Two more Indian nationals succumbed to COVID-19 on March 19 — one in Punjab and the other in Iran — taking the death toll to five on a day the government announced a total ban on flights by scheduled international passenger aircraft at Indian airports from March 22 to 29.
Globally, the number of deaths due to the novel coronavirus epidemic crossed 9,200 while the number of cases rose to over 2,25,000 from 200,000 in the last 24 hours.
Coronavirus | Interactive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India
The number of COVID-19 positive Indians rose to 424, of which 148 contracted the disease in the country and 276 overseas. Twenty-five foreigners have already tested positive for the pandemic in India.
“The total number of active COVID-19 cases across India stands at 148 so far,” the Union Health Ministry said. Twenty others have been cured/discharged/migrated. Till Thursday 14,31,734 people were screened across airports, the Ministry said.
Reports from States put the number of persons in the country who have tested positive for the virus at 184 with 165 active cases. Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Chandigarh reported their first COVID-19 patients.
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According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total o