Covid-19 updates: Coronavirus cases in India rise to 315, confirms ICMR

USA Swimming program's CEO Tim Hinchey raised concern about the safety of the Olympics games due to coronavirus outbreak. He said in a statement, "The right and responsible thing to do is to prioritise everyone’s health and safety and appropriately recognise the toll this global pandemic is taking on athletic preparations."

As New York comes into grips with rising coronavirus cases, US president Donald Trump declared that major disaster exists in the state of New York. He unlocked federal funding to ensure affected communities can avail direct federal assistance.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that there is substantial evidence "people under 50 make up a significant proportion of patients requiring hospitalization" due to coronavirus. He said that young people are not invincible.

US Space research agency NASA announced halting of production and testing for its Space Launch System and Orion hardware due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These were being prepped for the Artemis moon mission scheduled for April 2021. It has now been suspended due to the covid-19 epidemic.

Senators Ben Sasse and Congressman Mike Gallagher penned a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey asking him to ban the Chinese Communist Party from using its platform. It accused China of "rewrite the history of COVID-19 and whitewash the Party's lies to the Chinese people and the world".

The press release asked Indian students in US to exercise social distancing and avoid non-essential local travel as cases continue to rise in the United States. It also asked students to contact CDC in case of health difficulties and to contact the USCIS if a visa extension is needed.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation announced an odd-even scheme for government vehicles in order to implement social distancing, according to a statement accessed by ANI.

South Korea on Sunday reported 147 new cases of coronavirus infections. A Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention accessed by Reuters shows that the total number of cases has reached 8,799.

Pentagon in a statement said that US Defence Secretary Rajnath Singh and his US counterpart Mark Esper held a telephonic conversation where the latter praised India's efforts to contain the outbreak at a regional scale.

The Western Railways has cancelled trains 14309, 14310, 22413, 22414, 29019, and 29020 as a precautionary measure as coronavirus cases rise across the nation.

Western Railway: Six trains (14309, 14310, 22413, 22414, 29019, and 29020) have been cancelled as a precautionary measure in the wake of #COVID19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/94eAipk884

— ANI (@ANI) March 21, 2020

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in a statement said that weekday average reduced from 55 to 60 lakh passengers to 37 lakh passengers. DMRC services will also be shut due to the Janta Curfew on Sunday.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern asked citizens over 70 years to stay at home as the country closed its borders. Health authorities fear that a local outbreak might have begun in the country.

WHO highlighted covid-19’s speed where it took 90 days to infect the first 100,000 but took only less than two weeks to reach the next 100,000.

A staff from US vice president Mike Pence's office has tested positive for coronavirus. Katie Miller, the vice president's press secretary, told the media that neither Pence nor US president Donald Trump had any close contact with the staffer. Pence heads the task force which is coordinating the task force to contain the outbreak.

Governors of California, New York and Illinois has asked its residents to not step out of their homes and to do so only in cases of emergencies. The number of infected patients crossed 16,000 on Friday.