Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: No International Flights Will Be Allowed To Land In India From March 22 For A Week

The novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 169 on Thursday, according to the updates provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. On Thursday, 18 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country. The cases include 25 foreign nationals - 17 from Italy, 3 from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each belonging to Canada, Indonesia and Singapore. The figure also includes three deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra so far.

"The total number of active COVID 2019 cases across India stands at 151 so far," a health ministry official said, adding that 15 others have been either cured, discharged or migrated while three have died. 

On Wednesday, Indian army reported its first case as a 34-year-old soldier of Ladakh Scout regiment tested positive, prompting the force to strengthen its check and prevention mechanism and suspend war games and training activities. The total number of Indians infected by coronavirus abroad stands at 276 -- 255 in Iran, 12 in UAE, five in Italy, and one each in Hong Kong, Kuwait, Rwanda and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Italy reported 475 new deaths from the novel coronavirus on Wednesday- the highest single-day official toll of any nation since the first case was detected in China late last year. The previous record high of 368 deaths was also recorded in Italy, on Sunday. Italy has now reported more than one-third of all the deaths officially attributed to Covid-19 across the world. China on Thursday reported no new domestic cases of the coronavirus for the first time since it started recording them in January, but recorded a spike in infections imported from abroad. However, there were 34 cases that were brought in from abroad, the biggest daily increase in two weeks, according to the National Health Commission.

The novel coronavirus has killed nearly 8,000 people globally and infected over 200,000 others. (With agecny inputs)