Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases so far at 124, including three foreign nationals, followed by Kerala, where the number of cases has climbed up to 118, including eight foreign nationals, according to the ministry data.

“A vast majority of urban Indian working professionals claim the Coronavirus has impacted their business. Although cancelled or delayed business trips emerged as the most visible initial impact of the virus, declining sales are expected to be the greatest commercial woe in the future, ” the report highlighted.

Meanwhile,Pune-based Mylab Discovery Solutions is the first Indian company to receive commercial approval for its novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, testing kits.The testing kit has been approved by the Indian FDA/Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the molecular diagnostics company said in a release.

One unit of the Mylab PathoDetect COVID-19 Qualitative PCR kit can test 1oo patients. The company said it can manufacture 1 lakh test kits a week, but can ramp up production if required.

“The industry has been scrambling to set up its own business continuity plan,” said R. Chandrashekhar, a retired federal government official and a former president of India’s IT services lobby group, NASSCOM.

“The fair value of a quality stock doesn’t change due to a few quarters of earnings downgrades,” said Saibal Ghosh, chief investment officer at Aegon Life Insurance. “At such attractive valuations, this is where we would like to bet our money,” he said.

“We estimate that the cumulative shutdown cost around USD120 billion or 4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP),” British brokerage Barclays said in a note, revising down its FY21 growth forecast by 1.7 percentage points to 3.5 per cent.

It specified the cost of the three-week nationwide lockdown to be alone at USD 90 billion, which is over and above the lockdowns announced by various states like Maharashtra earlier.

The package, which could be announced by the end of the week, will be used to put money directly into the accounts of more than 100 million poor and to support businesses hit the hardest by the lockdown, the sources said.

Addressing the media about the decisions taken by the Union Cabinet, he said the Centre and the state governments are working together to effectively implement the lockdown and ensure people do not suffer.