Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray (File image)Coronavirus second wave in India: Another day, another peak in daily cases of Coronavirus infection in India. On Sunday, India breached the critical mark of 1-lakh Covid-19 cases for the first time since the pandemic has begun last year and became the second country after the US to achieve the grim milestone. Amid the continuous surge in Covid-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a review meeting yesterday. He directed officials to rush high-level central teams to hotspot states/UTs like Maharashtra, Punjab, and Chhattisgarh to decode the reason for the sudden spike in Coronavirus infections. He also ordered a special campaign, beginning tomorrow, to sensitize people about Covid discipline. During the review meeting, three factors were highlighted as key reasons for the recent surge—decline in compliance with Covid appropriate behaviour, (mainly mask indiscipline), pandemic fatigue, and lack of implementation of containment measures.
Meanwhile, ANI reported that Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray has written to PM Modi requesting him to allow vaccination of all above the age of 25 years. Thackeray also thanked PM Modi for accepting his proposal of allowing all persons above 45 yrs of age to be made eligible for COVID-19 vaccination, Maharashtra CMO was quoted saying.
Out of India’s total Covid-19 cases on Sunday, Maharashtra alone accounted for 57,074 cases, its highest ever single-day spike. The state has announced night curfew (starting from today) and weekend lockdown to check the spread of the second wave of Coronavirus infections. Madhya Pradesh has restricted movements from neighbour Chhattisgarh—only allowed essential travels; the state has already sealed its border for entry from Maharashtra. J&K, Punjab, and several other states have closed schools and colleges.
Face-masks, social distancing & ramped up vaccinations at 10 million doses a day crucial now: Dr Gagandeep Kang
As states announced new restrictions and issued guidelines, here’s FE Online blog covering every single development – virus, vaccine, Covid-19 guidelines, curbs, and lockdown, etc.— all you need to know. We will also keep an eye on global happenings as well. Follow our live blog and get instant, verified updates on the coronavirus pandemic:
Highlights
Central govt constitutes 50 high-level multi-disciplinary public health teams, deploys them to 50 districts across Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Punjab in view of recent surge in COVID-19 cases: Union Health Ministry (PTI)
Rajasthan: In wake of the increasing COVID-19 cases, night curfew to be imposed in Jodhpur between 8 pm to 6 am from April 6 to April 19. (ANI)
Himachal Pradesh reports 567 new COVID-19 cases, 286 cured cases and 6 deaths.
Total cases: 65,809Total cured cases: 60,855Death toll: 1,063Active cases: 3,828 (ANI)
Maharashtra reports 47,288 new COVID-19 cases, 26,252 discharges and 155 deaths.
Total cases: 30,57,885Total discharges: 25,49,075Death toll: 56,033Active cases: 4,51,375 (ANI)
Himachal Pradesh reports 567 new COVID19 cases, 286 cured cases and 6 deaths.
Total cases: 65,809Total cured cases: 60,855Death toll: 1,063Active cases: 3,828 (ANI)
547 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Uttarakhand today, taking the total number of cases to 1,02,811 (ANI)
Mumbai: Night curfew in Maharashtra between 8pm and 7am from today, as a part of new regulations to control the spread of COVID-19 Visuals from Dadar East market and Crawford market (ANI)
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CM Uddhav Thackeray writes to PM Modi requesting him to allow vaccination of all above the age of 25 years. CM also thanked PM Modi for accepting his proposal of allowing all persons above 45 yrs of age to be made eligible for COVID-19 vaccination: Maharashtra CMO (ANI)
Odisha Government has deployed 36 doctors in Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, and Nuapada districts for management of COVID-19 related work in these districts. (ANI)
With rise in the number of COVID+ cases across the country, BAI President Himanta Biswa Sarma has decided to postpone all upcoming domestic tournaments starting with Bangalore (April18-25) followed by junior & sub-junior in Hyderabad in May: Badminton Association of India (BAI) (ANI)
The Centre has written to the Delhi government drawing its attention to irregularities in the identification of beneficiaries below the age of 45 years for COVID-19 vaccination by some private facilities. In the letter to Principal Secretary (Health), GNCTD, the authorities have been asked to immediately issue a show cause notice to Vidyasagar Institute of Mental Health, Neuro and Allied Sciences (VIMHANS) located in the north east district, operating as a private COVID vaccination centre (CVC), regarding such wrong practices which violate the vaccination norms, the health ministry said. | Read More
A day after recording more than 11,000 COVID-19 cases in a day - the highest so far - Mumbai reported less than 10,000 infections at 9,857 on Monday, while 21 more patients died due to the disease, the city civic body said. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) updated data, 9,857 new cases took the tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,62,302, while the death toll jumped to 11,797. On Sunday, the city had witnessed the highest-ever 11,163 new COVID-19 cases. The number of fatalities also went down to 21 from 25 on Sunday. According to the BMC, 3,357 more people were discharged from hospitals during the day, pushing the number of recovered patients to 3,74,985. (PTI)
Maharashtra’s “radical” lockdown move will have an economic impact of Rs 40,000 crore, with the trade, hotels and transport sector to bear the biggest dent, Care Ratings said on Monday. The rating agency said the loss of economic activity will have a 0.32 per cent impact on the gross value added (GVA) growth at the national level. It revised down its national GDP growth estimate to 10.7 – 10.9 per cent from the 11 – 11.2 per cent given a week ago. | Read More
One case of UK variant of COVID-19 has been confirmed in Solan: Himachal Pradesh Health Department (ANI)
Punjab: Harbans Kaur, a 99-year-old woman received COVID-19 vaccine in Ludhiana today.
