COVID-19 Crisis: April 17, 2020 | As it happened

Ministry of Home Affairs has decided that all existing visas granted to foreigners and all incoming passenger traffic into India through immigration check posts, except certain categories, to remain suspended till May 3, 2020. 

67 new positive cases reported in Delhi today. The total number of positive cases now stand at 1707

98 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Rajasthan today. The total number of positive cases in the state is 1,229.

The U.K. has recorded another 847 coronavirus deaths in hospitals, raising the overall total to 14,576. The increase is slightly down on the 861 released on Thursday. Last week, a daily high reached 980 deaths.

Militants on Friday attacked at CRPF and Police Joint camp in Newa Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. The area has been cordoned off. No militant organization has claimed responsibility. 

77 new COVID-19 positive cases and 5 deaths reported in Mumbai on Friday. The total number of positive cases in Mumbai stands at 2,120 including 121 deaths.

As per ANI, Health Ministry sources reveal that about 63,000 Personal protective equipment (PPE) kits which arrived from China recently did not fulfill the criteria.

The government will soon approve a Rs 10,000 crore 'Fund of Funds' for mirco, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with high credit rating if they raise money from capital markets, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.

"We are releasing Rs 10,000 crore 'Fund of Funds' for the good units of our SMEs, which export and have a good turnover in banks," Gadkari said while addressing participants at a webinar organised by the Young Presidents' Organisation.

It has now come to light that about 65 per cent of coronavirus cases in Delhi are connected with Tablighi Jamaat.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is conducting Live training webinars for health professionals in SAARC countries.

Total number of coronavirus positive cases has risen to 13,835. The number includes 11,616 active cases, 1766 cured/migrated/discharged and 452 deaths

Three COVID-19 positive cases reported in Uttarakhand today. The total number of positive cases in the state is now 40.

The total number of COVID19 positive cases in Himachal Pradesh stands at 35 including 12 discharged patients and 1 death

2 terrorists killed in an encounter in the Dachan area of Kishtwar. Police, Army, and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) forces were deployed in the difficult terrain on a tip-off. 2 weapons have been recovered from the killed terrorists.

Health Ministry briefed media on coronavirus situation in the country. Here are the highlights from the presser:

• 1749 patients cured till now, 1007 cases in 24 hours, 23 patients died in the last 24 hours, 437 deaths so far in the country.
• Before lockdown, the doubling rate of COVID-19 cases was about 3 days, but according to data in the past 7 days, the doubling rate of cases now stands at 6.2 days. The doubling rate in 19 States, Union Territories are even lower than the average doubling rate.
• The doubling rate is lower than the national level in 19 states and UTs- Kerala, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Puducherry, Delhi, Bihar, Odisha, TN, Andhra Pradesh, UP, Punjab, Assam, Tripura, etc.
• 5 lakh rapid antibody test kits being distributed to states.

• The ration between recovered COVID-19 patients and deaths stands at 80:20 in India which is higher than that in several other counties.

• All our actions are focused on speeding up vaccine development. We are working on recombinant BCG, convalescent plasma therapy, monoclonal antibodies to fight COVID-19.

• We are aiming to make 10 lakh RTPCR kits by the month of May indigenously.

Bihar today reported second death due to coronavirus disease. A 35-year-old man undergoing treatment in AIIMS Patna today lost his fight. 

There is no problem as far as hydroxychloroquine or paracetamol are concerned.We assess every day the requirement for domestic consumption & the excess that can be exported. We keep 10 days stock with us, at present we've sufficient APIs: Sadananda Gowda, Union Chemicals Minister

While we are busy not only helping our own citizens but the rest of the world by sending medical teams and exporting medicines, on the other hand, Pakistan is only exporting terror. This doesn’t auger well: Army Chief Gen MM Naravane

Total 1640 COVID-19 cases reported in Delhi till today, of which 62 positive cases were reported yesterday. 38 persons have expired till date, 34 are in ICU and 6 are on ventilator: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain

The Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested a former Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) student, Mohammad Aamir Mintoi, who had been externed from the district for six months in January for his alleged involvement in criminal activities. He was arrested on Wednesday night, said police.

Aligarh Superintendent of Police city, Abhishek, said that Mintoi was spotted by the police near the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College trauma centre and was arrested for defying the externment order.

Meanwhile, the AMU students' coordination committee, on Thursday, launched a campaign, demanding the unconditional release of the AMU scholar and asked officials to stop 'witch hunting'.

Hosting a birthday party for his 10-year-old son proved costly for a trader as he was booked for violating the nationwide lockdown, police said on Friday. The accused organised the party at the housing complex in Gorakhpur on Thursday despite opposition from some residents of the locality, sources said.

Ghaziabad: Police are using drones to monitor COVID-19 hotspots in the district. Manish Mishra, Superintendent of Police (City) says, "We are using drones to monitor the hotspots regularly. Lockdown measures are being implemented and rules are being enforced". 

Police in Ghaziabad use drones to monitor COVID-19 hotspots

1007 positive cases & 23 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours.

Andhra Pradesh: 5 more coronavirus positive cases reported in Srikalahasti Temple town of Chittoor District. With this, total positive cases in Srikalahasti increased to 10. Of the 5 new cases; one woman is a contact of a positive case.

Coronavirus cases in India is now growing at 8.9% says Shamika Ravi of Brookings Institute. It in fact means that coronavirus positive cases in India is doubling every 8 days. 

However, the good news on coronavirus is the Compound Daily Growth Rate of Confirmed cases =13.14%. This has fallen for 3rd day in a row.

• US death toll exceeds 30,000
• Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro appoints new health minister 
• EU to discuss targets of a "recovery fund" 
• Markets wait for China to release its Q1 GDP data on Friday
• Australia to keep lockdowns in place for at least four more weeks

- 32,242 new cases in last 24 hours
- 670,353 cases in total
- 55,947 recovered
- 33,101 deaths
- 33% of cases in New York
- Over 3.5 million tests performed

 After drawing flak for its low rate of COVID-19 tests, the West Bengal government has now decided to take swab samples of all symptomatic as also asymptomatic direct and high risk contacts of a confirmed case as part of its containment and treatment strategies in high-risk spots.

Watch Swami Ramdev giving yoga lessons to fight coronavirus: 

Tea growers in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh are worried about their business amid coronavirus lockdown. Aman Singh, Manager,Dharamshala Tea Company says,"most of our products are exported to European countries but initially we have to send it to Kolkata for auction&that too in April"

The list of coronavirus hotspots in Gautam Budh Nagar has risen to 28 as 2 more COVID-19 containment zones were added to the list while one was removed. Among the two hotspots added are Gamma-1, Greater Noida and Sector 20 Noida, while Alpha-1 in Greater Noida was removed. Earlier, 12 new coronavirus cases were reported in Noida taking the total up to 92. Read Full List