Nirmala Sitharaman to meet industrialists, trade associations to assess impact of COVID-19

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday will be meeting the industrialists and the trade associations in Delhi to assess the impact of Coronavirus on the Indian trade and industry. The viral outbreak has come at a time when the Indian economy is going through a slow phase. 

Reports suggest that as India is dependent on China for a lot of sectors such as smartphone, solar cells and modules, TVs and electronics, toys, furniture, computers and cars, the outbreak could lead to worsening the economy.

Death toll rises in Mainland China

The death toll for the novel Coronavirus hit 1,868 in the last 24 hours in mainland China. As per the Chinese state health committee, it has increased by 98 in just one day. The committee also added that the number of confirmed cases has gone up by 1,886 to 72,436. 

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread across 20 countries since December 2019. About 1,701 people have recovered from the disease, whereas, a total of 12,552 coronavirus patients have by now been discharged from hospitals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has dubbed the virus as COVID-19. 

Read: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan meets Indians airlifted from Coronavirus-hit Wuhan

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Coronaviruses are transmitted between animals and people. WHO stated that "detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans." 

WHO further stated that common signs of the virus include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. Further, in severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure or can even prove to be fatal. 

Read: Ministry taking Coronavirus seriously while granting Visa to Chinese wrestlers: Rijiju

Wuhan on lockdown

In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, China has put Wuhan and Huanggang under a lockdown, suspending public transport in and out of the city, stated international reports. The virus which was first reported to the World Health Organization on December 31 is currently under investigation by scientists to understand the destructive potential of the new virus, known as 2019-nCoV, as per reports. 

Read: Coronavirus: Delhi govt's Maharishi Valmiki Hospital suspends biometric attendance

Read: WHO, China expert teams begin field inspections into the novel Coronavirus

(With ANI Inputs)