Coronavirus: Confirmed cases in India rise to 169, PM Modi to address nation

A suspected coronavirus patient jumped to death from Safdarjung Hospital building in Delhi, soon after he was admitted to the facility by airport authorities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on Thursday evening on the situation arising out of coronavirus outbreak.

Bengaluru: The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country mounted to 169 after 7 Indonesian nationals were tested positive for Covid-19 in Telangana. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on Thursday evening on the situation arising out of coronavirus outbreak and the efforts to combat it, the Prime Minister's Office said on Wednesday.

"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," the PMO tweeted. In another tweet, the PMO said Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the ongoing efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Section 144 was imposed in Karnataka’s Davangere, Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases climbed by 28 on Wednesday.

Three more people tested positive in Maharashtra, which has the highest number of positive coronavirus cases so far. Three more persons, including a woman, tested positive for the Covid-19, taking the number of people with infection in the state to 45. Pune district's count touched 19 on Wednesday after a 22-year-old man with travel history to the Philippines tested positive for coronavirus in Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Meanwhile, a suspected coronavirus patient has committed suicide at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, soon after he was admitted to the facility by airport authorities. The man was brought by the airport authorities as a coronavirus suspect and was immediately put in the isolation ward. He forced open the isolation ward and jumped off the seventh floor of the building, the hospital authorities said.

Sai Baba temple in Malleshwaram in Bengaluru, Karnataka and Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gujarat will remain closed in view of the sharply increasing coronavirus cases in the country.

The historic Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad will remain closed for visitors from March 19 till March 29.

A day after banning the entry of foreign tourists to the Valley, Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday suspended the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage and all interstate bus services to the Union territory in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus.