Coronavirus update: CBSE, JEE (MAIN), all university exams postponed till Mar 31

New Delhi, Mar 31: The Ministry of Human Resource Development on Wednesday ordered all educational institutions to postpone all ongoing examinations for 10 days in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

The directive applies to the CBSE Board examination, exams organised by the University Grants Commissiont (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE Main).

"While maintenance of academic calendar and exam schedule is important, equally important is safety and security of students who are appearing in various examinations as also of their teachers and parents," an official communication from HRD ministry said.

"All the ongoing examinations, including CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) board exams, be postponed till March 31 and rescheduled thereafter," it added.

Following the government order, CBSE has said it has postponed all exams in India and abroad scheduled from March 19 to March 31 (both dates included). New exmaination schedule will be notified by March 31 after "re-assessment of the situation", it said in a statement.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 151 on Wednesday after 14 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, according to the Health Ministry.

The cases include 25 foreign nationals -- 17 from Italy, 3 from Philippines, one each belonging to Canada, United Kingdom, Indonesia and Singapore. The figure also includes three deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Over 5,700 people, who had come in contact with these positive cases, are under rigorous surveillance, the official said. Delhi has, so far, reported 10 positive cases which includes one foreigner, while Uttar Pradesh has recorded 16 cases, including one foreigner.

Maharashtra has 42 cases, including three foreigners, while Kerala has recorded 27 cases which include two foreign nationals. Karnataka has 14 coronavirus patients.

The number of cases in Ladakh rose to eight, and Jammu and Kashmir three. Telangana has reported six cases which include two foreigners. Rajasthan has also reported four cases including that of two foreigners.

Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Punjab have reported one case each. In Haryana, there are 17 cases, which include 14 foreigners. According to the ministry's data, 14 people have been discharged so far, including the three patients from Kerala who were discharged last month.

So far, 13,93,301 passengers have been screened at 30 designated airports, according to it.

Three persons infected with the virus have died, so far, the latest casualty being a 64-year-old man from Mumbai with a travel history to Dubai who succumbed on Tuesday.