India’s COVID-19 cases jump to 1,637; 38 dead

THE number of novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 1,637 on Wednesday (1), including 1,466 active cases and 38 deaths, according to health ministry.

Two doctors of Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital test positive for Covid-19

As many as 132 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated to another country, the ministry stated.

Three fresh deaths were reported in India in 24-hours.

Eighteen residents of Lucknow, who participated in Nizamuddin Markaz event in Delhi, have not returned to the city, Lucknow Police Commissioner Sujit Pandey said on Wednesday, reports said.

He said, "24 foreigners who came to Lucknow after participating in the event have been admitted at Balrampur Hospital."

Two hundred people including four from Bengaluru and five from Belgaum, who participated in Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi's Nizamuddin, have been quarantined, says Karnataka health minister B Sriramulu. In all, 342 people from Karnataka had attended the event.

Four more people have been tested positive for Covid-19 in Guwahati, taking the total number of infected people in Assam to 5. All four had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi, said officials.

Maharashtra had reported the most deaths (9) in the country so far, followed by Gujarat (6), Karnataka (3) Madhya Pradesh (3), Punjab (3), Delhi (2), West Bengal (2), Jammu and Kashmir (2) and Kerala (2).

Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have reported a death each.

India, with a population of more than 1.3 billion, is under lockdown until mid-April to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus, but tens of thousands of out-of-work migrants are fleeing to the countryside, undermining the restrictions.