Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: Uttar Pradesh reported five more coronavirus deaths on Sunday as 102 fresh cases surfaced, pushing the state's infection tally to 3,467. So far, 79 people have died of the infection in the state. Till now, Agra has reported the maximum 24 deaths followed by 13 in Meerut.
The Maharashtra government has said that it will pay for the tickets of migrant workers wishing to return to their states as well migrant workers stranded in other states wishing to return to Maharashtra on the special Shramik trains. The amount will be taken from the Chief Minister's Relief fund.
81 more inmates of Mumbai's Arthur Road prison have tested positive, taking the total number of positive cases in the prison to 184 of which 26 are staff members and rest are inmates, reports ANI.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Punjab mounts to 1,823, with 61 more people testing positive today.
Tamil Nadu on Saturday reported 669 new cases and three deaths due to the novel coronavirus, pushing the total number of infections in the state to 7,204 and toll to 47.
Seven more persons tested coronavirus positive in Kerala on Sunday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 512 including 489 recovered/discharged and three fatalities.
A total of 7,740 dedicated COVID-19 facilities in 483 districts have been identified, the Union health ministry said on Sunday, asserting that adequate health infrastructure is in place to fight the pandemic.
A technician and a tow-tug operator/ driver working with the Air India Engineering Services Ltd ( AIESL) have also tested positive for coronavirus, PTI quotes sources as saying. These employees were working at the aircraft hangar of a non-schedule operator at the Mumbai airport.
INS Magar, the second naval ship to evacuate stranded Indians from Maldives and ensure smooth and safe passage back to India, arrives at Male Port, said the Indian Navy.
Uttarkashi on Sunday reported its first COVID-19 case, raising Uttarakhand's coronavirus tally to 68. Uttarkashi district falls in the green zone. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to hold a video conference with chief ministers of states tomorrow at 3 pm.
Rajiv Gauba, Cabinet Secretary on Sunday held a video conference with Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, where he noted that more than 350 'shramik special trains' have been run by railways carrying 3.5 lakh migrant workers. He requested state governments to cooperate with railways in the running of more 'shramik special trains'.
Karnataka witnessed the biggest spike in COVID-19 cases in a single day with 53 people testing positive on Sunday, taking the tally to 847, and reported one more death, increasing the number of fatalities to 31.
Eighteen Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, a woman has tested positive in Byculla women's jail in Mumbai.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, speaking at a press conference Sunday, said of roughly 7,000 COVID-19 positive cases in the state, approximately 1500 are in hospital. Of these only 27 are on ventilator, he added.
Arvind Kejriwal, speaking at a press conference Sunday, said that more trains were being arranged for migrants. "I appeal to them not to travel on foot. It is not safe. We take your responsibility. We are here to take care of you," the Delhi chief minister said.
Five pilots of Air India found COVID-19 positive, during the pre-flight COVID test which is carried out 72 hours before they are rostered for flight duties. All of them are asymptomatic and based in Mumbai. "They had undertaken cargo flights to China' Guangzhou," Air India sources told ANI.
381 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Delhi between 12 am, 8 May to 12 am on 9 May. Five deaths have also been reported on Sunday. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh reported 50 new COVID19 cases in the state in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 1,980.
Bihar Military Police camp area in Patna has been declared to be coronavirus hotspot area after 5 Bihar Military Police jawans from Khajpura tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, reports ANI.
786 police personnel have tested positive for COVID19 in Maharashtra, of which 703 are active cases, 76 recovered with 7 deaths. There have been 200 incidents of assault on police personnel during the lockdown period and 732 accused have been arrested for the same, according to Maharashtra Police, reports ANI.
Naval Ship INS Jalashwa with 698 repatriated Indians from the Maldives arrives in Kochi harbour on Sunday. According to the Indian Navy, there are 19 pregnant women among the 698 Indian nationals.
The total confirmed COVID-19 cases in India have risen to 62,939, according to the latest update from the Union Health Ministry on Sunday. The toll in the country has risen to 2,109, with 41,472 reported active COVID-19 cases, and as many as 19,358 patients have been cured and discharged so far.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on 10 May issued fresh guidelines on restarting manufacturing industries after the lockdown period.
Five migrant labourers died and 11 others were injured in Madhya Pradesh late on Saturday after the truck they were travelling in overturned in a village, around 200 km away from Bhopal, reports ANI. The labourers were travelling in a truck carrying mangoes from Telangana’s Hyderabad city to Agra in Uttar Pradesh when the accident took place.
