Following further relaxation of the lockdown, mobile stores across Ahmedabad resumed business on Sunday. (Express photo/Javed Raja)
On the 33rd day of the lockdown, India recorded the highest one-day rise of 1,975 novel coronavirus cases, taking the total number of cases close to the 27000-mark, including 826 deaths. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his monthly radio program ‘Mann ki Baat’, called the fight against Covid-19 ‘people-driven’ and asked people to shun any complacency that they will not be infected by the virus.
The Prime Minister also hailed states, emergency workers and civil society groups for their contribution in combating the pandemic. He said the resolve shown by the people of the country has led to the beginning of a transformation with businesses, offices, educational institutions, medical sector rapidly undergoing new changes.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has warned that recovering from coronavirus might not protect people from reinfection as the death toll from the pandemic crossed 200,000 globally. The United States is the hardest-hit country, recording more than 51,500 deaths and over 890,000 detected infections.
Vadodara ABVP workers took to art to urge residents to stay home to contain the spread of Covid-19. (Express photo/Bhupendra Rana)
Here is a curated list of striking stories from across the country on 33rd day of the lockdown.
Tripura man designs bike with seats 1-metre apart
At a time when social distancing has emerged as the watchword for fighting the coronavirus pandemic, a YouTuber from Tripura has made a unique electric motorcycle to create awareness among people. In keeping with guidelines issued by the WHO, the electric bike has a one-metre distance between each seat.
The bike is the brainchild of Partha Saha of Aralia village near Agartala. Speaking to indianexpress.com, Saha said neither he wishes to popularise the vehicle as a commercial product nor would he seek permission from the transport department. Read more here
Partha Saha of Aralia village with Covid-19 bike. In keeping with guidelines issued by the WHO, the electric bike has a one-metre distance between each seat. (Express photo)
Delhi cops promise toys to kids as they go out to fight ‘corona keeda’
From telling their kids that they are going out to fight “corona keeda” to promising to bring them toys as soon as the lockdown ends, Delhi Police officers are striving to be the best at the other titles attached to their names in these extraordinary times.
Over 26,000 coronavirus cases have been reported from across the country. (Express photo/Amit Mehra)
While healthcare workers are fighting the battle against coronavirus inside hospitals, police personnel are manning the roads to enforce the lockdown. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Parminder Singh said he stays away from the things that belong to his son over fears that if he is infected, he’ll be putting his kid at risk.
“How can life be when you are surrounded by coronavirus? You can’t access some places at home and you cannot touch certain things despite washing your hands many times. Every day when you wear the uniform, you have a fear that you might get infected today,” he told PTI over phone. Singh also has elderly parents at home and has to follow strict social distancing norms.
Covid-19: An elderly woman was among seven patients who got discharged from GIMS Greater Noida on Sunday. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)
Goan women come up with musical video on life during lockdown
Women from various professional fields in Goa have come up with a musical video to show what life means to them while staying indoors during the coronavirus-enforced lockdown. In the video, titled ‘Teri Kya Story Hai’ (what is your story), several women, including doctors, teachers, actors and homemakers, have tried to convey that they are not feeling locked down, but this is just a usual routine, coupled with some additional household chores.
“Be it a mother, daughter, daughter-in-law or wife, to each their own,” Neha Savkar Vaze, who penned the song for the video, told PTI. Vaze narrated how over a phone call, she and Goan singer Akshada Talaulikar came up with the thought of doing something musical and out-of-the-box during lockdown.
People shower health workers with flowers in Chandigarh. (Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
The tempo of the song definitely matched with the excitement of each one of the participants, Vaze said, adding that the video showcases women from various fields and residing in different parts of the coastal state. Talaulikar said the composition was completed in half-a-day, but getting the music arranged was a tough task as being confined to home, she did not have access to any professional tools.
‘Kitchen warriors’ in Mathura serve food to 15,000 people daily
A group of ‘kitchen warriors’ comprising cooks, food packagers and distributors is manning a community kitchen in Mathura which caters to around 12,000 to 15,000 people daily, bringing a ray of hope to those hit by the nationwide lockdown. The initiative was initially started to provide food to labourers hired for various projects of the Uttar Pradesh Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad. It eventually culminated into a community kitchen which has so far provided more than 3.64 lakh food packets to the needy during the ongoing lockdown in Mathura district. Around 50 cooks, all of them women, 40 food packagers and distributors each run the show.
लॉकडाउन के दूसरे चरण के 12वें दिन प्रदीप माथुर द्वारा मथुरा वृंदावन में 4050 लोगों को खाना वितरित किया गया जिसमें 1450 लोगों को माँ की रसोई के सौजन्य से 1600 लोगों को अक्षय पात्र संस्था के सौजन्य से जय गुरुदेव धर्म प्रचारक संस्था के माध्यम से 1000 लोगों को खाना वितरित किया गया pic.twitter.com/4rFEcQok4X
— Pradeep Mathur (@pradeepmathurUP) April 26, 2020
The Uttar Pradesh Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad was constituted in 2017 for preserving, developing and maintaining the aesthetic quality of Braj heritage. Braj, also known as Brij or Brijbhoomi, is a region around Mathura-Vrindavan and is considered to be the ‘land of Lord Krishna’. The area stretches from Mathura, Jalesar, Agra, Hathras and Aligarh to Etah, Mainpuri and Farrukhabad districts.
“In this kind of scenario, when people are actually scared and afraid and rightly so to venture out, there are not many people you will get to work even on payment, and work with discipline. The group (kitchen warriors) works from 6.00 am to 6.00 pm. The cooks make ‘poori’ from 8 quintals of wheat. And during the entire shift, social distancing is strictly adhered to,” UP Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad vice-chairman Shailja Kant Mishra told PTI.
Madhya Pradesh man out in luxury car during curfew made to do sit-ups
A member of a local group of volunteers allegedly misbehaved with a 20-year-old man travelling in a luxury sports car during the ongoing curfew in Madhya Pradesh and made the latter to do sit-ups on the road. The man, who is a son of an Indore-based industrialist, claimed he had a curfew pass to move around in the area to distribute food to the needy people.
A purported video of the incident, which according to eyewitnesses took place on Saturday, went viral on social media platforms. In the video, a volunteer of the Nagar Suraksha Samiti wearing a black uniform was purportedly seen signalling the man, driving an open roof convertible two-seater yellow sports car, to stop on the city’s MR-10 road.
After stopping his car by the roadside, the man was seen coming out of the vehicle and trying to show his curfew pass to the volunteer. However, the volunteer said “he has nothing to do with the pass.”