India’s Covid-19 cases rise to 28; 27,000 under community surveillance

INDIAN health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday (4) said that 28 positive cases of coronavirus have been detected so far in India.

Out of the total 28 COVID-19 cases in India, one person was from Delhi, six of his relatives in Agra, 16 Italians and their Indian driver, one in Telangana and the three earlier cases in Kerala.

Interestingly, more than half of the patients are Italian tourists.

So far, 5,89,000 people have been screened at airports, over 10 lakh screened at borders with Nepal and around 27,000 are currently under community surveillance.

The minister added that all international flights and passengers will now have to undergo screening, and not just the 12 countries listed earlier.

Vardhan said if the Iranian government lent its support, a testing facility could be set up there as well. This will help bring back Indian citizens from Iran after a thorough screening, he said.

The minister met the Delhi health minister and civic body officials, and urged them to augment facilities of isolation wards in city hospitals.

Modi, ministers to skip Holi celebrations

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that he won't celebrate the festival of Holi in view of the coronavirus outbreak. The home minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda will also follow the suit.

"Experts across the world have advised to reduce mass gatherings to avoid the spread of COVID19 Novel Coronavirus. Hence this year, I have decided not to participate in any 'Holi milan' programme," the PM tweeted.

This year, Holi is on March 10.