Coronavirus India LIVE updates: With over 9\,800 fresh cases\, tally rises to 2\,26\,770
Coronavirus India LIVE updates: With over 9,800 fresh cases, tally rises to 2,26,770
Coronavirus (Covid-19) Tracker, India Lockdown 5.0 News Live Updates: The Covid-19 tally in India rose to 2,26,770 on Friday even as the Centre prepared to reopen malls, restaurants and religious places as part of the plan to gradually reopen the country.
By: Express Web Desk | Ahmedabad, Karnataka, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, New Delhi |
Updated: June 5, 2020 9:59:53 am
72 year old Shanti, rests outside the Covid area of the LNJP hospital in New Delhi on Thursday.
Coronavirus India News Live Updates: The Covid-19 tally in India rose to 2,26,770 on Friday even as the Centre prepared to reopen malls, restaurants and religious places as part of the plan to gradually reopen the country. As many as 9,851 fresh cases were registered since Thursday evening, according to latest data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
On Thursday, the government issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for reopening of malls, religious places, restaurants and hotels. Restaurant and food courts in malls will operate at 50 per cent seating capacity with a mandatory distance of six feet between tables. No common prayer mats, physical offerings like prasad, or sprinkling of holy water, will be permitted in places of worship. Age and health-based restrictions will also be in place for stepping out of home.
Globally, over 6,430,705 cases have been reported, 3,85,947 people have succumbed to the infection and 2,804,982 have recovered. The United States continues to be the worst-affected nation with 1,872,660 cases and 1,08,211 deaths.
Live Blog
Coronavirus India LIVE news updates: India reports over 9,800 cases in last 24 hours; total infections now 2,26,770; Govt prepares to resume malls, restaurants; Global cases cross 6.4 billion. Follow all the latest COVID-19 updates from across the world here. Read in Tamil
09:59 (IST)05 Jun 2020
Kanpur medical college principal removed after Tablighi diatribe video
The Uttar Pradesh government has removed Kanpur’s GSVM Medical College principal Arati Dave Lalchandani from her post in the wake of a controversial video that went viral last week. In the video, she had purportedly launched a diatribe against Tablighi Jamaat members and had accused the BJP government in the state of “appeasement” and wasting resources on them. According to sources, the action was taken after Kanpur District Magistrate Brahm Dev Tiwari submitted his report on the controversy to Principal Secretary (Medical Education) Rajneesh Dube. “Lalchandani has been transferred to Jhansi where she will serve as principal of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College Medical College,” a source said. Professor R B Kamal is most likely to replace her. However, there is no official confirmation yet.
09:46 (IST)05 Jun 2020
227 out of 58,867 passengers on Vande Bharat flights tested positive: Centre to Bombay HC
The centre on Thursday submitted before the Bombay High Court that only 227 passengers out of the 58,867 Indians, who boarded special flights under Vande Bharat Mission, tested positive for Covid-19, which is 0.38 per cent of the total passengers. The Centre also said that as these cases were revealed during the institutional quarantine period, there was no proof to corroborate whether they had contracted coronavirus on the flight. The state-wise details were submitted after the HC on Tuesday had asked Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Air India to provide data of Indians who were not infected while they boarded special flights under the Vande Bharat Mission but tested positive for Covid-19 after landing in India.
09:26 (IST)05 Jun 2020
Total coronavirus cases in India increases to 2,26,770
With over 9,500 fresh cases, the Covid-19 tally in India rose to 2,26,770 on Friday.
09:01 (IST)05 Jun 2020
Tamil Nadu varsity predicts 1.5 lakh Covid cases in Chennai by mid-July
Epidemiologists at the state-run Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University has predicted, based on mathematical projections, that Chennai city may witness 1.5 lakh Covid-19 cases and up to 1,600 deaths by July second week at the current rate of growth. The university controls the medical education and medical colleges in the state, and its projections are used by government for active surveillance and preparedness. Dr G Srinivas, professor and head of the department of epidemiology at the university, said their projection shows the number of cases in Chennai will touch 1.5 lakh by July 15 and will peak in mid-October. The university began projections from April 18, and submitted it to the government in May first week. “The disease continues to spread. However, the government is currently well-prepared to handle the number of cases with enough number of beds, isolation facilities, ICUs and such crucial infrastructure,” he said.
