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Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: The Rajasthan government said that 108 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state on Tuesday, out of which 83 are from Jaipur. Total number of cases in the state stands at 1,005. Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani said that Ahmedabad district has more than 350 coronavirus, which accounts for more than 50 percent cases in the state. “To be particular the cases are from the walled city and Danilimda area,” he said. He added, “We’ve decided to focus on these areas to control spread of coronavirus. From 6 am tomorrow till 21 April. Curfew to remain imposed in Danilimda, Jamalpur and Dariyapur. From 1 to 4 pm daily curfew will be lifted but only women of these areas will be given this freedom.” Assuring migrant workers who are still stranded in Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray said that they should stay put without fear and that the extension of the lockdown “didn’t mean that they were locked up”. Addressing them, he said, “Nobody wants that you stay in lock-up without your will. Lockdown doesn’t mean lock-up. It is our country. You’re safe in my state and don’t worry. The day when lockdown will be lifted, not only me, but Centre also will make arrangements for you.” Thackeray’s address came soon after hundreds of workers thronged the Bandra station in an attempt to get back to their native places at the end of the first phase of the COVID-19 lockdown. Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is likely to address the state at 8 pm on Tuesday, India Today reported. It is likely that he will speak about the migrant workers who are still stuck in cities like Mumbai and Pune, as the lockdown was extended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier on Tuesday. Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray said that the situation in which hundreds of migrant workers crowded the Bandra station seeking to go back to their native places on Tuesday was “a result of the Union Govt not being able to take a call on arranging a way back home for migrant labour.” He said, “They don’t want food or shelter, they want to go back home. Right from the day the trains have been shut down, the state had requested trains to run for 24 hours more so that migrant labour could go back home. CM Uddhav Thackeray ji raised this issue in the PM-CM Video conference as well requesting a roadmap for migrant labour to reach home.” A large group of migrant labourers gathered outside Bandra station in Mumbai on Tuesday, demanding permission to return to their native states. They were later dispersed after police and local leaders intervened and asked them to vacate. The Union health ministry on Tuesday said that 1,463 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, which is the sharpest ever rises in cases in India. The total tally of cases is now at 10,815, including 9,272 active cases, 1,190 cured/discharged/migrated and 353 deaths. The Union health ministry on Tuesday said that with 1,211 fresh cases of coronavirus reported in the last 24 hours, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country has reached 10,363 including 339 deaths. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday said that in addition to the COVID-19 testing kits available in India that are expected to last for 6 weeks, a new installment of RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction) kits have also been received. “(The RT-PCR kits)…are far more sufficient in numbers, which would essentially mean that we would be able to cover ourselves for a long period of time,” the statement said. “Additionally, we are ordering close to about 33 lakh kits for RT-PCR and 37 lakh rapid kits are expected to come at any point in time,” said R Gangakhedkar of the ICMR. The BMC on Tuesday asked hospitals in Mumbai to hire medical staff like doctors, nurses, ward boys, and others on an “urgent basis” and suggested the remuneration to be given to the staff per month. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to address a video press conference on Tuesday at 5:30 pm on the coronavirus situation in the National Capital. The CPI on Tuesday said the extended lockdown till 3 May would further increase the sufferings of the poor and marginalised and accused the government of not laying down any concrete plans for this duration. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Health Department reported a rise of 72 new cases out of which 71 were registered in Jaipur and one in Jhunjhunu. Five more persons have tested positive for coronavirus infection in Shamli district near here with three of them being participants to the Tablighi Jamaat meet in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin and the two being their contacts. With five more testing positive for the infection, the number of COVID-19 cases in the district has risen to 16, said Shamli District Magistrate Jasjit Kaur on Tuesday. A 69-year-old man from Vijayapura became the ninth COVID-19 related fatality in Karnataka, where 11 new cases of the virus were confirmed, taking the total number of infections in the state to 258, the health department said on Tuesday. The Indian Railways on Tuesday said full refund would automatically be provided to its online customers for trains cancelled up to 3 May, while those who have booked at the counters can take refund till 31 July. Customers will also get full refunds of their tickets if they are cancelling their advance bookings for trains not yet cancelled, it said. The Labour Ministry on Tuesday said it has set up 20 control rooms on pan-India basis to address wage-related grievances and to mitigate problems faced by migrant workers amid the lockdown period to contain the COVID-19 crisis. The Prime Minister has announced extension of the nationwide lockdown till 3 May with conditional relaxation from 20 April in some areas on the basis of evaluation of the situation. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Maharashtra rose to 2,455 after 121 new cases were reported today. Meanwhile, airlines are railways announced suspension of services till 3 May, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered extension of the nationwide lockdown. The Indian Railways has extended the suspension of its passenger services till 3 May, senior officials said on Tuesday. They said the decision was taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the lockdown across the country will be extended till 3 May to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the lockdown has been extended till 3 May, and that coronavirus should be curbed at every level. The government will put out detailed guidelines, said the prime minister. Narendra Modi assures that there is enough ration and stock of essential commodities in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 10 am today, on the last day of the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed with the aim to contain the spread of the deadly COVID-19. A total number of 10,363 cases of coronavirus have been reported in India. So far, 339 people have succumbed to the infection in the country, while 1,035 patients have been cured. There are 8,988 active cases in the country, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The ministry also said that 1211 new cases and 31 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours. Hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in a video message on Tuesday morning praised those at the forefront in the fight against coronavirus - doctors, sanitation workers, policemen - and said they were fighting the pandemic despite the lack of resources. The Meghalaya government has imposed 48 hours curfew in Shillong with the first case of coronavirus being detected in the state capital on 12 April, according to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma. The Union health ministry on Monday said that 905 new COVID-19 cases and 51 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 9,352 and deaths to 324. In what comes as a positive development on the penultimate day of a nationwide lockdown, 25 districts across 15 states which had detected COVID-19 infections earlier have contained the spread and reported no new cases in 14 days, the ministry said. The districts are Gondia (Maharashtra), Raj Nand Gaon (Chhattisgarh), Davangiri (Karnataka), South Goa, Wayanad and Kottayam (Kerala), West Imphal (Manipur), Rajouri (J&K), Aizwal West (Mizoram), Mahe in Puducherry, SBS Nagar in Punjab, Patna, Nalanda and Munger in Bihar, Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, Panipat, Rohtak and Sirsa in Haryana, Pauri Garhwal in Uttrakhand and Bhadradari Kothagudem in Telangana. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 10 am on Tuesday and is likely to talk about the further course of action to deal with the crisis posed by virus.
