The number of Covid-19 cases climbed to 2,301 in the country on Wednesday while the death toll rose to 56, according to the Union health ministry.

The number of active Covid-19 cases stands at 2,088, while 156 people were either cured, discharged or migrated to another country, the ministry stated.

The figure of 2,301 includes 55 foreign nationals.

As per the ministry's updated data at 9am, three new virus-related deaths were reported from Maharashtra.

Thus, Maharashtra has reported the most deaths (16) so far, followed by Gujarat (7), Madhya Pradesh (6), Punjab (4), Karnataka (3), Telengana (3), West Bengal (3), Delhi (4), Jammu and Kashmir (2), Uttar Pradesh (2) and Kerala (2).

Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have reported one death each.

The highest number of confirmed cases of the pandemic was reported from Maharashtra at 335, followed by Tamil Nadu with 309 infections and Kerela with 286 cases so far.

The number of cases in Delhi has gone up to 219, in Rajasthan to 133 and Andhra Pradesh to 132. The cases in Karnataka have risen to 124.

Uttar Pradesh has reported 113 positive cases so far, while the cases in Telengana stand at 107. Madhya Pradesh has reported 99 cases so far, Gujarat 87 while Jammu and Kashmir has 70 positive patients so far. The number of cases has risen to 53 in West Bengal.

Punjab has reported 46 cases, while 43 Covid-19 cases have been detected in Haryana. Bihar has 24, Chandigarh has 18, Assam has 16 and Ladakh has reported 14 cases so far.

Ten cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Uttarakhand has reported 10 cases while Chhattisgarh has nine positive patients so far. Goa and Himachal Pradesh have have reported six coronavirus cases each. Odisha has five cases while Puducherry has three cases.

Jhakhand and Manipur have reported two cases each while Mizoram and Arunachal Pradeh have reported a case each.

'18 cases are being reassigned to states for contact tracing,' the ministry said on its website.

Nadda asks BJP workers to spread PM's Friday morning message

BJP president J. P. Nadda asked party workers on Friday to spread among the masses Prime Minister Narendra Modi's message to light lamps or turn on mobile phone torches on Sunday.

He also claimed that India has become a 'role model' for other countries for its help to the poor during the lockdown.

The government had announced the 21-day lockdown from March 25 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The way in which the entire country has fought the battle against the novel coronavirus unitedly under Modi's leadership is laudable, Nadda tweeted.

He also shared a video clip of World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus' appreciation of the Indian government's relief package for the poor.

'In this difficult time, when the world is fighting with COVID-19, everyone is praising Narendra Modi's leadership and his efforts. WHO chief Tedros praised PM for his efforts to help the poor amid the lockdown imposed to contain the virus. India is a role model for other nations,' Nadda said.

Noting that Modi has urged people to turn off lights at their homes and light candles, lamps or turn on mobile phone torches at 9 pm on Sunday for nine minutes, the BJP president asked party workers to take this message to the masses.

This exercise will help spread the light of the people's collective confidence and this will defeat the darkness of the coronavirus crisis, he said.

At least 1,000 undertrial prisoners in Bengal released

At least 1,000 undertrial prisoners have been released from various correctional homes in West Bengal on interim bail in keeping with the Supreme Court's directions to consider decongesting the jails in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, a senior official said here on Friday.

The process of granting bail to the undertrials commenced on March 23, West Bengal State Legal Services Authority secretary Durga Khaitan said.

Following the apex court's direction, the Calcutta High Court had formed a three-member committee to examine the situation in correctional homes in the state and the number of inmates who can be granted bail or parole to decongest the jails.

The committee is headed by Calcutta High Court judge Justice Dipankar Datta, who is also the chairman of State Legal Services Authority, while the Director General (Prisons) and Principal Secretary of the Home Department are the members.

Five arrested for attacking cops in UP

Five persons have been arrested and a case registered against them and 10 others for allegedly attacking a police team that was trying to enforce lockdown restrictions at Morna village in Bhopa police station area here, police said on Friday.

Two policemen, including the incharge of the police outpost sub-inspector Lekhraj Singh were seriously injured in the attack that took place on Wednesday, they said.

The FIR was registered on Thursday under several sections of the Indian Penal Code against 15 people identified as former village head Naher Singh, Sudesh, Brijesh, Reshu, Sorabh, Rashim, Rama, Devi, Pintu and six other unidentified persons, police said.

While five of them have been arrested, attempts are being made to identify and nab the others, they said.

