The total number of coronavirus infected people in India has risen to 74 on Thursday. The COVID-19 in India has spread to 10 states and 2 Union Territories, so far. The Ministry of Health revealed that 57 coronavirus patients were Indians and 17 foreigners. The ministry also added that 10,57,506 people have been screened at the airport till now.

As of March 12, six positive cases have been reported in Delhi while 10 people were diagnosed with the infection in Uttar Pradesh till Thursday. Karnataka reported four cases, Maharashtra 11 and Ladakh three.

Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab have reported one case each, the ministry said. Kerala has till now reported 17 cases, including three patients who were discharged last month after they recovered.

As of March 12, coronavirus cases risen to 73 in India, according to Union Ministry of Health

Haryana has registered total 14 confirmed cases of coronavirus. All 14 are foreigners. The total number of 73 confirmed cases includes 16 Italians tourists and one more foreign national, the ministry said.

The World Health Organisation declared coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, acknowledging the spread of the virus across countries. The Indian Council of Medical Research on Thursday, said vaccines will take a minimum of 1.5 to 2 years. At present there are total 52 testing facilities spread across 29 states. And, as many as 56 sample collection centers, according to Luv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry.

The BJP in Madhya Pradesh will seek a floor test on March 16 in the wake of 22 Congress MLAs resigning the state, a senior BJP leader said on Thursday. The 14-month-old Kamal Nath-led government has been facing deep crisis following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs after former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party on Tuesday.

"Since the government is in minority, we are going to request the governor and the Assembly speaker for a floor test on March 16 when the state budget session begins," BJP's chief whip in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Narottam Mishra told reporters.

The governor and the speaker have the resignations of 22 MLAs. Now it is up to them to take a call, he said. "This government has lost majority," senior BJP leader former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said here.

The Congress has a wafer thin majority in the 228- member Assembly. Before the rebellion, its tally was 114. It also has the support of four Independents, two BSP MLAs and one from the SP, but some may now switch sides to the BJP.

If the resignations of the 22 MLAs are accepted, the strength of the Assembly will fall to 206. The Congress, on its own, will then be left with 92 seats, while the BJP has 107 seats with the magic number for a majority being 104.

The 83 evacuees, who arrived from Italy on board Air India flight AI138 on early Wednesday, March 11, have been placed under quarantine at the Indian Army facility in Manesar. 74 of them are Indian nationals while the remaining 9 are foreign nationals of Indian origin.

Out of the 83 quarantined 66 are adults, 40 males, and 26 females. Sixteen children and one infant are also among the evacuees.

According to reports, the evacuees will be monitored by a team of qualified doctors for a period of 14 days. They will be kept under constant observation for any signs of coronavirus infection. If any individual shows any signs of coronavirus, they will be immediately sent to the isolation ward.

Daily coronavirus confirmation tests will be run of the evacuees at the medical facility in Manesar. After the completion of the testing period, the individuals with no signs of coronavirus would be allowed to go home. The detailed documentation of every evacuee will be sent to the District/ State surveillance units for further surveillance.

If anyone is tested positive for the coronavirus they will be sent to the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi for further treatment. They will be kept in the isolation ward and samples from them would be sent to the AIIM's Department of Virology for testing. The confirmation would be by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Patients would be discharged after full clinical recovery and two successive negative results for coronavirus confirmation tests.

The 83 evacuees will be kept in several barracks. Individuals from one barrack won't be allowed to interact with a person from another barrack, according to reports.

According to Health Ministry, 60 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in India so far. Across the world, over 119,000 people have been confirmed positive for coronavirus. The deadly virus has claimed over 4,300 lives across the globe.  

The cases of new coronavirus (COVID 19) infections continue to rise in India ahead of the festival of Holi on Tuesday. The Healthy Ministry has put the latest number of affected persons at 43, of which 40 cases are still active. Four new cases of COVID-19 have been reported - one from Ernakulum, Kerala, one from Delhi, one from Uttar Pradesh and one from Jammu, Health Ministry said on 9 March.

The 5 cases from Kerala reported yesterday are 3 family members with travel history to Italy and 2 of their relatives who came in contact with them. The family is reported to have visited relatives and attended few functions and their contacts are being traced, the ministry informed. 

While 43 samples out of 3,003 samples tested for COVID-19 tested positive, 2,694 samples returned negative results.

The update also put the total number of international passengers screened at 8,74,708, from 8,255 flights at airports till March 9. Of those screened 1,921 passengers were identified as symptomatic, 177 of them hospitalised and 33,599 passengers were under observation, the ministry said. Till date, 21,867 passengers have completed their observation period.

The ministry appealed the people to reveal clearly about their travel history and fill the details in self-declaration forms properly.

The ministry also clarified that, so far no death has been reported due to COVID-19 in the country.

Even as no positive case of coronavirus has been found in Gujarat so far, the state government has decided to postpone all the Women's Day events, earlier scheduled to be held in the state on March 8, as a precautionary measure, an official said on Friday.

The postponement of programmes is aimed at ensuring compliance with the Centre's guidelines to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, the official said.

"Out of the 38 samples of suspected cases collected so far in Gujarat, 37 samples tested negative for coronavirus, while the test results of another is pending," Principal Secretary of the state Health Department, Jayanti Ravi, said in Gandhinagar.

In the advisory sent to all the states on March 5, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had said that "mass gatherings may be avoided or possibly be postponed till the disease spread is contained".

"Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has decided to postpone all the Women's Day programmes. The ministry has issued an advisory appealing people to avoid going to crowded places," Jayanti Ravi told reporters, adding that no positive case of coronavirus has been found in the state so far.

The IAS officer said that the government would next week take a call on the visitors coming to Gandhinagar to witness the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly. On an average, around 2,000 persons visit Assembly everyday.

As advised by the Centre, passengers arriving at Ahmedabad and Surat international airports from other countries are being screened using thermal scanners, Jayanti Ravi said.

"Over 16,400 passengers have been scanned at Ahmedabad international airport till now," she added.

"As many as 1,454 crew members and passengers on board 24 ships were also scanned at different ports of Gujarat. We have kept aside 576 isolation beds and 204 ventilators in government hospitals across the state to deal with any emergency," she said.

According to her, experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other agencies are in Gujarat to train doctors and medical students in fighting possible outbreak, she said.

Urging the people not to panic, Jayanti Ravi said there is no need to wear masks or use only hand sanitizer as washing hands using soaps was enough.

"There is no such advisory which mandates everyone to wear masks. People should avoid visiting crowded places" she said.

A special homeopathy medicine meant to increase immunity, will be distributed to the people through over 270 homeopathic dispensaries, she added.