Maharashtra reports first death in Mumbai, coronavirus cases in India climb to 125
New Delhi: Maharashtra records first coronavirus death in Mumbai.
India on Tuesday reported its third coronavirus fatality with a 64-year-old man dying in Mumbai, Health Ministry officials said as the number of positive cases rose to 125.
The patient, whose wife is stable, is the first COVID-19 death in Maharashtra, the officials said.
Earlier, a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi in Karnataka with a travel history to Saudi Arabia and a 68-year-old woman in Delhi died after they tested positive for the infection.
The 125 positive cases include 22 foreign nationals.
According to ministry data, 13 people have been discharged so far, including the three Kerala patients who were discharged last month following their recovery.
The Mumbai patient was admitted to the city's Kasturba Hospital and was suffering from multiple health issues apart from being infected by the novel coronavirus, said BMC chief Praveen Pardeshi.
The number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 125 on Tuesday after fresh cases were reported from several states.
The cases include 22 foreign nationals and three persons who died in Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Delhi has so far reported seven positive cases while Uttar Pradesh has recorded 13 cases including one foreigner.
Karnataka has 8 coronavirus patients while Maharashtra 39 including 3 foreigners. Ladakh has reported four cases while Jammu and Kashmir three. Telangana has reported four cases.
Rajasthan has also reported four cases including that of two foreigners. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each.
Odhisha reported its first case on Monday.
In Haryana all the fourteen infected with the virus are foreigners while Uttarakhand has reported one case.
Kerala has recorded 24 cases including two foreign nationals. The number also includes three patients who were discharged last month after they recovered from the contagious infection with flu-like symptoms.
According to the ministry's data, 13 people have been discharged so far, including the three Kerala patients.
Amid rising coronavirus cases in India, the government has said no community transmission of the virus has been observed and there have only been a few cases of local transmission so far.
With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, a health ministry official said over 52 000 people who had come in contact with the 125 positive cases have been identified through contact tracing and were under vigorous surveillance.
He said all essential facilities like community surveillance, quarantine, isolation wards, adequate personal protective equipment (PPEs), trained manpower, rapid response teams are being strengthened further in all states and union territories.
With the positive cases of COVID-19 showing an increase, the government has proposed a set of social distancing measures to be in force till March 31.
"Travel of passengers from member countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey and United Kingdom to India is prohibited with effect from 18th March 2020," Lav Aggarwal, the Joint Secretary in the ministry said on Monday.
"No airline shall board a passenger from these nations to India with effect from 1200 GMT on 18th March 2020. The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure," he had said.
Both these instructions are temporary measures and shall be in force till March 31 2020 and will be reviewed subsequently, he had said.
