Coronavirus Highlights: Not Feasible Now To Conduct Pending Board Exams, Sisodia Tells HRD Minister

India on Tuesday saw the highest spike in the cases of coronavirus. With 1,543 new cases and 62 new deaths the total number of cases of novel coronavirus in India mounted to 29,435.

Globally, the death toll went past another milestone, hitting 210,842.

Cases continue to rise in the US. The number of people infected by the coronavirus in the US reached 987,022, almost a third of the 3 million reported affected worldwide on Monday night.

Catch All The Highlights From The Day Here:

10:02PM: A US commission mandated to monitor religious freedom globally asked the State Department to designate 14 nations, including India, as "countries of particular concern", alleging that religious minorities are under increasing assault in these nations.

9:08PM: The Congress has asked people in Punjab to raise the Tricolour from their homes on May 1 to protest against the Centre's “discrimination” in extending support to non-BJP ruled states amid the coronavirus outbreak.

8:41PM: Southwest Delhi District Magistrate Rahul Singh, whose private secretary was found to be infected with COVID-19, has tested negative for coronavirus, an official said.

7:30PM: Forty-two new coronavirus patients found in Dharavi area of Mumbai, taking number of cases in the area to 330: BMC.

6:24PM: Curriculum for next session be reduced by 30%, exams like JEE, NEET be conducted on basis of reduced syllabus: Sisodia tells HRD minister. 

6:23PM: Students should be promoted on basis of performance in internal exams like it was done for classes 9, 11: Sisodia suggests HRD minister.

6:18PM: Not feasible now to conduct pending board exams for class 10, 12: Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia tells Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal. 

6:09PM: Delhi LG directs implementation of 'micro-containment zone strategy' after several COVID-19 cases are reported in sealed areas: Official.

5:46PM: Three doctors and seven nurses attached to the general ward at Government Medical College Hospital in Aurangabad has been quarantined after a woman patient was found to have contracted coronavirus.

5:40PM: A 55-year-old CRPF personnel dies in Delhi due to COVID-19, say officials.

5:24PM: Haryana’s borders with Delhi sealed, essential services allowed but stricter restrictions on those coming in: Haryana minister Anil Vij. 

5:01PM: An eighty-year-old COVID-19 positive woman from Srinagar has died; J&K death toll due to pandemic rises to eight: officials. 

4:58PM: As many as 32 people who successfully recovered from COVID-19 in Telangana have come forward to donate their plasma for treatment of other patients in the state, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said.

4:32PM: Until ICMR concludes its study & a robust scientific proof is available, Plasma therapy should be used only for research or trial purpose. If plasma therapy is not used in proper manner under proper guideline then it can also cause life threatening complications, says Lav Aggarwal, MHA. 

4:31PM: No new cases of COVID-19 reported from 17 districts in last 28 days: Health Ministry.

4:30PM: Plasma therapy is being experimented, however no evidence that this can be used as a treatment. National level study launched by ICMR to study efficacy, says Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health. 

4:28PM: As many as 6,868 COVID-19 patients, which is 23.3 per cent of total cases, have recovered so far, says Health Ministry.

4:27PM: In last 24 hours, 1,543 new COVID-19 cases reported, taking total number of cases to 29,435: Health Ministry.  

4:05PM: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday directed officials to encourage use of plasma therapy for the treatment of coronavirus infected people and to increase testing capacity.

Adityanath asked for geo-tagging shelter homes and making oxygen available in all hospitals while increasing the number of beds for patients.

3:48PM: A day after allowing a batch of 150 migrants from Surat in Gujarat to travel to Odisha in private buses, authorities on Tuesday permitted a group of 36 workers to proceed to Siddharthnagar in Uttar Pradesh.

Thousands of migrant workers from various states are stuck in Surat and other cities of Gujarat since the coronavirus-enforced lockdown came into force on March 25.

3:33PM: $1.5 billion loan approved to Govt of India to help fund its response to COVID-19 pandemic, incl support for immediate priorities such as disease containment&prevention, as well as social protection for poor&economically vulnerable sections of the society: Asian Development Bank. 

3:10 PM: Labourers protested and pelted stones at the office of Diamond Bourse in Surat, alleging that they were made to work amid coronavirus lockdown. Workers also demanded that they be sent back to their native places, ANI reported.

2:55 PM: "In Delhi, 4.11% health workers (including 13 paramedics, 26 nurses, 24 field workers, and 33 doctors) are COVID19 affected. This is worrying; currently, there are around 100 hotspots in Delhi, this number should go down": Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan

2:18 PM: "We have quarantined 750 people from Satranjipura in Nagpur and will quarantine 500 more persons from there. We took this step as 80 cases were reported from the area and we found missing links in contact tracing": Nagpur Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Tukaram Mundhe

1:53 PM: Pakistan government is closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation in the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said as the number of coronavirus cases crossed the 14,000-mark and claimed the lives of over 300 people.

1:30 PM:  The Delhi Police has launched a helpline number for family members of its personnel who are working round-the-clock to ensure effective implementation of the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus. 

12:35 PM: Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan to review the current status of COVID19 surveillance in Delhi with  Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Health Minister Satyendra Jain and top officials of concerned departments, today through video conferencing.

11:45 AM: 522 news cases and 27 deaths reported in Maharashtra today. Total 8590 positive COVID19 cases and 369 deaths have been reported in the state till date. Mortality Rate stands at 4.30%: Maharashtra Health Department

11:25 AM: A policeman was injured when some locals allegedly threw stones at the security personnel who were trying to enforce lockdown in an area of Gujarat's Surat city on Tuesday morning, an official said.

11:14 AM: The total number of positive cases in Delhi stands at 3108 now, of which 190 cases were reported on Monday, says Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain. He said 877 patients have been cured, while 11 are on ventilator. The  death toll in the national capital stands at 54. 

10:30 AM: Authorities in Beijing are set to close a COVID-19 special hospital after clearing all the cases even as China reported six new coronavirus infections and 40 fresh asymptomatic cases, health officials said on Tuesday.

10:23 AM: Coronavirus shutdown orders will be extended for much of New York beyond the current mid-May directive, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday.

10: 15 AM: 62 deaths and 1543 new cases in last 24 hours due to Coronavirus, the sharpest ever increase in death cases in India.

10:10 AM: 66 new cases have been reported --  13 from Jodhpur, 11 from Ajmer, 17 from Jaipur and 19 from Kota -- in Rajasthan. Cumulative positive cases in the state stand at 2328 now with 51 deaths reported till date, says Rajasthan Health Department.