As the country is under a lockdown for nearly two weeks now, Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is taking stock of the situation in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought suggestions from his Council of Ministers on how to make a calibrated exit from the 21-day lockdown that was imposed from March 25 owing to the outbreak of COVID-19.
Data from the State authorities puts the number of positive cases at over 4851 and the death toll at 147.
Worldwide, the number of positive COVID-19 cases is over 12,14,466 with 67,767 deaths, according to the tally kept by the World Health Organisation.
The Hindu has brought out a multi-language e-book on essential COVID-19 information, in addition to covering the developments related to the coronavirus pandemic as it unfolded.
Here are answers from experts on your queries about the virus, a list of State Helpline numbers, a State-wise tracker for COVID-19 cases, deaths and testing, and a map of confirmed cases in India.
Numbers to note:
24/7 national helpline can be reached at 1075, 1930, 1944 (dedicated to Northeast), 1800-112-545 and 011-23978046.
WhatsApp helpdesk number: 9013151515.
Email: ncov2019-at-gmail.com.
Here are the latest updates:
Japan declares emergency
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency to fight coronavirus infections in major population centres and unveiled a stimulus package he described as among the world's biggest to soften the economic blow.
Mr. Abe announced the state of emergency targeting the capital Tokyo and six other prefectures - accounting for about 44% of Japan's population - for a period of about one month.
“We have decided to declare a state of emergency because we've judged that a fast spread of the coronavirus nationwide would have an enormous impact on lives and the economy,” he told parliament earlier.
His cabinet will also finalise the stimulus package worth 108 trillion yen ($990 billion) - equal to 20% of Japan's economic output - to cushion the impact of the epidemic on the world's third-largest economy.
--Reuters
Indian-origin cardiac surgeon dies in UK from COVID-19
An Indian-origin cardiac surgeon who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus has died at a hospital in Cardiff in the UK, where a number of medics have lost their lives on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
--PTI
Rs 50 lakh insurance cover for police, govt. staff in Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced Rs 50 lakh insurance cover for police personnel and other State government employees engaged in the fight against coronavirus.
In a message on the official government Twitter handle, Mr. Chouhan said the Centre had announced Rs 50 lakh insurance cover to health workers, while the State government will provide the same to the police and officials of revenue, urban administration and other departments.
--PTI
AIIMS to provide N95 masks to all healthcare workers
Taking measures to safeguard its workers against coronavirus, the AIIMS administration has decided to provide N95 masks to all its healthcare workers involved in direct patient care and has asked them to reuse the masks at least four times after disinfecting them.
The masks, it said, will suffice for 20 days after being disinfected.
--PTI
Twelve new cases reported; 25 discharged so far
Twelve new cases - including four who participated in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation and three other contacts of earlier COVID-19 positive patients who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event - have tested positive on Tuesday.
--Afshan Yasmeen
Sonia Gandhi writes to PM, suggests five ways to cut govt. expenditure
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering five suggestions to cut government expenditure including scrapping Rs 20,000 crore project for the Central Vista project, ban government advertisement to media and put on hold all official foreign trips in the wake of Covid-19.
--Sandeep Phukan
Five-step plan prepared to control outbreak in Delhi, says Arvind Kejriwal
Learning from the experiences of others countries, we have prepared a five step plan to control a coronavirus outbreak in the city; it is a plan based on 'five Ts', said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
"Doctors and nurses are the most important part of this team; we have to take care of them as well as their families. They are the strongest link of this team," he said
--Jatin Anand
Former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti shifted to residence
Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti was on Tuesday shifted from a Srinagar sub-jail to her official residence, now declared a sub-jail to put her under house detention.
Whatsapp imposes limit on frequently forwarded message to prevent spread of misinformation
To slow the spread of misinformation via its platform, Whatsapp has announced a new stricter limit on forwarding messages. Now, frequently forwarded messages -- those which have been previously forwarded five times or more, can only be forwarded to one chat at a time.
