*The number of coronavirus positive cases rose to 81 in India with two more patients testing positive. Of the two cases, one is working for a private firm in Noida, while the second patient, who returned from Italy is undergoing treatment at Army’s Manesar quarantine facility. Out of 81, 64 are Indians, 16 Italian and one Canadian.
*Meanwhile, India has evacuated 44 Indians from Iran and they will be quarantined at a Naval facility set up at Mumbai’s Ghatkopar.
*The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has suspended IPL 2020 till April 15, 2020, as a precautionary measure against the on account of novel coronavirus(Covid-19) situation in the country.
*Pressing emergency button, the Karnataka government on Friday directed shut down of malls, theatres and another commercial establishment where mass gathering takes place for a week amidst coronavirus scare in the state. The order will come into effect from Saturday. Karnataka had reported the first death due to coronavirus yesterday. The patient died on his way to Kalaburagi from Hyderabad, where two private hospitals reportedly refused treatment. The private, according to media reports, hospitals directed the patient to visit Gandhi Hospital. But, the 76 yo patient preferred to go home.
*In Haryana and Bihar, all universities and colleges, as well as coaching institutes, have been closed till March of 31 in the state.
*Jammu and Kashmir’s Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences canceled leaves of all employees in order to provide uninterrupted medical services.
*According to WHO, as on Friday, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 132,500 people and killed nearly 5000 people globally.
*Kenya and Kazakhstan confirmed the first coronavirus positive cases.
*South Korea reports the lowest number of corona cases. South Korea, once the larget coronavirus outbreak outside China, has reported more newly recovered patients than fresh infection for the first time in China
* In London, an increasing number of supermarket shelves were empty as people rushed to buy pasta, toilet paper, flour, and frozen food after the government ordered people with coronavirus to isolate themselves, reports Aljazeera
*Ukraine’s government banned the entry of people from separatist-held territory in eastern Donass region into government-held regions.