Highlights: 286 New Coronavirus Cases Found In Maharashtra; Tally Now 3,202

The total number of COVID-19 cases in India stands at 12,380 and the death toll at 414. As many as 941 fresh cases and 37 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

The United States recorded nearly 2,600 additional deaths from the new coronavirus in 24 hours, a new record and the heaviest daily toll of any country, Johns Hopkins University said.

Even as the country continues to record a staggering number of deaths every day, President Donald Trump said the US has "passed the peak" of new COVID-19 cases and added that some states would reopen this month.

Meanwhile, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) supported India's "very wise" decision to impose a national lockdown to combat Covid-19 pandemic despite the resulting economic slowdown.

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10:12 PM:  New York has extended shutdown order to May 15, says the  Governor.

9:55 PM:  As many as 286 new cases of COVID-19 were found in Maharashtra on Thursday, taking the tally beyond the 3,200-mark, while seven more people succumbed to the disease, said a state health official.

9:54 PM: A total of 11 more COVID-19 positive cases were reported in Punjab on Thursday, taking the total cases in the state to 197.

7:38 PM: Twenty-three police personnel have tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra till Thursday, said an official.

7:25 PM:  12 new cases of coronavirus detected in UP's Gautam Buddh Nagar, tally rises to 92, officials said.

7:24 PM:  Doctors will conduct the clinical trial of plasma enrichment technique to treat severely-ill coronavirus patients in the next three to four days, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday.

6:28 PM: To regulate inter-state entries in Himachal Pradesh, it has been decided that screening centres will be established at all inter-state barriers on entry points. All those who are entering will be tested with rapid diagnostic tests: State Additional Chief Secy (Health)

5:54 PM: India is procuring coronavirus testing kits from South Korea and China, PTI reported.

5:15 PM: 26 new COVID19 cases reported from Dharavi today, taking the total number of positive cases in Dharavi to 86.

4:50 PM: India tests 24 people for one positive case, Japan tests 11.7, Italy 6.7, US tests 5.3; can't say India testing less: Dr. Raman R Gangakhedkar, ICMR

4:33 PM: An action plan has been prepared on strengthening our ongoing surveillance utilizing the services of World Health Organisation’s national polio surveillance network team: Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health

4:31 PM: MHA is monitoring on daily basis incidents of violation of lockdown guidelines including congregation of people & opening of shops and establishments. Instances of violence against health workers engaged in surveillance and quarantine measures etc. are also being ascertained: I&B Ministry

4:30 PM: Over 10,500 quarantine beds have been made available with railways to fight COVID19: Govt

4:29 PM: Sale of liquor, gutkha, tobacco should be strictly banned to ensure that COVID-19 lockdown implemented effectively. Five or more people should not assemble at one place; no spitting should be practised at public places and workplaces: MHA official

4:28 PM: 2,90,401 COVID-19 tests conducted so far; 30,043 tests done on April 15: Health Ministry

4:23 PM: If healthcare workers show symptoms, they are offered the antibody tests. It is also offered to contacts of high-risk or asymptomatic cases after five days: ICMR

4:20 PM: Rabid antibody tests are not for early diagnosis but for surveillance: ICMR official

4:19 PM: 941 fresh COVID-19 cases, 37 deaths reported in last 24 hours: Health Ministry

4:18 PM: Industries asked to focus on 'Make in India' for medical supplies: Health Ministry.

4:16 PM: Two types of COVID-19 serological testing kits have come: ICMR

4:10 PM: 11 out of 11 positive cases recovered: Chetan Sanghi, Chief Secretary, Andaman and Nicobar Islands

3:52 PM: COVID19 containment starts with the identification of hotspots and their categorization into Red, Orange and Green Zones: Ministry of Home Affairs

3:50 PM: A flight carrying 241 UK nationals and 28 Indians has departed today from Amritsar International Airport for Heathrow Airport in London. 

3:40 PM: The UK government is preparing to formally extend the initial three-week strict social distancing measures imposed last month to try and curb the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic as the country's death toll from COVID-19 crosses 12,868.

3:19 PM: Mumbai: Nine persons have been sent to police custody till April 19, in connection with the gathering in Bandra on April 14.

