Coronavirus Outbreak: COVID-19 Cases Count Crosses 2,500 In India; 62 Deaths So Far- All You Need To Know

At least 62 people have died in India due to the novel coronavirus so far. The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country climbed to at 2,547 by Friday evening, according to the figures released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. India saw the highest ever spike of novel coronavirus positive cases with 478 case being recorded in the last 24 hours.

Here's all you need to know about the COVID-19 crisis in India: 

1. The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 2,322, while 162 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated, the ministry stated. The 2,547 figure includes 55 foreign nationals. Six deaths were reported in India since Friday morning- four were from Telengana and one each from Gujarat and Punjab.
2. Maharashtra has reported the most number of deaths (16) so far, followed by Gujarat (8), Telengana(7), Madhya Pradesh (6), Punjab (5), Delhi (4), Karnataka (3), West Bengal (3), Jammu and Kashmir (2), Uttar Pradesh (2) and Kerala (2). Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have reported a death each.
3. In the last two days around 647 confirmed coronavirus cases related to Tablighi Jamaat evacuees from Delhi's Nizamuddin area were found in 14 states - Andaman and Nicobar, Assam, Delhi, Himachal, Haryana, J&K, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, Union Health Ministry confirmed on Friday.
4. The Uttar Pradesh government has filed invoked the strict National Security Act (NSA) against some members of the Tablighi Jamaat, the Islamic sect whose religious gathering in Delhi has been linked to hundreds of coronavirus cases. The charges were filed after allegations of misconduct against and assault on nurses at a Ghaziabad hospital. While ordering the charges to be filed, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath described them as "enemies of humanity".
5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the nation through a video message where he urged the countrymen to switch off all the lights of their house on 5th April at 9 PM for 9 minutes, and just light a candle, 'diya', or mobile's flashlight, to mark the fight against coronavirus pandemic. However, this time, he requested people not to come out from their house and maintain social distancing.
6. Air India has stopped bookings for domestic and international flights till April 30 as it awaits a decision from the government on the lockdown that ends on April 14, according to a spokesperson. Vistaara, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir said they are taking bookings for domestic flights starting April 15. In the case of SpiceJet and GoAir, they have started selling tickets for international flights from May 1.
7. The Election Commission on Friday said it is using its constitutional powers to defer Rajya Sabha polls to 18 seats beyond the terms of the retiring members, keeping in mind the health hazard involved due to coronavirus pandemic and the 21-day nationwide lockdown.
8. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised the trading hours of debt as well as currency markets from Tuesday in view of the lockdown following the outbreak of coronavirus. The revised market timings will be effective during April 7-17, 2020, the central bank said in a circular on Friday. The market will open at 10 am instead of the current 9 am and closing timings too have been revised to 2 pm for all segments.