08:18 (IST)05 Jun 2020
Lockdown period saw rise of violence within family, child abuse, says SC judge
The lockdown period saw an increase in cases of violence within the family and instances of child abuse, Supreme Court judge, Justice N V Ramana, said on Thursday. Justice Ramana, who is also executive chairman of National Legal Services Authority and is second most senior judge of the apex court, said the pandemic has also “affected rights of women, children and senior citizen”, and that this calls for a persistent and target-oriented action plan. Justice Ramana said these in his keynote speech while releasing a ‘Handbook of Formats: Ensuring Effective Legal Services’, prepared in collaboration with the NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
06:49 (IST)05 Jun 2020
Delhi last week: Every fourth sample positive, officials blame ‘laxity’
Every fourth sample tested returned a positive result for the novel coronavirus in Delhi last week — positivity for a total cumulative testing rate of 2,018 tests per million population was 25.7%. In some districts like North East Delhi and South East Delhi, where testing was lower than the average for the city, the positivity rate was as high as more than 38% — that is, two out of every five samples tested — came out positive. The footprint of the infection extends to all 11 districts of the national capital. The highest rates of positivity are in South East Delhi (38.8% at 506 tests per million) and North East Delhi (38.6% at 517 tests per million), followed by West Delhi (38% at 1,817 per million), North West Delhi (36.7% at 1,334 tests per million), and East Delhi (34% at 1,452 per million).
04:55 (IST)05 Jun 2020
Gujarat: 494 cases in one day, state tally at 18,631
Reporting a little less than 500 cases on a single day, Gujarat total crossed 18,600, while another 455 were discharged taking the cumulative discharge in the state to more than 12,600 on Thursday.
Ahmedabad reported 291 new cases, of which 22 were from Bavla taluka. A 63-year-old man from Viramgam died on Thursday, the same day that he tested positive. Ahmedabad also reported 27 more deaths from its AMC jurisdiction. Read more here
02:01 (IST)05 Jun 2020
Maharashtra: Highest single-day spike in state toll
Maharashtra on Thursday registered 2,933 new cases, taking its total Covid-19 count to 77,793. The state also registered 123 deaths — the highest so far in a day, taking the total toll to 2,710.
Mumbai, which reported 1,439 new cases, now has 44,931 infected with 1,465 deaths. There are 41,393 active Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, with 25,364 in Mumbai alone. Read more here
The state government has announced a Gujarat Aatmanirbhar package worth Rs 14,000 crore to help individuals, industries and businesses in the state.
The package announced by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on late Thursday gives relief worth Rs 2,300 crore by partially waving off property tax, electricity bill and motor vehicle tax for individuals, commercial establishments and industrial entities. The government is also giving subsidies worth Rs 3,038 crore to industries. Read more here
00:25 (IST)05 Jun 2020
Goa, Andhra govts to probe source of infection in key containment zone
The Goa government has established contact with its Andhra Pradesh counterpart as it continues to probe the “source of infection” of a Covid-19 containment zone in south Goa. Early this week, the densely-populated Mangor Hill in port town Vasco was designated a containment zone after a family of six tested positive.
The move comes even as the state added 40 new positive cases on Thursday, bringing the total in the state to 109. As many as 32 of the 40 cases are residents of the containment zone, making it the “priority point” for testing and treatment. The rest were people who travelled to Goa.
00:07 (IST)05 Jun 2020
15 new cases in Amritsar, 11 of them suspected community spread
Amritsar reported 15 new coronavirus cases on Thursday -- of which 11 are suspected by health officials to be instances of community spread. The 11 symptomatic cases were reported at the district’s flu corners and their source of infection has not been pinpointed yet.
The new cases come at a time when the district administration has increased its sample collecting capacity in the last three days. Out of 300 samples, 15 came back positive. (ENS)
23:22 (IST)04 Jun 2020
Gujarat: Families of 3 deceased cops to receive Rs 25 lakh each
The state government has announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 25 lakh each for the families of deceased state government employees who die due to Covid-19 while on duty.
According to a statement released from the Chief Minister’s Office on Thursday night, families of three police personnel -- who died due to coronavirus while deployed on duty in Gujarat -- will be liable to an amount of Rs 25 lakh each.
