Coronavirus: Infected cases rise to 30, Delhi shuts primary schools and Mumbai isolates 9 suspects

• The total number of coronavirus infected people in India stands at 30.
  
• Government made COVID-19 free certificates mandatory for travellers from Italy and South Korea.
  
• Delhi primary schools will remain closed till March 31, Manish Sisodia deputy CM tweeted.
  
• Mumbai has quarantined nine people and the chief minister said that the next eight days are crucial.

The epidemic of Coronavirus is spreading fast and the count of infected patients rose to 30. A middle-aged man was admitted at a Ghaziabad hospital today (March 5) after testing positive for coronavirus, says a PTI report.

Like most others who are infected in India, the patient has a travel history -- and had been to Iran. Dr Harsh Vardhan, the Union Health Minister told Rajya Sabha that there is a universal screening for all international passengers at 21 airports in India, in order to stop infected tourists from entering the country.

The current number of coronavirus confirmed cases in India stands at 30. This news came after a patient in Gurugram Paytm office was tested positive, late night yesterday (March 4).

Currently, two of the infected patients are in New Delhi including the PayTm employee. Another patient in Telangana who travelled to Dubai. The other six include those from Agra who were infected after coming in contact with the Delhi patient.

Next 8 days are crucial says Maharashtra CM

In Maharashtra, 167 travelers have been quarantined since January upon landing at the Mumbai airport. However, only nine are currently admitted to isolation wards as suspected cases. The state has not reported any confirmed case of virus infection, yet.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday asked people not to panic over the coronavirus situation in the state, adding the next eight days are crucial and people need to remain cautious.

The number of infected cases increased steadily in the last three days after a group of 17 tourists who travelled to Rajasthan and later Agra in Uttar Pradesh, tested positive. The group included 16 Italians and an Indian driver.

And, 14 of the Italian tourists who tested positive for COVID-19 were admitted to the Medanta hospital in Haryana. The hospital, in a statement said, "Medanta has received, at the special request of the government, 14 asymptomatic persons suspected to have COVID-19.

Delhi closes all primary schools

As a precautionary measure, the Delhi government on Thursday decided to close all primary schools in Delhi till March 31.

Informing about the decision, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia tweeted: "As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19 amongst our children, the Delhi Government has directed immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20."
The government also made COVID-19 free certificates mandatory for travellers from Italy and South Korea. The new regulation will be enforced from Tuesday (March 10). It is however a temporary measure till cases of COVID-19 subside.