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

New York is deploying National Guard troops for the first time in the coronavirus crisis to help contain the spread of the disease from an infection-hit suburb of New York City, the state's governor said Tuesday, reports AFP.

Andrew Cuomo said authorities would set up a one-mile radius "containment zone" around the epicentre of an outbreak in New Rochelle in suburban Westchester County.

Cuomo explained that all facilities in the zone that hold large gatherings, such as schools and temples, would be closed for two weeks beginning Thursday.

"We're also going to use the National Guard in the containment area to deliver food to homes, to help with the cleaning of public spaces," Cuomo said.

There have been 173 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in New York state, including 108 in Westchester County, home to New Rochelle where the majority of infections have been detected.

Mizoram has banned entry of foreigners to the state as a precautionary measure against spread of coronavirus, reports HT Correspondent Utpal Parashar. The move came on Tuesday evening, a day after the state sealed its borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar.

“The entry of all foreigners either by land or air has also been banned with immediate effect until further notice,” said a release issued by the Mizoram’s information and public relations department on Tuesday evening.

Mizoram is the third state in the northeast to ban entry of foreigners after Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has jumped by 168 to 631, an increase of 36%, the Civil Protection Agency said on Tuesday. This is the largest rise in absolute numbers since the contagion came to light on Feb. 21.

The total number of cases in Italy, the country hardest hit by the virus in Europe, rose to 10,149 from a previous 9,172, an increase of 10.7%.

The head of the agency said that, of those originally infected, 1,004 had fully recovered compared to 724 the day before. Some 877 people were in intensive care against a previous 733.: Reuters

The United States has called on Iran to release all American prisoners held in the country amid reports of coronavirus spreading through its prisons.

"The United States will hold the Iranian regime directly responsible for any American deaths. Our response will be decisive," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Reports that COVID-19 has spread to Iranian prisons are deeply troubling and demand nothing less than the full and immediate release of all American citizens.

"Their detention amid increasingly deteriorating conditions defies basic human decency."

All cinema halls in Jammu have been shut till March 31 in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

A man was pulled out alive after being trapped for 69 hours under the rubble of a collapsed virus quarantine hotel in southeastern China in which at least 20 other people died.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the man was sent to hospital immediately after being rescued late on Tuesday afternoon. Another nine people are missing from the collapse on Saturday. The hotel in the city of Quanzhou had been a quarantine site for people exposed to the new coronavirus.

Australia announced a $1.56 billion health package on Wednesday that proposes setting up fever clinics and offering cost-free facilities for people to consult doctors over video calls, as it combats the spread of the coronavirus.

"Just under $1.2 billion of that will actually, we anticipate, be spent this financial year, particularly as the virus and its impacts ramp up in the months ahead," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

"This package is about preventing and treating coronavirus in the coming weeks."

Australia also extended its travel ban for Italy from 1800 local time (0700 GMT) on Wednesday, after Italy expanded a lockdown to cover the entire country to contain the spread of the virus.

South Korea reported 242 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing the country's total infections to 7,755, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The latest numbers came a day after the rate of new infections fell to its lowest level in 11 days.

Arsenal's game at Manchester City was postponed on Wednesday after players from the London club were put into quarantine, making it the first Premier League fixture to be called off because of the new coronavirus.

Arsenal said players will be isolated for 14 days after coming into contact with the owner of Greek club Olympiakos, who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Mainland China reported 24 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the country's National Health Commission said on Wednesday, up from 19 cases a day earlier. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China so far to 80,778.

The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China had reached 3,158 as of the end of Tuesday, up by 22 from the previous day.

The central province of Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak, accounted for all of the new deaths, including 19 fatalities in the provincial capital of Wuhan.

The death toll in the United Kingdom from the coronavirus outbreak has risen to six, British health officials said on Tuesday. The number of people testing positive for the virus has risen to 373.

The patient, who died on Monday evening, was being treated at Watford General Hospital, north of London, and had tested positive for COVID-19.

He was in his early 80s and had underlying health conditions, health officials said.

Panama records Central America's first coronavirus death, reports AFP.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about many Indian students stranded at airports in Italy. "We are receiving information that many Indians are stranded in airports in Italy as they are not able to board flights to India without the certificates of having tested negative for COVID 19," the letter said. : ANI

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan writes to PM Narendra Modi saying, we are receiving information that many Indians are stranded in airports in Italy as they are not able to board flights to India without the certificates of having tested negative for COVID 19. https://t.co/jSVNNGQg2I pic.twitter.com/LVO4hf1keI

— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2020

US President Donald Trump has not been tested for coronavirus, a White House spokesperson said in a statement, reports Reuters.

"President Trump had not been tested for coronavirus because he had no symptoms and had not had ‘prolonged close contact’ with any confirmed coronavirus patients," the statement said.

Passengers travelling from or having visited Italy or Republic of Korea will need certificate of having tested negative for coronavirus to enter India. The certificate will have to be from designated laboratories authorised by health authorities of these countries.