The police officers who lost their lives while on Covid duty are Armed Police Constable Bharatsinh S Thakor, Armed Assistant Sub-Inspector Govindbhai B Dataniya and KM Prajapati of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) group three. (ENS)
22:01 (IST)04 Jun 2020
Dharavi's COVID-19 cases go up to 1,872
As 23 more people tested coronavirus positive, the tally of such cases in Dharavi, Mumbai's biggest slum sprawl, rose to 1,872 on Thursday, a senior official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. However, as no COVID-19 fatality was reported in Dharavi in the last 24 hours, the death toll there remained unchanged at 71, the official said. Dharavi is located in G-North administrative ward of the BMC, which has so far registered the highest number of 2,820 COVID-19 cases among all the 24 wards. Of them, as many as 1,872 cases are from Dharavi alone, followed by 574 and 347 cases from Mahim and Dadar, respectively, from the same ward. Dharavi is one of the biggest slums in Asia where nearly 15 lakh people live in small shanties, making it one of the most congested areas of the metropolis.
21:57 (IST)04 Jun 2020
Opening border with Delhi is primary reasons behind spike in cases in Haryana: Vij
The opening of border along Delhi is the “primary cause of spike in Covid-19 cases” in Haryana, its Home Minister Anil Vij said Thursday even as Supreme Court directed the two neighbouring governments and that of the Uttar Pradesh to devise a common platform enabling inter-state movement in the National Capital region (NCR) on a single-pass. Read more
21:08 (IST)04 Jun 2020
The guidelines listed by the health ministry for religious gatherings include
*Thermal screening at enterance *entry only with face masks. *large gatherings prohibited *seathing arrangements with social distancing
20:51 (IST)04 Jun 2020
Health Ministry issues SOP to contain spread of COVID-19 in worship places
Under its unlock 1.0 plan, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday issued Standard Operating Procedure to contain the spread of COVID-19 in religious places/places of worship. According to the guidlines, persons above 65 years of age, persons with comorbidities, pregnant women, children below the age of 10 years are advised to stay at home.
20:42 (IST)04 Jun 2020
Meghalaya to consider everyone an asymptomatic carrier of the virus 'by default'
In a bid to strengthen their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Meghalaya on Thursday announced that the state will consider everyone an asymptomatic carrier of the virus “by default.”
This was part of a new post-lockdown health protocol notified by the Health and Family Welfare Department, Meghalaya and described as a proactive measure adopted to “prevent the threat of community transmission by acting as though community transmission is already happening”. The order noted that “80% of the positive cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic and cannot be ascertained without testing. Therefore it would be apt to assume that everybody by default is an asymptomatic person.”
The state has so far recorded 33 cases of COVID-19, out of which 19 are active. Many of these cases have been reported from the people who have returned to the state post inter-state relaxations on May 4. “As the state is slowly easing the lockdown and essential economic activities are being opened in a phased manner and with people returning to the State from different zones, the State needs to gear up and prepare itself for the increased risk of transmission,” said the order, signed by Health Secretary Sampath Kumar. (Report byTora Agarwal)
20:29 (IST)04 Jun 2020
DMK MLA J Anbazhagan on ventilator support after testing Covid positive
DMK MLA J Anbazhagan (61) who is tested COVID-19 positive on Wednesday continues to be in ventilator support. As per the release from Dr. Reela Institute & Medical Centre, Chrompet, Anbazhagan is getting 80 per cent of oxygen through the ventilator. Anbazhagan, who was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni constituency in 2016 elections, was actively involved in DMK president MK Stalin’s ‘ondrinaivom vaa’ initiative which kick-started on April 20 to provides relief material to the people in distress.
19:55 (IST)04 Jun 2020
Watch: Covid-19 at a glance
The rising number of Covid-19 cases across the world, which has surpassed the 6.29 million mark, has paved the way for fast-tracking of clinical trials of vaccines, which are being seen as the only ray of hope in the battle against SARS-CoV-2 in the long run.
