The Delhi government on Thursday announced a remote teaching-learning plan for all classes to address the issues of digital divide and reduce academic loss of students in the wake of the closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the plan focuses on reducing academic loss of students, the government is focusing on addressing the issues of digital divide as not all students have access to internet or smartphones, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced.

Sisodia, who is also Delhi's Education Minister, said the guest teachers employed in government schools will also be roped in the online teaching learning process. "In the wake of the closure of schools till July 31, induced by the coronavirus situation, we have devised an alternate teaching-learning plan to reduce the academic loss of students in classes KG to 12 of all government and aided schools of Delhi.

"A plan of action in this regard has been worked out for students through a combination of strategies using digital devices and support of parents and the School Management Committees. We are following the principle that digital divide should not come in the way of children's access to learning opportunities," Sisodia said addressing an online press briefing.

Classes KG to 12 have been divided into three cohorts to follow three distinct strategies to support the learning of students.

Delhi recorded 2,373 fresh coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the tally in the city to over 92,000-mark, while the death toll from the disease mounted to 2,864, authorities said. On June 23, the national capital had reported the highest single-day spike of 3,947 cases, till date.

Recently, Delhi had eclipsed Mumbai as the city worst-hit by the pandemic in the country. Sixty-one fatalities have been recorded in the last 24 hours, the Delhi health department bulletin said on Thursday. The death toll from COVID-19 in Delhi stood at 2,803 on Wednesday. The bulletin said the death toll from COVID-19 has risen to 2,864, and the total number of cases mounted to 92,175.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday said it was "not acceptable" that private labs should stop onsite collection of samples or tests at such a "critical juncture" when COVID-19 numbers were "shooting up phenomenally" on a daily basis. A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad said if the labs are unhappy with the rates fixed for onsite collection of samples and testing, they can raise it before the committee set up by the Lieutenant Governor or the Delhi government.

"However, it is not acceptable that the private laboratories will stop conducting onsite tests at such a critical juncture where the number of cases of COVID-19 infection are shooting up phenomenally, on a day by day basis," the bench said.

The observation by the bench came while hearing a plea by a lawyer, Rakesh Malhotra, on increasing the testing numbers in the national capital and getting speedy results. In the matter, the Delhi government, through its additional standing counsel Satyakam, filed an affidavit indicating that it has complied with the court''s direction of June 25 to implement recommendations of the committee set up by the LG.

The high court in its June 25 order had also called for an action plan on ramping up tests in the national capital and had directed the Delhi government to endorse the advisory of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for increasing tests through both private and public sector labs.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday held a meeting with the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the national capital and its adjoining areas, located in the two neighbouring states. Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) have seen a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, leading to the Home Minister stepping in to handle the situation and improve the health infrastructure.

Shah reviewed the COVID-19 situation in Delhi-NCR with the three chief ministers, a home ministry official said. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan was also present in the meeting. The NCR comprises districts belonging to Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The prominent ones being Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) and Ghaziabad (both Uttar Pradesh) and Gurgaon, Faridabad (both in Haryana).

Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi -- Yogi Adityanath, Manohar Lal Khattar and Arvind Kejriwal respectively -- attended the meeting through video-conference. The novel coronavirus has infected 89,000 people in Delhi and killed 2,803 as on Wednesday.

The South Delhi district administration on Wednesday requested Reliance Jio to augment data connectivity at the 10,000-bed Sardar Patel COVID Centre in Radha Soami Satsang Beas campus in Chattarpur area here. The centre is being set up by the Delhi government for treating mild and asymptomatic coronavirus patients.  It will also serve as a treatment centre for people who are asymptomatic but cannot afford home isolation.

"We request Reliance Jio to support us under their CSR initiative to augment the data connectivity of the prestigious 10,000-bedded Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre. We value your support during this COVID-19 pandemic," South Delhi District Magistrate B M Mishra said.

The centre, which is likely to be among the largest facilities of its kind in the world at full capacity, will be 1,700 feet long, 700 feet wide and have 200 enclosures with 50 beds each.

redBus has announced the resumption of the services of 30+ private bus operators on its platform in Delhi. This has opened up around all the major routes connecting cities such as Lucknow, Kanpur, Jaipur, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Gorakhpur. In order to help travellers tide over the confusion of opening up of specific bus routes, redBus introduced the concept of pre-registration on its platform in May. This helps users to keep track of the opening up of their desired bus routes by giving some basic information such as phone number and email id along with the route. The users are then subsequently notified when the buses become available on redBus on their desired routes. 

It has been over a month since markets reopened in the national capital after the government eased the restrictions imposed in view of COVID-19 but it is not business as usual at the popular hotspots of Khan Market and Connaught Place.

Deserted streets, limited customers, no revenue generation, huge rentals and restricted operations have forced many outlets to put their shutters down permanently while many others are struggling to survive by retrenching staff and tightening their purse strings on several other expenses.

According to Atul Bhargava, President, New Delhi Traders Association, business in the past month has been around 10 per cent of what it used to be earlier. "There are hardly five customers in a day at any outlet. Though we are doing everything to instill confidence among customers and ensure their safety -- sanitisation, social distancing, all these measures are strictly being implemented but still it is no where near a no-profit-no-loss situation," he told PTI.

