Coronavirus LIVE: April 27, 2020 | As it happened

Eight new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Punjab today, taking the total number of positive cases to 330.

The CM declared that by April 28, 21 districts in the state would turn into districts without even one Corona positive case. He said it was a good development that 97% of the Corona patients are getting discharged after recovery.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant recommended that lockdown should be extended after May 3. No mode of public transport should be allowed between States.

Four new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Chandigarh today, taking the total number of positive cases to 40.

52 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Tamil Nadu today, taking the total number of cases to 1,937 in the state.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has announced Rs 15 lakh compassionate assistance to families of working journalists who may lose life to COVID-19 infection.

No new COVID-19 case reported in Uttarakhand today. The total number of cases in the state stands at 51.

Nine new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Karnataka in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 512 including 19 deaths and 193 discharges. The number of active cases stands at 299.

Mumbai Police informed about the unfortunate demise of HC Shivaji Narayan Sonawane (56) from the Kurla Traffic Division. HC Sonawane had been battling Coronavirus

Health Ministry briefed media over the COVID-19 situation in the country. Here are the highlights from the presser:

• Till April 26, cutting of 80% crops was done.
• At least 2 crore workers getting jobs under MNREGA.
• COVID-19 doubling rate in Pune is 7 days.
• 16 districts in the country which earlier had cases have not reported any fresh cases since last 28 days. The three new districts which got added to this list are — Gondia in Maharashtra, Devangere in Karnataka & Lakhi Sarai in Bihar.
• 85 districts have not reported any new cases in the last 14 days.
• 1396 new positive cases reported in the last 24 hrs, take our total confirmed cases to 27,892.   20,835 people are under active medical supervision. 381 patients are found cured in the past 1 days. The total no. of cured people becomes 6184. Recovery rate 22.17%
• Railways has done a tremendous job. If you look at the movement of rakes, you will see it has gone up from 67% on 30th March to 76% as on 25th April.
• Stigma should be addressed through an intensive campaign. We've to understand that there is no risk of transmission from recovered patients. They, in fact, can be a potential source of healing for antibodies using plasma therapy.
• We should avoid spreading misinformation and panic. No community or area should be labelled for COVID-19 spread. In particular, healthcare and sanitary workers or police should not be targeted as they are there to help you.

Police personnel on Monday reached Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor residence in Lucknow. The singer was earlier tested positive for coronavirus. She is likely to be questioned since the singer hide her health condition after which she was infected with COVID-19. 

• US nears one million cases
• PM Boris Johnson returns to Downing Street after recovering from COVID-19
• Italy's PM outlines plan to ease lockdown
• Spain reports lowest daily death toll since March 20
• Australia launches COVID-19 tracking app
• Iran's president announces plans to reopen mosques in some areas

Till date, 511 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed, this includes 19 deaths and 188 discharges. 8 new positive cases have been reported from 5:00 PM yesterday till 12:00 noon today. 

With 3 more deaths and 55 new positive cases reported in Pune, the death toll and the total number of positive cases rise to 80 and 1319, respectively.

• The country has carried out at least 178,083 COVID-19 tests so far
• Total cases: 2,931
• Patients discharged from hospitals: 2,609
• Deaths: 52
• Curfew (10 pm-4 am) and limited travel between provinces expected to continue

• 605 new cases in last 24 hours
• 13,328 cases in total
• 3,029 recovered
• 281 deaths
• 41% of cases in Punjab
• 150,756 tests completed

According to the state's health department, 36 new COVID19 positive cases reported in the state. Meanwhile, the total number of positive cases in the state rise to 2221.

In a morning update, the Health Ministry said, of the total cases at least 20,835 are active. A total of 6,184 individuals have been cured and discharged while 872 people lost their lives. One person migrated to other country. READ MORE

• Ghana: 271 new cases
• Egypt: 215 new cases
• South Africa: 185 new cases
• Morocco: 168 new cases
• Algeria: 126 new cases
• Cameroon: 103 new cases
• Nigeria: 91 new cases
• Somalia: 46 new cases
• Sudan: 24 new cases
• Kenya: 12 new cases

Canada reports 1,541 new cases of coronavirus and 95 new deaths. A total of 46,895 cases and 2,560 deaths.

Swami Ramdev: Watch yoga lessons to boost immunity, fight coronavirus every day at 7:58 am and 5 pm.

• Australia’s contact tracing app raises privacy concerns
• China says all patients in Wuhan have been discharged
• Hong Kong reports no new cases

• Italy reports lowest day of fatalities since March 14
• UK PM Boris Johnson returns to Downing Street

• Confirmed cases cross 960,000 in the US
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo outlines plan to reopen New York
• Canada to take “cautious” approach in reopening 
• Mexico’s death toll tops 1,350

Hello and welcome to today's live coverage of coronavirus news in India and across the world, with me, Sushmita Panda and my colleague Himanshu Shekhar . You can get in touch with both of us directly on Twitter @himaanshus and @SushmitaPanda with news, tips, photos, questions and comments.

Here's a quick overview: 

The total number of global cases has surpassed 2.9 million, including more than 200,000 fatalities. More than 878,000 patients are reported to have recovered.

Deaths by country:

United States- 55,413
Italy- 26,644
Spain- 23,190
France- 22,856
United Kingdom- 20,732
Belgium - 7,094

Coronavirus in India: Total COVID-19 positive cases near 27,000-mark
Coronavirus Death Toll in India: As of Saturday evening, the death toll stood at 881.