Cases in Maharashtra cross 2,000, count in Delhi up to 1,154
As many as 25 staff members of Mumbai’s Bhatia hospital tested positive for coronavirus and number of cases in the city has reached 1549. The number of those who have died has reached 100 in the city. [caption id=“attachment_8229221” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
Representational image. AP[/caption] Maharashtra with 2,064 cases continues to be the worst affected followed by Delhi with 1,154 cases and Tamil Nadu with 1075 cases. The number of containment zones in Delhi has been increased to 47. New cases have been reported from several states including Kerala, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Nagaland reported its first COVID-19 case following which several localities and a hospital in Dimapur have been sealed. Uttarakhand Health Department said that no new positive COVID-19 case emerged in the state for the fifth day in a row. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said 2,06,212 COVID-19 tests were conducted till Sunday. “Of these 14,855 tests took place at 156 government labs and 1,913 tests happened at 69 private labs on Sunday,” ICMR’s head scientist Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar said at the daily media briefing on COVID-19 situation. “At the pace at which we are conducting tests today, we have a stock with which we can conduct tests for the next six weeks easily,” the ICMR official said. He said a consignment of COVID-19 kits is expected to arrive from China on 15 April.
Administrative measures
The Union Health Ministry informed that 78,000 self-help group members of 27 states have produced 1.96 crore masks under the State Rural Livelihood Missions. “Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna package, over 30,000 poor people have been provided financial support of Rs 28,256 crore during the lockdown up to April 10. This includes support of Rs 19.86 crore to Jan Dhan Yojna women account holders who were transferred Rs 9,930 crores. “Under the PM Kisan Yojna, 6.93 crore farmers have been provided support of Rs 13,855 crore. Under social assistance programmes 2.82 crore widows, senior citizens and disabled have been provided support of Rs 1,405 crore,” Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the Union health ministry, said. Agarwal also said that the Core Strategy Group on COVID-19 was working on rapid and economical diagnostics as well as new drugs. “The group has been formed, based on a detailed review of COVID-19 research, undertaken by Union Health Minister Harshvardhan along with CSIR and its 38 labs. The group is working on digital and molecular surveillance, rapid and economical diagnostics, new drugs, repurposing of drugs and associated production processes,” he said. In Delhi, traders at Delhi’s Azadpur Mandi have been told to follow the odd-even rule according to their shed numbers to maintain social distancing. There will be staggered time for sale of vegetables and fruits in the mandis. The Chandigarh government said all government schools and government-aided schools will be having summer vacations from 15 April till 15 May. The private schools will be advised to synchronise the same. Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government has started a helpline through which we want to connect non-resident Assamese. “They can call 9615471547, we’ll register them. Once registered, we’ll transfer an amount which will help them in surviving in another state till lockdown is completely lifted. We have also started an initiative to help the people who are stuck in different countries. To those residents of Assam, we have transferred $ 1,000.” He added, “Another initiative was to help critically ill patients, like those suffering from cancer, kidney and liver ailment. We have transferred Rs 25,000 each to all those patients so that they can continue to get treatment wherever they are today.”
Global picture
The global toll of the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to 1,14,539 on Monday, according to the AFP tally. “More than 1,853,300 declared cases have been registered in 193 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December. Of these cases, at least 395,000 are now considered recovered,” India Today reported. Spain, one of the countries worst hit by the global coronavirus epidemic, on Monday started to ease tough lockdown restrictions that have kept people confined to their homes for more than a month and put a brake on economic activity, Reuters reported. Spain’s cumulative death toll from the coronavirus rose to 17,489 on Monday, up 517 from 16,972 on Sunday, the Spanish health ministry said. Confirmed cases totalled 169,496, up from 166,019 the previous day. However, this was the smallest proportional daily increase in the number of deaths and new infections. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is recuperating from his Covid-19 hospitalisation at his country retreat of Chequers, where he has been joined by his pregnant fiancee Carrie Symonds. Downing Street has said that the prime minister would not be returning to work immediately and will be based at the sprawling 1,000-acre estate in Buckinghamshire, south-east England, for a recovery period on medical advice. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab continues to deputise for Johnson as the UK entered a fourth week in lockdown on Monday and the country’s total coronavirus death toll hit 10,612. UK ministers are required by law to review the strict social distancing measures by Thursday. In a video message issued after his discharge from St Thomas’ Hospital in London on Sunday, Johnson, 55, urged the public to continue to follow the stay-at-home advice in the ongoing fight against coronavirus. With inputs from agencies