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. As many as 39,173 people have been treated and discharged across the country so far.
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%.
Meanwhile, as the lockdown has been eased across the country, and more migrant workers return to their home states, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Monday revised the testing protocol to include symptomatic “returnees and migrants”, hospitalised patients and “frontline workers”. The lockdown has been extended for two more weeks till May 31.
On Monday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Monday released guidelines on measures to be taken to contain the spread of Covid-19 at workplaces. According to a circular released by the MHA, there are four types of measures to be taken to check the spread of the virus — Basic preventive measures, Preventive measures for offices, Measures to be taken on occurrence of cases and closure of workplaces.
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)
Prof K Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India, is Member of ICMR’s Covid-19 Task Force, and of the Executive Group of the International Steering Committee of WHO’s Covid-19 Solidarity Trial. In this first edition of E-Xplained last week, he explained a range of issues related to India’s battle against Covid-19 to a large Zoom audience from across the country. Prof Reddy was in conversation with Abantika Ghosh and Monojit Majumdar of The Indian Express.
"I don’t think we can live in permanent imprisonment of a lockdown, we have to go mobile but also ensuring that schools reopen for children and so on. There are a lot of social elements also that need to be restored. But we have to do it with care. See, you’ll not be able to test every person on the street… but we have to depend upon physical distancing, masks in public places, as well as hand hygiene as important elements for a long time to come if we have to slow down the transmission and also ensure that the deaths are contained and not a surge. To ensure that we contain the transmission as well, as much as possible, I would particularly emphasise, containment between urban and rural areas. Our rural areas are much better protected now, we must continue to protect them by ensuring only essential travel needs and transport of essential goods," he said.
Nine migrants, who had come by a train from Bangalore, died in Naugachhia town of Bihar's Bhagalpur district as the truck they were travelling in, overturned after it collided with a bus coming from the opposite side. The accident took place at 2 am. The police are not yet able to identify victims. Bodies were taken to a hospital in Naugachhia. --Express News Service
Issuing detailed guidelines for workplaces, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said: “If there are one or two cases reported, the disinfection procedure will be limited to places/ areas visited by the patient in past 48 hrs. There is no need to close the entire office building/ halt work in other areas of the office and work can be resumed after disinfection as per laid down protocol.”
“However, if there is a larger outbreak, the entire building will have to be closed for 48 hours after thorough disinfection. All the staff will work from home, till the building is adequately disinfected and is declared fit for re-occupation,” it said.
“The high risk exposure contacts (those who were in close contact) shall be quarantined for 14 days. They will follow the guidelines on home quarantine and undergo testing as per ICMR protocol,” the ministry said. “The low risk exposure contacts shall continue to work and closely monitor their health for the next 14 days,” it said.
As the lockdown eases across the country, and more migrant workers return to their home states, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday revised the testing protocol to include symptomatic “returnees and migrants”, hospitalised patients and “frontline workers”. According to the revised strategy, “all hospitalised patients who develop lLl (influenza like illness) symptoms “, “all symptomatic ILI among returnees and migrants within 7 days of illness”, and all symptomatic “frontline workers involved in containment and mitigation of Covid-19” will now be tested.
Telangana's guidelines for easing lockdown. Here is a list of what's allowed and what's not in the state:
Testing of migrant workers returning to Bihar is underlining the twin challenge that public health experts have warned about — the virus is being carried in and many of the carriers are asymptomatic. Until May 18, Bihar 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%. 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%, while the rate in the national capital is about 7%.
With India reporting 4,970 cases in the last 24 hours, the total number of infections crosses the 1 lakh-mark to reach 101,139 while the death toll rose to 3,163 on Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump once again on Monday attacked the WHO, saying the UN health body was a "puppet' of China. Trump claimed that more people would have died from coronavirus in the country had he not imposed a ban on travel from China, which was "opposed' by the health agency. "They (WHO) are a puppet of China. They're China-centric, to put it nicer. But they're a puppet of China," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I think they have done a very sad job. The United States pays them USD 450 million a year. China pays them USD 38 million a year," Trump said in response to a question. Trump said the World Health Organization was against the imposition of a ban on travel from China in late January. --PTI
China reported seven new coronavirus cases Tuesday, a day after President Xi Jinping announced his country would provide USD 2 billion to help respond to the outbreak and its economic fallout. Three of the new cases were listed as imported, and once again no new deaths were reported. Just 85 people remain in treatment while another 392 are under observation and isolation for being suspected cases or after testing positive without showing symptoms. China has reported 4,634 deaths among 82,690 cases of COVID-19. -- AP
Good morning and welcome to our coronavirus LIVE blog. The death toll due to the coronavirus pandemic stands at 3,029 while the total number of infections has risen to 96,169. Globally, 4.7 million people have been infected, while over 3.15 lakh casualties have been reported. Follow to get all the latest updates here
Maharashtra on Monday reported 2,033 new Covid-19 cases, taking its total count to 35,058. It also recorded 51 deaths, taking the overall toll in the state to 1,249. The day also saw Gadchiroli reporting its first case.
