A slew of COVID-19 related announcements were made on Wednesday, aimed at the revival of India's economy. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a ₹3 lakh crore stimulus package for MSMEs, and the Prime Minister’s Office announced that the PM CARES fund will allocate ₹3,100 crore to COVID-19 relief, including funds for ventilators, migrant workers and vaccine development.
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 is a collection of our daily cartoons on COVID-19.
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.
Here are the latest updates:
President Ram Nath Kovind to forego 30 per cent of his salary for a year in view of COVID-19 crisis
The President has also deferred the purchase of Limousine, which was to be used for ceremonial occasions, Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
Shorter guest list at ceremonies and banquets, less flowers, reduced menu are among austerity measures due to COVID-19 situation in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
A 45-year-old police constable attached to a police station in eastern Mumbai became the sixth fatality of the novel Coronavirus in the city and the ninth in the State on Thursday. - Gautam S. Mengle
3 more test positive for COVID-19 in Uttarakhand, tally rises to 75
Three more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Uttarakhand, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 75.
The latest cases were reported from Dehradun late on Wednesday night. All of them had a travel history from outside the state. - PTI
Crew member of ship anchored at Chennai Port tests positive
A 27-year-old person, a member of a ship’s crew that reached Chennai Port, tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.
The ship, ‘MT Desh Abhimaan’ with an Indian flag, carrying crude oil, left from Basra, Iraq and reached the city on May 3 and was waiting for berthing.
Sources at Chennai Port said contact tracing was done immediately and further investigations are on. “The ship has been completely disinfected and its 26 crew members have been asked to be kept in isolation inside the ship. Their health conditions are monitored daily” an official said.
In first COVID-19 case in Delhi prison, Rohini jail inmate tests positive
In the first case of coronavirus in a Delhi prison, a 28-year-old inmate of Rohini jail has tested positive for the disease, officials said on Thursday. The prisoner who was asymptomatic tested positive on Wednesday and was later admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital, a senior jail official said, adding that five to six officials who came in contact with the inmate have been sent to home quarantine.
“The prisoner had some intestinal problem and was admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital on Sunday. His intestine surgery was conducted on Sunday. On Monday, doctors took the samples for COVID-19 and the result came positive on Wednesday,” Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel said.
He was lodged inside the jail around five to six months ago in a robbery and attempt to murder case and used to stay in a barrack with 19 other inmates who have been isolated. - PTI
A driver working at the Delhi secretariat has tested positive for COVID-19, officials said on Thursday.
“The driver was working for the health department and showed mild symptoms. He got tested and the result came out to be positive about three to four days back. He is currently under home isolation,” an official told The Hindu.
The official said that staff who came into contact with the driver were tested, but their results came out to be negative. - Nikhil M. Babu
Delhi reports highest number of cases in a single day
472 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Delhi in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 8,470, according to a health bulletin released by the Delhi government on Thursday.
This is the highest number of cases reported in a single day in the city so far.
Also, nine more deaths have been reported, taking the total number of deaths to 115. But all the deaths did not happen in the past 24 hours.
“Cumulative deaths as per case sheets received from hospitals, after audited by committee,” the bulletin said on the total number of deaths. - Nikhil M. Babu
More than 100 new cases reported across Pune, Aurangabad districts
New COVID-19 positive cases continued to pile up across Maharashtra with more than 100 new ones being reported from Pune and Aurangabad districts on Thursday.
At least 52 new cases were reported since Wednesday evening in Pune to take the district’s total — including deaths and recoveries — to 3,284, while 55 new cases in Aurangabad had taken district’s cumulative case tally to 743, said authorities.
“As many as 15 new cases were reported since 9 p.m. on Wednesday till midnight, and a further 37 cases post-midnight till today morning,” said Pune District Health Officer Bhagwan Pawar. - Shoumojit Banerjee
Delhi Police SHO tests positive
A Delhi Police officer who is the SHO of a police station in southeast Delhi tested positive for novel coronavirus on Thursday, police said.
Five others have been sent for quarantine and further contact tracing is being done, they said.
On Wednesday, another SHO-rank officer from Dwarka district tested positive for coronavirus.
Kejriwal to meet L-G at 4 pm over post lockdown plan
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he will be meeting Lt. Governor Anil Baijal at 4 pm on Thursday to discuss post lockdown plan.
The Delhi government had sought suggestion from people on the way forward regarding easing lockdown restrictions after May 17.
We have received over five lakh responses across Whatsapp, email and recorded messages, Mr. Kejriwal said.
Among the suggestions received were educational institutions remain shut till summer vacations, opening restaurants for home delivery alone.
Mr. Kejriwal said people questioned the rationale behind curbing movements after 7 pm and sought restarting public transport to a limited extent. The Delhi government plans to compile the suggestions and forward it to the Centre. - Jatin Anand
Two more COVID-19 deaths in Karnataka
Two more deaths have been reported in the State on Thursday morning taking the total toll to 35. This is apart from a non-COVID-19 death.
A 80-year-old resident of Dakshina Kannada, got admitted at private hospital following a stroke. She was shifted to the icu on confirmation for Covid-19 at a designated hospital on April 26. She died on Thursday due to septic shock.
