Mass exodus, rising count: In first weekend under lockdown, India adjusts to new normal

Looks like India has got a mass exodus on its hands. Their livelihoods lost to the lockdown, lakhs of migrant labourers have moved out of urban centres and taken to the road on an arduous homeward journey.

Meanwhile, the rise in coronavirus cases refuses to abate. The country's infection count (1024, with 27 deaths) is steadily approaching a thousand amid global death toll inching towards 32,000.

Wuhan, the virus epicentre in China, is showing signs of returning to normality even as Spain and Italy have been completely overwhelmed by the disaster. The cases in US, the country with the highest infections, is at a lakh and and a quarter.

As for China, a 57-year-old female shrimp seller in China's Wuhan city has been identified as the 'patient zero'.

PM Modi today addressed the nation through his 'Mann ki Baat' programme. In what was his third address to the nation since the pandemic began, the PM asked for forgiveness from citizens for the hardship caused by the lockdown.

Take a look at the latest developments...


NUMBERS SO FAR

• 106 new positive cases & 6 deaths reported in the last 24 hours
• 1 tests positive in Rajasthan, total number rises to 56
• 1 patient dies in Mumbai, Maharashtra death toll now 7
• 2 of the 5 infected in Patna test negative
• 5 more test positive, 1 dead in Jammu & Kashmir
• 1 casualty, 3 new cases in Gujarat; state tally up to 58, toll 5
• 5 more discharged in Pune after testing negative
• 7 more cases reported in the Maharashtra; Total count rises to 193
• 5 members of a family test positive in Meerut, UP
• 5 more test positive in Gautam Buddh Nagar; total cases now 31

HEALTH UPDATE

• 34,931 tests conducted till date; 113 labs have been made functional
• 128 Railway hospitals, 586 dispensaries across country now open to all central govt employees

LIFE IN ISOLATION

• Banks to open in Punjab on March 30 & 31
• Violators of lockdown to be sent to 14 days' quarantine
• MP govt to promote students of all classes, except 10 & 12, without exams
• Railways resumes parcel van service
• Migrant workers coming back to Bihar to be kept in quarantine for 14 days
• Another batch of 275 Indian citizens brought in from Iran, reach Jodhpur
• 28-day paid leave for patients in Noida; factory, shop workers to get daily wage for lockdown
• Goa allows e-commerce firms to home deliver essential items

WORLD VIEW

• Houston hospital first in US to try coronavirus blood transfusion therapy
• Number of confirmed cases in Germany rises to 52,547, deaths to 389
• Tokyo confirms 68 new cases, record daily increase
• Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's wife recovers
• Princess Maria Teresa of Spain becomes first royal to die from COVID-19
• US deaths surge past 2,000
• Pakistan cases reaches 1500