In the middle of the nationwide lockdown and restrictions that have been rolled out as a preventive measure to break the chain and threat posed by the Coronavirus, India has been adding more positive cases for the virus each day and witnessing surging numbers in the nation's death toll.

According to the official data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India has reported with 25 deaths so far due to the pandemic and the country has accounted for having 979 cases confirmed for the virus in its territory including the active cases, deceased, and recovered patients. The Ministry asserted that of those 979, 867 cases are active currently and 86 patients have recovered and discharged while 25 have passed away.

The Ministry also stated that the country has screened 15,24,266 passengers at the airport as the human to human transmitting virus, which had its epicenter in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has now become a global pandemic. The reports say that the six fresh deaths  - one each from Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Telangana and these deaths have contributed to putting the total to 25 in the nation.

The Indian state of Maharashtra tops the table with the most number of cases in the country. As of Sunday noon, India's richest state has reported with 193 positive cases for the virus and the number includes seven new cases tested positive in the state on Sunday followed by Kerala -174 cases, Uttar Pradesh - 55 cases, Rajasthan- 54 cases, Telangana -56 cases, and Karnataka 55 cases.

According to CovidIndia.org, India has 987 confirmed cases so far as of Sunday, when the nation has marked its fifth day of the complete unprecedented lockdown to contain the spread of the virus. However, the numbers have been soaring high for the past few days and the total infection cases expected to hit 1000 anytime from now as the ordeal posed by the global pandemic still persists across the country amid the restrictions.

The Central government and various state governments have been enforcing severe restrictions and imposing bans on the movement of the people and the non-essential services to curb the spread of the virus and the nationwide embargo would play its role till April 14th, 2020. While addressing the nation through his Maan Ki Baat address on Sunday, Prime Minister Modi appealed to the people to observe and maintain social distancing to get rid of the virus. The Railway Ministry has convered the compartments of the trains as temporary medical facilities with the view of quarantining the people affected by the virus.

By issuing an apology to the people for any inconvenience caused during the nationwide lockdown, Modi asserted and backed the decision of implementing the complete lockdown. According to ANI, Modi stated that "I apologize for taking these harsh steps which have caused difficulties in your lives, especially the poor people. I know some of you would be angry with me. But these tough measures were needed to win this battle".

The Prime Minister took a moment to compliment the front line workers who are combating the virus including doctors, paramedical staff, nurses, and the essential service providers who are working around the clock to serve the patients and people during the period of the unprecedented lockdown. By iterating that the current fight is the battle for life and death, he pressed that the lockdown is the only way to combat the virus.

Also read: 'I apologize for any inconvenience' - PM Modi during his 'Maan Ki Baat' address!