Coronavirus Highlights: Britain Reports Over 500 Deaths In 24 Hrs, Toll Rises To 2,352

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the coronavirus pandemic as the disease barrels across the globe, with the US bracing for its darkest hours after its death toll surpassed China's on Tuesday.

In a matter of months, the virus has infected more than 800,000 people in a crisis redrawing political powers, hammering the global economy and transforming the daily existence of some 3.6 billion people who have been asked to stay home under lockdowns.

The number of novel coronavirus cases climbed to 1,397 on Tuesday after 146 new infections were reported in the past 24 hours across the country, while the death toll due to the pandemic rose to 35, according to the Union Health Ministry. 

(Follow all the highlights here)

10:29PM: Twenty four new coronavirus cases detected in Andhra Pradesh. Total cases jump to 111.

9:32PM: Although officials of the Health Ministry put the Death toll in India at 38, Figures announced by different states and union territories totalled 1,894 with at least 55 deaths, news agency PTI reported. 

9:31PM: A 56-yr-old man from Shahu Nagar of Dharavi in Mumbai has tested positive for Coronavirus on Wednesday, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said. 

9:28PM: With six patients dying during the day, five of them  in Mumbai, COVID-19 death toll in Maharashtra has now risen to 16.

9:21PM: Eight more test positive for coronavirus in Jorhat, taking the total in Assam to 13. All attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi, says Health Minister.

9:20PM: The COVID-19 fallout of Tablighi Jamaat meet unravelled in Tamil Nadu on a sharp scale as 110 more people who returned from the congregation tested positive for the disease on Wednesday, taking the total cases in the state to 234, and over 1,000 quarantined.

8:05PM: Uttar Pradesh reported its first two deaths due to coronavirus infection today with one casualty each in Basti and Meerut districts as the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state rose to 116.

8:03PM: Ten new coronavirus patients have been detected across Noida and Greater Noida in last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in Gautam Buddh Nagar to 48, officials said.

7:34PM: Britain reported 563 daily coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, the first time the national toll has exceeded 500, bringing the total fatalities to 2,352, according to official figures.

6:17PM: Class 9 and 11 students not promoted this time can appear in school based tests online or offline, says HRD Minister.

6:15PM: Students of class 9 and 11 will be promoted on school based assessments conducted so far, HRD Minister directs CBSE. 

6:13PM: Twenty four coronavirus cases reported in Kerala on Wednesday, says CM Pinarayi Vijayan.

6:05PM: Promote all students of classes 1 to 8 to next class in view of coronavirus situation, HRD Minister tells CBSE.

5:39PM: We handed over a list of 11,084 phone numbers to police yesterday and 14,345 phone numbers today of people who have been asked to remain in home quarantine. The police will track if they are following the instructions on home quarantine or not, says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. 

5:30PM: Passes will be given to two employees/owner of every private company so that they can go to their respective offices to calculate and transfer the employees' salaries. The passes will be valid for two days, says Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.   

5:28PM: 29 out of total 120 COVID-19 patients in Delhi contracted disease from people already infected with the virus, says CM Kejriwal.

5:26PM:There are a total of 112 active COVID-19 cases in Delhi. We we have requested Centre to provide us testing kits, other medical equipments, says Arvind Kejriwal.

5:25PM:  Govt to track mobile phones of people under quarantine to check their movement; we gave 14,345 phone numbers to Delhi Police, says CM Kejriwal. 

5:11PM: 766 people with COVID-19 symptoms admitted at hospitals across Delhi; situation now under control, says Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

5:08PM: 47,951 tests for COVID-19 conducted in country so far out of which 4,562 tests done at ICMR network labs on Tuesday: ICMR official.

5:01PM: Seven new COVID-19 patients found in Gautam Buddh Nagar in 24 hours, total cases inthe district now rise to 45: Officials. 

4:34PM: States where cases have been reported have been asked to initiate rigorous contact tracing and containment strategies, says Health Ministry official.

4:19PM: Railways is preparing to set up 3.2 lakh isolation and quarantine beds by modifying 20,000 coaches. Modification of 5,000 coaches has begun. Lifeline flights have been started to transport essential commodities like testing kits, medicines and masks, says Lav Aggrawal, Union Health Ministry. 

4:18PM: 1800 people related to Tablighi Jamaat have been sent to 9 hospitals and quarantine centers. The recent rise in cases does not represent a national trend, says Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health. 

