Coronavirus Crisis updates March 20 | As it happened

• Civil Aviation Ministry confirms that its officers who attended Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting on 18 March & came in close proximity with possibly COVID19 infected MP Dushyant Singh, have gone into self-quarantine from today. ANI has reported.
• Madhya Pradesh reported its first cases of coronavirus on Friday, as four people tested positive for the virus in Jabalpur.
• Passenger trains to suspend operations between midnight of March 22 to 10:00 PM, in wake of the coronavirus outbreak. A total of 2,400 trains could be affected by the order, the Ministry of Railways said in a statement. The mail and express trains will also stop their services from 4 am on Sunday, says the ministry. Only trains that are already on their respective run at 7 am on March 22 will be allowed to reach their destinations. The government has ordered the suburban train services in major metro cities to kept to a bare minimum as well.
• Indian Railways will suspend catering services aboard trains from March 22, an IRCTC statement said.
• UP Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh has underwent the coronavirus test a while ago. At least three BJP MLAs who had met him have gone into self-quarantine, as per sources.
• Two new coronavirus cases have come to light in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, CM Jairam Thakur tweeted on Friday.
• BJP MP Varun Gandhi goes into self-quarantine, after reportedly being in the vicinity of fellow MP Dushyant Singh in Lok Sabha during the Question Hour on Thursday.
• Twelve more people on Friday tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of affected patients to 37.
• The Union HRD ministry has asked all schools to continue with the mid-day meal scheme so to not cause any incovenience to school kids.
• Fifteen of the 16 positive cases reported from Mumbai had a history of overseas travel, BMC's deputy medical officer said on Friday. The remaining person affected by the virus was an associate of one of the affected patients.
• All restaurants and eateries in Surat will be closed from tomorrow till the March 31, the municipal corporation announced.
• No positive case reported from Karnataka today, as of evening. 
• A get together held on Wednesday at DMK MP Kanimozhi's residence had been attended by Dushyant Singh, now in self-quarantine, MoS Finance Anurag Thakur, MP Nishikant Dubey among others. Singh, along with his mother and former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, had earlier in the week attended a party hosted by Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor, who has tested positive for coronavirus. 
• Centre calls upon states to allow delivery partners, e-tailers to operate amid Section 144 restrictions imposed to check the spread of COVID-19.
• Five nationals from the United Kingdom, who were in the isolation ward at a hospital in Kochi, have also tested positive for coronavirus.
• Indonesia's capital Jakarta has declared a two-week emergency over the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, local media is reporting.
• Uttar Pradesh Health Minister has also isolated himself after it came to light that he was one of the high-profile guests present at Kanika Kapoor's controversial party.
• Trinamool MP Derek O'Brien goes into self-quarantine after it was revealved that he set next to Dushyant Singh in Parliament. Dushyant, the son of former CM Vasundhara Raje, attended a party hosted by Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor in Lucknow this wee. Kapoor has tested positive for COVID-19.
• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has appealed to those who undertook international travel over the last few weeks to quarantine themselves for 14 days. All asymptomatic people who have undertaken international travel and all contacts of laboratory confirmed positive cases should stay in home quarantine for 14 days, it said
• ​All malls in Uttar Pradesh have been ordered to stay shut now, as the outbreak spreads in the state and the country. Earlier in the day, the state capital Lucknow went into lockdown.
• India on Friday witnessed the steepest single day rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, as the positive cases rose from 173 on Thursday to 223 on Friday. 
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday deliberated ways to check the spread of coronavirus with chief ministers of various states. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and top health ministry officials were also present in the meeting held via video link
• The total number of people affected by coronavirus has surpassed 2.5 lakh, as the epidemic continues to make inroads in countries across the world.
• Two more persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Gujarat, taking the total number of affected patients in the state to seven people. 
• Chinese officials held a video conference with their counterparts from 19 Eurasian and South Asian countries, Beijing's Ambassador to India Sun Weidong tweeted on Friday. From India's side, officials from the health and external affairs ministry participated in the call.
