COVID-19 cases in India jump to 1175 amid plight of migrant workers, toll reaches 32

According to the latest figure updated at 12 pm, 32 of 1175 people have died while 110 patients have recovered.

At present 1031 people are infected with the deadly virus amid fears sparked by under-testing in India and entering the community transmission phase (Stage 3) though the country's apex biomedical research body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said India is still in stage 2 with the contagion largely confined to people with a travel history and those who came in their contacts.

The state of Maharashtra has recorded the maximum number of deaths (8) followed by Gujarat (6).

UPDATE At 4 pm: Total cases: 1197; Deaths: 34; Recovered: 110; Active Cases: 1054

As India is going through a massive 21-day lockdown, which began on last Wednesday, the migrant workers were seen crossing the state borders to reach their homes though the central government has repeatedly urged people to stay whereever they were to stop the spread of COVID-19.

While several migrant workers were seen harassed by police officials on roads, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his monthly radio address to the nation on Sunday apologised for causing "inconvenience" to the poor.

"I apologise to the nation for taking some hard decisions that have caused inconvenience to the common man. I believe you will forgive me. I had to take these steps to ensure your protection," Modi said while addressing the nation in Mann ki Baat programme.

"People must be thinking that what kind of PM I am ...Many are also angry with me to force you to stay indoors. But lockdown is the only solution right now. Many people are still defying lockdown... this is sad..," the Prime Minister said.

According to media reports, at least 22 migrant workers including their kins have lost their lives in their efforts to reach home during the lockdown which has exempted essential services like grocery shops, pharmacies, banks, ATMs and media.

Though Prime Minister Modi and several state governments have assured people of sufficient food supplies and called for no hoarding, an 11-year old boy in Bihar's Bhojpur reportedly died out of hunger due to the strict enforcement of the lockdown.

In major cities too, the idea of social distancing went for a toss as long queues with huge number of people were a familiar picture outside the grocery shops.

Though it was speculated that the lockdown, which will remain in effect till Apr 14 midnight, could be extended by the central government at least for a month, the Centre has rubbished the rumours and media reports calling it "baseless".

"Alert : There are rumours & media reports, claiming that the Government will extend the #Lockdown21 when it expires. The Cabinet Secretary has denied these reports, and stated that they are baseless #PIBFactCheck #lockdownindia #coronaupdatesindia #IndiaFightsCorona," Press Information Bureau tweeted on Monday.