A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the nationwide lockdown till May 3rd, the government said that certain industries in rural areas and IT, e-commerce and inter-state goods transport will be allowed to reopen after April 20.

The Health Ministry database which was updated at 8 am shows that the number of confirmed cases in India has gone up to 11,439. According to an AFP count, more than a million coronavirus cases have been reported in Europe.

According to a report in The Economic Times, due to the high number of coronavirus cases in the country, the relevant authorities are considering the option of moving from the current policy of institutionally quarantining every COVID-19 positive person to allowing mild cases to be self-isolated at home.

In what comes as absolutely no surprise to the people who’ve been following this coronavirus crisis closely, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shared its thoughts on the dire state of the world economy and the financial challenges that low-income countries will face in the coming months.

“It is very likely that this year, the global economy will experience its worst recession since the Great Depression, surpassing that seen during the financial crisis a decade ago,” IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath wrote in the foreword for the fund’s World Economic Outlook.

The IMF’s latest report card titled the current state of the world as “The Great Lockdown” and described the coronavirus pandemic as a crisis “like no other” and stated that the world economic output is likely to shrink by three per cent this year. However, it is set to experience a partial rebound next year.