Covid-19 Highlights: France reports 108 new coronavirus deaths in last 24 hours

Twitter on Wednesday barred users from posting misleading information about the new coronavirus, including denials of expert guidance and encouragement of fake treatments, tightening its normally lax rules around speech.

Twitter's new guidance, published in a blog post, said it would require people to remove content encouraging people to act against recommendations from public health authorities.

Examples it provided of statements now barred from Twitter include "the news about washing your hands is propaganda for soap companies" and "use aromatherapy and essential oils to prevent COVID-19."

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in on Thursday pledged 50 trillion won ($39 billion) in emergency financing for small businesses along with other stimulus measures to help shore up its economy, which has been battered by the coronavirus crisis.

The other measures include relaxing loan terms for small businesses and offering low interest loans. The government also promised to guarantee loans for those hit by the virus impact.

Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Thursday lifted a state of emergency declared last month over the new coronavirus, saying it sees signs of the outbreak tapering off.

The governor of Hokkaido prefecture announced the emergency measure on February 28, as infections in the region grew.

The call urged residents to avoid unnecessary outings, though it did not come with aggressive enforcement measures of the sort being implemented now in parts of Europe.

Nearly 20 days after the declaration, there were signs the spread of the coronavirus is abating, governor Naomichi Suzuki said late Wednesday.

El Salvador has registered its first case of coronavirus infection in the country, President Nayib Bukele said on Wednesday.

In a televised address, Bukele said the person was known to have visited Italy recently.

Haridwar District Magistrate C Ravishankar has issued order prohibiting the entry of visitors to Ganga Aarti site at Har-ki-Pauri till 31st March. However, the Aarti will continue to be held and will be live-streamed for devotees: ANI

Wuhan is expected to see new coronavirus infections dry up by mid-to-late March and the lockdown of the central Chinese city, the epicentre of the outbreak, may be lifted once there are no new cases for 14 days, the state-backed China Daily reported.

However, strict disease control and prevention measures will still be needed to prevent a possible rebound, China Daily reported on Thursday, citing epidemiologist Li Lanjuan.

Li is the director of China's State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases.

"If no new case of the coronavirus has been reported for 14 consecutive days in Wuhan following the last reported case, we believe it will be the time when the lockdown can be gradually lifted," Li told China Daily. "We expect new cases will cease to appear in mid or late March."

All ongoing examinations of Jammu Kashmir State Board of School Education (JKBOSE) for classes 10th, 11th and 12th being held between March 19-March 31 have been postponed in view of the coronavirus outbreak. JKBOSE chairperson Veena Pandita said that the new dates will be communicated separately.

Two members of the U.S. House announced Wednesday that they tested positive for the coronavirus as the government tries to mitigate its spread and soften the economic fallout.

Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, developed symptoms over the weekend and has been working from an apartment in Washington while in quarantine, according to a statement from his office.

A short time later, Ben McAdams, a Utah Democrat, said that he, too, had tested positive.

A 23-year-old woman, who recently flew back from England, tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, making her the first confirmed case in Chandigarh.

The patient, a resident of Chandigarh’s Sector 21, had reported at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, earlier in the day, complaining that she had developed a cold and fever after landing at the Amritsar airport on March 15 (Sunday).

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Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has decided to convene a high-level emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss measures to be taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the state,reports ANI.

All district collectors, police commissioners, SPs are invited in the meeting at Pragati Bhavan, the Telangana CMO said.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan visited Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport (T-3) to take stock of preparedness in view of coronavirus outbreak.

Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan tonight visited Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport (T-3) to take stock of preparedness in view of #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/Rf5lCYb3XK

— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2020

New Zealand on Thursday advised its citizens not to travel overseas due to the risks posed by the coronavirus.

"We are raising our travel advice to the highest level: do not travel," Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.

"This is the first time the New Zealand Government has advised New Zealanders against travelling anywhere overseas. That reflects the seriousness of the situation we are facing with COVID-19," he said.

With eight new cases linked to overseas travel reported on Thursday, the total number of infections in the country have gone up to 28.

China on Thursday reported no new domestic cases of the coronavirus for the first time since it started recording them in January, but recorded a spike in infections imported from abroad.

There were 34 cases that were brought in from abroad, the biggest daily increase in two weeks, according to the National Health Commission.

Inmates of Central Jail, Jabalpur are manufacturing masks to tackle shortage in market amid COVID19 pandemic, reports ANI.

Gopal Tamrakar, Jail Superintendent says, "A team of 100 inmates is working to produce masks. We have also received an order of 50,000 masks from Mumbai"

Madhya Pradesh: Inmates of Central Jail, Jabalpur are manufacturing masks to tackle shortage in market amid #COVID19 pandemic. Gopal Tamrakar, Jail Superintendent says, "A team of 100 inmates is working to produce masks. We have also received an order of 50,000 masks from Mumbai" pic.twitter.com/3HDfH5o3SO

— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2020

Describing himself as a “wartime president” fighting an invisible enemy, President Donald Trump on Wednesday invoked rarely used emergency powers to marshal critical medical supplies against the coronavirus pandemic, reports news agency AP.

Trump also signed an aid package — which the Senate approved earlier Wednesday — that will guarantee sick leave to workers who fall ill.

Trump tapped his authority under the 70-year-old Defense Production Act to give the government more power to steer production by private companies and try to overcome shortages in masks, ventilators and other supplies.

"Hopefully there will be no need," he added, “but we are all in this TOGETHER!”