New Delhi:
Even as Prime minister Narendra Modi imposed a nationwide a 21-day lockdown in an attempt to stall the spread of coronavirus, the country's total number of cases rose to 562 with 11 deaths, on Wednesday.
Tamil Nadu reported its first the death of a 54-year-old coronavirus patient.
"Despite our best efforts, the COVID-19 positive patient at MDU, Rajaji Hospital, passed away… he had medical history of prolonged illness with steroid dependent COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), uncontrolled diabetes with hypertension," Tamil Nadu's Health Minister C Vijayabaskar.tweeted.
Six fresh cases were reported from Chennai on Tuesday. Five of them had a history of travelling to foreign countries. A One local person with no travel history was also infected by COVID-19 disease. A 65-year-old man, who had recently returned from New Zealand, tested positive for the coronavirus in Chennai. Patients were admitted to hospitals and the treatment had started, said the state health minister.
The nation-wide lock-down restrictions came into force at midnight and will be in force for 21 days. The new measures follow a sharp increase in cases in recent days. India, which has a population of 1.3 billion, joins a growing list of countries that have imposed similar measures.
"This is a curfew," he said in a televised speech.. "We will have to pay the economic cost of this but it is for your safety."
Covid-19 has affected 421,413 people globally and 18,810 people have died from it across the world.