Coronavirus LIVE Updates: As India Expands Use, WHO 'Temporarily Pauses' Trial of Hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 Treatment

Karnataka government issues addendum to SOP for inter-state passengers - any person who gets a negative Covid-19 test certificate from an ICMR-approved lab, which is not more than 2 days old from the date of journey, will be exempted from the requirement of institutional quarantine. Such a person will be asked to go for 14 days of home quarantine.

Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) directs all District Magistrates to appoint an SDM level officer as Nodal officer with sufficient number of team members for facilitating home isolated persons, with a dedicated mobile number in each district. 

The death toll in Kerala rises to 6 after a 63-year-old woman from Dharmadam in Kannur, who had tested positive for Covid-19, passed away at Kozhikode Medical College. 

66 New Cases in Telangana | 66 new Covid-19 positive cases have been reported in Telangana, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 1,920. The death toll rises to 56 after 3 deaths were reported today, says Director of Public Health & Family Welfare, Telangana.

MP Death Toll Rises to 300 | 194 new positive cases and 10 deaths have been reported in Madhya Pradesh, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 6,859, of which 3,571 patients have been cured and discharged. The death toll stands at 300, says State Health Department.

Pune Cases Cross 6,000-mark | 459 new Covid-19 positive cases and 8 deaths have been reported in last 24 hours in Pune district. Total positive cases stand at 6,153 and death toll is at 280, says Dr Bhagawan Pawar, District Health Officer.

UP Govt Releases Over 2,200 Prisoners amid Covid-19 Lockdown | The Uttar Pradesh government releases 2,257 convicts, lodged in different jails in Lucknow, on parole for 8 weeks. In March, Supreme Court had directed decongesting of prisons in a bid to maintain social distancing amid Covid-19 Lockdown.

Assam Cases Tally Reaches 526 | 12 new Covid-19 positive cases have been reported in Assam, taking the total number of cases to 526. Active cases stand at 457 in the state, says Himanta Biswa Sarma.

WHO Puts Temporary Pause on Hydroxychloroquine | The Executive Group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity Trial while the data is reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board: World Health Organisation (WHO)

"The Executive Group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity Trial while the data is reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board"-@DrTedros #COVID19

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 25, 2020

Rajasthan Cases Tally Reaches 7,300 | 272 new Covid-19 positive cases have been reported in Rajasthan, taking the total number of cases to 7,300. Death toll rises to 167 after 4 deaths were reported today, says State Health Department.

UP Cases Tally Nears 6,500 | 229 new Covid-19 positive cases have been reported in Uttar Pradesh, taking the total number of cases in the state to 6,497. Death toll stands at 169, says Directorate of Health Services, Uttar Pradesh.

Delhi Govt Issues Guidelines for Domestic Travel | In its guidelines for domestic travel, either by flight, train or bus, the Delhi government has said that asymptomatic passengers will be permitted to go with advice that they shall self monitor their health for 14 days. In case they develop any symptoms, they shall inform concerned DDMA/state helpline no. All passengers shall be advised to download Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices, says government.

Delhi govt issues guidelines for domestic travel (Air/Train/Interstate bus travel).

Asymptomatic pax will be permitted to go with advice that they shall self monitor their health for 14 days. In case they develop any symptoms, they shall inform concerned DDMA/state helpline no. pic.twitter.com/bD6pB8J3ER

— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2020

Guwahati airport successfully handled 8 arrivals and 8 departures mainly from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Imphal. All essential and mandatory arrangements amid Covid-19 were in place, from health screening to luggage sanitisation of the passengers, says Guwahati Airport.

Migrant workers travel in an overcrowded bus en route to Sitamarhi district, outside Muzaffarpur railway station in Bihar.

Haryana Cases Tally Crosses 1,200 | 29 new Covid-19 positive cases have been reported in Haryana, taking the number of total positive cases in the state to 1,213, says Health Department, Haryana.

28 New Cases in Chandigarh | 28 new Covid-19 positive cases including one death has been reported in Chandigarh. The total number of cases in the union territory now stands at 266 and death toll at 4, says Health Department, Chandigarh.

Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda holds a meeting with Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwathnarayan, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar, other leaders and officials over Covid-19 in Bengaluru.

Mumbai Death Toll Crosses 1,000-mark | 1,430 new Covid-19 positive case and 38 deaths have been reported in Mumbai, taking the total number of positive cases to 31,789 and death toll to 1,026, says Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

4 More Cases in Himachal | Four more Covid-19 positive cases have been reported in Himachal Pradesh - 3 from Bilaspur and 1 from Shimla. Total positive cases stand at 221 including 150 active cases, says RD Dhiman, Additional Chief Secretary (Health).

25 New Cases in Jharkhand | 25 new Covid-19 positive cases have been reported in Jharkhand, taking the total number of cases to 403, says State Health Secretary, Nitin Madan Kulkarni.

Salons and barber shops reopen in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, amid Lockdown 4.0. A shop owner says, we are following all the guidelines but it becomes difficult for us to wear PPE kits while working. A register for customers is also being maintained.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will distribute face covers and sanitisers in all its mandals, among others, as it will celebrate the completion of one year of PM Narendra Modi-led central government.

Vande Bharat Mission | A special repatriation flight Air India AI 1194 left from Vancouver for Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad with 195 passengers. This was the second Air India repatriation flight from Vancouver, Canada. 

PM Modi Says India-UAE Cooperation Grew Stronger Amid Pandemic | Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveys Eid-ul-Fitr greetings to Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohamed Bin Zayed and thanks him for the cooperation extended to Indian citizens in UAE. India-UAE cooperation has grown even stronger during the Covid-19 challenge, says PM Modi.

HP Minister Clears Air Around Rumours of Statewide Curfew | Himachal Pradesh government has authorised all District Magistrates to extend curfew under Sec 144 CrPC, keeping in view situation of the districts. This does not mean that they will impose curfew. They have been simply authorised, says Suresh Bhardwaj, State Minister on rumours of statewide curfew till June 30. District administrations can take a decision as per the situation there. But this decision isn't applicable to the state in its entirety, state govt hasn't taken any such decision, says Bhardwaj.

532 Domestic Flights Ferried Over 39K Passengers: Puri | From no domestic passenger flights yesterday to 532 flights and 39,231 passengers today, action has returned to Indian skies. With Andhra Pradesh set to resume operations from tomorrow and West Bengal from May 28, these numbers are all set to increase further, says Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

Maha Death Toll Nears 1,700 | 2,436 new patients of Covid-19 have been recorded in Maharastra along with 60 new deaths and 1,186 discharges. The total number of positive cases in the state rises to 52,667, including 1,695 deaths and 15,786 discharged, says State health department.

2 More Cases in Manipur | Two more Covid-19 positive cases have been reported in Manipur today; taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 36, of which 32 are active cases, says Government of Manipur.

1 New Case in Goa | One more person has tested positive for Covid-19 today; taking the total number of positive cases to 67 in Goa. There are 48 active cases as of now: Directorate of Health Services, Goa.

405 New Cases in Gujarat | In last 24 hours, 405 new Covid-19 positive cases have been reported in Gujarat, taking the total cases to 14,468 including 6636 cured/discharged and 888 deaths, says State Health Department.