NEW DELHI, April 22. /TASS/. The number of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in India has risen by over 1,300 in the past 24 hours, reaching 19,984 by Wednesday morning, the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on its website. The number of deaths from the virus has risen by 50, reaching 640.

In the past several days, the daily increase in cases has reached over 1,300. In the past 24 hours, 1,383 people are reported to have contracted COVID-19.

The Health Ministry informs that currently, 15,474 people diagnosed with COVID-19 are receiving treatment in Indian hospitals, and 3,870 people have recovered.

On March 24, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on all Indian regional officials to ensure strict adherence to restrictive measures introduced in the country from March 25 to April 14. Later, the Indian PM prolonged the regime of strict self-isolation until May 3.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 2,484,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 170,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 652,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.