Health researchers have warned that more than a million people in India could be infected with the coronavirus by mid-May, prompting the government to shut down all air and train travel, businesses and schools. Already health officials said the virus was spreading out of big Indian cities where it first appeared into the small towns that dot the landscape. More than 377,300 people have been infected by the coronavirus globally and 16,520 have died since it emerged in China, according to a Reuters tally. China's Wuhan where the virus emerged imposed a two-month lockdown which is only being eased. Across South Asia, home to a quarter of the world's population, authorities are scrambling to raise their defences as the virus spreads.

Source: bd News24 March 24, 2020 14:48 UTC