Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: Kerala reported 26 fresh infections and three recoveries on Thursday, as the pandemic appears to strengthen more in the state after significantly slowing down.
Coronavirus
Outbreak Latest Updates: Kerala reported 26 fresh infections and three recoveries on Thursday, as the pandemic appears to strengthen more in the state after significantly slowing down.
The count of coronavirus positive patients in Mumbai reached 16,738 on Thursday after 621 more persons were found infected, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
1,001 police personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 in Maharashtra so far, informed the state police on Thursday. The force has reported two new fatalities after ASIs Murlidhar Waghmare and PN Bhagwan Parte succumbed to the disease.
As many as 68 fresh COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Andhra Pradesh, where the total number of infections rose to 2,205. The state government is in the process of recruiting 550 doctors to work in COVID-19 designated hospitals across the state, a state government bulletin said.
The Congress party on Thursday disapproved of the announcements made in Nirmala Sitharaman's second presser since the prime minister announced a Rs 20 lakh crore economic package. It called the announcements Jumla and said Sitharaman's presser was a display of her ignorance and insensitivity
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced several steps to extend relief to migrant workers, including provision for free food grains for the next two months.
NABARD will extend additional refinance support of Rs 30,000 crore for crop loan requirements. This is over and above Rs 90,000 crore to be approved by NABARD through normal finance methods.
Finance Minister announced free food grain supply for migrant labourers on the move. She said that even those workers who do not have ration cards or are not registered under the public distribution network can also avail 5 kilos of wheat or rice, and one kilos of gram free of cost
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman says MNREGA is offering work to 2.33 cr wage seekers in 1.87 lakh Gram Panchyats. She also recalled that in the previous economic package, the wages under MNREGA were also increased from Rs 182 to Rs 202 in order to provide benefit to India's poorest.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Self help Groups have been actively engaged in providing the uran poor with livelihood. She also said that the government has facilitated the start of 7,200 new SHGs since 15 March to provide livelihood during lockdown.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will give details of the second set of announcements from the Rs 20 lakh crore package the prime minister announced on Tuesday. She will address a bilingual press conference with MoS Finance Anurag Thakur at 4 pm today.
India's national carrier Air India will resume bookings for select international destinations including Frankfurt, Paris and Singapore from 5 pm today. Flyers will be able to call up the AI helpline, or book tickets through the airline's website and chat bot.
The West Bengal government has arranged for additional 105 special trains to help facilitate the return of migrants to the state, said chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday.
"Towards our commitment to helping all our people stuck in different parts of the country and who want to return back to Bengal, I am pleased to announce that we have arranged 105 additional special trains," tweeted Mamata.
With 472 more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Delhi in the past 24 hours, the total number of confirmed cases in the National Capital climbed to 8,470.
So far, 115 COVID-19 patients have succumbed to the infection, while 187 people have recovered. There are 5,310 active cases in Delhi at present, according to health bulletin released by Delhi government on Thursday.
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar will hold a meeting with few key ministers on Thursday to review the current economic situation of the state in the backdrop of COVID-19 lockdown.
The ministers will also mull upon the measures to be taken for the revival of the state's economy. CM and his colleagues are likely to discuss the post lockdown economic revival plan for the state.
Some people in Delhi asked if we can start public buses. They said many offices are allowed to work now, but not everyone has a vehicle and they need public transport, said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday.
With 22 more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Karnataka from 5 pm on Wednesday till 12 pm on Thursday, the total number of positive cases in the state climbed to 981.
So far, the state has registered 35 deaths, said the health department.
BSP chief Mayawati said that the Rs 1,000 crore allocated for migrant labourers from the PM-CARES, must be directly transferred to states like Uttar Pradesh, where labourers have been affected the most.
"Speedy direct cash transfers to migrant workers in 'worst-affected' states like UP can help them become self-sufficient," said Mayawati.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a press conference on Thursday at 4 pm. This will be the second in a series of planned press conferences meant to announce details of the COVID-19 economic stimulus package.
Indian Railways cancelled all tickets booked to travel on or before 30 June, 2020, ANI reported. Refunds will be given to all tickets booked till 30 June. However, all special trains and Shramik Special train will ply as usual.
Congress leader P Chidambaram took to Twitter to slam the BJP-led Centre decision to allocate funds to migrants workers, by saying 'PM-CARES has allocated Rs 1000 crore for migrant workers. Please don’t make the common mistake. But nothing will go to the hands of the migrant workers,' he said.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 each to the kin of the deceased in the Muzaffarnagar bus accident that left at least six migrant labourers dead.
"Officers have been directed to send bodies of the workers to Bihar. Saharanpur Divisional Commissioner has been asked to submit report after investigation," said Uttar Pradesh CMO.
As many as 134 new COVID-19 deaths and 3,722 fresh cases were reported in the past 24 hours across the nation. This takes the total confirmed coronavirus cases in the country to 78,003 with the toll at 2,549 on Thursday.
According to the health ministry, there are 49,219 active cases till now.
Eight labourers were killed and around 50 were injured after the truck they were travelling in collided with a bus in Madhya Pradesh's Guna on Wednesday night, ANI reported.
The injured labourers have been shifted to a district hospital. They were going to their home towns in Uttar Pradesh from Maharashtra.
Six migrant workers were killed and two were injured after being mowed down by a state transport bus while they were walking towards Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar late Wednesday night.
The labourers, who were headed home in Bihar on foot, were killed in the Muzaffarnagar-Saharanpur highway after a speeding bus ran over them late last night, near Ghalauli check-post.
A case of negligence will be filed against the driver, Indian Express quoted Anil Kaparvan, SHO Kotwali police station as saying.
