Highlights: Maharashtra Records 466 New Cases, State Tally Reaches 4,666

Selective relaxation will be given in non-containment areas in India from April 20, but strict perimeter control will continue in COVID-19 containment zones with nothing except essential services allowed there, the government said.

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 543 and the number of cases climbed to 17,265 in the country , registering an increase of 31 deaths and 1,324 cases since Saturday evening.

European nations hard hit by the virus and the US epicenter New York reported headway in their battle against the deadly pandemic. Governments across the world are now debating how and when to ease lockdowns that have kept more than half of humanity confined to their homes and crippled the global economy.

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9:48 PM:  Maharashtra on Monday recorded 466 new coronavirus positive cases, including 155 detections in Mumbai alone, taking the number of the infected people in the state to 4666, Health officials said.

6:55 PM: 43 new COVID19 positive cases & 2 deaths reported today, taking the total number of positive cases in Tamil Nadu to 1520. Total 17 deaths have been reported in state till date: Dr C Vijayabaskar, State Health Minister

6:50 PM: There was a time when the situation in Kerala could have gone out of hand but with proper contact tracing, we were able to contain and overcome it. The mortality rate in the world is 5.75, it is 2.8-3 in India, & 0.58 in Kerala. We are carrying out testing aggressively: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

6:30 PM: 283 new COVID19 cases reported in Maharashtra, taking total positive cases in the state to 4483, as of 11 am today. Of the 283 new cases, Mumbai has recorded 187: Rajesh Tope, Maharashtra Health Minister

6:20 PM: States and union territories (UTs) can take stricter action than what is mentioned in the guidelines issued by the central government to enforce the nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but cannot dilute or weaken them, the Union home ministry said 

5:48 PM: The worldwide death toll from the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to 165,216 on Monday, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.

More than 2,403,410 declared cases have been registered in 193 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December.

5:45 PM: Asymptomatic patients who have tested positive for coronavirus in the national capital will be kept in COVID care centres, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said. Many cases in Delhi are coming up where people are not showing symptoms but have tested positive for infection.

5:08 PM: Union govt has raised wages of workers under the Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The average increase is Rs 20: Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj

5:00 PM: Journalists testing positive for COVID19 is very unfortunate news. When you (journalists) attend your call of duty, kindly take the required precautions, follow the norms of social distancing and wear face masks: Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry

4:55 PM: 15 per cent of those infected get converted into severe cases and 5 pc into critical cases: Health Ministry.

4:54 PM: No new cases reported from 59 districts in the last 14 days: Health Ministry.

4:41 PM: Out of 100 coronavirus patients, 80 per cent are asymptomatic or show mild symptoms: ICMR. 

4:35 PM: Duration of doubling rate for coronavirus which was 3.4 days before lockdown is now 7.5 days: Health Ministry

4:30 PM: So far, 2,546 people have been cured and the recovery rate is 14.75%: Health Ministry

4:25 PM: In the last 24 hours, 1,553 COVID-19 cases and 36 deaths reported: Health Ministry.

4:16PM: After the Centre's objections, the Kerala government decided to modify relaxations. Not to allow plying of buses, opening of hotels and pillion riding on two-wheelers during COVID-19 lockdown: Official sources told PTI.

3:59 PM: 5 more police personnel from Chandni Mahal police station in Delhi have tested positive for COVID19. Till now 8 personnel from the police station have tested positive for the virus: Delhi Police

3:09PM: An 11-member Congress consultative group headed by Dr. Manmohan Singh to bring out a comprehensive proposal on financial assistance and relief for MSME sector within the next two days. Proposal to be given to the Centre in line with Rahul Gandhi's stress for constructive suggestions to the government on combating the coronavirus crisis and it's economic fallout. At the first meeting of the group today,members also demand immediate cash transfer of Rs. 7500 to every Jan Dhan account, pension accounts for senior citizens, widows and disabled as well as accounts covered under PM-Kisan yojana,  Congress leader Jairam Ramesh told Outlook. 

2:25PM: No one should think that lockdown has been lifted. We have just tried to revolve the wheel of economy a bit. I've heard that some people are treating relaxations as lifting of lockdown. If they continue to behave like this, we'll take strict measures, says Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. 

