New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: India on Friday reported its fifth death related to the novel coronavirus after an Italian tourist, who was tested positive of COVID-19, passed away in Jaipur on Friday.
On Thursday, a 70-year-old man succumbed to the virus in Punjab. So far, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has reached 206.
"A total of 206 individuals have been confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases. A total of 14,376 samples from 13,486 individuals have tested for COVID-19 as on 20th March, 10 am," said the Indian Council of Medical Research.
The five deaths reported in the country so far are one each from Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan.
Calling for "resolve and restraint" to fight coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked the entire country to observe 'Janta curfew' on Sunday.
In a nearly 30-minute national broadcast, he asked people to stay indoors and work from home as much as possible while underscoring the dangers of coronavirus, saying the world has never seen a crisis as grave as this.
The prime minister also announced the setting up of a 'Covid-19 Economic Response Task Force' to decide on relief package for sectors hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
The task force, to be headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will look at measures to limit economic hardship caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, he said in his address to the nation.
The ICMR has said that India is still in the second stage of transmission, i.e. local transmission. It also said that there is no sign of community transmission which is the third stage, even as the ICMR called upon private labs for testing.