Coronavirus Update: India Records 902 Cases & 21 Deaths, International Death Toll Crosses 27,300

New Delhi, March 28, 2020:

The total number of coronavirus or (COVID-19) cases in India has now risen to 902, with 21 deaths being recorded as per the latest data from the Health Ministry and State Governments.

Internationally, 27,370 deaths have been reported till date due to the coronavirus, with a large chunk of those being reported from Italy (9,134). In all, 597,458 people have been infected by the virus till now, with 133,373 having recovered. Somewhat gravely, 23,559 are said to be in a “serious” condition.

It is worthwhile to mention here that the US has now overtaken China with 1,04,256 reports of the virus reported in the country. Italy is second with 86,498 cases, while China has 81,394 cases. Notably, Italy has recorded the most number of deaths at 9,134. It is expected that the US, which has seen 1,704 deaths so far, will continue to see an uptick in the number of corona cases as the world medical community struggles to find a solution to the coronavirus that is spreading at an unprecedented rate.

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Meanwhile, the Government of India has announced a a Rs 1.7 lakh crore stimulus to help those hit by the 21-day lockdown in the country. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das also on Friday deferred the EMIs on housing, personal and auto loans for three months.

Additionally, the RBI Governor announced that it would cut its repo rate by 75 basis points (bps) to 4.4 percent. This apart, the reverse repo rate stands reduced by 90 bps to 4 percent.

The economic relief package worth Rs 1.7 lakh crore has the Garib Kalyan Yojana, which aims to benefit 80 crore poor or two-third of the population. The Government under this scheme will provide 5 kg rice or wheat free for the next three months. This is in addition to the 5 kg ration that they already get. The scheme also provides them the option of choosing their own preferred pulses of 1 kg.

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8 crore BPL families will be given free cylinders for the next three months. “We have come with a package that will immediately help those affected directly, those migrants workers, urban and rural poor. We are looking both at cash transfers as well as food security measures,” said Sitharaman, while announcing the benefits.

To benefit the construction workers, the Government has decided to direct the State Governments to use Funds under Buildings and other Construction Workers Act. The Finance Minister said, “It has Rs 31,000 crore in it. It has 3.5 crore registered workers. We intent to tell states to utilize this fund to provide assistance to workers.”

Note: Data collected from worldometers.info

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