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COVID-19 claims first victim in Mumbai

A 63-year-old man died on Tuesday (17) in Mumbai, India’s commercial capital and second larget populous city, due to coronavirus, health ministry said.

This is the third death in India due to COVID-19 and the total number of positive cases rose to 137. Many states have reported their first cases of coronavirus on Tuesday.


The Indian government banned the entry of passengers from Afghanistan, the Philippines and Malaysia with immediate effect.

Earlier, the country has banned passengers from EU countries, Turkey and the UK from March 18 till March 31.

The Mumbai patient with a travel history to Dubai is the first COVID-19 death in Maharashtra, which has the most number of coronavirus cases at 39, 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 Mumbai patient, whose wife also tested positive and is stable, was in a private hospital for five days and subsequently referred to Mumbai's Kasturba Hospital, officials said.

He reportedly did not disclose his travel history when he was admitted to the private hospital.

According to the government, the 126 positive cases, 12 more since Monday night, have been reported from 15 states and union territories. This includes 22 foreign nationals.

Among the new cases are two people from Noida. One recently returned from France and is already in isolation. The other has also been quarantined, Chief Medical Officer Anurag Bhargava said.

In Bengaluru, South India, two more persons tested positive for COVID-19 late Monday night.

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