Coronavirus LIVE: New York bans gatherings of more than 500, say reports

Kazakhstan is suspending all public events and taking special preventive measures due to the global spread of the coronavirus, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Supreme Court refuses to accord urgent hearing on plea seeking deferment of IPL-2020 amid coronavirus scare. The apex court's vacation bench asks petitioner to mention matter before regular bench on March 16: PTI

Amid rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, Twitter is making it mandatory for its nearly 5,000 employees to work from home, reports IANS.

The social media company announced the decision on Wednesday after "strongly encouraging" its employees to work from home earlier this month.

"Our top priority remains the health and safety of our Tweeps, and we also have a responsibility to support our communities, those who are vulnerable, and the healthcare providers who are on the front lines of this pandemic," Jennifer Christie, Vice President, People at Twitter, wrote in a blog post.

"To continue this push, we are moving beyond our earlier guidance of 'strongly encouraging work from home' provided on March 2 and have now informed all employees globally they must work from home," she said.

A woman doctor from Canada, who was admitted to Lucknow's KGMU, tested coronavirus positive, said Dr D Himanshu, senior faulty of the medical university late on Wednesday night. The doctor said the 35-year-old woman felt discomfort and came for a check-up.

“Her sample was taken and it turned out to be positive. She is stable and has been kept in quarantine. Her husband, who tested negative, is under observation too,” he said.

Melbourne Cricket Ground management it is is aware that a person who attended the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Final at the MCG on Sunday March 8 has now been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has advised of the patron’s diagnosis and has classified it as a low-risk of spreading COVID-19 to surrounding members of the public and staff. The patron sat on Level 2 of the Northern Stand at the MCG in section N42.

The MCC, as ground managers of the MCG, is aware that a person who attended the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Final at the MCG on Sunday March 8 has now been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Read our full statement here: https://t.co/XkXmMygCPA pic.twitter.com/l9NiBQYXVG

— Melbourne Cricket Ground (@MCG) March 12, 2020

The total number of people under observation in Andhra Pradesh is 300. The Director of Health and Family Welfare, Andhra Pradesh said, "300 patients are under observation as of today; No persons have tested positive for Coronavirus." : ANI

Director of Health and Family Welfare, Andhra Pradesh: Total number of 300 patients are under observation as of today; No persons have tested positive for Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/Tu70gFFORV

— ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2020

Former chief economist of World Bank, Kaushik Basu has called the novel coronavirus the first "pandemic in the age of social media". " This being the first “pandemic in the age of social media” (pitasm—pronunced “pie tasm”) it feels different from previous pandemics. Pitasm, being new, is bound to cause more panic but, for the same reason, is likely to be contained better than pandemics before tasm," he tweeted.

In another tweet, the professor of economics at the Cornell University said that people should take precautions but they should also know this isn’t the biggest pandemic.

People should take precautions but they should also know this isn’t the biggest pandemic. (Flu 1968, 1 mill dead. Asian Flu 1956, 2 mill dead). This is causing such panic since it’s the FIRST Pandemic in the age of social media (PITASM, pronounce “pie tasm”). We’ll need the word.

— Kaushik Basu (@kaushikcbasu) March 12, 2020

Chinese airlines reported a total loss of 20.96 billion yuan or $3 billion in February as the coronavirus epidemic spread and hit travel demand, the aviation regulator said on Thursday, reports Reuters.

China's overall aviation industry recorded a loss of 24.59 billion yuan for the month, Zhang Qing, an official with Civil Aviation Administration of China, told a press conference.

Greece reports first coronavirus death, reports Reuters. The health ministry said the 66-year-old man had underlying health issues.

The Kerala High Court registrar has sent a notice to all district judges to consider only cases of urgent importance due to coronavirus outbreak, reports ANI.

The notice states, ''consideration of non-essential cases should be postponed".

All darbars and public meetings in Jammu and Kashmir put on hold till 31 March in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will be tested for the new coronavirus, his spokesman said Thursday.

The Philippines has seen a jump this week in cases, including people who recently attended events with Senate lawmakers and government officials, potentially exposing them.

In response, the Senate building and Philippine central bank were undergoing cleaning, and several officials announced they would isolate themselves as a precaution.

Duterte, who at 74 is in a vulnerable age group for the virus, will be tested because he has been in regular contact with some of those officials.

"It is just prudent for us to take precautionary measures in compliance with the advice of our health officials," said presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo, adding he too was to be tested.

Thailand reported 11 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases in the Southeast Asian country to 70, health officials said, reports Reuters.

All of the new patients had socialised and shared drinks, health officials said, adding that a tourist from Hong Kong had been the source of the infection.

"The Hong Kong tourist came alone and already went back. The 11 infected are all Thai," said Sopon Iamsirithawon, director-general of the Communicable Diseases Department.

It was the biggest jump in cases for weeks in Thailand.

The BSE Sensex plummeted over 1,700 points on Thursday tracking similar cues in the global markets after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus as a global pandemic.

All Asian indices also were trading in the red. WHO declared the disease a pandemic on Wednesday following which the Dow Jones Industrial Average also slumped significantly.

Americans should reconsider foreign travel because of the spreading new coronavirus, the State Department said late Wednesday.

"The Department of State advises US citizens to reconsider travel abroad due to the global impact of COVID-19," it said in a statement.

The advisory followed a nationally televised address earlier in the evening by President Donald Trump, who suspended travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days.