2:55 PM: 25 new COVID19 cases reported in the state today, taking the total number of positive cases to 1267: Edappadi K. Palanisamy, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

2:50 PM: Two family members of an officer posted at Byculla Fire Station tested positive for COVID19 two days back in Mumbai. They were immediately admitted to hospital. Swab test of close contacts of the family and fire official have tested negative: Chief Fire Officer, Mumbai Fire Services.

2:17 PM: All officers and staff members of the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) will contribute one day’s salary to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation Fund (PM CARES Fund).

2:15 PM: No arrangements of Dawat-e-Sahri or Iftar shall be organized during Ramzan, in view of COVID19 pandemic. No public shall be allowed to perform five-time congregational prayers in mosques, across Karnataka, during Ramzan: Karnataka Minority Welfare, Waqf & Hajj Department

2:09 PM: The Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court has directed collectors to prepare a data of all migrant workers stranded in their districts, whether their basic needs are being met and if psychological counselling is being provided to them in view of the coronavirus lockdown.

2:07 PM: If we get divided, virus will defeat us. If we unite, we will defeat the virus: Rahul Gandhi

2:04 PM: This country is bigger than any disease. If we are able to overcome this, it will put us in a  much better place. I am confident we will defeat this virus. I want to tell all the people battling this virus at the forefront that we are proud of you: Rahul Gandhi. 

2:03 PM: Strategic areas in our system we need to be careful about. We have to be aware that people don't take opportunity now and take up stakes in strategic areas: Rahul Gandhi

2:02 PM: 11 new coronavirus cases in Dharavi; Mumbai's slum  area tally jumps to 71: BMC

1:57 PM: Premature declaration of victory is fatal: Rahul Gandhi

1:56 PM: Centre needs to work on a strategy on migrant workers. If you don't solve the problem, there will be social unrest. People are starving, you have to fix it. The govt has to be sensitive and respond quickly: Rahul Gandhi

1:55 PM: We need to significantly increase the amount of money being given to people. This is not a time for penny-pinching: Rahul Gandhi on government's relief package

1:53 PM: Today our work is of constructive criticism. We will do that even if the government doesn't take our suggestions: Rahul Gandhi

1:50 PM: There should not be any declaration of victory in this as this is going to be a long fight. I disagree with Narendra Modi Ji on many things but today is not a time to fight. We have to unite. This is a test for our country and India can defeat it easily if we stand together. If we fight with each other, we will lose: Rahul Gandhi

1:46 PM: The food we have in govt godowns should be given out to people. It should have been done 10 days ago. 10 kg wheat or rice, 1 kg pulses and 1 kg sugar should be given to hungry people every week.

1:45 PM: You can stop the spread of the virus only through random testing: Rahul Gandhi

1:43 PM: If you don't test in non-hotspot areas, you won't know when it turns into a hotspot. Testing is our weapon against the virus and has to be used strategically: Rahul Gandhi

1:40 PM: Give as much money to the poorest section as you can. But remember there will be a financial backlash. Don't give out all your ammunitions at once: Rahul Gandhi

1:39 PM: Our godowns are full. After harvest, the godowns will overflow. So give out the food to people. Farmers require help. Create a package and deliver it: Rahul Gandhi

1:36 PM: How will the 40% of the country's workers be saved? Other countries are not big or complicated like India: Rahul Gandhi

1:35 PM: India has a migration problem and we are a decentralised country. I have been an MP in Kerala and MP. The way of working is completely different in the two states. The Centre needs to control the main arteries and national system. But the state needs to control its own area. If Chhattisgarh or Uttar Pradesh wanted a complete lockdown, that choice should have been given to the CMs: Rahul Gandhi

1:34 PM: India is the only country in the world that is attempting lockdown with the migrant population like we have: Rahul Gandhi

1:33 PM: One needs to go beyond conversations, one needs to actually start putting money in the table, dynamically asking the CMS what do they need: Rahul Gandhi

1:32 PM: Couple of mistakes were made while suddenly announcing lockdown. We have a lot of migrants. The central govt should create a policy on migrants. I have told CMs from our states to handle this issue with extreme care: Rahul Gandhi

1:31 PM: I would have liked a lot more power decentralized to states: Rahul Gandhi

1:30 PM: There is going to be a massive financial backlash, you will see first waves of unemployment and it will spiral up. You have to spend a significant proportion of money in protection of people: Rahul Gandhi

1:27 PM: You use testing to identify dynamically what are the hotspot zones and clamp down on them. You have to create two basic zone -- hotspot and non-hotspot zones, Rahul Gandhi says.