--Yuthika Bhargava
Many COVID-19 cases in the Indian American community, several deaths reported
Scores of Indian Americans have tested positive with the novel coronavirus and several of them have died, according to multiple news reports from community organisations and diaspora leaders from across the US, currently the global epicentre of the deadly disease.
While there is no official or unofficial count of Indian-Americans infected with the coronavirus, information available on various private social media groups indicate that a significant number of them are in New York and New Jersey.
73-year-old recovers in Delhi
A 73-year-old patient has been discharged from the LNJP hospital after his recovery.
An LNJP spokesperson said that the patient recovered in spite of having many co-morbidities. Two tests have come out negative, he added.
IB office in Bhubaneswar sealed, employees put under home quarantine
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sealed the office of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) here and put all its employees under home quarantine after it was found that one of the staff of the central agency had come in contact with a COVID-19 patient, an official said on Tuesday.
--PTI
Two more test positive in Dharavi
Two more have tested positive in Dharavi's Baliga Nagar. One of them is the 80 year-old father and another, the 49 year-old brother of Dharavi's second patient. They were tested soon after the 30-year-old woman had tested positive. BMC is holding another health camp at Baliga Nagar today. The area has been completely sealed
This brings the total cases in Dharavi to 7 so far.
--Tanvi Deshpande
Maharashtra records 23 more cases as tally rises to 891
3 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported from Maharashtra on Tuesday, with the total tally jumping to 891 over a 12-hour span.
10 of these new cases are from Mumbai, four from Pune, three from Ahmednagar, two each from Nagpur and rural Buldhana, one each from Thane and Sangli.
With this Mumbai’s tally surges to 536 cases, while that in Pune district has now exceeded 150. Buldhana is fast emerging as a virus hotspot in the State’s rural hinterland, with a total seven cases while Ahmednagar’s tally has shot to 26.
In Ahmednagar, at least four foreign nationals including two who had attended the Delhi Tablighi Jamaat congregation have tested positive.
--Shoumojit Banerjee
Andhra Pradesh has reported its fourth death and one more positive case.
The deceased, a 45-year-old man, got admitted to Kurnool Government General Hospital on April 1 and was tested positive for Covid-19 later. Having type 2 diabetes, the man succumbed two days later on April 3, the bulletin by the Health Department issued on Tuesday morning stated. The deceased has no history of travel which is an indication of community transmission of the virus in the district which reported the highest number of cases in the State.
--Tharun Boda
36 booked for failing to inform authorities about participation in Nizamuddin congregation
Cases have been lodged against 36 persons in Chitrakoot range for negligence after they failed to inform authorities about their participation in a congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin, police said.
The 36 people have been quarantined.
--PTI
More health officials contract COVID-19 in Bhopal
As many as 12 persons — five health officials and seven from the police and their family members — tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, taking the tally to 74 patients in the city, said Sudhir Dehariya, Bhopal Chief Medical and Health Officer.
So far, 37 health officials have contracted the disease in Bhopal.
The total number of infected people in the State has gone up to 268. - Sidharth Yadav
Coronavirus cases in 17 districts in Gujarat
Nineteen more Coronavirus infection cases have been detected in Gujarat taking the total number to 165 in the State.
The infection has now spread to 17 out of 33 districts in the state, says Health department. - Mahesh Langa
GoM discussing lockdown
Group of Ministers led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh are meeting to discuss lockdown implications and other issues.
The meeting started at 11 am at Mr. Singh's residence. Home Minister Amit Shah and other Cabinet ministers are also attending. - Vijaita Singh
India has confirmed it has lifted blanket ban on export of hydroxychloroquine HCQ.
The Ministry of External Affairs has said India would "licence paracetamol and HCQ in appropriate quantities to all our neighbouring countries and some countries who have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic." - Suhasini Haidar
Delhi govt to do random testing in COVID-19 hotspots
Delhi government has decided to do randon testing for coronavirus in the Union Territory, mainly on the hotspots. A Delhi government spokesperson confirmed this.
