India reported the death of a COVID-19 patient from Punjab on Thursday taking the toll in the country to four, the Union health ministry said.

According to the ministry, the number of novel coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 173.

The cases include 25 foreign nationals -- 17 from Italy, three from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each from Canada, Indonesia and Singapore. The figure also includes four deaths reported from Punjab, Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Delhi has, so far, reported 12 positive cases which includes one foreigner, while Uttar Pradesh has recorded 19 cases, including one foreigner. Maharashtra has 47 cases, including three foreigners, while Kerala has recorded 27 cases which include two foreign nationals.

Karnataka has 14 coronavirus patients. The number of cases in Ladakh rose to eight and Jammu and Kashmir four. Telangana has reported six cases which include two foreigners.

Rajasthan has also reported seven cases including that of two foreigners. Tamil Nadu and Punjab have two cases so far. Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Puducherry and Chandigarh have reported one case each. In Haryana, there are 17 cases, which include 14 foreigners.

As the virus continued to spread its tentacles across India, several parts, including Kashmir valley headed towards a virtual lockdown with the administration restricting movement of people in several parts and banning all public transport in Srinagar city.

Punjab also inched towards virtual shutdown with the government announcing suspension of public transport services from Friday midnight and restricting public gatherings to less than 20 besides deciding to close down marriage palaces, hotels, restaurants, banquets and dining places, except home delivery services and takeaways in the entire state.

As part of its efforts to detect and prevent the spread of coronavirus, which has claimed over 8,000 lives globally and infected more than two lakh, the Centre allowed 50 per cent of its employees to work from home besides staggering working hours for its staff. It also directed the Heads of Departments (HoDs) to ensure that 50 per cent of Group B and C employees are required to attend office every day and the remaining 50 per cent staff is instructed to work from home.

While the Indian Railways decided to suspend all concessional tickets except for patients, students and those in the Divyangjan category from the midnight of March 20 till further notice to discourage unnecessary travel, IndiGo announced pay cuts for senior employees, including of its CEO who would take the highest cut of 25 per cent amid the novel coronavirus pandemic that has hit the aviation industry hard.

In the national capital, the upscale Sunder Nagar market in South Delhi has been closed till March 31 in view of the coronavirus outbreak, the traders' body said. It is the first market to shut down in the capital.

All international flights banned from March 22

Amid coronavirus pandemic, India on Thursday announced it will not allow any international commercial passenger aircraft to land from March 22 to March 29.

The central government said the railways and civil aviation ministry must suspend all concessional travel on trains and flights, except for students, patients and disabled people.

"Similarly, all children below 10 should be advised to stay at home and not to venture out," it added.

The Centre has requested states to enforce work from home for private sector employees, except for those working in emergency and essential services.

Dabbawalas suspend service till March 31

Mumbai's famed tiffin suppliers, the dabbawalas, on Thursday said they are suspending their services till March 31 in view of the coronavirus situation.

Subhash Talekar, spokesperson of Mumbai Dabbawala Association, said the service will remain suspended from Friday as a precautionary measure.

Talekar said chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has appealed not to crowd on local trains to contain coronavirus and hence responding to his appeal their association decided to suspend the tiffin delivery service.

Railways cancel 84 more trains

The Indian Railways on Thursday cancelled 84 trains, which will not operate between March 20 and March 31, taking the number of trains cancelled in view of low occupancy and coronavirus pandemic to 155, officials said.

Railway officials said the trains were identified on Wednesday night and the decision would be effective from March 20 to March 31.

These include IRCTC operated two Tejas Express trains and one Humsafar Express train.

All passengers having tickets in these 155 trains are being informed about it individually. No cancellation fee will be taken for these trains. Passengers will get 100 per cent refund

Indian Railways official

"All passengers having tickets in these 155 trains are being informed about it individually. No cancellation fee will be taken for these trains. Passengers will get 100 per cent refund," an official said.

Tourist specials like Maharaja, Buddhist, Bharat Darshan, and state specials have already been cancelled. The decision to cancel the Tejas service between Mumbai-Ahmedabad and New Delhi-Lucknow and the recently launched Humsafar service between Indore-Varanasi was taken on Wednesday night, officials said.

The national transporters has also issued a set of guidelines to zonal headquarters for its catering staff, saying no employee having fever, cough, runny nose or difficulty in breathing "should be deployed in the business of food handling on the Indian Railways".

Punjab to suspend public transport Friday midnight

The Punjab government has announced suspension of public transport services from Friday midnight, besides restricting public gatherings to less than 20, in the state, inching closer to a shutdown amid the global outbreak of coronavirus.

It has also decided to shut marriage palaces, hotels, restaurants, banquets and dining places, except home delivery services and takeaways in the entire state.

Public transport buses, tempos and auto rickshaws will be suspended from the midnight of Friday, local bodies minister Brahm Mohindra said.

These decisions were taken in a meeting of the seven-member Group of Ministers (GoM), formed by the Punjab government to review the situation triggered by the coronavirus outbreak on a daily basis.

The GoM also decided to restrict the public gathering to 20. Earlier, it was restricted to 50 people.

The minister further said the public dealing in the government offices will also be restricted.

He further said the exams of classes 10 and 12 of the Punjab School Education Board have been postponed till March 31.

All commissioners, deputy commissioners, senior superintendent of police have been directed not to leave their stations, said the minister.

The government is ready to deal with any eventuality, he further said, adding that the number of isolation wards would also be increased in hospitals.

Passengers wear masks a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic, at a railway station, in Jammu, Wednesday, March 18, 2020 PTI

Chidambaram for immediate lockdown

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram has called for an immediate lockdown of all towns and cities for 2-4 weeks to contain the spread of coronavirus.

In a series of tweets, Chidambaram said since ICMR's random sample testing has revealed that there is no community transmission of coronavirus (Stage 3) so far, this is the moment to announce a temporary lockdown and contain the disease at Stage 2.

Some states that are ahead of the central government should go ahead and lockdown their towns and cities, he said.

"After WHO Director General's statement yesterday, there should be no hesitation in ordering an immediate lockdown of all our towns and cities for 2-4 weeks," he said.

The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday said the coronavirus was an "enemy against humanity", as the number of people infected in the global pandemic soared past 200,000.

Chandigarh reports first case

A 23-year-old woman, who returned from London, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the first confirmed case of the deadly infection in Chandigarh, an official said on Thursday.

The sample of the woman, a resident of Sector 21, was tested at the testing centre at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), the official said.

"The sample of the woman, who returned from London, has come positive," PGIMER director Jagat Ram told PTI.

Ram, however, said she was admitted to a local hospital here and her condition was stable, adding that it was the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Chandigarh.

Roads leading towards Ban Ganga Darshani Deodi wears a deserted look after the government suspended pilgrimage amid coronavirus threat, at Katra about 45km from Jammu, Thursday, March 19, 2020 PTI

Postpone exams, UGC tells varsities

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed all universities and affiliated colleges to postpone examinations till March-end due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The evaluation work will be suspended during the period too.

"All universities and affiliated colleges should postpone exams till March 31 and suspend evaluation work. Further schedule should be decided following a review of the situation," the commission said in an order.