Novel coronavirus cases climb to 223 in India

Novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 223 on Friday after 50 more people were infected with the fast-spreading virus in various parts of the country, according to Health Ministry data.

Among those found positive for coronavirus are 32 foreign nationals, including 17 from Italy, three from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each belonging to Canada, Indonesia and Singapore.

The figure also includes four deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra so far.

"The total number of active COVID-19 cases across India stands at 196 so far," the ministry said, adding that 23 others have been cured/discharged/migrated while four have died.

Delhi has, so far, reported 17 positive cases, which includes one foreigner, while Uttar Pradesh has recorded 23 cases, including one foreigner.  Maharashtra has 52 cases, including three foreigners, while Kerala has recorded 28 cases which include two foreign nationals.

Karnataka has 15 coronavirus patients. The number of cases in Ladakh rose to 10 and Jammu and Kashmir four. Telangana has reported 17 cases, which include nine foreigners.  Rajasthan has also reported 17 cases, including that of two foreigners. Tamil Nadu has three cases so far while Andhra Pradesh has three.

In Haryana, there are 17 cases, which include 14 foreigners. Odisha has two cases while Uttarakhand has three cases so far.

West Bengal and Punjab each reported two cases while Puducherry, Chandigarh and Punjab reported one case each.

"A total of 14,376 samples from 13,486 individuals have been tested for SARS-CoV2 as on March 20," Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) officials said.