India's number of coronavirus cases tops 21,000
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called on authorities of all states and union territories to ensure strict lockdown until April 14, which was later extended until May 3
NEW DELHI, April 23. /TASS/. The number of coronavirus cases in India has surged by 1,400 in the past 24 hours to reach 21,393 by Thursday morning. Meanwhile, the total fatalities have risen from 640 to 681 in one day, the Indian Health Ministry said on its website.
According to the ministry, 16,454 coronavirus patients are receiving treatment in Indian hospitals, while 4,258 people recovered.
Yesterday, the Indian government passed a law introducing particular punishment for attacking medical workers — between six months and seven years behind bars. Reports of harassed and attacked doctors and medical staff are coming from all over India, residents of cities’ outskirts worry that their districts will be declared contamination zones and placed under a strict lockdown, and therefore, they are trying to not let medical professionals through to them.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called on authorities of all states and union territories to ensure strict lockdown until April 14, which was later extended 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.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 2,600,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 184,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 723,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.