Coronavirus: Latest updates on COVID-19 crisis around the world

Here are the latest updates on the coronavirus crisis in India and other parts of the world on Wednesday. 6:05 p.m.

US embassy says it is arranging flights to take Americans back home.  5:57 p.m. Centre allows employees due to vacate official flats to stay till May 31.

5:31 p.m. UP bans pan masala in fight against coronavirus.

5:25 p.m. Neuberg Diagnostics starts COVID-19 testing at Chennai lab after ICMR nod.

5:22 p.m. Four people, hailing from Bandipora district, test positive for coronavirus, taking the number of cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 11, officials say.  5:20 p.m.

Spain overtakes China with death toll due to coronavirus rising to 3,434. 5:17 p.m.

Around 5,000 people have signed up for the phase I clinical trial of recombinant novel coronavirus vaccine in Chinese city Wuhan. 5:14 p.m.

Nationwide lockdown to impact housing sales, realtors say. 5:08 p.m.

One more person tests positive for coronavirus in UP, taking the number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 38, senior health official says.  4:33 p.m. Britain's Prince Charles tests positive for the novel coronavirus, his office confirmed.

4:14 p.m. WTO asks members to share information on trade measures related to COVID-19.

4:08 p.m. All central government departments are asked to take letters of authorisation from Delhi police to enable movement of staff necessary for essential services.

3:53 p.m. Five more persons, including four Indonesian nationals, tested positive for coronavirus in Tamil Nadu, taking the total number of infected people in the state to 23.

3:47 p.m. All students from first to ninth standard in Tamil Nadu will be promoted considering the closure of schools to prevent coronavirus spread.

3:13 p.m. Former Union finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram describes the lockdown announced by PM Narendra Modi as a "watershed moment" in the battle against COVID-19.

3:10 p.m. Due to shortage of hand sanitisers post the coronavirus outbreak, permission has been granted to all manufacturers of drugs and cosmetics in Delhi to produce such items based on ethanol up to June 30, authorities say.  2:58 p.m.

The Ordnance Factory Board designates 285 beds for coronavirus cases. 2:53 p.m.

India may see up to 13 lakh cases of COVID-19 by mid-May, scientists warn. 2:48 p.m.

A chain of 32 CAPF hospitals with 1,900 beds earmarked to treat pandemic COVID-19 patients  2:01 p.m. Air India to incur Rs 30-35 crore loss per day following suspension of operations due to coronavirus pandemic.

1:30 p.m. Smartphone maker Vivo India donates over one lakh masks to healthcare workers in Maharashtra.

12:57 p.m. Rajasthan migrant workers in Gujarat leave for homes on foot amid lockdown to contain coronavirus spread.

12:36 p.m. GoAir CEO Vinay Dube says all employees will have pay cut in March 11:37 a.m.

The Centre has asked all states and Union Territories (UTs) not to obstruct or close food processing units, and maintain uninterrupted supply amid lockdown in the country due to coronavirus outbreak. 11:06 a.m.

With various political parties, community clubs and NGOs having to stop organising blood donation camps due to the lockdown, blood banks in West Bengal are facing an acute shortage of supply, officials say. 11:04 a.m.

The curfew clamped in Punjab to check coronavirus spread was relaxed to let people buy essential commodities, officials say. 10:37 a.m.

The UN expresses solidarity with India in its fight against coronavirus, with a top official at the world body's health agency praising PM Narendra Modi's 21-day nationwide lockdown as a "comprehensive and robust" response. 10:08 a.m.  A batch of 277 people evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Iran arrived at the Jodhpur airport in Rajasthan, a defence spokesperson says.

10:02 a.m. The number of coronavirus cases in India rise to 562 while the death toll due to COVID-19 in the country is revised down to nine, according to Health Ministry data.

9:23 a.m. Three fresh cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Telangana, taking the total number of people infected with the virus in the state to 39, state government's bulletin says.

9:22 a.m. Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus pandemic, resumes bus services within the city for the first time since the nine-week lockdown even as 47 new imported cases were reported from the country 8:44 a.m.

The Centre asks the state governments to ensure unhindered operation of essential services and their seamless availability for the general public during the 21-day lockdown period announced to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. 7:48 a.m.

The government gives power to zonal Deputy Commissioners to take "strict penal action" against landlords who have been forcing doctors and paramedical staff, engaged in fighting the novel coronavirus, to vacate their rented premises. 7:36 a.m.

The number of coronavirus cases in the US jumps by nearly 10,000 while about 150 Americans died in a day even as President Donald Trump hopes to reopen the country's economy by Easter, April 12. 5:50 a.m.

A 54-year-old man infected with coronavirus died at a hospital in Madurai, the first death recorded in Tamil Nadu due to the contagion, state Health Minister C Vijayabaskar says.  2:42 a.m. Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government bans export of anti-malarial drug hydroxycloroquine to ensure sufficient availability of the medicine in the domestic market.