1:31PM: Karnataka Cabinet has decided to extend COVID-19 lockdown in the state till May 3: Law Minister JC Madhuswamy.

1:08PM: Maharashtra: A 25 year-old woman who tested positive for COVID19 has given birth to a healthy baby boy at the hospital. The woman was admitted to the hospital on Apr16.

The baby is not infected with COVID19 and is kept in a separate ward: Sasoon hospital officials, Pune. 

12:51PM: With three new coronavirus positive cases reported in Monghyr, the number of corona infected patients in Bihar went up to 96.

Of the total number of cases from 14 districts of Bihar, 29 are from Siwan, 20 from Munger, 11 from Nalanda, seven from Patna, five from Gaya, nine from Begusarai, three from Gopalganj, four from Buxar, three from Nalanda and one each from Bhojpur, Saran, Lakhisarai, Vaishali and Bhagalpur.

12:07PM: Gautam Buddh Nagar is a sensitive area and the public here needs to be more cautious about the COVID-19 pandemic, Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jay Pratap Singh said, urging people to practice social distancing during the lockdown.

With 97 COVID-19 positive cases, the district is behind only Agra (240) and Lucknow (165), even as the total number of patients in entire UP stood at 1,100. 

11:55AM: Italy's Roberto Tonizzo who tested positive for coronavirus on March 13 in Thiruvananthapuram was discharged today.

"I thank all the medical staff for treating me so well during my course of treatment," Tonizzo said. He has now left for Bengaluru in a car arranged by the Kerala government. He will leave for Italy from there.

11:51AM: There are 2,003 COVID19 positive cases in Delhi including 110 positive cases from yesterday. Death toll is 45. The 38 patients who died, suffered from serious ailments.

Rapid tests are most likely to start from today: Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain. 

11:44AM: An NSA detainee, who escaped from a hospital in Jabalpur after testing positive for coronavirus, was caught by police in Madhya Pradesh's Narsingpur district on Monday morning. 

11:12AM: Four more die of COVID-19 in Gujarat. The death toll in state rises to 67: Health official.

10:29AM: COVID-19:Inter-ministerial teams to focus on compliance, implementation of lockdown; supply of essentials, safety of health workers, says MHA.

10:27AM: Govt sets up 6 inter-ministerial central teams to make on-spot assessment of COVID-19 situation, issue necessary directions to states: MHA.

10:26AM: COVID-19 situation serious in Indore, Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Kolkata and few other places in West Bengal: MHA.

10:25AM: There has been violence against healthcare workers, violation of social distancing norms, movement of vehicles in urban areas: MHA to States.

9:36AM: 1553 new cases and 36 deaths reported in last 24 hours. India's total number of Coronavirus positive cases rises to 17,265 (including 14,175 active cases, 2,546 cured/discharged/migrated and 543 deaths): Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

9:31AM: 17 new COVID-19 positive cases reported in Rajasthan so far - 1 each in Ajmer, Banswara & Nagour, 2 each in Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur & Kota and 8 in Jaipur. Total of positive cases in the state rises to 1495. Total 24 deaths and 205 recovered in the state: Rajasthan Health department. 

9:18AM: 12 more COVID-19 cases have been reported from Uttar Pradesh, according to authorities at King George's Medical University (KGMU)

The number of COVID-19 cases has increased to 1084 in Uttar Pradesh, including 17 deaths and 108 cured patients.

8:59AM: Meanwhile, the number of deaths from the new coronavirus in the United States stood at 40,585, with more than half of them in New York, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. The US recorded 1,997 deaths in the past 24 hours.

8:47AM: With 395 deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, France's prime minister said the country was starting to beat back the coronavirus as the outbreak's death toll approached 20,000 while new hospitalisations continued a slow decline.

8:45AM: No new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease were reported in central China's Hubei Province in the last 24 hours.

8:44AM: With 507 deaths in 24 hours, the coronavirus death toll in New York dropped again, a sign that Gov. Andrew Cuomo said means the state is “on the other side of the plateau" and that ongoing social distancing practices are working to stem the spread of the virus.