Covid-19 cases in the country rise to 126; West Bengal reports first case

Agencies
A 64-year-old patient became the third victim of novel coronavirus at Mumbai's Kasturba hospital in India yesterday. Meanwhile, the number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 126 after fresh cases were reported from several states.

The confirmed cases include 22 foreign nationals and two persons who died in Delhi and Karnataka. According to the ministry's data, 13 people have been discharged so far, including the three Kerala patients.

Yesterday, West Bengal reported its first Covid-19 case, an 18-year-old youth who returned to Kolkata from England recently.

A state health ministry official confirmed this last night, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

In a bid to discourage gathering of large crowds in view of the coronavirus, some zonal railways have hiked the platform ticket charges from Rs 10 to Rs 50, officials said yesterday.

This has been done by six divisions of the Western railway zone -- Mumbai, Vadodra, Ahmedabad, Ratlam, Rajkot, Bhavnagar -- that covers around 250 railway stations, reports TNN.

In Southern railway zone, price of platform ticket only in Chennai has been raised, officials said, adding in Central zone, comprising of five divisions -- Mumbai (CST), Bhusawal, Nagpur, Solapur, Pune -- prices have been raised across all stations.

In an unprecedented move, the state government in Maharashtra - where maximum coronavirus cases have been reported in India - on Monday said it would "stamp" all those who have been sent to home quarantine amid scare over the pandemic, reports NDTV.

Left hand of those under home quarantine will be stamped to identify them easily, said Health Minister Rajesh Tope.