponed the engineering, medical JEE and NEET entrance exams to the last week of May.
“We are hopeful that we would get back to normal situation relatively soon; but for now, various concerned ministries and examination boards are examining the scenario to evaluate the situation that may necessitate any change in the schedule. As of now the exam is proposed to be held in the last week of May 2020. Exact date will be announced later on after assessing the situation,” DG, NTA Vineet Joshi said in a notification.
Global Death Toll Surpasses 25, 000
As per the data from the Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Centre, the global death toll from coronavirus crossed 25,000, with Italy reporting the maximum fatalities at 8, 215, followed by Spain at 4, 858 and China’s Hubei at 3,174.
Other nations where the death toll was high were Iran with 2,378 deaths, France with 1,696 casualties and the UK with 578 fatalities.
Meanwhile, a total of 127,567 patients have recovered, with close to half from China’s Hubei (61,732), followed by 11,133 in Iran and 10,361 in Italy.
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