Of the 2,033 cases, Mumbai reported 1,185, taking its total count to 21,335. Also, 23 people died in the city. With this, the city has reported 775 deaths till now. Read more here
It is 38 degrees in Ludhiana. With parched throats and an empty water bottle in hand, Rajesh Kumar and Pinky are squatting outside Guru Nanak Stadium with their children Radhika (10), Shivanshu (8) and Raghav (3). Like hundreds of other migrants sitting around them, they are waiting for that one SMS that will let them board a Shramik Train to their native place Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh. Read more here
“‘Tumhaare naseeb ke upar tum (You are left to your own fate)’ is what we were told by jail officials after the coronavirus outbreak began,” says an undertrial recently released from Mumbai Central jail, better known as Arthur Road jail, where as many as 158 inmates and 26 staffers tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month. Read more here
After several rounds of negotiations, the state government has decided to reserve 80 per cent beds in private hospitals that will be used for both, Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients. The move comes in the light of rising Covid-19 cases and a surge expected in coming days. Public hospitals are already working to their full capacity and have no beds left for Covid-19 patients.
Private hospitals on Monday assured to reserve 2,900 beds for Covid-19 patients, including 400 intensive care units. Read more here
Noida reported its highest daily Covid-19 spike, with 31 cases being reported in the last 24 hours. This takes the total case count to 286. The fresh set of cases include employees of two leading mobile manufacturing companies, Oppo and Vivo, and of Zee Media, based in Film City. Read more here
Increasing bike patrolling, installing complaint boxes outside every police station, permitting entry into stations only after sanitisation, stationing duty officers (DOs) at the entrance of police stations and monitoring registered criminals — these are some of the key plans adopted by Delhi Police against the backdrop of the Covid pandemic and the lockdown. Read more here
Five deaths were reported in Pune district on Monday due to coronavirus disease (Covid-19), with the toll climbing to 211. On Monday, a total of 159 patients were found positive, taking the total number of Covid-19 cases to 4,177.
A 43-year-old man from Tadiwala Road was admitted on May 15 at Jehangir hospital. He had diabetes and multi-organ dysfunction, and succumbed to the infection on Monday. Read more here
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa Monday announced restrictions on allowing the entry of people from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, citing “a large number of cases” being reported among those returning from these states.
However, the government order issued hours later by Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar, on the measures to be implemented during Lockdown 4.0, did not mention this restriction. Addressing a press conference earlier, Yediyurappa had listed Kerala, too, among the states from where travellers would be curbed but did not include it in subsequent remarks.
The government order lists a complete lockdown on Sundays, operation of intra state rail and bus transport systems, taxi and auto-rickshaw services — with social distancing norms — and opening of parks among the key relaxations in the fourth phase of the lockdown. READ MORE
For close to a month after April 15, Telangana had one of the slowest growth rates of novel coronavirus infections in the country. During this time, its caseload increased by just two times, from 766 on April 17 to 1,551 on Sunday. In the same period, India’s case has increased by almost seven times, Uttar Pradesh’s numbers rose by more than five times from a similar baseline, while neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, which had a lower baseline, saw its numbers grow by more than four times.
It now emerges that Telangana’s impressive numbers could have a lot to do with its woeful record on testing. As of May 14, the state had conducted just 22,842 tests, which was among the lowest in the country. It was even lower than the tests conducted by Chhattisgarh and Assam, both of which had less than 100 cases on May 14.
Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh had, by that date, conducted 2.1 lakh tests, almost ten times more than Telangana. Tamil Nadu had conducted more than 2.9 lakh tests by then. READ MORE
Properties of the ayurvedic herb Ashwagandha have “therapeutic and preventive value” against COVID-19 infection, researchers of IIT-Delhi have found in collaboration with Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).
The researchers, led by Professor D Sundar from DAILAB (DBT-AIST International Laboratory for Advanced Biomedicine), said their study had been accepted for publication in Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, and is likely to be published soon. READ MORE