12 new cases in one day as Covid-19 spreads its wings in India

The number of novel coronavirus cases in India mounted to 62 as 12 new confirmed cases were reported on Tuesday.

"Among the new cases, eight were reported on Wednesday from Kerala and one each from Rajasthan and Delhi. The total cases in the country include three Kerala patients who have recovered and have been discharged from the hospital," the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Wednesday.

In the evening, Mumbai went into high alert after two persons tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total afflicted in the state to seven, including five in Pune.

A flu like illness was first reported from Wuhan city of China in December last year which eventually turned into an outbreak. The novel coronavirus has affected over a 100 countries so far, with total number of cases crossing 1 lakh globally.

The World Health Organization has declared coronavirus (Covid-19) as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Outside China, Italy and Iran are the worst hit countries.

The Indian government has so far evacuated 948 passengers from Covid-19 affected countries, including Iran, Italy, China and the Japanese Cruise Ship, Diamond Princess, stranded at the Port of Yokohama.

Out of these, 900 are Indian citizens and 48 belonging to different nationalities including from Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, the US, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa and Peru.

According to the latest travel advisory issued by the Indian government, passengers with travel history to China, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Japan, Italy, Thailand, Singapore, Iran, Malaysia, France, Spain and Germany will have to undergo self-imposed quarantine for a period of 14 days from the date of their arrival, and their employers should facilitate work-from-home for such employees during this period. IANS