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Coronavirus pandemic: Bengal records India’s 8th death; Maharashtra announces curfew

China has reported only one new local infection over the past four days, a seemingly remarkable turnaround given the chaos that surrounded the initial outbreak in the city of Wuhan.

Coronavirus pandemic: Bengal records India’s 8th death; Maharashtra announces curfew

People wearing facemasks as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 novel coronavirus walk past closed shops in a market area in New Delhi. (Photo: AFP)

As the global death toll due to COVID-19 coronavirus disease reached 14,641 on Monday, major cities in India including the national capital commenced with a complete lockdown to contain the deadly virus. The lockdown will continue till the end of the month.

The decision to lock down 13 states and 80 districts came after India observed an unprecedented ‘Janata Curfew’ on Sunday to practice social distancing to contain the contagious coronavirus. The cases in India rose to 396 on Sunday with seven deaths.

With 336,000 confirmed cases worldwide, future of major events like Tokyo Olympics is also uncertain. On Monday Canada withdrew itself from participating in the prestigious sporting event. The Guardian reports, If holding the Olympics in its complete form “becomes impossible, we may have no option but to consider postponing the Games, given the Olympics’ principle of putting the health of athletes first,” Japan Prime Minister  Shinzo Abe told parliament on Monday.

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Meanwhile, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus believes China’s battle with the Coronavirus offers a beacon of hope, but others question whether Beijing’s strategy can be followed by other countries – particularly Western democracies.

China has reported only one new local infection over the past four days, a seemingly remarkable turnaround given the chaos that surrounded the initial outbreak in the city of Wuhan.

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