Coronavirus live updates: WHO says Wuhan market had role in coronavirus outbreak, but more research needed

After his military aide tested positive for coronavirus, US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would undergo the Covid-19 test every day. A military aide of Trump, whom officials described as a personal vale, tested positive for coronavirus. The president said he had very little contact with him. "I have had very little contact, personal contact, with this gentleman. I know who he is. Good person. But I have had very little contact. (Vice President) Mike (Pence) has had very little contact with him. But Mike was tested and I was tested. We were both tested," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House. Responding to questions, Trump said he, the vice president and other staff of the White House would be tested for coronavirus every day. "I just had a test. In fact, I had one yesterday and one today, and it is negative. Mike just had a test and it is negative," he said. Read more

Pakistan PM Imran Khan announced on Thursday that the nationwide lockdown will be eased from Saturday. "Our poor and labourers cannot afford to live under lockdown anymore... We know that we are easing the lockdown at a time when our curve is going up. We can’t say when we’ll hit our peak...” he said. Pakistan has reported 24,930 cases with 591 deaths.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have tested negative for the coronavirus after a member of the US military who worked at the White House was found to have been infected, a White House spokesman said on Thursday. The military official was identified by CNN as a personal valet to the president. Trump has now been tested twice for the virus and both times tested negative.

The Centre has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to ramp up surveillance of severe acute respiratory illnesses (SARI) and influenza-like illnesses (ILI) and test at least 250 samples from each district to keep a check on spread of the coronavirus.

These coaches can be deployed across 23 states in the country and in major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Nagpur, Pune and Lucknow. The railways will provide healthcare facilities in 85 stations. In another 130 stations, states can request Covid care coaches only if they agree toprovide staff and drugs.

Calling it “discriminatory”, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has objected to an advisory from the Ghaziabad administration asking the city’s doctors and paramedical staff who work in Delhi to stay back in the national capital and not travel home daily, reports Aditya Dev. Within hours of the IMA saying such advisories would only allow RWAs to target doctors, a condominium in Ghaziabad’s Vaishali, Neelpadam Kunj, banned the entry of medicos residing in the society from Sunday, taking the bizarre step of denying people entry to their own houses.

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray indicated at an all-party meeting that the lockdown may be extended till the end of May in the state’s red zones, especially Mumbai and Pune metropolitan regions which have contributed 90% of the state’s cases so far. “The CM said the situation was serious and cases could spike till the end of May. He indicated the lockdown would extend at least until then,” BJP’s Praveen Darekar told TOI.

The Indian Railways operated around 201 Shramik Special trains till late Thursday night. Officials said nearly 2 lakh stranded migrant workers, tourists and students had returned to their home state or were on their way. They added Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were receiving maximum number of trains.

"During this period, migrant workers, students and stranded persons from Himachal Pradesh and Punjab have already returned to J&K," the administration said.