Coronavirus India uypdate: Municipal workers, police and hospital staff wait for covid casualties at M R Bangur Hospital in Kolkata.
India Coronavirus Latest Updates: The death toll due to the coronavirus pandemic is now close to the 700-mark as total number of infections reached 21,393 on Thursday, including the 4,257 patients who have been treated and discharged so far. While Maharashtra, which has been worst-hit by the pandemic, has received a lot of attention for its rapidly rising number of infections, Gujarat has also added numbers at a faster rate to become the second state to report maximum cases. The positive cases in the Gujarat has more than tripled, from 766 on April 15 to 2,407 on Wednesday, April 22.
However, the spread of the disease in India has as a result of the lockdown. It took eight days for India to travel from 10,000 cases to 20,000 cases.
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Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has targetted the government over its response to the coronavirus saying the Centre had “no clear idea” yet on how to manage the situation after the lockdown period ends on May 3 and that the shutdown of the present nature after May 3 would be even more devastating.
Here are the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic from across the country today:
Govt freezes Dearness Allowance at current rates till July 2021
Due to Covid-19, the government has decided to freeze the dearness allowance to central government employees and dearness relief to pensioners at current rates till July 2021. However, DA and DR at current rates will continue to be paid. In a notification, the Ministry of Finance states: “As and when the decision to release the future installment of DA and DR due from July 1, 2021 is taken by the Government, the rates of DA and DR as effective from January 1, 2020, July 1, 2020 and January 1, 2021 will be restored prospectively and will be subsumed in the cumulative revised rate effected from July 1, 2021.”
The government is likely to save Rs. 37,530 crore in the Financial Year 2020-21 and 2021-22 on account of this decision, sources told The Indian Express. As state governments normally follow the Centre’s orders on DA/DR, it is estimated that states could save Rs. 82,566 crore by implementing similar orders. Thus, the total anticipated saving of the Centre and states will be Rs. 1.20 lakh crore, which will be used to fight the Covid-19 battle and its fallout.
Ministry of Finance issues order to freeze additional instalment of DA for central govt employees and pensioners in view of #Covid_19india crisis. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/pCmBLHAqjd
— Liz Mathew (@MathewLiz) April 23, 2020
Centre acted ‘miserly’ on Congress’ suggestions, says Sonia Gandhi
Addressing the Congress Working Committee — the highest decision-making body of the Congress party — via video conference, Gandhi said the party’s suggestions offered to the government to fight Covid-19 had been acted upon “only partially” and “in a miserly way”.
Since the last CWC meeting three weeks ago, Gandhi said the pandemic had “increased disturbingly” in spread and speed. “Since the lockdown commenced on March 23, I have, as you all know, written several times to the Prime Minister. I offered our constructive cooperation and also made a number of suggestions to alleviate the suffering of both rural and urban families. These suggestions had been formulated on the basis of feedback we have been receiving from different sources, including our Chief Ministers.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi. (File)
“Unfortunately, they have been acted upon only partially and in a miserly way. The compassion, large-heartedness and alacrity that should be forthcoming from the Central Government is conspicuous by its absence,” she said.
Cooperation between Centre and States key in COVID-19 fight: Manmohan Singh
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh Thursday said co-operation between the Centre and States is essential in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. ”It is necessary to focus on a number of issues in this fight… it will very much depend upon the availability of resources,” he said during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting.
Assam, Meghalaya hike fuel prices amid global crude oil crash
Governments in Assam and Meghalaya have hiked the taxes on petrol and fuel even as global crude oil prices hit a record low and the country continued to observe a lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic. A litre of petrol in Meghalaya will now cost Rs 74.9 while diesel will cost Rs 67.5.
Only primary contacts of Covid-19 patients will be tested in Telangana
The Telangana government Thursday issued a notification stating that only the primary contacts of coronavirus positive cases shall be brought to the government identified quarantine centers for testing. Also, the state government extended the home quarantine period from 14 to 28 days and said that it will be monitored everyday.
First lady Savita Kovind stitches face masks for shelter homes in Delhi
Joining the fight to stem the rise of COVID-19 infections in the country, First Lady Savita Kovind on Wednesday stitched face masks at Shakti Haat in the President’s Estate. These masks will be distributed at various shelter homes of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board. The First Lady was seen covering her face with a red colour cloth mask while stitching the masks.
First lady Savita Kovind stitching face masks.
Gujarat triples its cases in one week, deaths also rise by almost three times
In the last one week, the number of people testing positive for novel Coronavirus in Gujarat has more than tripled, from 766 on April 15 to 2407 on Wednesday, April 22. The number of people dying due to COVID-19 disease in Gujarat has also increased by almost three times during this period. By April 15, the state had reported 36 deaths from the disease. Over the next one week, however, 67 more deaths have been reported. With a total of 103 deaths, as on Wednesday evening, Gujarat is next only to Maharashtra, which has registered at least 270 deaths till now.
Coronavirus (COVID-19):
| State (Top 10) | Total number of cases | New cases on Wednesday | Number of deaths |
| Maharashtra | 5649 | 431 | 270 |
| Gujarat | 2407 | 229 | 103 |
| Delhi | 2248 | 92 | 45 |
| Rajasthan | 1825 | 153 | 27 |
| Tamil Nadu | 1629 | 33 | 19 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 1587 | 35 | 80 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 1449 | 112 | 21 |
| Telangana | 943 | 15 | 23 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 813 | 56 | 22 |
| Kerala | 437 | 11 | 2 |
Indians among worst affected ethnic groups in England
People of Indian origin in the UK have emerged as the worst affected ethnic group from the coronavirus pandemic, according to an official data on COVID-19 deaths in hospitals across England. Figures released this week by the National Health Service (NHS) England show that of the 13,918 patients who died in hospitals till April 17 after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, 16.2 per cent were of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background and those identifying with Indian ethnicity made up 3 per cent of that.
Some important India news from The Indian Express newspaper today:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the Centre of dispatching faulty COVID-19 testing kits to the state, and strongly criticised it for sending teams to assess the situation on the ground. Meanwhile, in an interview to The Indian Express, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar questioned the state government’s handling of the pandemic.
While Rajasthan has seen a ten-fold rise, Maharashtra has seen more than double increase in the rural employment guarantee scheme numbers amidst the extended lockdown.
Amid incidents of violence against healthcare personnel deployed in fighting COVID-19, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared an ordinance to make such attacks a cognizable and non-bailable offence, with a maximum jail term of seven years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh. The investigation into the attack must be completed within a month.
Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan tells Harikishan Sharma that there is no shortage of foodgrain in the country, and about the steps being taken to ensure the smooth supply across states. “Enough foodgrain in godowns, no shortage,” he says.
Maharashtra has become the first state where the number of samples tested at private facilities has overtaken those at government labs — by nearly double on Tuesday alone. According to official figures available Wednesday morning, Maharashtra has tested 82,304 samples so far, of which 41,794 — 50.78% — were done in the private labs.
Coronavirus India update: Health workers at a hospital.
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