Coronavirus India LIVE Updates: Migrants going to their native places from Awad Shilp Gram shelter home in Lucknow.
Coronavirus India Live Updates: With India reporting 4,970 cases in the last 24 hours, the total number of infections due to the coronavirus pandemic crossed the 1 lakh-mark to reach 101,139 from 96,169 on Monday, while the death toll rose to 3,163 on Tuesday. Dharavi in Mumbai reported 26 new COVID-19 cases, taking overall count to 1,353, BMC said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked states to allow plying of more trains to ferry migrant workers, adding that more clarity is needed about the departure of trains or buses. It also said that lack of clarity about running of trains, buses coupled with rumours is causing unrest amongst migrant workers.
In Bihar, of the 835 samples taken from migrant workers who returned from Delhi, as many as 218 were Covid positive. This works out to a positivity rate of over 26 per cent, while the rate in the national capital is about 7 per cent. Until May 18, the state tested a total of 8,337 samples of migrant workers and about 8% were found to be Covid-positive — double the national average positivity rate which is about 4%.
Globally, 4.8 million people have been infected, while over 3.18 lakh casualties have been reported. World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday said he will “initiate an independent evaluation” at “the earliest appropriate moment”. Beijing, which has been under mounting global pressure, also seemed to have relented on its opposition for an inquiry into the origin of the virus, believed to be a wet market in Wuhan.
Coronavirus India LIVE Updates: Thousands gathered at Ramlila Maidan in Ghaziabad on Monday to register for six trains bound for other parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal during a digital press conference. (PTI Photo)
Union minister Nitin Gadkari. (PTI/File Photo)
Dharavi in Mumbai reports 26 new COVID-19 cases, taking overall count to 1,353, BMC says.
As many as 35 persons were arrested on Monday after a group of migrant workers employed at the IIM Ahmedabad site in Vastrapur area vandalised office property, government vehicles and assaulted police personnel and other workers, demanding that they be allowed to return home.
Police said they fired tear gas shells and resorted to lathicharge when the irate group assaulted other workers, pelted stones at police teams and vandalised properties. All 35 arrested are from Jharkhand, they added.
According to police, around 10 am on Monday, Vastrapur police station received a message that a mob of over 250-300 migrant workers had assembled at the GMDC Ground behind Alpha One mall, demanding that they be allowed to go back to their home states.
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday retained most of the lockdown curbs it had imposed in the previous phase, including ban on taxis and hair saloons in red zones. The revised guidelines for lockdown 4.0 will be applicable post May 22. Areas outside municipal corporation in Mumbai and Pune have been excluded from the red zone.
There are also restrictions on private vehicles — both four and two wheelers — in red and orange zones. Only those stepping out on essential work are allowed in red zones. In orange, taxis and rickshaws are allowed with limits on number of passengers. Similar restrictions are also imposed on private vehicles — maximum of two passengers and drive for cars and no pillion rider for two-wheelers.
Private offices are not allowed to reopen in red zones and only 5 per cent staff is allowed in government offices. The restrictions don’t apply in orange zones. The government has also advised companies “on best effort basis” to ensure that Aarogya Setu app is installed by all employees having compatible mobile phones. It also said district authorities may advise individuals to install the contact tracing app and regularly update their health status. Read more
China on Tuesday accused President Donald Trump of using it "as an issue" to shift the blame from his "incompetent response" to contain the coronavirus at home, hours after he threatened to pull the US out of the UN health body if it failed to demonstrate "independence" from China.
"The US tries to use China as an issue to shift responsibility and bargain on its international obligations to WHO", which is a miscalculation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing.
"The US leadership's open letter is full of vague expressions such as probably etc," Zhao said.
"It tries to mislead the public to smear China and shift the blame from its own incompetent response to stop the spread of the virus in the US," he said.
"It is futile. Currently, COVID-19 is still spreading in the US and many other places," he said, adding that the US politicians should stop the blame game and work with the international community to stop the spread of the virus. (PTI)
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has written to Uttar Pradesh government again, saying the buses arranged by the party are yet to be given permission to enter UP by the Agra administration. The letter says buses have been waiting at the UP border at Agra.
Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the department is taking all necessary precautions with regard to the resumption of public transport and urged people to wear masks and ensure social distancing.
"At some terminals and bus stands, we have started conducting thermal screening of passengers before boarding. We will try to implement this at all busy bus stands. Under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, the government is taking all necessary steps to ensure safe transport for people," he tweeted.
Indian Railway spokesperson says consent of destination states not necessary anymore for Shramik trains. "MHA 29th April circular was issued for Roadways and later MHA had issued 1st May circular making 29th April circular applicable for Railways too. Now today MHA has withdrawn 1st May circular and issued a seperate SOP for Railways," says Railways spokesperson.