• West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has backed PM's call to stay indoors in a bid to counter the spread of coronavirus.
• Kanika's party is believed to have been attended by over 100 politicians and celebrities, including UP's Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh and former union minister Jitin Prasada. 
• Meanwhile, fears are being expressed over Dushyant's decision to attend the Parliament sittings even after he attended Kapoor's party. Trinamool MP Derek O'Brien revealed that he sat next to Dushyant in Parliament, after it was revealed that he had gone into self-quarantine.
• Vasundhara Raje and her MP son Dushyant Singh are in self-imposed quarantine after they attended a party hosted by Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor in Lucknow. Kanika has tested positive for COVID-19.
• Vasundhara Raje's son Dushyant Singh, who is an MP had attended Parliament, has now isolated himself. 
• Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, his son Dushyant Raje, UP Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh and Congress leader Jitin Prasada were also present in a Lucknow party which was attended by Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor, who has now been tested positive for COVID-19. The party took place at Akbar Ahmed Dumpy's residence in Lucknow.  
• Aam Aadmi Party shuts party headquarters in Delhi over coronavirus spread
• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has conducted a surprise checking of cleanliness in Parliament premises following COVID-19 threat
• Delhi High Court asks Centre to file a reply on a plea challenging the ban on passenger travel from the UK and other countries, due to coronavirus outbreak
• Uttarakhand government bans the entry of domestic and foreign tourists into the state, to prevent the spread of Coronavirus
• Apollo Tyres' senior management takes pay cut as COVID-19 batters automotive sector, the company said
• Officials in Jammu and Kashmir order all school teachers to remain at home amid the coronavirus pandemic
• Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla briefs on steps taken by India to combat COVID-19 in a conference call of Indo-Pacific nations
• Information & Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has appealed to IT and outsourcing companies to allow their employees to work from home, given the coronavirus pandemic
• To prevent the spread of COVID19, Ladakh administration orders that no commercial flights landing at Leh shall carry in-bound passengers other than residents of Ladakh, civilian officers and officers of uniformed forces serving in Ladakh
• Government of Karnataka: New COVID-19 Helpline numbers 080-46848600 and 080-66692000 are now functional apart from the existing helpline number 104
• Uttar Pradesh government puts all land registry on hold 
• Delhi shuts down all malls, shopping complexes in wake of coronavirus
• Prominent Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor among the four people who have been tested positive for Coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh today
• Uttarakhand Police appeals to the public to stay at home
• Department of Information and Public Relations, Govt of Jammu and Kashmir: No school teacher to attend duties at schools as classwork suspended, all school teachers to stay at home till further orders.
• 18 companies, including International and Indian companies, have got the test licence from Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) to do COVID-19 diagnostic tests in the country
• India to take part in the video conference to be held by China with more than 10 countries in Eurasia and South Asia on the prevention and control of Covid-19
• A 22-year-old Kolkata resident who returned from London on Mar13 has tested positive for Coronavirus. Since March 16, he was admitted to Beleghata ID&BG hospital. All his family members have been asked to remain in-home quarantine.This is the 2nd positive case in the state
• Tamil Nadu-Kerala border in Coimbatore will be closed from today evening in the wake of coronavirus
• Sri Lankan has imposed a nationwide curfew from Friday until Monday to combat the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 9,000 lives globally, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office has announced
• Actor Daniel Dae Kim has been tested positive for novel coronavirus. Kim, 51, made the announcement on Instagram via 10-minute video which detailed his diagnosis
• Three more persons tested positive for coronavirus infection in Maharashtra, taking the number of such cases in the state to 52
• Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram says the war against coronavirus cannot be fought with "moral armaments" and that lockdown is the only solution
• Over 50 per cent of India Inc sees an impact on operations, 80 per cent witness fall in cash flow, says survey