Another 60-year-old male, resident of Ananthapur in Andhra Pradesh, admitted at Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru with severe pneumonia and respiratory distress died due to cardiac arrest on Thursday morning. He had hypotension and Diabetes Mellitus, according to the morning health bulletin.
Sources in Victoria Hospital said this person was the first patient to undergo clinical trial for plasma therapy. He was infused plasma on Monday. However, his condition continued to remain the same. - Afshan Yasmeen
Seven new COVID-19 cases in Goa
Samples of seven suspected COVID-19 patients in Goa have tested positive for the disease, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Thursday.
Goa was earlier declared a green zone by the Union government as there was not a single active COVID-19 case since May 1.
The results came out positive during the TrueNat test (rapid test) conducted on the samples.
The seven people, including three females, have been shifted to a hospital dedicated for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, Mr. Rane said. - PTI
Migrant workers unsuccessfully try to enter Chennai Central Railway Station in a bid to board one of the trains.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Migrant labourers from Assam turned in huge numbers from various parts of city and outskirts expecting arrangements to return their home states.
Since their train was cancelled they had to go back to Gurunanak College for food and shelter. - R. Sivaraman
’Work from home’ to be new normal for govt offices post lockdown: Personnel Ministry
Asserting that central government employees may have to work with staggered attendance and variable working hours, the Personnel Ministry has come out with a draft framework for ‘work for home’ for the staff post-lockdown.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) may provide option for work from home to the eligible officers/staff for 15 days in a year as a matter of policy, it said.
There are 48.34 lakh central government employees. - PTI
Rajasthan records another COVID-19 death
The death toll due to coronavirus infection rose to 122 in Rajasthan, with one more person succumbing to the virus on Thursday. The state has also recorded 66 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the virus tally to 4,394.
A total of 4,395 cases of the virus have been reported in the state so far. Apart from these, 177 migrants who travelled from other states have also been tested positive.
The state has 1,697 active cases. - PTI
Coronavirus cases in Himachal climb to 70
A 30-year-old woman and her 7-year-old daughter have tested positive for COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district, taking the total number of cases in the state to 70, a state health official said on Thursday.
The two had returned from Delhi on May 4. Both of them were asymptomatic.
With this, the number of positive cases in Sirmaur district has risen to four. Two people have been cured in the district.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state has now climbed to 70 and three people have died due to the virus so far. - PTI
Passengers with coronavirus symptoms won't be allowed to travel in trains
Passengers with COVID-19 symptoms won't be allowed to board trains, the Railways has announced.
According to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, all passengers shall be compulsorily screened and only asymptomatic passengers shall be allowed to enter/board trains.
“If, during screening, a passenger has very high temperature/symptoms of COVID-19 etc., he shall not be allowed to travel despite having confirmed tickets. In such case full refund shall be provided to the passenger,” the order stated.
On a group ticket if one passenger is found unfit to travel and all other passengers on the same PNR also do not want to travel, in that case full refund shall be granted for all passengers. - PTI
All tickets booked for regular passenger trains for travel on or before June 30 stands cancelled, Indian Railways has announced.
Shramik trains for migrants and special trains will however continue.
Passengers with tickets of regular trains which have been cancelled till June 30 will get full refund.
73 new cases in Odisha
As many as 73 new COVID-19 positive cases have been detected in Odisha on Thursday, taking the State’s total to 611, according to the State Health Department
Of the total, 143 have recovered and three people have died so far.
Fifty of the new cases, including 42 in Ganjam district, were Surat returnees, while 20 had returned from West Bengal. One had returned from Karnataka. Two cases were detected in a containment zone, officials said. - Prafulla Das
Over 3,700 new cases in India in the past 24 hours: Health Ministry
India has registered 3,722 new COVID-19 positive cases and 134 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to an update from the Union Health Ministry on Thursday.
With this, the total number of cases in the country is now 78,003, according to Union Ministry data. Of this, 49,219 are active cases. As many as 2,549 people have succumbed to the infection while 20,916 people have been cured.
Tamil nadu’s tally past 9,000-mark with 509 new cases
Tamil Nadu’s overall tally of COVID-19 cases crossed the 9,000-mark after recording 509 new cases on Wednesday. Three days after reporting more than 500 cases, the number of cases marginally dipped to 380 in Chennai, even as its total count climbed to 5,262.
With fresh cases — 288 males and 221 females — being reported in 16 districts across Tamil Nadu, the State’s total number of COVID-19 cases stood at 9,227*. The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 increased to 64. Three men — all in their 40s — died in Chennai.
Impossible to predict when COVID-19 pandemic will be controlled: WHO
The World Health Organization’s emergencies chief said it’s possible the new coronavirus may be here to stay, warning it’s impossible to predict when the pandemic might be controlled.
This virus may never go away, said Dr. Michael Ryan, in a news briefing on Wednesday. He said that the number of people infected by COVID-19 so far is relatively low.
13 new cases in Bihar
Bihar has registered 13 new COVID-19 positive cases, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the State to 953.
All the new cases are from Munger, Begusarai and Aurangabad districts.