The nationwide tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases inched towards 75,000 on Wednesday with several large urban clusters reporting a further spread of the novel coronavirus , while the government unveiled measures amounting to about Rs 6 lakh crore in easy loans, additional liquidity and other incentives to help businesses fight the crisis.
The first installment of the Rs 20-lakh-crore economic package, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, came on the 50th day of the coronavirus lockdown and merely four days before the end of its third phase on 17 May.
Coronavirus Outbreak Updates Piyush Goyal accuses Bengal govt of not giving permission for enough special trains to bring stranded people home" width="380" height="285" />
Representational image. AP
A decision on the future course of action on the lockdown is expected in the next few days, though Modi has said that the 'fourth' phase will be an 'improved' version of third phase, in which some relaxations were already given.
On Wednesday evening, the Centre also said that the PM-CARES Fund Trust has decided to allocate Rs 3,100 crore for the fight against COVID-19 , out of which nearly Rs 2,000 crore will be earmarked for purchasing ventilators and Rs 1,000 crore for migrant labourers.
Another Rs 100 crore will be given to support coronavirus vaccine development, the PMO statement said.
The trust formed on 27 March is headed by the prime minister. The other ex-officio members of the trust are the defence minister, the home minister and the finance minister.
Centre unveils first dose of Rs 20-lakh-crore economic package
On Wednesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the first part of the economic package, which is aimed at making India 'self-reliant' and also promote 'local' businesses.
Sitharaman said that no global tenders will be issued for government contracts worth up to Rs 200 crore to promote Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Taking forward the new 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' (Self-Reliant India Mission), Home Minister Amit Shah separately announced that all canteens of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) like the CRPF and the BSF will sell only indigenous products from 1 June.
These canteens cater to nearly 50 lakh family members of about 10 lakh personnel. In a series of tweets in Hindi, Shah said that the decision has been taken after Modi's appeal for being self-reliant and opting for local products.
There are expectations that many more steps might be announced soon to promote indigenous products, though Sitharaman said being self-reliant does not mean that India would look only inwards and become an "isolationist" country.
Modi said the measures announced by the finance minister will enhance liquidity, empower entrepreneurs and strengthen their competitive spirit, while addressing various issues faced by businesses, especially MSMEs.
The measures included Rs 3 lakh crore collateral-free automatic loan for businesses including MSMEs, which Sitharaman said would benefit 45 lakh small businesses.
Consultancy major KPMG India's Chairman and CEO Arun Kumar said MSMEs are critical for employment preservation and growth and helping them is the surest way to accelerate job creation. He also welcomed measures for improving liquidity for lenders and businesses, including by helping non-banking finance companies.
Congress leader P Chidambaram, however, said that the Centre's COVID-19 economic stimulus package had nothing for lakhs of poor and hungry migrant workers who have been walking to their homes.
India's MSME sector employs nearly 11 crore people and accounts for about 45 percent of the country's total manufacturing output, 40 percent of exports and almost 30 percent of the GDP. However, the sector has been hit hard by the lockdown, with millions of units staring at the prospect of closure and the threat of job losses.
Lakhs of migrant workers were also left jobless and homeless due to the pandemic, especially after the lockdown came into effect on 25 March.
While special trains and buses have been arranged for them in the recent weeks and continue to operate to help them reach their native places, thousands of them had to walk or even hide in trucks and containers to reach their destinations.
In the past few days, the large scale migrant movement has raised another worry of the virus getting spread further. Also, some cases have come to the light, including in Kerala, of people testing positive after being airlifted from abroad under a massive evacuation scheme of the Centre which is currently underway to bring back Indians and expatriates stranded in different countries.
COVID-19 cases in India cross 75,000-mark, toll rises to 2,415
In its morning update, the Health Ministry said the toll due to COVID-19 has risen to 2,415 and the number of cases has climbed to 74,281, registering an increase of 122 deaths and 3,525 cases since Tuesday morning. This included over 47,000 active cases and more than 24,000 people who have recovered from the infection.
However, a PTI tally of numbers disclosed by states and UTs, as of 6.45 pm, showed at least 75,144 total cases across the country. It also showed nearly 25,000 having recovered so far.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that nine states and UTs, including Chhattisgarh, Ladakh, Manipur and Meghalaya, have not reported any new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours while Daman and Diu, Sikkim, Nagaland and Lakshadweep have not reported any cases so far.
Vardhan also said the the doubling time of cases has improved to 12.6 in the last three days, from 11 in the past 14 days. He further observed that the fatality rate is 3.2 percent and the recovery rate is pegged at 32.8 percent.
Kerala, where new cases had stopped coming up till a few days back, saw 10 more people testing positive, including four who have come from abroad.
At the same time, large numbers of new cases continued to come up in Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, among some other states and UTs.
Maharashtra saw the highest single-day jump in cases on Wednesday, with 1,495 new patients testing positive in the last 24 hours. The total number of cases in the state, which is one of the worst hit, crossed 25,000 and toll reached 975.
Mumbai accounts for over 60 percent of all cases in Maharashtra, with around 1500 cases.
Lockdown eased in England, Saudi Arabia announces Eid curfew
The sound of a crisply struck golf ball could be heard in England for the first time in nearly two months as golf courses reopened on Wednesday as part of a modest easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions that has bred confusion and an increase in the use of public transport, AP reported.
People in England are allowed to exercise more than once a day and with one person from outside their household, provided they remain two meters (around 6.5 feet) apart. Other sporting activities, such as tennis and swimming in lakes and fishing, are allowed too.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia announced a new 24-hour nationwide curfew from 23 May and during the Eid holidays to curb the COVID-19 spread, CNN reported.
In Italy, the number of calls to a government run anti-violence helpline rose by 73 percent during the coronavirus lockdown, the report added.