In a bid to avoid the spread of Covid-19 infection, the Office of the District & Sessions Judge (HQs) has issued a direction to not to use saliva while affixing the court fees stamps on petitions or applications. The direction has been issued to reduce the spread of coronavirus in district courts.
“Lawyers/Munshis/Litigants/Naib/Courts/Police Officials may be asked through court staff to not to use saliva while affixing court fee stamps on the application/petition and envelopes containing summons/notices, etc,” the circular stated. Read More
Even as 500 fresh Covid-19 cases and six deaths were reported in Delhi on Tuesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the main priority of the government was to bring down the fatality rate. The total number of cases in the city now stand at 10,554, while 166 people have died. Of the total cases, 4,750 have recovered or been discharged. Delhi’s Covid-19 fatality rate is 1.57 per cent at present. The rate among patients below the age of 50 is 0.46 per cent and among those above the age of 60 is 5.79 per cent. In 84.94 per cent of the deaths, the patient was suffering from co-morbidities such as cancer, diabetes or a respiratory disease.
Opposition parties to meet on Friday. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to chair the meeting by video conference.
With three more COVID-19 deaths, toll in Karnataka rises to 40. The fatalities reported today include one each from Ballari, Vijayapura, and Bengaluru.
In a possible breakthrough in coronavirus treatment, Moderna Inc has reported successful results from its experimental vaccine for Covid-19. The US biotechnology company Monday said its studies, although in a very early stage, showed the vaccine was “generally safe and well tolerated”.
Moderna’s vaccine is among the over 100 projects in various stages of development across the world. Its results Monday come at a time when global coronavirus cases are nearing five million. At least 300,000 people have succumbed to the disease. Experts have predicted a vaccine could be ready only in about 12-18 months.
Amid calls for an independent inquiry into the origins of the novel coronavirus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Monday gave its nod to “initiate an independent evaluation” at “the earliest appropriate moment”. This came after 61 countries, including India, had moved a resolution at the World Health Assembly (WHA) — the WHO’s decision-making body — asking for an “impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation” of the WHO’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as identification of “the zoonotic source” of the coronavirus. Read More
A lot has been said and written about the do’s and don’ts of the novel coronavirus pandemic, but some basic questions about day-to-day living continue to be asked. Dr Sonu Goel, Professor at the Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health at Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, clarified some common doubts and misconceptionsto Hina Rohtaki of The Indian Express.
Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has issued a fatwa asking Muslims to offer their Eid prayers this time at home, instead of congregating at mosques. The directive comes amid a nationwide lockdown to slow down the spread of coronavirus. Despite the relaxations announced in the lockdown, religious and other large gatherings are still banned.
On Monday, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued guidelines on preventive measures that need to be followed in workplaces to contain the spread of COVID-19. India entered the fourth phase of its lockdown, which will continue till May 31. In its new guidelines, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has allowed all offices to run at 100 per cent capacity, even though work from home is encouraged to the extent possible. Here is what the Health Ministry has advised as measures to contain the spread of infection in workplaces and offices.
E-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, and others can now deliver all kinds of products in Red, Orange, and Green zones. According to the latest guidelines provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) e-commerce platforms will be barred from delivering non-essential goods to containment zones. Snapdeal in a statement to the media revealed that the platform has received 65 per cent orders from red zones on day one of lockdown 4.0. The e-commerce platform noted that deliveries in red zones will begin today, May 19. However, Snapdeal said that it is awaiting state-specific guidelines.
Patients who test positive for the coronavirus weeks after recovering from Covid-19 probably aren’t capable of transmitting the infection, research from South Korea shows.
Scientists from the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied 285 Covid-19 survivors who had tested positive for the coronavirus after their illness had apparently resolved, as indicated by a previous negative test result. The so-called re-positive patients weren’t found to have spread any lingering infection, and virus samples collected from them couldn’t be grown in culture, indicating the patients were shedding non-infectious or dead virus particles.
The findings, reported late Monday, are a positive sign for regions looking to open up as more patients recover from the pandemic that has sickened at least 4.8 million people. The emerging evidence from South Korea suggests those who have recovered from Covid-19 present no risk of spreading the coronavirus when physical distancing measures are relaxed.
A day after the Uttar Pradesh government accepted Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi’s offer to arrange 1,000 buses to ferry migrant workers to their home districts, state minister Sidharth Nath Singh on Tuesday alleged that the buses had registration numbers of scooters, three-wheelers and goods carriers. “In the preliminary checking of the numbers, it has been found that the numbers mentioned in the list as that of buses are actually of scooters, three-wheelers and goods carriers,” PTI quoted the minister as saying.
500 new cases in Delhi take the total number of infections to 10,554. Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that while the number of cases was rising, it was heartening that the recovery rate was also high