Coronavirus latest updates: 16 migrant workers killed in 3 different road accidents in 24 hours

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday became the 12th nation to register over 75,000 Covid-19 cases, crossing the milestone on a day when the country logged the second-highest single-day count of both new cases and deaths. As many as 3,722 cases were added to India’s coronavirus count, second only to Sunday’s record of 4,308. The numbers were significantly buoyed by 1,495 new cases detected in Maharashtra.
According to the latest ministry update, there are 78,003 cases in the country with 2,549 deaths.
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16 migrant workers killed in 3 different road accidents in 24 hours
At least 16 migrant workers were killed in three separate road accidents in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the last 24 hours.
Eight labourers were killed and 54 were injured after the truck in which they were travelling collided with a bus coming from the opposite direction in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district.
Two people were killed and 12 injured in a collision between a bus and a truck near Shankar Chowk in Bihar's Samastipur. The bus was travelling from Muzaffarpur to Katihar and was carrying 32 migrant labourers.
Six migrant workers who were walking along the Muzaffarnagar-Saharanpur highway were killed after a speeding bus ran over them late last night, near a check-post.
Railways to cancel tickets for travel till June 30 on regular trains; 'special' trains to continue
The railways has decided to cancel all old bookings for regular trains scheduled till June 30 and provide full refund for it. However, the Shramik Special trains which started from May 1 and the special trains which started operations from May 12 will continue to operate, an order from the railways said.
Cases in Maharashtra crosses 25,000 mark
With the coronavirus outbreak showing little signs of slowing, Maharashtra on Wednesday breached the 25,000 mark to reach 25,922 cases. It added 1,495 new cases on Wednesday, its third-highest jump in a single day, and recorded 54 deaths, its highest toll so far in a day. The state’s overall death toll (975) is now worryingly close to the 1,000 mark.
Maharashtra has been adding over 1,000 new cases every day for the past eight days, which have contributed to a staggering 10,397 cases and 358 deaths.
Global trade fell 3% in first quarter of 2020 due to Covid-19: UN
The downturn is expected to accelerate in the next quarter to project a whopping quarter-on-quarter decline of 27 per cent, the UN trade body has warned. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a report that the drop in global trade was accompanied by marked decreases in commodity prices, which have fallen precipitously since December last year.
Doubling time slows down, fatality rate low
As India completed 50 days of a national lockdown, statistical indicators of Covid-19 show an improved picture with doubling time of cases increasing after a slight dip, a growing recovery rate, low fatality rate and a largely stable positivity rate. Amid new cases being reported every day, the doubling time of confirmed Covid-19 cases slowed down to 12.6 days from around 10 days it had fallen to last week. The doubling rate was three days before the lockdown. The fatality rate from the viral infection stands at 3.2%, whereas the recovery rate — currently at 32.8% — has increased steadily over the past few weeks, according to health ministry data.
Corona-free Nagaland offers citizens Rs 10,000 to stay away
Nagaland plans to maintain the present status of zero Covid-19 positive case status after centre resumed train services, which will facilitate stranded people return to their home states in large numbers. A worried state government has now announced Rs 10,000 to each of its stranded citizens who opt to stay put wherever they are located now.
Over Rs 1,000 crore home delivered by postmen
Fifty days of lockdown have marked a new milestone in the history of Indian banking: Rs 1,000 crore in cash has been delivered by postmen to account holders of different banks at their doorstep across the country. This, however, doesn’t include the post office savings bank transactions of Rs 66,000 crore in about four crore transactions, just during the lockdown period.
Mass transport to resume on limited scale
Lockdown 4.0 is likely to see further opening up of economic activities, particularly manufacturing in more sectors, and importantly, resumption of mass transport on a limited scale. But there are indications the zone classification criteria — based on which districts are declared red, green and orange zones — may not see any major change.
Coronavirus virus may never go away, World Health Organization warns
The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 could become endemic like HIV, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, warning against any attempt to predict how long it would keep circulating and calling for a "massive effort" to counter it. "It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan told an online briefing.