India reported its third coronavirus fatality with a 63-year-old dying in Mumbai, health ministry officials said as the number of positive cases rose sharply to 137 and more parts of the country shut down to stem the spread of the infection.
The government, which had earlier banned the entry of passengers from European Union countries, Turkey and the United Kingdom from March 18 till March 31, also closed its doors to those from Afghanistan, the Philippines and Malaysia with immediate effect, according to an additional travel advisory.
Unheard of till just a few days ago, ‘social distancing’ was the buzz-term as public spaces, including monuments such as the Taj Mahal, shut down and many thousands of people prepared to spend the next few days confined to home, working or studying online.
The Mumbai patient with a travel history to Dubai is the first COVID-19 death in Maharashtra, which has the most number of coronavirus cases at 39, officials said.
Earlier, a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi in Karnataka with a travel history to Saudi Arabia and a 68-year-old woman in Delhi died after they tested positive for the infection that according to Johns Hopkins University has infected 1,82,000 people and claimed over 7,100 lives globally.
The Maharashtra patient, whose wife also tested positive and is stable, was in a private hospital for five days and subsequently referred to Mumbai’s Kasturba Hospital, officials said. He reportedly did not disclose his travel history when he was admitted to the private hospital.
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the exact cause behind his death is being ascertained as he was also suffering from various ailments.
The 137 positive cases, 23 more since Monday night, have been reported from 15 states and union territories. The number includes 24 foreign nationals.
Among the new cases are two people from the suburb of Noida bordering the national capital. One recently returned from France and is already in isolation. The other has also been quarantined, Chief Medical Officer Anurag Bhargava said.
