Globally, as of April 28, there have been 29,59,929 confirmed cases including 2,02,733 deaths, reported to WHO.

A week before the scheduled end date of the lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Ministers for the fourth time since the COVID-19 outbreak on the exit strategy from the lockdown, among other things.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in its April 29 update said that 31,332 have been tested positive and there have been 1,007 deaths. Reports from States, however, put the figure of persons tested positive at 31,500 and death toll at 1,009.
The Hindu has brought out a multi-language e-book on essential COVID-19 information, in addition to covering the developments related to the coronavirus pandemic as it unfolded. Here is a collection of our daily cartoons on COVID-19.
Here are answers from experts on your queries about the virus, a list of State Helpline numbers, a State-wise tracker for COVID-19 cases, deaths and testing, and a map of confirmed cases in India.
Here are the latest updates:
3.00 pm | Andaman and Nicobar Islands
4 persons recover from COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Four persons, including the 39-year-old police radio operator from the Bambooflat area, recovered from COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, officials said on Wednesday.
The police radio operator and his three family members have been shifted from the GB Pant Hospital to a government guest house where a quarantine facility has been set up.
With the recoveries, the number of active cases in the Union Territory dropped to 18.
12 COVID-19 cases have been reported from Buxar district taking the total number of cases in Bihar to 378. – Amarnath Tewary
Infection control practices not duly followed in high case load districts
Central teams, which were tasked to check preparedness of districts with a high load of coronavirus cases, found that infection prevention control practices were not properly followed in several hospitals raising concerns over safety of healthcare workers, official sources said.
They have observed that infection prevention control practices were not being followed properly during sample collection and treatment of confirmed cases raising concerns over the possibility of healthcare workers getting infected and leading to further transmission, the sources said.
They have recommended that such infection prevention control guidelines should be strictly followed in hospital settings. – PTI
All Central govt. officials to use Aarogya Setu app
All the Central government officials, including the outsourced workforce, have been directed to immediately download the Aarogya Setu App on their mobile phones.
In case the app shows a message that the official has a moderate or high risk, calculated on the basis of Bluetooth proximity (recent contact with an infected person), he or she should stay away from office and go in for self-isolation for 14 days till the status becomes safe or low risk, the order says.
Kerala Government moves ordinance for a salary cut
Kerala cabinet on Wednesday promulgated an ordinance to override the High Court stay on deferment of the payment of salary of government employees for six days every month from April to August.
The decision to deduct the salary of employees, ostensibly to help the State tide over the crippling financial crunch precipitated by the COVID-19 lockdown, had sparked off a stormy political debate in the State.
3 out of 529 journalists tested for COVID-19 turn out to be positive: Delhi CM
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said three out of 529 media persons, who gave their swab samples recently, have tested positive for COVID-19. He wished a speedy recovery to those found to be infected with novel coronavirus.
Am so happy to share only 3 out of 529 media persons tested have been detected positive. My best wishes to all of you. Your work is very important esp during a pandemic. Those who have been detected positive, I am praying for your speedy recovery, Kejriwal tweeted.
50% salary deferred for CM, Ministers, bureaucrats in Meghalaya
The Meghalaya government has decided to defer the payment of a part of the salaries of Cabinet Ministers, bureaucrats, and its 80,000 employees as the hill State battles the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a notification.
Half of the salaries of Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, his cabinet colleagues and all ranks of IAS, IPS and IFS will get deferred, Chief Secretary M.S. Rao said in the notification issued on Tuesday.
 Three more new COVID-19 cases detected in Odisha   one each in Jharsuguda, Deogarh and Kendujhar districts on Wednesday taking the States total to 122, according to the government. – Prafulla Das
Bareilly records first coronavirus death
A 35-year-old man suffering from coronavirus died at a hospital here, the first death due to the virus in the district, officials said on Wednesday.
The man was also suffering from cardiac problems, asthma and diabetes, Chief Medical Officer, Vineet Kumar Shukla, said.
The district has reported eight positive cases of the virus so far. While six people have recovered, one is undergoing treatment and one died on Tuesday night.