19:53 (IST)04 Jun 2020
COVID-19: 1,384 cases in TN, tally touches 27,256 12 more people die
Coronavirus cases continued to surge in Tamil Nadu which recorded on Thursday the biggest single day spike of 1,384 cases and 12 deaths taking the infection tally to 27,256 and toll to 220. Of the new cases, Chennai alone accounted for 1,072 which is the highest single day increase for the state capital, pushing the case count to 18,693, a health department bulletin said. While 585 people were discharged from various hospitals, 14,901 have recovered till date and active cases stood at 12,132.
Coronavirus India LIVE updates: Family members of Charan Singh at Delhi border, who came to Delhi by train from Gujarat's Palampur village and going to Kalyanpur village in Kasganj UP. (Express photo by Gajendra Yadav)
Coronavirus India LIVE news updates:
A testing programme necessary for lifting India’s lockdown would cost less than 2.1 per cent of the lockdown’s economic losses, researchers from India School of Business and Imperial College have found. In another metric, the study found that “a resource-intensive (testing) strategy … corresponds to less than half of the lockdown-caused loss in goods and services tax (GST) revenue.”
The pre-print study states that if 20 per cent of the population has Covid-19 antibodies (known as sero-prevalence) by the time lockdown is lifted, then authorities would need to identify and isolate symptomatic cases within five to eight days of their symptoms to prevent an overwhelmed healthcare capacity.
Cash with public up by Rs 1.63 lakh crore in 2 months
The extension of the lockdown and the rising number of COVID-19 infections seem to have pushed the country towards a more cash-driven economy. Even though state governments have started relaxing retail trade restrictions, the relentless rise in currency with the public is continuing with people taking out cash worth another Rs 39,028 crore during the fortnight ended May 22.
Currency with the public has now risen by Rs 1,63,135 crore from April 1 this year to Rs 25.12 lakh crore as of May 22. According to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday, currency with public has gone up by 18.7 per cent, or Rs 3,95,484 crore, on a year-on-year basis as against Rs 2.63,573 crore, or 14.2 per cent, in the previous year. With the lockdown continuing, people’s reliance on cash is expected to rise further in the next one or two months.
Also, there has been a “significant increase” in reported poaching of wild animals during the lockdown, which is not restricted to any geographical region or state, or to any specific wildlife area, according to a report released by WWF-India Wednesday. The study was carried out by WWF-India’s programme division Traffic, a wildlife trafficking monitoring network.
Coronavirus India LIVE updates: Poaching of hares, among other small mammals, has shown an increase. (Source: WWF-India)
While reports of poaching incidences for consumption and local trade more than doubled during the lockdown period under study, the report states there was no evidence of stockpiling of wildlife products for future trade.
Railways freight earnings dip by Rs 8,000 crore during lockdown
Meanwhile, hit with the coronavirus outbreak and over two months of lockdown, the Indian Railways has so far suffered a freight earnings shortfall of Rs 8,283 crore when compared to this period last year. Barring foodgrain, the national transporter carried all commodities in its freight basket much less than it did during the corresponding period last year.
Sources said passenger earnings shortfall so far — of April and May — could hover around Rs 9,000 crore by May-end, with all passenger trains suspended since late-March and with only some truncated services running since May 12, over and above the Shramik Special trains.
72 year old Shanti, rests outside the Covid area of the LNJP hospital in New Delhi on Thursday.
Coronavirus India LIVE updates: Family members of Charan Singh at Delhi border, who came to Delhi by train from Gujarat's Palampur village and going to Kalyanpur village in Kasganj UP. (Express photo by Gajendra Yadav)
Coronavirus India LIVE updates: Poaching of hares, among other small mammals, has shown an increase. (Source: WWF-India)
The Uttar Pradesh government has removed Kanpur’s GSVM Medical College principal Arati Dave Lalchandani from her post in the wake of a controversial video that went viral last week. In the video, she had purportedly launched a diatribe against Tablighi Jamaat members and had accused the BJP government in the state of “appeasement” and wasting resources on them. According to sources, the action was taken after Kanpur District Magistrate Brahm Dev Tiwari submitted his report on the controversy to Principal Secretary (Medical Education) Rajneesh Dube. “Lalchandani has been transferred to Jhansi where she will serve as principal of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College Medical College,” a source said. Professor R B Kamal is most likely to replace her. However, there is no official confirmation yet.
