Coronavirus Updates: May 18, 2020 | As it happened

2 COVID-19 cases reported in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district today, the process to admit them is underway. This takes the total number of active cases in the state to 36.

41 more COVID-19 cases reported in Telangana today. The total number of cases in the state is now at 1,592, including 1,002 cured/discharged, 556 active cases, and 34 death.

35 new COVID19 positive cases reported in Goa. The total number of cases in the state is now 41.

4 more COVID-19 cases reported in Himachal Pradesh today. The total number of cases in the state is now at 90, including 41 active cases, 42 recovered, and 3 deaths.

31 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Gautam Buddh Nagar district on Monday, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 286. The number of active cases in Noida is 87. 

In the last 24 hours, a total of 2,715 COVID-19 patients are reported cured. We have presently a recovery rate of 38.29 per cent. In terms of confirmed cases per lakh population, India has so far about 7.1 cases per lakh population.

16 new positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported today in Punjab. The total number of positive cases rise to 1980 including 297 active cases, 1547 cured and 37 deaths.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray visits Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority's (MMRDA) temporary COVID-19 hospital at Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex. The temporary hospital has a capacity of 1,000 beds.

3 COVID-19 positive cases reported in CRPF in the last 24 hours; the total number of cases is now 294 (including 177 recovered).

The total number of positive coronavirus cases in Chandigarh is now 196 including 5 new positive cases reported today.

Haryana Government has decided to allow government schools to open their administrative offices to carry out urgent and unavoidable administrative functions while ensuring strict compliance of norms issued by the Health Ministry for the containment of COVID-19.

The total number of COVID19 positive cases in Assam rise to 104 with 2 new positive cases reported today

• Shopping malls to be reopened in Pakistan ahead of Eid al-Fitr
• Shuttered commerce shrinks Thailand's economy
• India records its biggest single-day jump in cases
• Belgium PM met by a silent protest from healthcare workers 

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to address a press conference at 5.30 pm today on the Coronavirus situation

33 new positive cases of COVID-19 and 2 deaths have been reported in Rajasthan till 2 pm. Total number of positive cases rise to 5375 and death toll rise to  133. 2170 active cases remain in state

India and Bangladesh officials are bracing for Cyclone Amphan, which looks likely to intensify and is on course to hit two Indian states on the east coast. The state of Odisha is preparing to evacuate over a million people amid the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.

Retailer DMart providing door to door delivery of essential goods in Mumbai's Malad amid coronavirus lockdown. 

Number of COVID-19 cases in Assam rises to 102, including 41 recoveries and 3 death

Parameters laid down by the Union Health Ministry such as active COVID-19 cases, doubling and fatality rates and cases per lakh population have to be taken into consideration by states and union territories while categorising areas into red, orange or green zones. READ MORE

52 fresh cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Andhra Pradesh in the last 24 hours, taking total number of cases to 2282, including 705 active cases. 50 patients have succumbed to the infection in the state so far.

6 more COVID-19 positive cases reported in Bihar today, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 1326.

The Punjab Government on Monday released new guidelines for the state after the nationwide lockdown was extended till May 31. READ MORE 

• South Africa: 1,160 new cases
• Egypt: 510 new cases
• Nigeria: 338 new cases
• Algeria: 198 new cases
• Morocco: 129 new cases
• Zambia: 74 new cases
• Djibouti: 70 new cases
• Somalia: 64 new cases
• Kenya: 57 new cases
• Ivory Coast: 48 new cases

Swami Ramdev LIVE: Yoga lessons to control blood pressure, heart issues | Watch here 

• South Korea to provide 10,000 health protective items to Native Americans
• Japan formally falls into recession
• Gravediggers overwhelmed as outbreak takes hold in Nigeria
• India extends nationwide lockdown
• Brazil becomes world’s fourth biggest hotspot
• Italy records lowest daily death toll since early March
• Belgium PM met by a silent protest from healthcare workers 

Countries including India, Japan, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and all 27 EU member states are backing Australia's call for an “impartial, independent" probe into the origins of the coronavirus.

Hello and welcome to today's live coverage of coronavirus news in India and across the world, with me, Rashi Hardaha and my colleagues Himanshu Shekhar, Shashwat  Bhandari, Vani Mehrotra, Priya Jaiswal, Sidhant Mamtany and Sushmita Panda. You can get in touch with us directly on twitter ​@rashihardaha, @himaanshus, @ShashBhandari​ @vani_mehrotra​ @priyajais, @SidMamtany, and @sushmitapanda for news, tips, photos, questions and comments.

Here's a quick overview: 

The total number of global cases has surpassed 4.8 million, including more than 316,000 fatalities. More than 1,858,000 patients are reported to have recovered.

Deaths by country:

United States- 90,978
Italy- 31,908
Spain- 27,650
France- 28,108
United Kingdom- 34,636
Belgium - 9,052

Coronavirus in India: Total COVID-19 positive cases cross 90,900-mark
Coronavirus Death Toll in India: As of Thursday evening, the death toll stood at 2,872