New Delhi, March 28: In the biggest single-day spike of cases since the outbreak of coronavirus in India, the Health Ministry on Saturday confirmed 194 new cases of coronavirus. The surge has taken the total number of cases to 919, including 818 active infections and 79 patients who have cured. The death toll climbed to 22, with three fatalities reported in the last 24 hours. All Major Updates on Coronavirus Outbreak in India and Other Parts of The World in Last 24 Hrs.

 

The Union Health Ministry, in its press briefing, said India has not entered into a stage where random testings are necessitated. The disease is still in "stage 2" -- where infectious cases are of those who either returned from abroad or came in contact of foreign returnees.

The authorities are taking all possible measures to prevent coronavirus from transcending into "stage 3" in India. At this stage - as seen in China and currently being witnessed in Italy, Iran, Spain and the United States - the new cases are no longer linked to foreign returnees. The disease then turns into a community outbreak -- multiplying exponentially with human-to-human interaction.

While the Health Ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have placed the coronavirus outbreak in India in "stage 2" category, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sounded a note of caution today. In his statement to the press, Vijayan said his government would conduct rapid tests in some parts of the state to check if there is "any community spread". His remarks came on a day when Kerala's total number of infections peaked to 165.

In the collective bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown. The curfew-like restrictions bar the residents from stepping out of their houses unless for necessary measures. Only essential services are exempted whereas all public and private establishments have been ordered to remain shut till at least April 15.

Globally, the pandemic has affected more than 600,000 persons and claimed around 29,000 lives. Italy, the worst affected, saw its fatality count shooting to 10,000 today. The country is followed by Spain where over 5,000 fatalities have been confirmed, followed by China with around 3,400 deaths and Iran with over 2,500 deaths. The United States, where the number of infections has breached the 100,000-mark, has reported around 1,900 deaths so far.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 28, 2020 11:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).