Highlights| Six employees of Mumbai's Taj hotel test positive for coronavirus

Total number of Covid-19 cases in the country is 7,447 now, 642 people have recovered. In the last 24 hours - there have been 1,035 new cases and 40 deaths. Total 239 deaths have been reported so far: Govt

There is no address to the nation by PM Modi today, tweeted news agency ANI quoting Government of India Sources.

Lockdown and containment measures are important to fight Covid-19. If we have not taken any measures then we might have had 2 lakh cases at this time: Health Ministry

India’s response to Covid-19 has been proactive. We have followed a graded approach. There are 586 Covid-19 dedicated hospitals and more than 1 lakh isolation beds in the country: Health Ministry

Ministry of Home Affairs in a letter today requested states/UTs to provide police security to doctors and other medical staff, as needed, in the hospitals and the quarantine facilities where they are working: Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs

"PM told us that we must not compromise on lockdown and we are receiving suggestions for extending it for next 15 days. PM said in next 1-2 days Govt of India will announce guidelines for next 15 days," ANI quoted Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa as saying.

"When every citizen of India worries about their own life and world and decides to abide by the rules set by the government, follow their duties, then it will strengthen our fight against coronavirus," said PM Modi.

"'Jaan hai to jahan hai'. When I had addressed the nation I had said that to save life of every citizen, lockdown and social distancing are very important. Most of the people understood this and stayed at home," PM Modi said during video conference with chief ministers today.

"PM has taken correct decision to extend lockdown. Today, India’s position is better than many developed countries because we started lockdown early. If it is stopped now, all gains would be lost. To consolidate, it is imp to extend it," Arvind Kejriwal tweeted after PM's video conference with chief ministers on Saturday.

China reported on Saturday a rise in new coronavirus infections, mostly in travellers arriving from abroad, as doctors in the central city of Wuhan, where the virus initially emerged, warned its behaviour was still not well-understood, according to Reuters.

Tough curbs imposed in China since January have reined in infections sharply since the height of the pandemic in February, although it has spread worldwide to infect 1.6 million people with 100,000 deaths.

The Philippines reported 26 new coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, taking the total to 247, according to a report in Reuters.

It also confirmed 233 new infections for a tally of 4,428. Seventeen more patients have recovered, the health ministry said in a bulletin, bringing the number of recoveries to 157.

According to Reuters, Malaysia reported 184 new coronavirus cases, taking tally to 4,530 with 3 new deaths due to Covid-19.

On BJP MLA A Jayaram's birthday celebrations amid lockdown due to coronavirus outbreak, Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar on Saturday said "I am sure that the Chief Minister will take action on all these types of activities. We have already petitioned to DGP. Suo moto case should be registered immediately," as quoted by ANI.

Singapore expressed gratitude to India for facilitating evacuation of its 699 residents, who returned home on special chartered flights on Friday and Saturday, according to a report in PTI.

The Singapore High Commission in New Delhi, Singapore Consulate-General in Mumbai, and the Singapore Consulate-General in Chennai coordinated the evacuation and ground operations in India.

Russia reported 1,667 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the national tally of confirmed cases to 13,584, according to news agency Reuters.