4:16PM: Till now, there are 1,637 COVID19 cases, including 386 new positive cases since yesterday. There've been 38 deaths. 132 people have recovered. The number of positive cases have gone up since yesterday. One of main reasons for it is the travel by members of Tablighi Jamat: Ministry of Health. 

4:12PM: The Goa government has asked people who participated in the religious congregation organised by the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in Delhi to contact the state health department immediately.

3:22PM: Over 5,000 people in Maharashtra quarantined as they  were in close contact with 162 Coronavirus patients in state: Health Minister Rajesh Tope.

2:57PM: Four more test positive for Coronavirus in Guwahati, taking total in Assam to 5. All had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi.

2:52PM: Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal has asked authorities to deploy fire services personnel for disinfecting COVID-19 hotspots, quarantine centres and public places to check the spread of the virus, which has infected at least 120 people and killed two in the national capital.

2:30PM:  Turkey has sent health supplies including masks to Italy and Spain, the two European countries worst hit by the novel coronavirus, the defence ministry said.

2:19PM:  The Supreme Court has sought response from the Centre on a plea seeking directions for providing WHO graded protective gear to doctors, nurses and medical staff who are treating coronavirus patients across the country.

2:17PM: Authorities have so far identified at least 25 people from Mumbra in Maharashtra's Thane district who had attended a religious event in Nizamuddin area of Delhi last month.

1:58PM: Bengaluru Urban and Mysuru feature among top 25 hotspots in the country for COVID-19, a top Karnataka health department official said.

12:55 PM: Europe coronavirus death toll tops 30,000. 

12:25 PM: With 43 new COVID-19 positive cases, the total number of coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh has reached 87, informed the state Nodal Office on Wednesday. The 43 new coronavirus positive cases were reported between March 31, 9 pm and April 1, 9 am. A total of 373 samples were tested during this time period and of these samples, 330 were negative and 43 came out to be positive.

12:01 PM: Two COVID-19 patients die in West Bengal, death count rises to six: Health official. 

11:43 AM: Samples of a 65-year-old man who died three days back here have been found to be positive for coronavirus, a senior official said on Wednesday.

With this, the death toll in Madhya Pradesh due to COVID-19 has gone up to six.

11:20 AM: 2,361 people were brought out of Markaz, Nizamuddin, out of which 617, who had symptoms have been taken to hospitals, others have been quarantined. "I thank all those who participated in this 36 hour operation & risked their lives," says Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia

10:06 AM: The total US death toll from the coronavirus pandemic topped 4,000 early Wednesday, more than double the number from three days earlier, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

9:31 AM: Twenty new coronavirus cases in MP; total jumps to 86, says Official.

9:30 AM: Total number of people from Pune who attended event at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi, is more than 130, many of them either not in Pune or are untraceable. Search for them is going on, says Pune District Collector, Naval Kishore Ram.

8:40 AM:  Sixteen more people have tested positive for Coronavirus in Mumbai and two more cases have been reported in Pune, taking the total number of cases in the state to 320. 

8:30 AM:  COVID-19 toll in Maharashtra now 12 after death of two more coronavirus positive patients, says health official.

March 31, 2020

9:58PM: The number of coronavirus cases climbed to 1,397 after 146 new infections were reported in the past 24 hours across the country, while the death toll rose to 35, according to the Union Health Ministry.

9:20PM: Assam independent MP from Kokrajhar Naba Sarania is among the people whose name figures in a list prepared by the Centre on people who was in Nizamuddin during the period in question. Sarania, however, said in a video message that he was in the Nizamuddin east area on March 14 (between 7-8 pm)  and had called on a lawyer, who was not identified. Sarania said he, and some others, were in the area. He said his visit was not elated to the religious meet. Sarania said he has already submitted his travel history to the government.

5:34PM: At this time, we need testing kits, ventilators, personal protective gear. Anyone who wants to donate such equipment is welcome, says Delhi CM. 

5:28PM: Jharkhand reports first case of coronavirus after woman tests positive for COVID-19, confirms official.

5:26PM: I appeal to all religious leaders not to do this irrespective of their religion, says Kejriwal on Nizammudin congregation case

5:22PM: It is wrong to organise large gatherings of people in wake of coronavirus outbreak: Kejriwal.

5:17PM: Of those who attended the gathering, 441 people have been admitted to hospitals while 1,107 have been quarantined: Kejriwal.