Delhi has reported 532 cases, including eight deaths till Monday. - Nikhil M. Babu
Gujarat government ropes in private firms to manufacture PPE, N95 masks
The Gujarat government has roped in state-based private companies to manufacture personal protective equipment and N95 masks required by health staff who are at the forefront of the battle against coronavirus.
A private company from the state has already manufactured low cost ventilators and will be supplying them soon to government-run hospitals, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said a few days back.
As part of the initiative, the Rajkot-based Jyoti CNC has started production of ventilators after getting necessary approvals.
“Two other companies -Arvind Mills in Ahmedabad and Sure Safety in Vadodara - will soon start production of personal protective equipment (PPE),” chief minister’s secretary Ashwani Kumar said.
Watch | Coronavirus: Can masks protect you?
-PTI
WB governor appeals to CM, ministers, MLAs to take a pay cut to fight COVID-19
Following the Centre’s decision to cut 30% salary of all MPs for one year to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday appealed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, state ministers and MLAs to take a similar approach for a year to aid the government’s efforts to tide over the crisis. -PTI
Rajasthan records 24 more cases of coronavirus
Twenty-four more cases of coronavirus in Rajasthan have been recorded, taking the total number of cases in the state to 325, an official said.
Of them, nine are from Jodhpur, seven in Jaisalmer's Pokhran town, four in Banswara, three in Jaipur and one in Churu.
Total number of patients in Rajasthan is now 325, including 36 evacuees from Iran staying in Army's facilities.
Watch | Who are most likely to get affected by COVID-19?
Twenty-five of the 36 recovered patients have been discharged from hospitals, said Medical & Health Department. -Mohammad Iqbal
Four more test positive in Himachal Pradesh
Four Tablighi Jamaat members who attended a religious congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin have tested positive for coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh, a senior health official said. With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state rose to 19.
Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said 83 samples were collected in the state on Monday and the report of 81 was out, of which four tested positive, two samples will be tested again and the rest of it has came out negative.
All the four who tested positive were from Tissa area of Chamba district and had attended the Jamaat event in the national capital, he said.
Eleven COVID-19 patients were being treated in the state and all of them had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation. Two of the total cases have recovered, two died and four patients voluntarily shifted to a private hospital outside Himachal Pradesh, a health department official said.
-PTI
One death, 50 new cases in T.N.
Medical staff participates in a demo of the interactive robot 'Zafi' which will be deployed at COVID-19 isolation wards, at Stanley Medical college hospital in Chennai. | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Tamil Nadu reported its sixth COVID-19 death, and added 50 new cases to its tally on Monday. With this, the State now has 621 cases. The victim was a 57-year-old woman, who was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital at 8 p.m. on Sunday with severe acute respiratory infection.
Lockdown likely to be extended in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh may extend the ongoing lockdown beyond April 14, a senior government official said on Monday citing the rising number of COVID-19 positive cases in the State including those linked to the Tablighi Jamaat.
Trump warns India of retaliation
President Donald Trump has warned India that the US may retaliate if it did not export anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine despite his personal request, saying he would be surprised in case of a negative outcome as New Delhi has good relations with Washington.
Hydroxychloroquine, an old and inexpensive drug used to treat malaria, is seen as a viable therapeutic solution by President Trump to coronavirus that has so far killed more than 10,000 Americans and infected over 3.6 lakh within weeks.
Last week Mr. Trump said he has sought help from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the sale of Hydroxychloroquine tablets ordered by the US to treat the growing number of coronavirus patients in his country, hours after India banned the export of the anti-malarial drug.
Plea in HC for evacuating Indians stranded in U.S.
A plea was moved on Monday in the Delhi High Court for the safe and secure return of all Indian citizens employed in the United States of America (USA) and now stranded there without jobs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Telangana CM favours extension of national lockdown
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend the 21-day national lockdown to check COVID-19 beyond April 14, saying it was essential to save lives.
47% of patients below 40, says govt.
Giving a break up of the data so far at the daily press briefing, Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said, 76% of the confirmed cases were male and 24% female; 47% were below 40 years of age, 34% between 40 to 60 years and 19% above 60 years.