The centre on Thursday submitted before the Bombay High Court that only 227 passengers out of the 58,867 Indians, who boarded special flights under Vande Bharat Mission, tested positive for Covid-19, which is 0.38 per cent of the total passengers. The Centre also said that as these cases were revealed during the institutional quarantine period, there was no proof to corroborate whether they had contracted coronavirus on the flight. The state-wise details were submitted after the HC on Tuesday had asked Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Air India to provide data of Indians who were not infected while they boarded special flights under the Vande Bharat Mission but tested positive for Covid-19 after landing in India.
With over 9,500 fresh cases, the Covid-19 tally in India rose to 2,26,770 on Friday.
Epidemiologists at the state-run Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University has predicted, based on mathematical projections, that Chennai city may witness 1.5 lakh Covid-19 cases and up to 1,600 deaths by July second week at the current rate of growth. The university controls the medical education and medical colleges in the state, and its projections are used by government for active surveillance and preparedness. Dr G Srinivas, professor and head of the department of epidemiology at the university, said their projection shows the number of cases in Chennai will touch 1.5 lakh by July 15 and will peak in mid-October. The university began projections from April 18, and submitted it to the government in May first week. “The disease continues to spread. However, the government is currently well-prepared to handle the number of cases with enough number of beds, isolation facilities, ICUs and such crucial infrastructure,” he said.
The lockdown period saw an increase in cases of violence within the family and instances of child abuse, Supreme Court judge, Justice N V Ramana, said on Thursday. Justice Ramana, who is also executive chairman of National Legal Services Authority and is second most senior judge of the apex court, said the pandemic has also “affected rights of women, children and senior citizen”, and that this calls for a persistent and target-oriented action plan. Justice Ramana said these in his keynote speech while releasing a ‘Handbook of Formats: Ensuring Effective Legal Services’, prepared in collaboration with the NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
Every fourth sample tested returned a positive result for the novel coronavirus in Delhi last week — positivity for a total cumulative testing rate of 2,018 tests per million population was 25.7%. In some districts like North East Delhi and South East Delhi, where testing was lower than the average for the city, the positivity rate was as high as more than 38% — that is, two out of every five samples tested — came out positive. The footprint of the infection extends to all 11 districts of the national capital. The highest rates of positivity are in South East Delhi (38.8% at 506 tests per million) and North East Delhi (38.6% at 517 tests per million), followed by West Delhi (38% at 1,817 per million), North West Delhi (36.7% at 1,334 tests per million), and East Delhi (34% at 1,452 per million).
Reporting a little less than 500 cases on a single day, Gujarat total crossed 18,600, while another 455 were discharged taking the cumulative discharge in the state to more than 12,600 on Thursday.
Ahmedabad reported 291 new cases, of which 22 were from Bavla taluka. A 63-year-old man from Viramgam died on Thursday, the same day that he tested positive. Ahmedabad also reported 27 more deaths from its AMC jurisdiction. Read more here
Maharashtra on Thursday registered 2,933 new cases, taking its total Covid-19 count to 77,793. The state also registered 123 deaths — the highest so far in a day, taking the total toll to 2,710.
Mumbai, which reported 1,439 new cases, now has 44,931 infected with 1,465 deaths. There are 41,393 active Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, with 25,364 in Mumbai alone. Read more here
The state government has announced a Gujarat Aatmanirbhar package worth Rs 14,000 crore to help individuals, industries and businesses in the state.
The package announced by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on late Thursday gives relief worth Rs 2,300 crore by partially waving off property tax, electricity bill and motor vehicle tax for individuals, commercial establishments and industrial entities. The government is also giving subsidies worth Rs 3,038 crore to industries. Read more here
The Goa government has established contact with its Andhra Pradesh counterpart as it continues to probe the “source of infection” of a Covid-19 containment zone in south Goa. Early this week, the densely-populated Mangor Hill in port town Vasco was designated a containment zone after a family of six tested positive.
The move comes even as the state added 40 new positive cases on Thursday, bringing the total in the state to 109. As many as 32 of the 40 cases are residents of the containment zone, making it the “priority point” for testing and treatment. The rest were people who travelled to Goa.
