THE second tranche of the economic package announced by the government on Thursday relies upon two existing mechanisms, the MNREGS and PDS, to offer wage labour and free foodgrains to migrant labourers returning from urban areas to villages. However, there was no cash relief for the labourers, who have lost wages over 50 days of the lockdown. The one change seems to be the government’s offer to bear the financial burden of foodgrains for two months to migrants who are not covered either under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, or state government schemes. Announcing the scheme, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said their number is estimated to be around eight crore.

With nearly 4,000 fresh cases, the Covid-19 tally in India rose to 81,970 on Friday with as many as 2,649 fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Four days ago, when the government asked the Swimming Federation of India to propose ways to resume aquatic activities in a post-pandemic scenario, they were not expecting a reply within a day. And that too, a meticulous framework with references to the White House’s guidelines for ‘Opening Up America Again’ and advisories issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It turns out the SFI had simply forwarded a set of guidelines USA Swimming had prepared for swimmers in their country. Not copy-pasting bits or borrowing ideas, but passing on the eight-page document titled ‘USA Swimming: Facility re-opening, messaging and planning’ as is. The Sports Authority of India has now asked the SFI to rework the recommendations and make them relevant in India’s context.

From Bihar to Odisha, Telangana to Karnataka, the return of migrants, expected to pick up pace as the lockdown eases, is bringing the coronavirus home, too, posing a fresh challenge to states fighting to contain the pandemic.

Of the 4,275 samples collected in Bihar from among migrants who returned onboard Shramik special trains between May 4 and May 13, 320 have tested Covid positive — 7.5 per cent. This is way above the positivity rate for the state, which is just about 2.75 per cent. Bihar has so far conducted about 35,000 tests, of which 953 are positive.

The high positivity rate among migrant workers is raising concerns in Bihar which is a primary destination state for migrant labour. And when the testing of migrants returning through six inter-state borders, through which about 10,000 are entering each day, is yet to begin.

After complaints from Malegaon residents over delays in testing for Covid-19 and unavailability of doctors, the state government has now proposed to start a teleradiology system, whereby radiologists can evaluate the X-rays of patients from Malegaon without physically being present there.

Alarmed at the delay in tests, Health Minister Rajesh Tope has also announced a dedicated testing block for Malegaon, through which 300 tests can be conducted exclusively for the city at the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV).
Residents had spoken out over delays in testing samples, which at times are sent 670 km away to labs in Nagpur, leading to undetected spread and increasing fatalities in Malegaon. Samples from Malegaon are also sent to Nashik and Dhule.

Maharashtra’s toll due to Covid-19 reached 1,019, with 44 more deaths being reported on Thursday. The day also saw 1,602 new cases being recorded – the highest since the first case was registered on March 8 – taking the overall count to 27,524.

Mumbai accounted for 991 of these 1,602 cases. A total of 364 patients who tested positive in various labs between May 11 and May 12 were added to Mumbai’s total tally for Thursday. At 16,738 the city has reported the highest number of cases in Maharashtra with 621 deaths.

Of the 44 deaths registered across the state on Thursday, the highest was recorded in Mumbai (25), followed by 10 in Navi Mumbai, five in Pune, two in Aurangabad and one each in Panvel and Kalyan-Dombivali.

Villagers in Marathwada’s Parbhani have now taken it upon themselves to ensure that the district remains Covid-19 free. As authorities start to ease restrictions on movement and commerce, each village in the district has formed a Gram Suraksha Dal (village protection group) that mans entry points 24 hours a day to keep outsiders away and also to keep tabs on who enters and leaves the locality.

Parbhani Collector D M Mugalikar told The Indian Express that each group comprises 10 villages who have been issued special identification cards by the local administration. If Parbhani’s Guardian Minister Nawab Malik were to be believed, the initiative has reaped dividends. “You can examine official records. There aren’t many lockdown violations in the district. Villagers have themselves established roadblocks and checkposts to exercise vigil.”

He jokingly added, “These days I even get telephone calls from the villagers in the dead of the night reporting suspect vehicular movement.”

With seven Covid-19 positive cases reported over last one week, BMC has sealed the entire Kurla Gaothan, also known as Kurla village. With a population of 5,000, the area has become one of the biggest containment zones in the city, BMC officials said.

“We have now sealed the Kurla village completely. Now, our health team will commence door-to-door surveys and screen residents for Covid-19 symptoms,” Assistant Municipal Commissioner, L-ward (Kurla, Sakinaka), Manish Valunje said. The L-ward, a Covid-19 hotspot, has recorded at least 900 positive cases. Till Thursday, 16,738 cases were reported in Mumbai, the highest in the state, which has recorded 27,524 cases.

Densely populated with narrow lanes and small houses, civic officials said, the 400-year-old Kurla village, which has a majority of Christian population, is more vulnerable to the infection. Despite a spike in cases, several residents continued to step out of their houses.

The first special train ferrying passengers from New Delhi arrived at Mumbai Central station on Thursday morning with 1,224 passengers on board. The Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani is part of the first 15 passenger trains that the Railways had rolled out after it suspended all its passenger services across the country in March.

Around 9 am, weary passengers with home quarantine stamps on their hands, started trickling out of the station with luggage, visibly relieved to have made it to Mumbai.

Barring those who came directly from Delhi, several passengers had travelled from Surat, Dehradun, Faridabad, Indore and other cities of north India to undertake the trip. Many of the family members parked themselves outside the cordoned premises of the station, waiting patiently to see those they were separated from for over two months.

The first train to the northeast from Gujarat, ferrying migrant workers and students, mostly from Meghalaya, will depart Vadodara on Friday at 4 pm. The train to Guwahati will ferry passengers from several districts, including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Jamanagar and Bharuch.

Till Wednesday, the list of passengers had 121 Meghalaya natives who were stranded in Gujarat. It was subsequently brought to the Meghalaya government’s notice that several others had registered but were not included in the list. On Thursday, the revised list had 217 passengers, including students of MS University in Vadodara.

A woman from Meghalaya who works in the hospitality sector in Ahmedabad, said, “There are another 25 to 30 persons who registered and have not been included in the list. We have been told that another updated list will be sent by Thursday evening including all.”

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