New Delhi, March 23 (IANS): Amid rise in novel coronavirus cases in India to 430, the World Health Organisation on Monday lauded the measures taken by the Indian government to contain the disease.

In a statement released to the media, Dr Roderico Ofrin, Regional Emergencies Director, World Health Organization of South-East Asia region said: "India has been rolling out a comprehensive and robust response to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19.

"Its latest announcements related to quarantine and social distancing measures, including recent lockdown of 75 affected districts, suspension of rail, inter-state bus services and metro services are initiatives of unprecedented scale and reflect the country's resolve to prevent the spread of the pandemic."

These measures can help slow down the virus transmission along with the continued effective measures being taken to isolate, test, treat and trace.

Seventy-five cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru went into complete lockdown till March 31 as India is fighting most dreaded novel coronavirus. Besides this, Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry and Uttarakhand are in lockdown till the end of March.

Maharashtra and Punjab imposed curfew on Monday while Kerala, announced complete lockdown.

The total number of coronavirus positive cases reached 466 on Monday, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. These include 424 active cases, with 34 patients cured. Eight casualties have been reported so far.