Coronavirus Live: Indian Embassy in US issues advisory on travel to India

Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan has ordered closure of all Anganwadi centers across Kashmir till further orders over coronavirus.

All primary schools, cinema halls and Anganwari centres in the 5 districts of Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi and Udhampur, will remain closed till March 31, Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary Planning, Jammu & Kashmir said on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka on Wednesday announced its first coronavirus case, a 52-year-old tour guide who had come in contact with a group of Italian tourists, reports PTI.

The man has been kept at the isolation ward of the Infectious Diseases Hospital in North Colombo, Director General of Health Services Anil Jasinghe said in a statement. The man, a tour guide by profession, had worked with a group of Italian tourists and contracted the virus, according to a statement released by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office.

Delhi high court seeks Centre, Delhi govt stand on PIL seeking proper and adequate measures to combat coronavirus: PTI

Air India flight AI-138 from Milan to Delhi has been taken to isolation bay at Delhi Airport, reports ANI.

At present, all passengers are going through screening for coronavirus at the airport, the agency added.

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has ended a three-year absence from Twitter to express concern about the coronavirus outbreak, telling a follower that he would "take action," reports Reuters.

"It's my first tweet in a long time. I am worried about the coronavirus situation," Son said late on Tuesday in his first micro-missive since February 2017 - which itself came about 18 months after the preceding tweet.

"I am considering what contribution I can make," the SoftBank Group Corp chief executive said in response to a follower who asked him to use his power to do something about the outbreak.

"I will start to take action," Son said without elaborating in a follow-up tweet on Wednesday, which garnered over 10,000 likes and 3,000 retweets in its first hour.

China has reported 22 new coronavirus deaths, taking the death toll to 3,158, health officials said on Wednesday.

Twenty-four new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 22 deaths have been reported on the Chinese mainland on Tuesday, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said on Wednesday.

All the 22 deaths were in Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan, the NHC said.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland reached 80,778 by the end of Tuesday, including 3,158 people who died of the disease in the last three months, 16,145 patients undergoing treatment and 61,475 discharged after recovery, it said.

US Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday that federal authorities would unveil recommendations in the next 24 hours aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus in the four states hardest hit so far by the outbreak.

"In the next 24 hours, we will be working with not only Washington state, but California, with New York and Florida and unveiling our recommendations - CDC's recommendations," Pence told reporters at the White House, referring to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Ram Nath Kovind's visit to UP's Sonbhadra district on March 15 has been cancelled in view of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, reports IANS.

The President was scheduled to attend Vanvasi Samagam and also inaugurate the newly-built school and hostel of Seva Samarpan Sansthan of Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram at Seva Kunj Ashram, Chapki in Sonbhadra district.

Yogendra Bahadur Singh, Additional District Magistrate, said in a statement, "The district administration was gearing up for the programme that was scheduled to be held there. A large number of people were expected to attend the program but the event has been cancelled."

One person from Jaipur, who has history of travel to Dubai has been tested positive for coronavirus, says Rohit Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Health), Rajasthan Health Department.

Turkey on Wednesday announced its first case of the new coronavirus.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the case was a male patient who had returned from Europe. He would not provide more details on the patient, or say which country he had travelled to, citing the patient's right to privacy.

As Italy imposed drastic quarantine measures to contain the spread of novel coronavirus, trains, planes and vehicles leaving the country are facing new restrictions, reports AFP.

While Spain and Portugal suspended air traffic from Italy for two weeks, Austria ordered a halt to flights and trains from its neighbour and Slovenia said it would impose controls at its border with the country.

As British Airways cancelled Italian flights on Tuesday, Air France and low-cost carriers Ryanair, Easyjet and Wizz Air said they would scrap flights from Italian airports until early April. Air Canada took even more drastic measures, suspending flights to Italy until at least May 1.

With the total number of coronavirus-positive cases going up to 14, Kerala has gone into partial shutdown. The southern state which reported the first three cases of COVID-19 in India, has imposed severe restrictions on public gatherings. All educational institutions in the state have also been closed till March 31 to prevent the spread of the virus.

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The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) on Tuesday halted nearly all inspections of overseas plants that ship drugs, medical devices and other consumer goods to the U.S., citing the global spread of the coronavirus.

The agency announced it will postpone most foreign inspections scheduled through April, because of federal guidelines prohibiting travel for government workers. Last month, it postponed most inspections in China.

The FDA is responsible for ensuring that food, drugs, cosmetics, medical supplies and other U.S. imports are produced in safe, sanitary conditions that meet quality standards. Last year, it conducted more than 3,100 foreign inspections, according to agency records.

China reported an uptick in new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, reversing four straight days of fewer new cases, driven by infected individuals arriving from abroad.

Mainland China had 24 new confirmed cases on Tuesday, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday, up from 19 new cases a day earlier.

Of the new infections, 10 were imported cases, bringing the overall cases from abroad to 79.