COVID-19: 26 Indian Navy personnel test positive; Govt says nearly 30 percent cases in country linked to Tablighi Jamaat event in Nizamuddin

At least 26 Indian Navy personnel have tested positive for coronavirus, in the first case of the major COVID-19 outbreak in country's armed forces, even as the Centre asserted that 30 percent of the total cases reported in the country till Saturday morning are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event at Delhi's Nizamuddin.

As the country completed 25 days of the nationwide lockdown on Saturday, with 15 more days to go till May 3, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the situation across India, including taking stock of the supply of essential commodities even as state governments continued to take steps to mitigate the hardships arising due to the shutdown.

Amidst spiralling numbers of coronavirus cases in India with 14,792 confirmed infections and 488 deaths on Saturday, Union health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said positive trend has been noted in 47 districts across 23 states and UTs, and also there are 22 new districts in 12 states that have not reported any fresh cases during the last 14 days. All these are the 170 hotspot and 207 non-hotspot districts identified by the government.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also said there has been a "slight decrease" in the number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital in the last three days, but appealed to people living in containment areas to follow rules and don't step out of their homes as he noted that 26 members of one family tested positive for coronavirus in an area in Jahangir Puri, declared as containment area.

At a daily media briefing about the COVID-19 situation in the country, Agarwal said, "a total of 4,291 COVID-19 cases or 29.8 per cent of the 14,378 coronavirus infections reported till Saturday morning are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation."