Nursing staff of Sassoon Hospital, who are putting up in various hotels, on their way to work on Thursday. (Express photo/Arul Horizon)
Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates: The Covid-19 tally in India increased to 35,043 on Friday with as many as 1,147 fatalities after 1,433 cases were reported since Thursday evening, the Ministry of Health Affairs announced. On Thursday, Maharashtra and Gujarat registered the maximum number of cases, with the former crossing the 10,000-mark.
Ahead of May 3, when the lockdown is scheduled to end, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan has asked state chief secretaries to “broadbase” the criteria for red, orange and green zones, and designate areas according to their assessment. As the pandemic and the prolonged lockdown batter all sectors of the economy, the government, sources said, is working on a rescue package that, for now, may address the needs of the micro, small and medium enterprise segment rather than the larger corporate sector.
Meanwhile, on the global front, the novel coronavirus has so far claimed at least 2,33,388 lives and infected at least 3.2 million people worldwide ever since its outbreak at the beginning of this year, according to a tally by John Hopkins University. The United States continues to be the worst-hit, with over 10,69,424 cases and over 61,547 deaths. The worst-affected countries in the world after the US in terms of infections are Spain (2,13,435), Italy (2,05,463), United Kingdom (1,72,481) and France (1,67,299).
Authorities across states have begun preparations to help lakhs of migrant workers.
As many as 8,372 have recovered from Covid-19 so far.
Private hospitals fear admitting Covid patients will expose their frontline staff to infection, and this could attract adverse action. To top this, there is little clarity on testing patients – upon admission as well as pre-operatively. Two, following government advice, many patients rescheduled elective or planned surgeries. OPD (out-patient department) consulting has anyway reduced to a small fraction of pre-Covid days. But as the number of positive cases continue to rise and reports of hospitals turning away patients pour in, states want private nursing homes to open fully. With the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (BMC) struggling to expand its isolation beds, the Maharashtra government Thursday warned hospitals against refusing patients – Covid or non-Covid. The Delhi government too issued an order asking all nursing homes and hospitals to resume services, and admit non-Covid patients.
Amid the lockdown, the first train carrying migrants from Lingampally in Telangana to Hatia in Jharkhand started at 5 am today.
Researchers at Oxford University gave injections to volunteers in a study that eventually aims to include hundreds in hopes of telling not only if the vaccine is safe but if it works. Dozens of vaccine candidates are in various stages of development around the world. However, experts have cautioned that even if early studies go well, it will be at least a year before any are available for widespread use. Watch video here:
The authorities of the Biju Patnaik International Airport here have framed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for its operation after the lockdown is lifted, officials said. The airport is likely to operate in a single shift after the lockdown is lifted, said BPIA director VV Rao after a meeting with stakeholders here on Thursday. Asked whether the airport will operate immediately after lifting of the lockdown, Rao said: "We are readying things here and will operate only after getting instructions from the headquarters. We have the SOP in hands now."
The active Covid-19 cases in India stood at 25,007, while 8,888 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated. The total number of 35,043 cases includes 111 foreign nationals, according to ministry data updated in the morning. Seventy-two deaths were reported since Thursday evening, out of which 27 fatalities were from Maharashtra, 17 from Gujarat, 11 from West Bengal, seven each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, and three from Delhi.
About 60,000 foreign nationals from 72 countries have been evacuated from India amid the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19, the government said on Thursday. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the issue of evacuation of Indians stranded abroad is also “under discussion”. “We understand their predicament.the issue is under consultation and discussion is underway,” he said in response to questions at an online briefing. He said all Indian missions are extending every possible assistance to the diaspora community. It is learnt that the government is working on a mega plan to deploy naval ships as well as military and commercial aircraft to evacuate Indians stranded in the Gulf and other regions after the lockdown ends.
In order to give a boost to the economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a detailed meeting Thursday on strategies to attract more foreign investment and promote domestic investment. He also reviewed the contribution of the mining sector in increasing employment opportunities and boosting growth. Modi advocated a “more proactive approach” to handhold investors, solving their problems and helping them in getting all necessary central and state government clearances in a time-bound manner, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. “It was discussed that a scheme should be developed to promote more plug and play infrastructure in the existing industrial lands/plots/estates in the country and provide necessary financing support,” the PMO said. The government may look at easing some of the existing regulations to attract greater foreign investment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hoped that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin recovered soon from the novel coronavirus. "My best wishes to Russian PM Mishustin for early recovery and good health," Modi tweeted in Russian and English. "We stand with our close friend Russia in efforts to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic." Mishustin had said on Thursday that he tested positive for COVID-19 and he would will self-isolate.
The cross border transit into Gurugram will be prohibited from 10 am today. Only vehicles involved in the movement of essential goods and services and certain government offices are exempted.
Amid discussions on ways to ease lockdown restrictions after May 3, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Thursday suggested a six-point strategy for ‘possible road ahead’ and said that for the sake of livelihoods, the economy should kickstart with full supply chains. Kant tweeted, “Possible Road Ahead: Hyper-localisation in Red areas with ruthless containment; 2. Physical distancing & Masks =New Fashion; 3.Virus can bounce back; 4. Look after 60+ with Co-morbidity; 5.Vaccine still far away; 6.For livelihoods, economy should kickstart with full supply chain.” Kant’s comments assume significance as he is heading one of the 11 empowered groups of officers that have been entrusted with formulating the response against the pandemic.
US President Donald Trump Thursday said the World Health Organization should be “ashamed of” itself, as he likened it to a public relations agency for China. The Trump Administration has launched a probe into the role of the WHO on coronavirus, and has temporarily suspended the US’ financial assistance to it. “I think that the World Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves because they are like the public relations agency for China,” Trump told reporters in the East Room of the White House.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was confident the coronavirus may have originated in a Chinese virology lab, but declined to describe the evidence, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing over the origins of the deadly outbreak. Trump did not mince words at a White House event on Thursday, when asked if he had seen evidence that gave him a “high degree of confidence” the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. “Yes, yes I have,” he said, declining to give specifics. “I can’t tell you that. I’m not allowed to tell you that.”
The number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 35,043 on Friday. (Source: Ministry of Health Affairs)
Sources involved in discussing the second fiscal package said that a consensus seems to be emerging that within industry, MSMEs have not gained much and continue to feel the pain despite measures announced by the Finance Ministry in its first package and steps taken by the Reserve Bank of India so far. MSMEs are among the worst affected by the downturn. Since they don’t have large buffers that blue-chip companies have, the government is planning a relief package for smaller firms to improve their access to funding and their liquidity position. Sources said MSMEs may be supported through a fund that carries a government guarantee. “The government could also provide a direct guarantee against fresh loans to units in the sector so that they can raise funds from banks to stay solvent,” said a source, not wishing to be named.
As the Covid pandemic and the prolonged lockdown batter all sectors of the economy, the government, sources said, is working on a rescue package that, for now, may address the needs of the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) segment rather than the larger corporate sector. More than six meetings have been held at the Prime Minister’s Office — including Thursday’s with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal — to discuss the scope and quantum of the second fiscal package. But what has held back an announcement is the open-endedness of the stimulus being pushed by sections within the government. “The Prime Minister has been asking ‘searching’ questions. What probably weighs in his mind is the aftermath of the massive stimulus the government imparted following the 2008 global financial crisis. Few large industrial groups made the most of the monetary and fiscal stimulus, built huge and unsustainable balance sheets, left banks with large NPAs, and this also led to high inflation,” said a source who did not wish to be named.
Here is an overall view of Covid-19 cases from across states as recorded by the government at 5 pm on April 30. (Source: PIB)
Co-morbid conditions in people dying due to Covid-19 is not uncommon. In fact, more than 50 per cent of people who have died in India had a pre-existing disease — diabetes and hypertension were the most common. The details of many of the rest are not known, and it is possible that a significant number even among those would have co-morbid conditions. Most of the other states have included the deaths of all those who tested positive in its Covid-19 toll. And, no state has reported such a large difference in the numbers of actual deaths of coronavirus-positive patients, and those whose deaths have been ascertained to have been caused primarily by Covid-19. However, following in the footsteps of West Bengal, several have also constituted death audit committees. Authorities in Delhi, Mumbai and Punjab have announced that expert committees would assess the cause of death in every case where a positive patient dies.
West Bengal Wednesday revealed that 105 persons infected with the coronavirus had died in the state, but maintained that only 33 of these deaths could directly be attributed to Covid-19. The other 72 had pre-existing diseases, or co-morbidities, and the fact that they had also tested positive for coronavirus was “incidental”, Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said. The latest numbers were revealed by an expert committee that was formed to carry out an audit of all the coronavirus deaths being reported in the state and assess the exact reasons. “The Death Audit Committee has recommended that Health Department officials should keep more records of patients, and improve the procedure of keeping records. The committee also advised that there should be a uniform format to issue death certificates. The committee advised the death certificates should have immediate cause of death, antecedent cause of death and underlying cause of death,” Sinha said.
Ahead of May 3, when the lockdown is scheduled to end, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan has asked state chief secretaries to “broadbase” the criteria for red, orange and green zones, and designate areas according to their assessment. As per the revised criteria, she said, green zones are districts which haven’t reported a fresh case in 21 days, down from the 28 days earlier. In her letter, she listed 130 red, 284 orange, and 319 green districts. “The districts were earlier designated as hotspots / red zones, orange zones and green zones, primarily based on the cumulative cases reported and the doubling rate. Since recovery rates have gone up, the districts are now being designated across various zones duly broad-basing the criteria. A district will be considered under green zone if there are are no confirmed cases so far or there is no reported case since last 21 days in the district,” Sudan wrote.
Amid Covid-19 pandemic, the common directive from everyone is to 'stay home to stay safe'. But for several women, 'staying home' does not equal to safety. Many, are unfortunately, trapped with their abusers with nowhere to go. Watch this video to know more: