Kolkata/Jaipur: Novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 271 individuals, informed Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Saturday. The total figure also includes four deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra.
"A total of 271 individuals have been confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases," said the IMCR release.
A total of 15,701 samples from 14,811 individuals have been tested for SARS-CoV2 as on March 21, 2020 by 10 AM,' added the IMCR.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra shot up to 63 on Saturday, with 11 new cases detected overnight among several foreign-returned persons, a Health Department official in Mumbai said. While one case is from Pune, 10 are detected from Mumbai, including threewith no history of foreign travel.
As Maharashtra continued to lead in the number of active cases, Health Minister Rajesh Tope again appealed to people to refrain from stepping out of their homes as 'isolation' is the key to battling the COVID-19 virus.
Also Read: Coronavirus: Bollywood Singer Kanika Kapoor Booked For Negligence
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday slapped a-total ban on all non-essential services in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.
He added that the state has completely banned all flights from worst-hit 12 countries besides exercising extreme precautions for flights from all other nations at the three international airports in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur since the past over a month.
Tope advised people to respond to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call and observe the 'Janata Curfew' on Sunday by remaining indoors.
On Tuesday, COVID-19 claimed it's first victim in the state after a 63-year-old man with a history of travel to Dubai, passed away in Mumbai's Kasturba Hospital.
However, his wife and son who also tested positive are currently under treatment in the same hospital.
Coronavirus cases in West Bengal has risen to three with a young woman from Habra in North 24 Parganas district testing positive for the infection, officials said on Saturday.
Read More: On-Board Catering Services To Remain Closed From March 22: IRCTC
The woman, in her early 20s, returned from Scotland on March 15. She is now admitted at the special isolation ward of the state's primary referral hospital for infectious diseases ID Hospital Beliaghata.
State Health department sources said her family members have been asked to remain in home quarantine.
According to the woman's family, she was in home isolation since returning from Scotland. However, she developed a cough and fever and was admitted to ID Hospital on Thursday.
Her samples were sent to the virology laboratory of National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) here on Friday. The test reports confirmed she was afflicted with Novel Coronavirus.
Earlier, two males - a teenager and a youth - who came back from United Kingdom recently, tested positive for the disease. They are both admitted at ID Hospital and stated to be stable. Both are residents of South Kolkata.
Meanwhile, two trusted lieutenants of Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee - both members of Rajya Sabha - have gone into self-quarantine in view of the coronavirus scare.
Derek O'Brien, considered the face of the party in the Upper House, took the step as per protocol to escape any secondary infection as he had come in contact with a BJP MP who was present at a dinner in Lucknow recently where Bollywood celebrity singer Kanika Kapoor was also a guest. Kapoor tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.
"Yes, I am at home, and in self-isolation," O'Brien told IANS.
In a separate video message, the Trinamool spokesman said: "Am in self-isolation and following all protocol, as I was sitting right next to Dushyant Singh for one and half hours at a parliamentary committee on transport meeting on March 18.
"That day I don't remember shaking his hand. But thankfully I was wearing a mask. As a matter of abundant caution I am at home here in Delhi. My daughter is in another room, my wife is in another room," he said.
"Stay safe, and be careful. We will win this together", he added.
Another Trinamool MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy has also decided to remain in self-quarantine for 14 days. Roy had informed the House about his decision on Thursday.
In Rajasthan, a total of 657 samples have been collected out of which 17 have tested positive (three were recovered while 14 are still positive). A total of 603 samples have tested negative, while 37 are under process, he added.
Also Read: COVID-19 Death Toll In India Reaches 4, While Global Toll Exceeds 9,000
Out of 14 positive, five are from Jaipur, three from Jhunjhunu and six are from Bhilwara, he said. In Jodhpur, total samples collected till date are 33 out of which 29 are negative while four are under process. In Udaipur, total samples are 17, 16 are negative while one is under process.
In Bikaner, total samples collected are seven and out of that, four are negative while three are under process.
(With Agency Inputs)