The proposal to allow free travel by ST buses was cleared by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday. When asked about the delay, transport minister Anil Parab said, "There were some concerns raised by districts in green zone about outbound migrants from red zone areas.

Many people trapped after a ground-plus-two-storey chawl structure collapsed at Dipjyoti Chawl of Lalji Pada in Kandivali West early on Sunday.

Fear of virus is overshadowing government appeals to businesses to resume operations

The total number of Covid-19 cases in the national capital climbed to 6,542 after 224 more people were infected by the coronavirus, the Delhi government said on Saturday. The fresh cases were reported between 4pm to midnight of May 8.

Fifteen districts are contributing 64% of the Covid-19 cases in the country and out of these five account for 50% of the cases, according to Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant. These five districts include Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chennai. All of Delhi and all of Mumbai have been considered as a district each for the purpose of the study.

The number of total confirmed cases in the country rose to 62,939, including 19,358 patients who have been cured and discharged or migrated, according to the Ministry.

Vice-President Naidu has been around in Delhi for so long, it is quite natural that he would know most fixtures in the capital by name, even journalists of a certain age.

A fringe Hindu outfit on Monday organised a 'yagna' ahead of talks between United States President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Three more positive cases of novel coronavirus have been reported in India.

In Jaipur, the combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, both second-line HIV drugs, was administered was administered on an elderly Italian couple undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at the SMS Hospital.

The whole of Italy, a country of some 60 million people, was placed under quarantine as the government stepped up efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 10,000 people.

As the government came under attack from the Opposition during the debate on the recent communal riots in the national capital that have claimed over 50 lives, the BJP members alleged that the violence was a pre-planned conspiracy and the home minister and authorities took pro-active steps to control the situation.

Authorities faced double-barrel challenge -- strengthening its check and prevention mechanism, and addressing public panic, leading to hoarding of essential items.

Four people have died including one each in Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said that the metropolitan city is the 'epicenter' of the coronavirus crisis in the United States, as government officials announced some of the most stringent measures to slow the spread of the pandemic that has claimed over 200 lives in the country.

The Union health ministry said West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported a casualty each on Monday, taking the total number of deaths to nine in the country due to COVID-19.

As 32 states and Union Territories imposed complete lockdown till March 31, the Centre asked them to clamp curfew wherever necessary in the wake of people defying lockdown orders.

The 606 positive cases includes 43 foreign nationals, the ministry said. On Tuesday, the number of cases was 519.

The Union health ministry officials also said India was at the second stage as there is still no 'hard evidence' to say that there has been community transmission of the fast-spreading coronavirus, remarks which may provide anxious citizens with much needed assurance and hope.

Trump attributed the spike in the confirmed cases of coronavirus to the large-scale testing of the deadly disease.

Concern is growing among healthcare experts who believe that if people do not follow the lockdown or social distancing seriously, the situation can quickly go out of control.

Deaths have so far been reported from Maharashtra (5), Gujarat (3), Karnataka (2), Madhya Pradesh (2) and one each from Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

The total number of positive cases has increased by 106 in the last 24 hours to reach 1,024.

The government said there was no immediate plan to extend the 21-day lockdown period, which entered its sixth day on Monday, while the Indian Army dismissed as "fake" social media posts about a possible emergency declaration next month.

Seeking cooperation from the public to fight the pandemic, the Union health ministry officials said there was no need to panic. They also said not everyone needs to wear masks and that following social distancing is more important to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

A home ministry official said while 9,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their primary contacts have been quarantined till now across the country due to "massive efforts" to check the outbreak, the Centre has written to all states and union territories that "the lockdown measures should be implemented in letter and spirit".

The highest number of confirmed cases are from Maharashtra (748), followed by Tamil Nadu at 571 and Delhi with 523 cases.Cases in Telangana have gone up to 321, in Kerala to 314, in Uttar Pradesh to 305, while the number of cases has gone up to 274 in Rajasthan.

Maharashtra has reported the most coronavirus deaths at 45, followed by Gujarat at 12, Madhya Pradesh nine, Telangana and Delhi seven each, Punjab six and Tamil Nadu five fatalities.