5:14PM: 1,548 people, who attended the religious congregation at Nizamuddin markaz, have been evacuated, says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

5:10PM: Out of the 97 cases in Delhi, 24 cases are from Markaz, Nizamuddin. 41 have travel history to foreign countries and 22 are family members of the foreign travelers. 10 cases yet to be ascertained. No local community transmission right now, says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. 

4:25PM: We have tested 42,788 samples for COVID-19 out of which 4,346 samples were tested yesterday, says ICMR official.

4:22PM: Over 21,000 relief camps operational in various states and UTs, where more than 6.6 lakh people are sheltered, says MHA official.

4:16PM: Ministry of External Affairs has identified suppliers from South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam to increase the availability of logistics items in the country. DRDO is also working with local manufacturers to increase supply of N95 masks, says Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry. 

4:13PM: Delhi government has issued an order under Epidemic Disease Act to District Magistrates, Municipal Corporations & Police, to look into the matters wherein landowners are forcing doctors and nurses to vacate their property, says Lav Agarwal, Joint Secy, Health Ministry.

4:11PM: In the fight against COVID19, around 2,56,000 employees of State Bank of India (SBI) have decided to contribute two days’ salary to the PM’s National Relief Fund. With this collective effort, Rs 100 crores will be donated to PMCARES Fund.

3:58PM: A 35-year-old man with a travel history to Dubai has tested positive for COVID-19 today in Bihar, taking the tally of those afflicted in the state to 16, an official said.

2:32PM: 17 Test Positive In Indore | The total number of coronavirus positive cases in Indore rose to 44 after 17 more people tested positive for the virus today.

2:21PM: Six fresh cases of coronavirus have been reported from Kashmir, taking the total number of cases in J&K to 55: officials.

2:01: Fourth Coronavirus Death In Punjab | A 65-year-old coronavirus patient has died in Punjab, taking the death toll in the state to 4: Official.

1:55PM: Third Coronavirus Death In Bengal | A 47-year-old woman infected with the coronavirus died at a hospital in West Bengal's Howrah district, taking COVID-19 death toll in the state to three, a health department official said.

1:45PM: US Nears China's Virus Death Toll | The mounting death toll from the virus outbreak in the United States had it poised to overtake China's grim toll of 3,300 deaths, with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo saying up to 1 million more healthcare workers were needed.  

1:29 PM:"The total number of Coronavirus cases in the state is 41 including 3 deaths. The state's first COVID-19 patient has now fully recovered. We are tracing and testing all connections of all positive patients," says Punjab Health Minister BS Sidhu.

1:02 PM:  Nine out of the 10 people who tested positive for Coronavirus in Andaman & Nicobar, had attended Tablighi Jamaat event at Markaz, Nizamuddin in Delhi. Wife of one of these people later tested positive, says Abhijit Roy, Dy Director Heath and Nodal Officer, COVID 19 in Andaman & Nicobar.

11:49 AM:Home Ministry has found a violation of visa rules by foreigners who attended Tablighi Jamaat event in Nizamuddin, Delhi, said Government sources.

11:39 AM:  Seventeen more people tested positive for coronavirus in Indore on Tuesday, taking the total number of such cases in Madhya Pradesh to 66, a health official said.

11:35 AM: The number of positives cases in Maharashtra reaches 230, say Health officials.

11:05 AM: The US has tested 1 million people in its stepped-up effort to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, while the total number of cases has increased to 164,274.

11:04 AM: Seven people, who were evacuated from Iran, have tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 83, said Rajasthan Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rohit Kumar Singh on Tuesday.

11:03 AM: The home quarantined coronavirus suspects and patients will have to send their
selfies on the Quarantine Watch, a mobile application developed by Karnataka government's revenue department to keep a track of the isolated persons.

9:00 AM: Sixty-eight-year-old man dies of coronavirus in Kerala, the second death in the state, says the government.

8:34 AM:  Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered to immediately open all private hospitals which are closed due to the nationwide lockdwon. The hospital owners said that the hospitals are closed as the staff is unable to come to the hospitals due to lockdown while the hospitals come under essential services.

8:18 AM: The World Bank is estimating that the cornavirus outbreak will cause economic growth to slow significantly this year in China and other East Asian-Pacific countries, throwing millions into poverty.

8:05 AM: Harsh lockdowns aimed at halting the march of the coronavirus has extended worldwide as the death toll soared past 35,000 and new waves of US outbreaks pushed the nation's containment efforts to the brink.

Despite slivers of hope in stricken Italy and Spain, the tough measures that have confined some two-fifths of the globe's population to their homes were broadened.