Municipal authorities conducting fever and testing camps at various coronavirus hotspots in Mumbai.
Coronavirus India LIVE news updates: Jharkhand became the second state after West Bengal to extend the lockdown till July 31. “Considering the seriousness of the situation, the state government has decided to extend the lockdown till 31 July,” Chief Minister Hemant Soren tweeted.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, all schools will remain shut till July 31 in view of the coronavirus situation, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who had been fighting Covid-19 since last week, was discharged from hospital after testing negative for the virus on Friday. He had tested Covid positive last Wednesday.
Three months after they closed down following the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the malls in Gurgaon are likely to re-open next week. At a press conference on Friday, the officials said that directions to this effect would soon be issued. West Bengal Bengal Chief Minister too relaxed its night curfew to 10 pm-5 am and said that the government wants the Metro Rail services in Kolkata to resume from July 1.
With India registering 407 deaths and 17,296 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the total number of infections crossed the 4.9 lakh-mark to reach 4,90,401 including 15,301 fatalities, 1,89,463 active cases, and 2,85,636 people who have been treated and discharged so far. On Thursday, the number of recoveries was 96,173 more than the number of active cases.
Globally, the infections soared to 9,588,717 on Thursday and the death toll rose to 488,842. Also, as many as 4,822,067 people have recovered across the world.
Coronavirus LIVE updates: The Shenai Banquet opposite LNJP hospital in New Delhi has been turned into an isolation facility and will start operations from Thursday. (Express photo/Tashi Tobgyal)
Jharkhand’s Education Department issued an order Thursday that all private unaided accredited schools will not charge any kind of transportation, annual fees from the students till the time schools reopen. In a letter written by the state’s Education and Literacy Department to the heads of all private unaided accredited schools stated that failing to adhere to all these instructions may lead to stringent action such as NOC being cancelled.
Education Minister Jagarnath Mahato took to Twitter and posted the order and said: “…All private schools shall abide by it. Also, there won't be any reduction in teacher's salaries.”
The order stated: “The economic condition has deteriorated due to COVID-19. It has also affected parents of the students…Many parents are not receiving salaries on time and some employment and they are facing problems in paying the full fees in private schools. Due to the same reason, the private schools are also facing trouble managing the schools.” - Abhishek Angad reports from Ranchi
Tripura law minister Ratan Lal Nath Friday claimed the state ranks second across India in terms of COVID-19 recoveries so far. Speaking to reporters this evening, Nath said 81.47 per cent COVID-19 patients in Tripura have recovered, second highest recovery rate in the country after Meghalaya, which has 89 per cent recovery rate. The national average of COVID recovery is 58.18 per cent.
Tripura has tested 60,164 people for coronavirus till date, out of which 1,295 turned out positive. Among them, 1,055 have recovered and only 232 are current active patients. However, 6,707 people are still under surveillance for coronavirus in the state, including 651 in different quarantine centres and 6,056 placed under home quarantine.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday said community transmission of the novel coronavirus had begun as COVID-19 cases were coming from all parts of the state. A total of 44 cases were detected during the day, taking the COVID-19 count to 1,039, while the number of active cases was 667, a health official said. "We will have to admit that community transmission has begun in the state. But the infection has been traced to some common sources," Sawant told reporters. (PTI)
The Jharkhand government has extended the lockdown till July 31. "With the cooperation of all of you in the struggle with Corona, we have got the expected success so far, but the struggle is still going on. Considering the seriousness of the situation, the state government has decided to extend the lockdown till 31 July. The concessions in lockdown will continue from time to time," Chief Minister Hemant Soren said.
West Bengal records 542 fresh COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths, taking total number of cases to 16,190 and death toll to 616. Number of active patients stands at 5,039, said State Health Department
Rajasthan’s Health Department has served a notice to NIMS hospital here seeking an explanation on conducting trials of Patanjali Ayurved’s drug Coronil on coronavirus patients, an official said on Friday.“We served notice to the hospital on Wednesday evening seeking explanation in three days. The hospital did not inform the state government nor sought permission,” Chief Medical and Health Officer, Jaipur, Dr Narottam Sharma said.
He said the reply from National Institute of Medical Science (NIMS), Jaipur is awaited. The launch of the drug by yoga guru Ramdev on Tuesday triggered a debate after which the Ayush Ministry sought all information on its trial and put a ban on advertising it as a drug to cure coronavirus. Read more here
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is also the Education Minister in the AAP gpvernment, said that all schools in Delhi will remain closed till July 31 in view of the coronavirus situation in the national capital.
