New Delhi (NVI): Four fresh cases of coronavirus have been detected in India across three states and a Union Territory, taking the total number of cases in the country to 144, the Government said in a statement today, even as the pandemic continued to afflict damage in various parts of the world.
In a media briefing on the coronavirus situation held here today, the Union Health Ministry said that four new cases- one each from Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Kerala have been confirmed as per the latest data available.
“There are now a total of 114 confirmed cases in India as of today, including 10 discharged, 3 cured and 2 reported deaths,” the Ministry said.
The Government also informed that contact tracing activity of these positive cases has led to the identification of more than 5,200 contacts, who are kept under surveillance.
Apart from this, the officials informed the media that Travel restrictions have been further tightened to prevent the spread of the virus from high-risk areas.
Under the fresh travel bans, travel of passengers from member countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey and the United Kingdom to India is prohibited with effect from 18th March 2020, the Ministry said in a statement.
“No airline shall board a passenger from these nations to India with effect from 1200 GMT on 18th March 2020. The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure,” it said.
However, the Ministry said that this is a temporary measure and shall be in force till 31st March and will be reviewed subsequently.
The briefing was conducted by Home Ministry Additional Secretary Anil Malik, Luv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, MEA Additional Secretary Dammu Ravi and KS Dhatwalia, DG PIB, at National Media Centre.
Earlier today, a high-level meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 was held at Nirman Bhawan, chaired by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.
