Coronavirus cases climb to 30 in India, PM cancels Brussels visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not visit Brussels after India and European Union decided to call off the India-EU summit in the wake of the outbreak of coronavirus in Italy claiming more than 100 lives. The number of confirmed cases in India mounted to 30 after a Ghaziabad local tested positive on Thursday.

Passengers from Italy, Korea, who are planning to visit India will now need a certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from the designated laboratories authorised by the health authorities of those countries, India announced in a travel advisory on Thursday. This will be in force from 12 am on March 10.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said an Indian medical team will reach Iran today and the authorities are working on the logistics with their Iranian counterparts for the return of the Indians stranded there in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country. “Indian medical team to reach Iran Thursday, first clinic at Qom likely to be set up by evening to start screening for coronavirus,” he said.  An estimated  1,200 Indians are stranded in Iran in view of the coronavirusoutbreak.

INDIAN EXPRESS