Coronavirus cases in Maharashtra rises to 19

New Delhi, Mar 17: With two more persons testing positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra, the number of infected individuals in the state has gone up to 19, a health department official said on Saturday.

One of the two new patients is from Ahmednagar city, the official said. However, he did not specify the location of the other patient.

"Till Friday evening, the number of persons who tested positive for coronavirus was 17. The test reports of two more persons came late at night. As they were found positive, the count of infected persons in the state now stands at 19," the official told PTI.

"One of them is from Ahmednagar city. He had recently returned from Dubai and shown symptoms similar to coronavirus infection," he said.

"His blood sample was sent for testing, which confirmed the infection late last night," he added.

Ten of the coronavirus positive cases in the state are in Pune, three each in Mumbai and Nagpur, and one in Thane.

In the wake of coronavirus scare, the state government had on Friday ordered closure of cinema theatres, gymnasiums, swimming pools and public parks in cities of Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad till March 30.

The government also invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 to tackle the virus outbreak.

As per the government decision, the schools and colleges in Pune and neighbouring twin industrial towns of Pimpri and Chinchwad will remain closed till further orders.