Congress leader and party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi and his have wife tested have home quarantined themselves after testing positive for coronavirus five days ago. After Singhvi showed mild symptoms and tested positive, his son and other family members and staff are also being tested for Covid. Singhvi is the second Congress leader after Sanjay Jha to contract the disease. Jha has since recovered in Mumbai.
Total coronavirus cases in Himachal Pradesh so far is 850
Goa CM Sawant Pramod Sawant Friday admitted that community transmission has started in the state, local media reports said. Assuring that Goa has strict SOPs, he said the police have been asked to take strict action against those not following guidelines.
The Haryana government has decided to cap the charges of the main components of Covid-19 treatment at private hospitals. The move by health minister Anil Vij follows inputs about overcharging by private hospitals from coronavirus patients. The state government recently fixed the cost of Covid-19 Rt-PCR test at Rs 2,400, bringing it down from the previous Rs 4,500.
It has now categorised private hospitals into two kinds — those accredited by NABH (national accreditation board for hospitals health providers) and JCN (joint commission international) hospitals. The charges at the accredited hospitals are a little higher. Read more here
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain tested negative for Covid-19 on Friday. He was admitted to the Delhi government-run Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital on June 16, Tuesday, after he developed breathlessness, fever and a drop in oxygen levels, shortly after he had tested negative for the virus. However, as symptoms persisted, he was tested again and his reports came positive on June 17, Wednesday. From Sunday this week, Jain's condition improved and his fever subsided after he was administered plasma therapy for the treatment of Covid-19.
West Bengal Friday relaxed its night curfew hours. Now the restrictions are from 10 pm to 5 am during extended coronavirus lockdown till July 31, said CM Mamata Banerjee. She added that the government wants the Metro Rail services in Kolkata to resume from July 1.
Three months after they were directed to close down amid the Covid outbreak, malls in Gurgaon are likely to re-open next week, said officials from the district administration today. They are be expected to follow SOPs issued by the Central government for the purpose, said officials.“The State Government had already given directions for reopening of malls but, keeping in mind the situation in Gurgaon, the move had been delayed in the district for some time. Now it has been decided that malls can reopen in the coming one week as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued for reopening of malls by the Central Government,” said Vinay Pratap Singh, Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG).“Officials of the administration will ensure that SOPs are being followed at these and, if it is found that any establishment is not following the SOPs, directions will be given to again close down that shop or mall,” he added.
Malls in Gurgaon had been directed to close on March 18, with the Deputy Commissioner issuing directions that work at them be “suspended”. Only Pharmacies and Medical Establishments, Grocery Stores and Super Markets, had been allowed to remain open during this period. At the press conference on Friday, officials also dismissed all rumours of another lockdown being enforced in the district, pointing out that the nationwide focus now is on “unlocking rather than lockdown”.
“Let me state that lockdown and containment are very specific terms and should not be used liberally. Lockdown is already in effect in Containment Zones, where only essential services are being allowed. The focus will be on enforcement in these areas,” said Deputy Commissioner Amit Khatri. - Sakshi Dayal reports from Gurgaon
The Bombay High Court on Friday granted an interim stay on a Maharashtra government resolution that directed all the educational institutions in the state to not hike their fees for the academic year 2020-21 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On May 8, 2020, the state government had issued the resolution saying that no educational institution in the state shall hike their fees for the academic year 2020-21. The resolution also directed all the institutions to not collect any balance fees of the year 2019-20 or fees for the year 2020-21 at one go, but give parents an option to deposit it monthly or quarterly. (PTI)
Alternate seats marked-off, luggage sanitised, information boards and awareness messages set across Mysuru airport.
Following a spurt in Covid-19 cases in Assam, a 12-hour night curfew will be imposed across the northeastern state 7 pm onwards on Friday and a 14-day complete lockdown in Kamrup district, which includes the Guwahati city, from Sunday midnight. Out of 762 coronavirus cases recorded in Guwahati since June 15, 677 have no travel history, though many had come in contact with returnees from other states, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Of the 276 cases reported in Assam Thursday, 133 were from Guwahati, he said. "We are now left with no choice but to impose a complete lockdown for 14 days from June 28 midnight, and this time it will be very strict as no grocery shops will be allowed to open or supply of vegetables and other essentials will be permitted for the first seven days," PTI quotes Sarma as saying.
The ruling MVA constituents are working together in the battle against COVID-19 in Maharashtra and the Congress and NCP are fully supportive of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership, NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar has said.
In an interview to a TV channel, Pawar said that the government formed by the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress – in November last year – will absolutely complete its five-year run. He exuded confidence that a similar political situation will prevail in the state if the three parties contest the next Assembly election together. The veteran leader rejected suggestions that he is remote-controlling the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, in which his party is the second largest constituent.