Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8 pm today to discuss aspects of the COVID-19 menace. India on Tuesday saw a spike in the total number of COVID-19 cases to 492.

The government has suspended all domestic flights from todayto stem the spread of coronavirus, stepping up a nationwide lockdown thatthreatens PM Modi's attempts to revive the economy, which has already beenexpanding at the slowest pace in more than a decade.

Modi joined chief ministers in urging people to take thelockdown in 30 states and Union Territories seriously, even as 75 new cases ofCovid-19 were detected on Monday, taking India's total number of cases to 492.

 The pandemic has continued to spread globally, with the total number of infected cases reaching 381,761. As many as 16,558 people have died of COVID-19 so far.