The first batch of 326 Indian nationals stranded in the UK due to the coronavirus-linked global travel restrictions arrived here from London early on Sunday morning. The special evacuation flight AI 130, a Boeing 777 plane which departed from London on Saturday, landed at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) at around 1.30 AM with 326 Indians, according to PTI source.
The nationwide tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 59,662 on Saturday and the death toll rose to 1,981 with the country registering an increase of 95 deaths and 3,320 cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning, the Union Health Ministry said even as fresh infections among central armed police forces, and the repatriated Indians raised new concerns among experts.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 39,834, while 17,846 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the Union Health Ministry said.
Saturday also saw Maharashtra crossing the 20,000 mark, as per official figures released by the state health department, with the state now accounting for one-third of the total confirmed cases in the country, while large numbers of cases continued to get detected in Gujarat, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.
Representational image. AP
Meanwhile, the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the testing capacity for COVID-19 has been ramped up to around 95,000 tests per day and a total of over 15 lakh tests have been conducted so far across hundreds of government and private labs.
However, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the two new cases in his state -- two foreign returnees who had reached Kerala on 7 May in two separate flights under a massive ongoing evacuation plan of the Central Government -- is a warning for all states to be on an alert to strengthen their "mitigation efforts and preventive measures."
Many more similar flights from abroad are reaching Kerala and several other states over the next few days under what is being called the 'Vande Bharat' mission.
Besides the arrival of a large number of Indians stranded abroad, experts have also warned that the numbers may rise further in the coming days due to the ongoing movement of lakhs of migrant workers being facilitated by trains and buses to help them reach their native places.
On Saturday, the situation remained worrying in India's major hotspots like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Chennai, among others. While Mumbai cases reached 12,864 cases, with the metropolis now accounting for more than of Maharashtra's total infections, the adjoining Thane district crossed the 2000-mark.
In Chennai, the number of cases linked to the Koyambedu market cluster reached 1,867 with the market for vegetables, flowers and fruits eclipsing the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi (in which about 1,500 people from Tamil Nadu had taken part in March) for the dispersion of the virus.
Besides, reports of fresh infections in the Central Armed Police Forces, which is responsible for providing security along the border as well as securing key industries and establishments, presenting a fresh challenge for the Central Government.
Goa, on the other hand, which is classified as a green zone with no coronavirus positive case as of now, hinted that it may allow holding of music classes and reopening of some state-run libraries in a phased manner on the condition of maintaining strict social distancing norms.
Cases from states: Maharashtra crosses 20,000 mark
On Saturday, Maharashtra reported 1,165 new coronavirus patients, taking the tally of COVID-19 cases in the state to 20,228. The state also reported death of 48 patients, taking the death toll to 779, said a health department official.
Among those died of COVID-19 on Saturday was a 51-year-old police constable from Maharashtra's Nashik district, an official said.
This is the sixth death of a police personnel due to COVID-19 in the state, the official added.
Meanwhile, in Gujarat, the number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat climbed to 7,797 on Saturday with 394 new cases coming to light, while death toll rose to 472 with 23 more deaths, a senior health official said.
Of the total new cases, 280 were reported from hotspot Ahmedabad, along with 20 more deaths on Saturday, taking the total case count to 5,540 in the district and fatalities to 363, a health department official said.
In Gujarat, the number of patients who died in 24 hours since Friday evening — 23 — was the lowest in the last seven days, Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi said.
Four COVID-19 deaths were reported in Tamil Nadu on Saturday with the state recording 526 more positive cases, including a five day old baby, taking the total number to 6,535, the health department said.
The deceased were all women, with three hailing from Chennai and one from Ramanathapuram. With this, the death toll has gone up to 44, a health department bulletin said.
Of the total of 526 positive cases, Chennai continued to lead the numbers with 279, followed by Villupuram 67 and Chengalpattu at 40.
In the National Capital Delhi also, 224 new COVID-19 cases were recorded to take its tally to 6,542.
In Delhi, there was also confusion over the death toll as the data from the four hospitals showed more fatalities than the number reported by the Delhi government. Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said there is no reason to hide anything and not a single case will go unaccounted for, but gave no explanation for the discrepancy.
There has been a mismatch in the numbers of West Bengal also for several days with the state government's figures being lower than that of the Union Health Ministry.
On the outskirts of the National Capital, Noida reported its second COVID-19 death while its total cases rose to 216. The overall figure for Uttar Pradesh also rose.
Rajasthan recorded 76 more cases, while 36 new cases were detected in Karnataka too.
In Bihar, five Bihar Military Police (BMP) personnel tested positive, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 579. In Assam, a dental college student's test came positive.