Popular restaurants Garam Dharam and Pebble Street in Connaught Place are among those who succumbed to the pressure of losses and closed down. At least twenty other restaurants have retrenched over half of their staff.

The Delhi High Court Thursday suggested that the AAP government set up a mechanism like a helpline on which healthcare workers can call anonymously to complain against private hospitals or nursing homes not providing N-95 masks and PPE kits. The suggestion came from a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan during the hearing of a PIL by an NGO which has alleged that nurses in private hospitals and nursing homes were not being provided proper personal protection equipment (PPE) kits and masks to guard against COVID-19 infection.

The court said once a complaint is received on the helpline, the Delhi government can inspect the hospital or nursing home concerned and fulfil the PPE kits and masks requirements. The court also asked the NGO, Distress Management Collective, to give suggestions on how the issues raised in its PIL can be addressed and listed the matter for hearing on July 6.

The Delhi government has said that it was taking action against private hospitals and nursing homes which violate the COVID-19 guidelines as and when such instances are brought to its attention.  The Centre, represented by its standing counsel Anil Soni, told the court that it was providing all assistance to the states which have to do the actual work.

In a respite for the capital, Delhi fell below the national growth rate on Wednesday. The national capital had been adding a large number of cases in the previous week, touching almost four thousand new infections on June 23, but the numbers have gone down consistently after that. On Wednesday, 2,442 new cases were found in Delhi.

Plasma therapy involves taking antibodies from the blood of a person who has recovered from COVID-19 and transfusing those into a coronavirus infected patient to help kick-start the immune system to fight the infection. The government has set up the plasma bank at the state-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences. Kejriwal hoped that COVID-19 deaths will decrease due to plasma therapy. What is a plasma bank, why is it required? We explain

The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought response of the Centre and AAP government on a PIL seeking e-registration of documents at all sub-registrar offices in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan issued notice to the Finance Ministry and Delhi government seeking their stand on the plea by a lawyer. The court listed the matter for further hearing on July 23.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Thursday announced the launch of the plasma bank — the first in the country. Encouraging people to donate, Kejriwal said, “Plasma bank will be successful when people come forward to donate their plasma for patients. Those aged between 18 and 50 and weighing not less than 50 kg can donate their plasma for COVID-19 patients. However, women who have given birth or the persons with comorbidities, are not eligible to donate plasma,” he said. “If you are eligible & willing to donate plasma, then you may call us at 1031 or you can WhatsApp us at 8800007722. Our doctors will then get in touch with you to further confirm your eligibility.”

In a bid to provide relief to taxpayers amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the Income Tax (I-T) department extended the deadline for tax saving investments/payments for the financial year 2019-20 up to July 31. In a tweet on Thursday, the I-T department said that “Tax Saving Investments/Payments for FY 2019-20 can be made upto 31st July, 2020.”

Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) in Gurgaon will face “investigation”, with action being taken against their office bearers, if they are found to be introducing restrictions or measures beyond what has been laid out in the order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for the second phase of ‘Unlock’ on June 29.

This has been stated in guidelines released by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), late Tuesday night, for RWAs, in effect until July 31. Addressing the issue of “additional restrictions” that RWAs in the city have become notorious for imposing over the last three months, the guidelines state that “all activities” permitted by the MHA notification should be allowed by RWAs “without any hindrance or additional restrictions”, except if their areas fall in containment zones or large outbreak regions.

With 19,148 new cases, infections in India crossed the 6 lakh-mark today. The death toll has mounted to 17,834. While Maharashtra has the maximum number of cases, Tamil Nadu and Delhi are next in the line. With rapid jumps in infections, states like Telangana, Karnataka, Assam have also become a cause of concern. 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday said that while the Covid situation in Delhi was not as alarming as projected earlier, no one should believe “experts on social media” who have claimed that the number of cases in the city has peaked and will decrease henceforth.

Kejriwal, addressing a webcast, said: “Experts are commenting on social media that Delhi’s peak has come and gone. Don’t listen to them. Wear masks, maintain social distancing, wash hands regularly, don’t make a mistake. We have managed to bring the situation under control after a lot of concerted effort. There is a saying, hope for the best, prepare for worst. That’s what we have to do.”

Thermal scanning of all customers, automatic hand sanitiser dispensers at entrances, PPE kits and face shields for security staff, electronic menus to be viewed on phones at restaurants — several safety measures are in place at malls in Gurgaon, which reopened their doors Wednesday after a three-month shutdown amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Malls, however, reported a low footfall, with only a slow trickle of customers through the day. While some customers said they wanted to take advantage of sales at clothing stores, others said they wanted to see and try before spending money.

Inspector Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, who was a part of Delhi Police’s Special Cell, passed away at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, due to Covid-related complications, after being on ventilator for 13 days. He was administered plasma therapy twice, said SHO Wazirabad. On Tuesday afternoon, Delhi Police head constable Dheer Singh (47) too succumbed to the virus — a day after he tested positive.

Ten police personnel have died of the virus so far. Around 2,000 personnel have tested positive, of which at least 1,300 have recovered and resumed duty, said a senior officer.

Welcome to The Indian Express live blog. With nearly 90,000 cases in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the situation in the capital is improving. Follow this space to track the latest developments from the National Capital Region.