Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that no minister of the central government will travel abroad in the coming days as the number of coronavirus cases across the world continue to rise. The World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared the outbreak a pandemic.

Coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to 100 countries, infecting 1.27 lakh people and killing 4,717. The total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 73 on Thursday after the latest government data included nine new patients from Maharashtra, three from Uttar Pradesh, and one from Ladakh.

“Say no to panic, say yes to precautions,” Modi said in a tweet. “No Minister of the Central Government will travel abroad in the upcoming days. I urge our countrymen to also avoid non-essential travel. We can break the chain of spread and ensure safety of all by avoiding large gatherings.”

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that the government was making efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus and there had been no lapse in screening of people entering the country.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also addressed the House on the pandemic. He said that the government was making all efforts to ensure that Indians stranded in Iran were doing well. “We are reaching out to our nationals and ensuring that they are in good health,” Jaishankar added. Iran is the epicentre of the outbreak in West Asia.

Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he will suspend most travel from Europe to the US for the next 30 days. There are 1,135 confirmed cases of the virus across the US, with 38 deaths so far, according to BBC.

The coronavirus has hit Europe and the United States far harder than China’s most immediate neighbours in South Asia, where no one has died yet.