Covid-19 cases cross 1000 in India; death toll reaches 27

New Delhi, March 29 (PTI): The nationwide tally of confirmed Coronavirus cases crossed the 1,000-mark and the death toll reached 27 on Sunday.

The national capital alone reported 23 fresh positive cases, taking its count to 72, while more people tested positive in adjoining Noida as also in Maharashtra and Bihar, among other states. The new cases included a SpiceJet pilot with no history of international travel.

The total number of positive cases has increased by 106 in the last 24 hours to reach 1,024 and eight more persons died in this period to take the nationwide toll to 27, according to the latest official figures.

The Prime Minister's Office said Modi is interacting with over 200 people on a daily basis to get a first-hand feedback on India's fight against the coronavirus crisis. These include phone calls to governors, chief ministers and state health ministers, as also with doctors, nurses, health workers and sanitation staff in various parts of the country.

The PMO also constituted 10 different high-level committees to suggest measures to ramp up healthcare, put the economy back on track and reduce misery of people as quickly as possible post the 21-day lockdown period.

In its latest update on Sunday evening, the Union Health Ministry said the death toll due to Covid-19 has risen to 27 and the total number of positive cases has risen to 1,024 as on 7.30 pm. The number of active Covid-19 cases in the country was 901, while 95 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated.

So far, Maharashtra has reported 6 deaths, Gujarat 5, Karnataka 3, Madhya Pradesh 2, Delhi 2, Jammu and Kashmir 2 and Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh have reported one each.

An earlier update, released at 10 am Sunday, had put the total positive cases at 979 and deaths at 25.

No fresh cases were reported from Punjab on Sunday.

The Health Ministry also issued guidelines on disinfection of public places including offices and the standard operating procedure for transporting suspect and confirmed cases of Covid-19.

Several ministers, as also various government departments, announced donations towards the coronavirus fight, while a number of corporates also announced their own contributions to relief funds. The government said such contributions by companies would qualify as their statutory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spending.

While the total number of deaths in India is still low compared to many other countries, there are widespread concerns including among the experts that the count may see a sudden spike and social distancing remains the only way to prevent community spread.

Globally, the death toll crossed 31,000 on Sunday with more than 20,000 deaths in Europe itself, while Spain and Italy have reported more than 800 deaths in a day. Nearly one-third of the world population is under lockdown to check the spread of this virus with the jobs, manufacturing and all economic activities coming to almost a standstill. The confirmed infections worldwide has topped 6,67,000, with the US topping the list with more than 1,04,000 cases.

Ironically, authorities in China's Wuhan, from where this deadly virus is said to have begun before eventually becoming a worldwide crisis with a 'pandemic' declaration, began steps towards partial re-opening of the city after more than two months of near total isolation for its 11 million people.