724 confirmed COVID-19 cases in India: Health Ministry

A total of 724 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Friday.

"Till now 724 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed, total deaths stand at 17. In the last 24 hours, 75 new positive cases and 4 deaths have been reported," said Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry.

"We have given an order to a PSU to provide 10,000 ventilators. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has also been requested to purchase 30,000 additional ventilators in 1-2 months," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to tackle the menace.