Coronavirus live updates: Domestic flight operations resume after 2 months

The first flight from Delhi's IGI airport since resumption of domestic flight operations, lands at Pune.

A passenger who has arrived in the city by the flight said that she was nervous before the flight but all passengers were taking precautions. Very few people travelling right now, she added.

First Spanish beaches to reopen as lockdown eases

Coronavirus lockdown measures will finally be eased for people in Madrid and Barcelona from Monday, while elsewhere in Spain the first beaches are due to reopen. Residents in the two cities can now meet in groups of up to 10 people in their homes or on the terraces of bars and restaurants. Beaches on the Atlantic Ocean coast and in much of Andalusia, as well as on the Balearic and Canary Islands, are open for swimming, subject to safety measures.

Congress slams Gujarat, calls healthcare system ‘sick’

Citing mounting Covid-19 cases and high court’s “harshest strictures”, Congress on Sunday slammed Gujarat government and BJP over what it called “sick healthcare system” of the state. “Today, we don’t have a healthcare system (in the state), we have a sick system. The inefficiency of the Gujarat government in handling Covid crisis shows that it is undermining, under-confident, and under-achieving,” AICC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.

Delhi govt orders 5-fold hike in Covid beds at pvt hospitals

The Delhi govt has directed all private hospitals and nursing homes with a capacity of 50 beds or more to reserve at least 20% of their total bed strength for coronavirus patients. Till now, a total of around 650 beds were available for coronavirus patients in around eight private hospitals, although 10 were designated as Covid-19 hospitals. After the government’s directions, this number is expected to rise to nearly 3,000, roughly five times the current availability.

Assam ramps up testing, pips Kerala in total

After shifting from manual to automatic RNA extraction machines borrowed from various government agencies and universities to ramp up testing capacity of its seven labs, Assam on Sunday surpassed Kerala in the number of samples tested for Covid-19. Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “This morning when I saw a tweet from Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan saying Kerala had completed 52,771, it came as a pleasant surprise. We have conducted more tests than Kerala,” Himanta said. Assam has conducted higher number of tests despite having less positive cases than Kerala.

US restricts entry of foreigners from Brazil due to coronavirus

"Today, the President has taken the decisive action to protect our country by suspending the entry of aliens who have been in Brazil during the 14-day period before seeking admittance to the United States," White House spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement. "These new restrictions do not apply to the flow of commerce between the United States and Brazil," she said. Last week, Trump told reporters that his administration was considering to suspend travel from Brazil, which has reported more than 22,500 deaths due to the coronavirus

Traffic jam: Shramik Special takes 4 days instead of 28 hrs

Railway Board chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav said on Saturday, "Nearly 80% Shramik Special trains are terminating in UP and Bihar. This has resulted in congestion on the direct routes, necessitating diversions." Railway officials say congestion at terminals, too, is to blame for the delays and diversions.

India now No. 10 among Covid-hit nations; 6,500+ cases on Sunday

India overtook Iran on Sunday in total recorded cases of the coronavirus to take the 10th spot among nations worst-hit by the pandemic. New cases reported in the past 24 hours spiralled to 6,566, the highest single-day rise so far and the sixth peak in daily cases in as many days, even as the day's death toll rose to 153. Maharashtra led the numbers with a fresh high of 3,041 new cases, 1,725 from Mumbai alone.

Railways tries to give smooth passage to Shramik Specials

The railway ministry on Sunday said route rationalisation order has been issued to avoid congestion on routes with heavy traffic. In an official statement, it said few trains were diverted via Mathura in Uttar Pradessh and Jharsuguda in Odisha to ease the congestion. It said till Sunday 10 am more than 2,813 Shramik Special trains, carrying over 37 lakh passengers, were operated.

87 on Mumbai to Haridwar Shramik Special test Covid positive

Officials said around 1,500 passengers of Mumbai-Haridwar ‘Shramik Special’ had de-boarded at Haridwar railway station on May 20 and were sent to various districts in around 15 different buses. The passengers who tested positive were from the buses bound for Almora, Nainital and Bageshwar.

At 30%, pvt Covid labs lag govt units, test just 17% of samples

Even as almost one-third of total Covid testing labs are in the private sector, merely 12-18% of the samples are tested in such labs, raising concerns over participation of the private sector in efforts to combat the pandemic. The lower testing in private labs can be explained in part by costs, even if capped, as compared to the government set-up.