Coronavirus: PM Modi's Mann ki Baat today, first since lockdown

New Delhi, Mar 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday address the nation through his first Mann Ki Baat radio address during the three-week shutdown necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic that has crippled several nations.

"Tune in tomorrow at 11 (AM). Tomorrow's episode will be focused on the situation prevailing due to COVID-19," Modi tweeted late on Saturday night.

Mann ki Baat radio programme is aired on the last Sunday of every month and the prime minister speaks on the latest issues.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in India reached 918 with 179 fresh cases being reported on Saturday, the highest single-day increase so far, while the death toll rose to 19.

Deaths have so far been reported from Maharashtra (5), Gujarat (3), Karnataka (2), Madhya Pradesh (2) and one each from Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

In its updated data at 5.45 PM, the ministry stated that the number of active COVID-19 cases in the country was 819, which is an increases of 179 since Friday when it was 640. The total number of 918 cases in the country included 47 foreigners, the data stated.

As many as 79 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases so far at 180 (including three foreign nationals), followed by Kerala at 176, including eight foreign nationals