25 doctors in Kerala under observation after colleague tests positive

Amid the global scare over coronavirus, the fourth batch of 53 Indians returned to India from Iran on Monday, taking the total number of people evacuated from the coronavirus-hit country to 389.

Meanwhile, a major piece of good news surfaced in Jaipur on Sunday as three out of the four COVID-19 patients were cured with a novel combination of medicines given to malaria, swine flu and HIV positive patients at the state’s biggest government hospital, the Sawai Mansingh Hospital in Jaipur.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 113 on Monday, with Maharashtra reporting the highest followed by Kerala, while over 450 stranded Indians were flown back from Italy and Iran, the two worst-affected countries after China, and quarantined.

Extending the border restrictions in view of the Coronavirus outbreak, the government has suspended travel and registration of pilgrims to Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara through the corridor from Sunday midnight, besides the movement of all types of passengers to Pakistan through international border points.

In a video conference of SAARC members, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed setting up a COVID-19 emergency fund with India committing USD 10 million initially for it, and asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic, which has now reportedly killed more than 6,000 across the world, was by coming together and not growing apart.