India’s coronavirus cases crossed 900 yesterday, officials said.
Of them 862 are Indians and 47 foreign nationals, the Health Ministry said.
The number of dead also rose to 19, while 80 patients who recovered have left hospitals.
Kerala yesterday reported the first death to Covid-19.
State Agriculture Minister V S Sunilkumar said the 69-year-old man arrived from the United Arab Emirates on March 22 and was in isolation.
“He is from Kochi and was suffering from heart ailment and blood pressure. Since he was already placed under high-risk category, this need not be a cause for worry,” the minister.
The body was buried later in the day.
“All those who came in contact with him have been identified and have been quarantined,” Sunilkumar said.
The victim’s wife and driver who brought him from the airport have also tested positive.
In Mumbai, the Maharashtra health authorities confirmed the death of a senior doctor due to Covid-19 as the number of positive cases rose to 169 in the state.
The doctor died at a private hospital on Thursday night.
Recently two of the doctor’s close family members had travelled to the UK, said an official.
In Gujarat, a woman died yesterday due to the virus, taking the state’s toll to four.
The virus has infected another 50 people.
The 46-year-old woman woman from Ahmedabad didn’t have any travel history, and was infected locally, health officials said.
She was admitted to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Hospital on March 26.
She was suffering from hypertension and diabetes and was on ventilator.
Karnataka recorded 10 new positive cases, raising the total to 74, an official said yesterday.
In West Bengal, 208 people including 14 confirmed cases are in the isolation wards of various hospitals.
One of them is a nine-month-old girl, the country’s youngest coronavirus positive case.
The state has also reported one death, a 57-year-old man.
In Goa, three villages, two of them remote hamlets, have set up blockades to prevent outsiders from entering amid the 21-day lockdown.
The blockades in Sonal, Velus and Taleigao villages are manned by local youth.
While Sonal is located in the lower reaches of the Western Ghats, Velus in Valpoi and Taleigao on the outskirts of Panaji.
“Despite the curfew, many people from neighbouring areas were entering our village to visit a popular waterfall called Mhoacho guno. Such group activity is dangerous in view of the Covid-19 epidemic. Therefore, we have set up barricades to bar people from coming,” Daji More, a local youth, told IANS.
In Taleigao, the youth have set up barricades along the internal roads to stop “unnecessary movement of bikes and cars” and deter ‘outsiders’ from entering the area.
“We have blocked internal roads for safety. There are a lot of people roaming on the streets. Because of the unnecessary movement of bikes and cars we have taken the precautionary measure,” a message issued by local villagers said.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palanniswami  announced several new measures, relaxing some restrictions and tightening others.
The new measures are effective from today.
Among them are:
lTrucks delivering fruits and vegetables to wholesale markets can operate between 6pm and 6am.
lStores selling groceries, vegetables, fruits and other essential items, and fuel outlets can do business only between 6am and 2.30pm, but pharmacies and hotels selling only packed food are allowed to function full day.
lFood delivery companies like Swiggy and Zomato can deliver food only between 7am and 9.30am, 12 noon and 2.30pm and 6pm and 9pm. Earlier the government had banned their operations.
In Jammu and Kashmir, five villages in Rajouri distric have been declared as ‘red zones’ to prevent the spread of Covid-19 infection, authorities said yesterday.
An order issued by the authorities said that Sarola, Mangal Nar, Kotli, Gambir Muglan and Dehridhara have been declared as red zones while villages surrounding these have been declared as buffer zone.
The order was issued after three people  tested positive for the virus.