Fresh cases in Karnataka
Nine new cases have been detected in Karnataka on Wednesday morning taking the total number of cases to 532.
While eight of the new cases are from Kalaburgi, one is from Belagavi.
Two of the cases are aged 12 years and all are contacts of previous positive patients. – Afshan Yasmeen
12.00 noon | Andhra Pradesh
Infant among 73 new COVID-19 cases in AP
An 11-month-old baby was among the 73 people who tested positive for coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh in the last 24 hours ending 9 am on Wednesday.
The states Covid-19 tally now crossed the 1300 mark and touched 1,332, the latest government bulletin said.
11.50 am | Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Scribe arrested in Andamans over corona tweet
 A well-known journalist was arrested in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands over a tweet where he questioned the rationale of the authorities allegedly asking people to be home-quarantined after they had spoken to COVID-19 patients by phone, police said on Wednesday.
The charges under which Zubair Ahmed has been booked include one about circulating rumour.
Zubair Ahmed, the editor of Light of Andaman, a popular weekly newspaper which is now published online, was summoned to the Bambooflat police station in South Andaman district on April 27 for questioning over his tweet and then arrested, police said on Tuesday. – PTI
70 buses leave from Maharashtra to bring back students stuck in Kota
At least 70 state transport buses left from Maharashtra on Wednesday morning to bring back students stranded at Kota in Rajasthan due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, an official said.
The vehicles left from Maharashtras Dhule district around 10.30 am and will reach Rajasthan by Wednesday night, he said.
The buses will leave from Kota on Thursday morning, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) official said, adding that only 20 students will be allowed in each bus and the vehicles will halt at two to three places for food breaks.
Nineteen new COVID-19 positive cases detected in Rajasthan today, taking the State’s tally to 2,383. Eleven of the new cases were found in Ajmer, 5 in Jaipur, and one each in Banswara, Jodhpur and Udaipur: Medical & Health Department.
(Mohammed Iqbal)
The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,007 and the number of cases climbed to 31,332 in the country on Wednesday, according to the Union Health Ministry.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 22,629, while 7,695 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said. The total number of cases include 111 foreign nationals.
(PTI)
A 77-year-old-man of Bhubaneswar, close relative of a COVID-19 patient, tests positive taking Odishas total to 119, State government said on Wednesday. The city reports a new case after a gap of two weeks taking its total to 47.
(Prafulla Das)
Failure to stop coronavirus at source led to 184 countries going through hell, says Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on China for failing to tame the coronavirus at its very origin, saying it has led to 184 countries going through hell, as several American lawmakers demanded steps to reduce dependence on Beijing for manufacturing and minerals.
Trump has been publicly blaming China for the global spread of the invisible enemy and launched an investigation against it.
U.S. coronavirus death toll surpasses American deaths from the Vietnam War
The total number of U.S. deaths from COVID-19 have reached 58,351, passing the 58,220 which the National Archives records as U.S. losses from combat and other causes, including accidents, in the years-long Southeast Asian war.
Also Tuesday the United States recorded its one millionth case of new coronavirus, about one-third of the entire world’s case load, according to Johns Hopkins data.
Death toll crosses 5,000 in Brazil
Brazil, the South American country worst-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, has registered more than 5,000 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry announced on Tuesday.
A record of 474 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, with the number of infections rising to 71,886, the ministry said.
Global death toll crosses 2,10,000
The new coronavirus has killed at least 214,451 people since the outbreak first emerged in China in December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1900 GMT on Tuesday.
More than 3,068,330 cases were registered in 193 countries and territories. Of these cases, at least 840,300 are now considered recovered.
Maharashtra COVID-19 tally breaches 9,000 mark
With 729 new COVID-19 cases recorded on Tuesday, the third-highest single-day surge yet, Maharashtras tally has touched 9,318.
The State also reported its highest single-day death toll of 31, pushing the total to 400. A record 811 cases were reported on April 25 and the second-highest tally was 778 recorded on April 23.