People maintain safe distance while collecting ration from a PDS centre, during the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic, in Lucknow, Wednesda, April 1 2020 PTI

Woman dies in Himachal

A woman from Baddi in Himachal Pradesh's Solan district has died due to Covid-19 at the PGIMER in Chandigarh, a senior official said on Friday.

The woman's case was earlier unreported, Solan Deputy Commissioner KC Chaman told PTI.

With this, the number of Covid-19 positive cases in the hill state has risen to seven.

This is the second death in Himachal Pradesh due to Covid-19.

Earlier, a 69-year-old man who recently returned from the USA died of Covid-19 at the Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC) in Kangra district on March 23.

On March 20, two persons -- a 32-year-old man from Harchakkian tehsil and a 64-year-old woman from Dohabe village in Shahpur subdivision -- were tested positive for the disease.

IAS officer among 9 who tested positive in MP

An IAS officer is among nine persons who have tested positive for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh since Thursday night, taking the state's tally to 120, a senior health official said on Friday.

The 2011-batch IAS officer is posted in the health department in Bhopal and has a history of travelling outside Madhya Pradesh in recent times, he said.

He developed symptoms similar to those found in Covid-19 patients and was tested for the viral infection, the official said.

His first report came positive, the official confirmed but added, 'We are waiting for his second test report.'

Among the other new cases, seven were reported from Indore and one from Chhindwara.

The Chhindwara patient is a 36-year-old man who became the first coronavirus positive case in the district, Sub- Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Atul Singh said.

He works in a government department in Indore and came to Chhindwara on March 19 before the lockdown, in force since March 25 to stem the spread of the deadly virus, he said.

The patient has been admitted in the Chhindwara district hospitals isolation ward and people he came in contact with are being quarantined, the SDM said.

People in areas which he visited will be screened, he said.

Seven fresh coronavirus positive cases were reported from Indore, taking the total number of infected persons in the city to 89, a health official said.

Out of the total 120 coronavirus cases recorded so far (health department has confirmed 119), 89 have been reported from Indore, eight each from Jabalpur and Bhopal, six from Ujjain, two each in Morena, Shivpuri and Gwalior and one each from Khargone and Chhindwara, officials said.

Eight COVID-19 patients have so far died in the state - five from Indore, two from Ujjain and one from Khargone, they added.

People maintain social distance as they read holy scriptures sitting outside their homes during lockdown amid coronavirus outbreak, in Amritsar, Thursday, April 2, 2020 PTI

NSA to be slapped against those who attack cops in UP

The stringent National Security Act (NSA) will be slapped on people who attack policeman enforcing the lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the Uttar Pradesh government said on Friday.

The state government's move to invoke the NSA comes in view of reports of several incidents of attack on policemen enforcing the lockdown.

'The police is doing its duty by preventing people to come out during lockdown. There have been incidents in the state in which policemen were attacked by people. To deter such persons, it has been decided to invoke NSA against such persons,' a senior home department official told PTI.

The move is aimed to deter those who are taking lockdown lightly and even attacking policemen when they are prevented, he said.

In one such incident in Muzaffar Nagar, a sub-inspector and a constable were seriously injured when a police team trying to enforce the ongoing lockdown was attacked by a group of villagers on April 1.

The police team was patrolling Morna village area in Muzaffar Nagar and had spotted the residents gathered outside. When the villagers were asked to follow the prohibitory orders, they started pelting stones at the police personnel while some of them even started attacking the officials with iron roads.

Some other such incidents have also been reported in the state where people are not taking the lockdown seriously, he said.

12 new cases in Andhra

Coronavirus cases shot up further in Andhra Pradesh by 12 overnight, touching an overall 161, while the third COVID-19 patient in Kakinada recovered on Friday.

SPS Nellore district is turning out to be the hotbed with the number of cases climbing to 32, adding eight overnight.

SPS Nellore district saw the fastest spread of Covid-19 from three to 32 in a span of just two days.

Krishna district too witnessed a significant rise in Coronavirus cases to 23, with Vijayawada city alone reporting 18.

Three major hotspots have been identified in the city where the prevalence of the disease was high and, accordingly, the authorities have clamped further restrictions on peoples movement besides sanitising those areas.

The far-off north coastal districts of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram appear to be the safe zones in the state right now with not a single case of Corona reported from there.

Meanwhile, a third coronavirus patient who underwent treatment in the government hosital in Kakinada recovered on Friday and has been discharged.

With this the number of 'active' coronavirus cases stood at 158, State Nodal Officer Arja Srikanth said.