From dancing to playing musical instruments to exercising... balconies across the world have become the hospot as people continue to quarantine and self-isolate themselves at homes to fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Modi is addressing the people of India for a second time in a week on the coronavirus outbreak. He had addressed the nation on efforts to combat the virus on March 19. In his last address on the virus outbreak, Modi had called for "resolve and restraint" to fight the disease.

In the wake of 73 confirmed cases of coronavirus in India so far, the Union health ministry has made functional 52 laboratories for testing samples while 57 labs have been designated for helping in sample collection for Covid-19 to enhance capacity for diagnosis and detection of the disease. "Following the increase in load of screening samples from suspected cases with symptoms and travel history to the affected countries, the department of health research/ICMR has commissioned 52 laboratories for COVID-19 testing in India," an official said.

Millions of people worldwide are having to embrace life under lockdown -- confined to their own four walls or neighbourhoods for weeks on end as countries battle to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

As the number of COVID-19 cases is witnessing a spike in India, religious places across the country remain closed to encourage social distancing, a key component in preventing the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Be it Mumbai, known as the city that never sleeps, Patna or Ahmedabad, life came to a standstill in the country as roads, railway stations and airports wore a deserted look and markets and establishments except those dealing in essential goods and services remained shut during the 14-hour self-imposed curfew that started at 7 am.

President Ram Nath Kovind along with First Lady Savita Kovind, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and other leaders joined the fellow citizens on Sunday to express their gratitude towards all those who are safeguarding the health of the nation in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The coronavirus pandemic has spread to 146 countries with the worldwide death toll from the virus surpassing the 7,000 mark on Monday. Among the more than 1,73,000 cases recorded globally are government officials, celebrities and sports personalities as authorities around the world grapple to contain the spread of coronavirus. Hollywood actor Tom Hanks and his wife, actress and singer Rita Wilson, British actor Idris Elba, and Sophie Trudeau, wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, are some of the most well-known faces to be infected so far.

Prime Minister Modi is to address the nation at 8 pm on Thursday and is expected to talk about issues relating to coronavirus and the efforts to combat the pandemic that has claimed more than 7,500 lives across the world.

Several MPs came to the Upper House wearing masks and demanded curtailment of the ongoing Budget session, which is due to end on April 3, in view of the novel coronavirus scare, but the government seemed unwilling.

The world is slowly going into lockdown trying to stop the spread of the dangerous coronavirus disease, leading to cities and famous attractions turning eerily deserted. Many streets, train stations, mass transit systems and restaurants are now eerily empty. You can scarcely avoid seeing images of the emptiness -- the cleared streets and squares of St Petersburg, the missing throngs outside the temples of Kyoto, the abandoned restaurants in most Chinatowns, some of which have had to close. This astonishing moment when the world hit pause on normal life will never be forgotten by those who lived through it. Take a look.

Shoppers around the world stood in long lines, waiting to buy essentials like toilet paper, pasta, bottled water, medicine and masks as a worsening coronavirus crisis stoked fears of shortages.

In an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, more people, including global leaders, are using the Indian greeting of namaste. People around the world are worried that shaking hands, hugging and kissing on the cheek might help spread the virus. In recent days, images of United States President Donald Trump and Britain's Prince Charles opting to use the Indian greeting over a handshake have gone viral. Take a look.

Cinemas, stadiums, town squares and other public gathering places are devoid of people as the coronavirus spreads to at least 118 countries around the world. As of Thursday, the Johns Hopkins University tracker says 1,26,258 people have contracted the disease and 4,638 have died across the globe. The vast majority of the victims have been in China but the country said on Thursday that it had only 15 new cases. The outbreak also claimed its most high-profile victim so far when Hollywood star Tom Hanks announced he and his wife, Rita Wilson, had tested positive. The couple, who are in Australia where Hanks is making a film about Elvis, said they had felt "a bit tired, like we had colds" before being "found to be positive" Take a look.

India tops this list, with 3.7 million deaths, and China comes a close second with 2.8 million deaths. In all the four scenarios outlined, India tops China in the number of fatalities. Scenario 6 is the worst, and predicts more than 16 million deaths in India and 12 million in China.

From incredible landscapes to touching portraits to memorable wildlife photography, the winners of the Sony World Photography Awards showcase it all! Scroll down and prepared to be wowed...

From the spread of coronavirus to International Women's Day, these 10 images sum up all the big stories from the previous week.

Takehiro Kishimoto, 39, has amassed more than 280,000 followers on Instagram for his ability to transform everyday foods into art.

In a pink-walled room of a government office, they spend their days cancelling the passports of runaway husbands.

When the novel coronavirus outbreak hit China in late December and January, the government sprang into crisis mode. Hard-hit cities like Wuhan, where the outbreak began, went into complete lockdown. Millions worked from home or self-quarantined for weeks on end. New hospitals were built in a matter of days to treat the sheer number of patients. People who broke quarantine rules or lied about their travel history were detained. Soon, the virus spread over the globe, with many countries banning movement of citizens to some ordering sanitisation of public spaces. Take a look.