When you lock people up, the disease gets locked up. When you open the door, it comes out, says Gandhi.

1:25 PM: Food from the godowns have not reached the people: Rahul Gandhi

1:24 PM: People will be unemployed. There’s a need to create a package to help MSMEs: Rahul Gandhi

1:23 PM: Food scarcity is coming. The government must start giving food supplies to the poor even if they don’t have a ration card. Government should create food safety net: Rahul Gandhi

1:22 PM: Suspension of MPLADS is not a major issue during these times: Rahul Gandhi

1:21 PM: PM should empower state CMs in their fight against coronavirus: Rahul Gandhi

1:20 PM: We have reached an emergency level now. Let's not think about what has been done or not. We have to unite against this. Give resources to states, talk to chief ministers: Rahul Gandhi

1:19 PM: The success in Wayanad in Kerala because the district level mechanism is working efficiently. The work against coronavirus should not be with top-down approach: Rahul Gandhi.

1:17 PM: I am proposing scaling of testing and using testing strategically: Rahul Gandhi

1:15 PM: Lockdown doesn't defeat the virus, it stops the virus for some time, says Rahul Gandhi. "Lockdown is like a pause button. It is in no way a solution to the virus. when we come out of lockdown, the virus will start its work again. We need to have a strategy for that. Ramp up testing abilities, prepare hospitals," he adds.

1:13 PM: Rahul Gandhi says in an online press conference: "My remarks should not be taken as criticism, but in the spirit of constructive support and advice"

1:00 PM: A constable attached to Juhu police station in Mumbai has tested positive for coronavirus, an official said on Thursday. Other police personnel who came in contact with the constable will also be tested.

12:43 PM: 165 more COVID19 cases (including 107 in Mumbai) reported in Maharashtra today, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 3081: State Health Department

12:30 PM: Government is forming guidelines to facilitate air travellers with their booking issues and refund discrepancies so far. Government to come out with these guidelines soon.

12:20 PM: DCP Delhi says blocks of Police Colony in Model Town have been identified as a small containment zone after a Police Sub Inspector, his wife and their child residing there, tested positive for COVID19. Wife of Sub Inspector is nurse at a hospital in Delhi. Random sampling to be done.

11:56AM: The total number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 871 after 105 more people tested positive for the infection during the last 12 hours, a health official said. 

11:41AM: Three more patients succumbed to coronavirus in Gujarat in the last 12 hours, taking the death toll in the state to 36, an official said.

10:56AM: China on Thursday dispatched 6,50,000 coronavirus medical kits to India to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian Ambassador to Beijing Vikram Misri has said.

10:55AM: Nine new coronavirus positive cases were added overnight, taking the total in Andhra Pradesh to 534 on Thursday morning.

10:12AM: A remote control Co-Bot has been developed in West Bengal.

9:45AM: A 66-year-old man from Bengaluru, who had tested positive for Coronavirus, died today. He was referred from a pvt hospital to the hospital he was currently admitted at & was on ventilator support since 10 April. This is the 13th COVID 19-related death in state: Karnataka health dept

9:02AM: The total number of coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh rose to 980 with 42 more people testing positive for the disease in Indore, health officials have said.

8:45AM: India's total number of positive Coronavirus cases rises to 12,380 (including 10,477 active cases, 1489 cured/discharged/migrated and 414 deaths): Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

8:43AM: China has reported 46 new coronavirus cases, including 34 imported ones, as the authorities strengthened medical facilities in the country's northeast bordering Russia to stem a sudden flare-up of infections among Chinese nationals arriving from across the border.

8:41AM: 19 more Coronavirus positive cases have been reported in Agra. The total number of positive cases in the district rises to 167: Agra District Magistrate.

8:20AM: South Korea has confirmed 22 more cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, raising the country's total tally to 10,613 with 229 deaths.

1 out of 11 positive cases recovered: Chetan Sanghi, Chief Secretary, Andaman and Nicobar Islands