The number of novel coronavirus cases in Mumbai crossed the 40,000-mark on Monday, with 1,413 more people testing positive for coronavirus, as reported by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) .

The latest case count in the country's financial capital stands at 40,887, it said, adding that 40 more people have succumbed to the viral infection in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 1,319.26 of the 40 deceased were suffering from underlying health conditions, it said 193 patients were discharged from hospitals, pushing the tally of the recovered patients to 16,987, the BMC said.

670 new suspected patients were admitted in various Covid-19 facilities in the city in the day, it added.

On the testing front, Indian Council of Medical Research, ICMR said that a total 1,28 868 samples of Coronavirus were tested in the last 24 hours. With this, total number of tests reached to 3966075 in the country.

ICMR is continuously scaling up its testing facilities for COVID-19 by giving approval to government and private laboratories. As of now, total 681 laboratories across India have been given approval to conduct the test for COVID-19 including 476 government laboratories and 205 private laboratories' chains.

Meanwhile,Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated his call to maintain Do Gaj Ki Doori, wear mask and clean hands in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

While inaugurating the Anubhav Series on the theme of using song and art to alleviate apprehensions and fear, Mr Modi said, music is a great healer and unifies people from all sections of society. He also mentioned the united effort of people coming together for clapping and clanging utensils and equated this unified spirit to the melodies of music.

The Prime Minister said, just as there is a need for harmony and discipline in music, there is a need for similar harmony, restraint and discipline from every citizen to fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated his call to maintain Do Gaj Ki Doori, wear mask and clean hands in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.