Covid-19 highlights: India reports 437 cases in 24 hours, 1834 people infected

No new case of Covid-19 in Rajasthan, as of 9 am today, according to the state health deptartment, reports ANI.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the state still stands at 93, including 2 Italians and 17 evacuees from Iran. Out of those 93 people, 14 tested negative later while 5 have been discharged.

No new case of #COVID19 in Rajasthan, as of 9 am today, total positive cases in the state still stands at 93 (including 2 Italians & 17 evacuees from Iran). Out of those 93 people, 14 tested negative later while 5 have been discharged: Rajasthan Health Department pic.twitter.com/ptwU4YfUwZ

— ANI (@ANI) April 1, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic is the most challenging crisis the world faces since the Second World War, one that is killing people and will also lead to an economic recession that probably has no parallel in the recent past, UN chief Antonio Guterres has warned.Secretary General Guterres on Tuesday launched a new report 'Shared responsibility, global solidarity: Responding to the socio-economic' on the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19, reports PTI.

"We are facing a global health crisis unlike any in the 75-year history of the United Nations — one that is killing people, spreading human suffering, and upending people's lives. But this is much more than a health crisis. It is a human crisis," Guterres said at the virtual launch of the report.

Later, in response to a question on why he thinks the pandemic is the worst global crisis since the UN was founded, Guterres said "because it is a combination, on one hand, of a disease that represents a threat to everybody in the world and, second, because it has an economic impact that will bring a recession that probably has no parallel in the recent past."

Pune district collector Naval Kishore Ram says, "till now 60 people from Pune have been put under quarantine in connection with Nizamuddin Markaz (in Delhi) matter; nobody has symptoms, samples being sent for testing. Tracing for others is on.": ANI

Maharashtra reported 18 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, taking the total count in the state to 320, a health official said, reports PTI. Of the 18 new cases, 16 have been reported from Mumbai and two from Pune, he said.

The health official was also quoted as saying that the death toll in the state has risen to 12 in the state.

Japan remains on the brink of a state of emergency as the rate of coronavirus infections continues to increase in the country, its top government spokesman said on Wednesday, reports Reuters.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters controlling the virus was a top priority, and that the government would do "whatever is needed" to minimise the economic impact after a nationwide poll released earlier in the day showed a pessimistic turn in sentiment among manufacturers because of the virus.

Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane said that all the 14 tests conducted at Goa Medical College and Hospital on possibly infected Covid-19 patients have come negative. He added that 25 more tests will be conducted on Wednesday.: ANI

The United States on Tuesday expressed hope that America and India partnership will lead to a scientific breakthrough that will end the COVID19 pandemic which has claimed thousands of lives globally, reports ANI.

US Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, Alice Wells, cited the successful example of India and US collaboration, saying that U.S. and India, in past, collaborated to develop the rotavirus vaccine, which is expected to save 80,000 children in India alone each year.

Twenty-eight students who returned to Texas after spring break at Mexico's Cabo San Lucas beach resort have tested positive for coronavirus, although Mexican officials pushed back against the suggestion that they picked up the virus at the tourist spot.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Florida officials to open an Atlantic Coast port to a Dutch cruise ship stuck at sea with a deadly coronavirus outbreak onboard, urging the governor to drop his opposition.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced a 61 million pounds ($75.63 million) aid package on Tuesday to help the English game withstand the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Health department officials in Karnataka's Srikalahasti have identified 15 persons who had attended the Markaz gathering in Nizamuddin in Delhi last month. They have shifted them from Srikalahasti to Ruia Hospital in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh: ANI

Chittoor: Health department officials in Srikalahasti have identified 15 persons who had attended the Markaz gathering in Nizamuddin (Delhi). They have shifted them from Srikalahasti to Ruia Hospital in Tirupati. #AndhraPradesh #COVID19 (31.3.2020) pic.twitter.com/ebZ3yG4Gnd

— ANI (@ANI) April 1, 2020

US coronavirus deaths set one-day record at 865, according to Johns Hopkins University: AFP news agency

The captain of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt told the Pentagon that new coronavirus is spreading uncontrollably through his ship and called for immediate help to quarantine its crew, reports AFP.

But Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday ruled out evacuating the ship, whose plight bears similarities to that on civilian cruise ships where the COVID-19 illness spread.

Captain Brett Crozier wrote in a four-page letter that they had not been able to stem the spread of COVID-19 through the 4,000 crewmembers, describing a dire situation aboard the vessel now docked at Guam, a US territory in the Pacific.

"We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die," Crozier wrote, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which published a copy of the letter on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump and his top healthcare advisers have urged Americans to follow strict social distancing measures ahead of a "tough two weeks" that could lead to at least 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus in the United States, reports Reuters.

"It's absolutely critical for the American people to follow the guidelines for the next 30 days. It's a matter of life and death," Trump said during a news conference at the White House on Tuesday.

Trump said the next two weeks would be "very, very painful."

"We want Americans to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead," Trump said, predicting light at the end of the tunnel after that.