• Supreme Court stays Kerala High Court order that directed banks, financial institutions, income tax department, and GST authorities to defer recovery proceedings or coercive measures till April 6 in the state, due to coronavirus
• The Government of India has set up WhatsApp MyGov Corona Helpdesk

Government of India has set up WhatsApp MyGov Corona Helpdesk

• Uttar Pradesh government cancels Ram Navami celebrations in Ayodha in view of coronavirus
• A man who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia has tested positive for COVID-19 in Visakhapatnam
• Delhi government advises all private sector offices including multinational companies, IT firms, industries, corporate offices situated in NCT of Delhi to allow their employees to work from home till March 31
• A total of 206 individuals have been confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases. A total of 14,376 samples from 13,486 individuals have tested positive for COVID19 as on 20th March, 10 am, says Indian Council of Medical Research
• Rail official in Bengaluru who hid her COVID-19 positive son in a guest house suspended
• Third case of coronavirus reported in Andhra Pradesh
• India's cricket captain Virat Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma on Friday issued a joint appeal for self-isolation to combat the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, which has left the world in disarray
• 4 more persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Lucknow, taking the total number of cases to 9
• All international flight operations will be temporarily suspended at Delhi Airport from 22nd Mar, 0001 hrs GMT at the port of origin to 29th Mar, 0001 GMT as per the advisory issued by the Govt of India
• A 69-year-old woman, who recently returned from the United Kingdom, has tested positive for coronavirus in Mohali
• Wholesale fruits and vegetable market in Pune's Gultekdi closed in Maharashtra 
• The Cannes Film Festival has been postponed to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The event, which was scheduled for May 12 through 23, might be shifted to June or July
• A third COVID-19 case was reported from Andhra Pradesh with a person who recently returned from Saudi Arabia testing positive
• Two more positive cases of coronavirus reported from Jaipur
• Firozpur railway division has cancelled its 14 trains in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra valley after the state government banned the entry of all tourists to the state over the coronavirus pandemic
• The US has advised its citizens to avoid all international travel due to the global impact of coronavirus and plan to return immediately
• Fitch cuts India growth forecast to 5.1 per cent from 5.6 per cent due to coronavirus outbreak
• The number of coronavirus cases in India rises to 195, says Health Ministry.
• Seven Middle Eastern countries have suspended all commercial flights, while other airlines halted international flights amid a near-total collapse in demand for travel
• The Las Vegas airport is running with reduced operations after an air traffic controller tested positive for the new coronavirus
• Germany's Lufthansa said that airlines may fail without government assistance if the outbreak lasts for an extended time
• American Airlines says it plans to cancel 55,000 flights next month and it is grounding nearly half the fleet while expecting plummeting demand for air travel to get even worse
• Saudi Arabia will cut spending by 5%, or about $13.3 billion, to offset the impact of plunging oil prices and the effects of the new coronavirus on its economic outlook and deficit
• A leading German economic index has fallen by the most since 1991, indicating Europe's largest economy is plunging into recession due to the disruption from the virus outbreak
• Anti-malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine is being touted by US President Donald Trump as a possible gamechanger in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, with "very very encouraging results" in early testing
• The US State Department has raised travel advisory to Level 4, which instructs its citizens to avoid all international travels amid the COVID-19 outbreak
• Over 1,00,000 people across Europe have tested positive for COVID-19 so far
• China reported no new domestically transmitted novel coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day on Friday
• Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy has been put under lock-down after two India Forest Service (IFS) trainees were found COVID-19 positive
• As many as 10 new coronavirus suspects were admitted to the district civil hospital in Maharashtra on Thursday. All of them are Nashik citizens who had gone abroad and got admitted to the hospital after complaining of throat pain, cough or breathlessness
• Pakistan's coronavirus cases rise to 453
• California Governor Gavin Newsom issues statewide ‘stay at home’ order
• The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits surged last week by 70,000, indicating that the impact of the coronavirus was starting to be felt in rising layoffs in the job market