Amritsar reported 15 new coronavirus cases on Thursday -- of which 11 are suspected by health officials to be instances of community spread. The 11 symptomatic cases were reported at the district’s flu corners and their source of infection has not been pinpointed yet.
The new cases come at a time when the district administration has increased its sample collecting capacity in the last three days. Out of 300 samples, 15 came back positive. (ENS)
The state government has announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 25 lakh each for the families of deceased state government employees who die due to Covid-19 while on duty.
According to a statement released from the Chief Minister’s Office on Thursday night, families of three police personnel -- who died due to coronavirus while deployed on duty in Gujarat -- will be liable to an amount of Rs 25 lakh each.
The police officers who lost their lives while on Covid duty are Armed Police Constable Bharatsinh S Thakor, Armed Assistant Sub-Inspector Govindbhai B Dataniya and KM Prajapati of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) group three. (ENS)
As 23 more people tested coronavirus positive, the tally of such cases in Dharavi, Mumbai's biggest slum sprawl, rose to 1,872 on Thursday, a senior official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. However, as no COVID-19 fatality was reported in Dharavi in the last 24 hours, the death toll there remained unchanged at 71, the official said. Dharavi is located in G-North administrative ward of the BMC, which has so far registered the highest number of 2,820 COVID-19 cases among all the 24 wards. Of them, as many as 1,872 cases are from Dharavi alone, followed by 574 and 347 cases from Mahim and Dadar, respectively, from the same ward. Dharavi is one of the biggest slums in Asia where nearly 15 lakh people live in small shanties, making it one of the most congested areas of the metropolis.
The opening of border along Delhi is the “primary cause of spike in Covid-19 cases” in Haryana, its Home Minister Anil Vij said Thursday even as Supreme Court directed the two neighbouring governments and that of the Uttar Pradesh to devise a common platform enabling inter-state movement in the National Capital region (NCR) on a single-pass. Read more
*Thermal screening at enterance
*entry only with face masks.
*large gatherings prohibited
*seathing arrangements with social distancing
Under its unlock 1.0 plan, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday issued Standard Operating Procedure to contain the spread of COVID-19 in religious places/places of worship. According to the guidlines, persons above 65 years of age, persons with comorbidities, pregnant women, children below the age of 10 years are advised to stay at home.
In a bid to strengthen their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Meghalaya on Thursday announced that the state will consider everyone an asymptomatic carrier of the virus “by default.”
This was part of a new post-lockdown health protocol notified by the Health and Family Welfare Department, Meghalaya and described as a proactive measure adopted to “prevent the threat of community transmission by acting as though community transmission is already happening”. The order noted that “80% of the positive cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic and cannot be ascertained without testing. Therefore it would be apt to assume that everybody by default is an asymptomatic person.”
The state has so far recorded 33 cases of COVID-19, out of which 19 are active. Many of these cases have been reported from the people who have returned to the state post inter-state relaxations on May 4. “As the state is slowly easing the lockdown and essential economic activities are being opened in a phased manner and with people returning to the State from different zones, the State needs to gear up and prepare itself for the increased risk of transmission,” said the order, signed by Health Secretary Sampath Kumar. (Report byTora Agarwal)
DMK MLA J Anbazhagan (61) who is tested COVID-19 positive on Wednesday continues to be in ventilator support. As per the release from Dr. Reela Institute & Medical Centre, Chrompet, Anbazhagan is getting 80 per cent of oxygen through the ventilator. Anbazhagan, who was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni constituency in 2016 elections, was actively involved in DMK president MK Stalin’s ‘ondrinaivom vaa’ initiative which kick-started on April 20 to provides relief material to the people in distress.
The rising number of Covid-19 cases across the world, which has surpassed the 6.29 million mark, has paved the way for fast-tracking of clinical trials of vaccines, which are being seen as the only ray of hope in the battle against SARS-CoV-2 in the long run.
Coronavirus cases continued to surge in Tamil Nadu which recorded on Thursday the biggest single day spike of 1,384 cases and 12 deaths taking the infection tally to 27,256 and toll to 220. Of the new cases, Chennai alone accounted for 1,072 which is the highest single day increase for the state capital, pushing the case count to 18,693, a health department bulletin said. While 585 people were discharged from various hospitals, 14,901 have recovered till date and active cases stood at 12,132.