Total COVID-19 cases in India reaches 75; Karnataka man is country's first corona death

The number of confirmed cases of a novel coronavirus in the country has risen to 75, with the country reporting its first COVID-19 death in Karnataka the health ministry said on Friday.

Samples of the 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi, who died on March 10 tested positive for COVID-19. He had recently returned to India on February 29 after spending a month in Saudi Arabia and had co-morbidities such as asthma, hypertension and diabetes.

An employee who works in Bengaluru also tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. Karnataka reported five confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Giving details of the breakup, the union health ministry said that a total of 74 positive cases Coronavirus of have been traced in the country Thursday morning. These include 58 Indians and the remaining 17 are foreign nationals.

A maximum of 17 positive cases have been reported from Kerala including the three people who have been discharged from hospital after their return from China.

In Haryana 14 cases, all foreign nationals have been reported. 11 cases have been reported in Maharashtra and 10 cases have been traced in Uttar Pradesh. One foreign national has been tested positive from Uttar Pradesh.

A total of six cases have been confirmed in the national capital. The Delhi government has shut all the colleges, schools and movie theatres. All IPL matches in Delhi has been cancelled and not sports activities, seminars or conferences will be held in Delhi, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia announced today.

In the Union Territory of Ladakh, three people were diagnosed positive.

Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have reported one case each, the ministry said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.