Central forces report 116 new cases
The growing number of infections in five Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) - CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF and SSB - under the command of the Union home ministry, has emerged as another challenge for the Central Government.
On Saturday, at least 116 fresh coronavirus infections were reported by the uniformed organisation, taking the total number of positive personnel to over 650, officials said.
Of the new cases, CRPF accounts for 62, BSF 35, CISF 13 and ITBP reported 6 fresh cases. As of now, the total active cases in these forces stands at 231 in CRPF, 256 in BSF, 48 in CISF and 100 in the ITBP.
Five personnel of these forces have succumbed to the disease, a senior paramilitary officer said.
After home minister Shah's review, the AIIMS in Jhajjar has been designated as a special coronavirus facility for the CAPF personnel apart from their 200-bedded referral hospital in Greater Noida.
Health ministry revises policy for discharge
The Union Health Ministry has also revised its policy for discharge of COVID-19 patients under which only those developing severe illness or having compromised immunity will have to test negative through RT-PCR test before being discharged by a hospital.
Moderate cases of COVID-19 and pre-symptomatic, mild and very mild cases need not undergo tests before being discharged after resolution of their symptoms.
According to the rules till now, a patient was considered fit to be discharged if he or she tested negative on day 14 and then again in a span of 24 hours.
Political tussle over migrant trains continue
The bodies of sixteen migrant labourers who were mown down by a goods train in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district were brought to Jabalpur by two bogies attached to a special train.
From Jabalpur, the coaches were further sent to Shahdol and Umaria, said a police officer.
Karnataka, which has been at the centre of a controversy over the state government disallowing migrants to leave the state, clarified on Saturday that migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons can hire and use buses provided by state-run road transport corporations on payment basis for travel to other states with relevant permissions.
However, the political tussle over special trains for stranded migrant lbourers continued on Saturday with Union home minister Amit Shah, in a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the state was not allowing trains with migrant workers reach the state and termed it as an "injustice" towards these workers.
The state government, however, dismissed the charge by saying 6,000 stranded workers have already been brought back, and the state has given green signal to 10 trains carrying more such workers.
This claim was rejected by Indian Railways with officials too saying that there was no proposal on record so far with the national transporter to run any more 'shramik' trains to the state. According to reports, so far only two trains ferrying migrants have reached West Bengal.
The railways, however, on Saturday night said it had received "clearance" from West Bengal for running eight special trains to the state to ferry people stranded outside due to the ongoing lockdown.
On Saturday, a war of words also erupted between the JD(U) and the AAP over train fares of 1,200 Bihar-bound migrant workers, with the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation saying that it bore the cost of ferrying the migrants, a claim rejected by the JD(U) which said the party was speaking half-truth on the issue.
The ruling Janata Dal (United) in Bihar said the AAP-led Delhi government has sought reimbursement of the payment and accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of resorting to "cheap politics to gain popularity".
Meanwhile, NCP chief Sharad Pawaron Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak to the chief ministers of states, who are not allowing migrants to return home.
"I humbly request our @PMOIndia Shri Narendra Modi ji to intervene in this matter by talking to the CMs of the respective states who are not allowing these people to come back home," Pawar said in a series of tweets without mentioning any specific state.
362 people from West Asia arrive in Kochi
As for Indians stranded abroad, two Air India Express flights carrying 362 people from Oman and Kuwait arrived at the international airport in Kochi on Saturday night.
There were a total of 362 people, including eight infants in the flights which landed here from the two Gulf nations, a Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) spokesman said.
Official sources said all the passengers would be subjected to COVID-19 rapid test at the airport before being transferred to their respective destinations by special taxis and KSRTC buses.
They will go into quarantine after completing formalities at the airport.
Another Air India Express flight from Doha, carrying 177 passengers and six infants, is expected to arrive here early hours on Sunday, sources said.
Another special Air India flight carrying 177 Indians has left Kula Lumpur for Trichy, Tamil Nadu, ANI said.
According to sources, three other Air India flights - from Singapore (with 243 passengers), from London with (329 passengers) and from Manila (241 passengers) are expected to reach Mumbai on Sunday.
Globally, nearly 40 lakh people have tested positive for the deadly virus since its emergence in China last December, while approximately 2.75 lakh people have lost their lives. However, nearly 13 lakh people have recovered too, including nearly 2 lakh in the US and over 1.4 lakh in Germany.
Germany and South Korea are among those countries that have been seen as having successfully avoided large number of deaths by their extensive testing and contact tracing measures. But, worries mounted on Saturday about fresh outbreaks in both the countries following various lockdown relaxations, thus raising the risks associated with reopening of economies.
With inputs from agencies
