Coronavirus pandemic: Govt issues advisory as 4th death reported; int’l flights banned for a week

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation tonight at 8pm as the number of cases has surged to 167 in the country with four deaths reported, the latest being from Punjab.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), National Institute of Open Learning and all higher education institutions have postponed the ongoing examinations for 10 days.

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The CBSE postponed Board examinations scheduled from March 19 to March 31, including re-exams scheduled for students in Northeast Delhi affected by the recent riots. The Board will announce the new schedule by the end of the month after “re-assessment of the situation”.

PM Shri @narendramodi will address the nation on 19th March 2020 at 8 PM, during which he will talk about issues relating to COVID-19 and the efforts to combat it.

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 18, 2020

The World Health Organisation on Wednesday called the coronavirus an “enemy against humanity”, as the number of infected people worldwide rose to 218,631 and claimed 8,810 lives. The Director General of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists in a virtual news conference,”This coronavirus is presenting us with an unprecedented threat,”

He stressed the need for countries everywhere to “come together as one against a common enemy: an enemy against humanity.” He also talked about African countries which have been least affected by the virus for now with 233 cases and four deaths in total.

Media briefing on #COVID19 with @DrTedros. #coronavirus https://t.co/MohOl6pDDJ

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 18, 2020

“In other countries, we have seen how the virus actually accelerates after a certain tipping point, so the best advice for Africa is to prepare for the worst, and prepare today,” he said. “Africa should wake up.”

Italy saw 475 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, the highest one-day official toll of any nation since the first case was detected in China late last year.

Meanwhile, China’s Hubei province reported zero new cases on Thursday for the first time since this pandemic originated in the country. State backed China Daily reported, the lockdown in Wuhan may be lifted once there are no new cases for 14 days.