Gujarat reports 3160 new COVID-19 cases, 2028 discharges and 15 deaths
Total cases: 3,21,598Total discharges: 3,00,765Active cases: 16,252Total deaths: 4,581 (ANI)
54 large private hospitals with bed strength of 100 beds or more to reserve at least 30% of their ICU beds or double the occupancy as on April 5, whichever is higher & 30% of their ward bed capacity or double the occupancy as on April 5,whichever is higher for COVID treatment: Delhi Govt (ANI)
The Maharashtra government on Monday cleared the decks for the IPL to take place in the COVID-ravaged Mumbai, allowing teams to practice after 8pm and travel to their respective hotels during the night curfew that has been imposed to contain the pandemic. Due to the massive surge of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai and Maharashtra, the state government on Sunday announced “Break the Chain”, under which section 144 and night-curfew from 8pm to 7am on weekdays has been imposed on entire Maharashtra, including Mumbai. | Read More
Delhi reports 3,548 new COVID-19 cases, 2,936 recoveries, and 15 deaths
Total cases: 6,79,962Total recoveries: 6,54,277Death toll: 11,096Active cases: 14,589 (ANI)
With coronavirus cases on the rise in Uttarakhand, Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Kumar on Monday appealed to people to strictly follow COVID-19 protocols and stay safe or face action. Stern action will be taken if the protocols are flouted, he said. "COVID cases are rising everywhere. States like Maharashtra appear to be moving towards another lockdown. In Uttarakhand also, over 500 cases are being reported daily. People must revert to their habit of wearing masks and maintaining a distance of at least two yards from each other," the DGP said. He also urged people to make a habit of wearing masks and maintaining social distance a part of their daily routine. "Lockdowns are bad in every way. They hit the children's studies and harm the economy. I urge people to make a habit of wearing masks and maintaining social distance a part of their daily routine once again to prevent another spell of lockdown," he said. (PTI)
An FIR was registered against a former Shiv Sena leader for allegedly violating COVID-19 norms by inviting a large number of people at the wedding of his daughter in Kalyan in Thane district of Maharashtra, police said on Monday. Besides Sunil Vayle, the police named his relative and the manager of the hall in the FIR registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Disaster Management Act. (PTI)
1/3rd of vaccination centres in all Delhi Government hospitals to operate 24 hours from tomorrow: Delhi Government
Amid a surge in coronavirus cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers on Thursday to discuss the COVID-19 situation and the ongoing vaccination drive, sources said Monday. Modi's last interaction with chief ministers was on March 17 during which he had expressed concern over the rise in COVID-19 cases in parts of the country and called for "quick and decisive" steps to check the "emerging second peak". Coronavirus cases in India hit a record daily high since the outbreak of the pandemic with 1,03,558 new infections pushing the nationwide COVID-19 tally to 1,25,89,067, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. At a high-level meeting with senior officials, Prime Minister Modi had on Sunday reviewed the COVID-19 situation and vaccination exercise in the country amid the "alarming rate of growth" in infections and deaths.
Maharashtra contributing to 50 per cent of the nationwide Covid cases in. day has imposed fresh restrictions to control the spread, causing roadblocks for the debt-ridden film and TV industry again. The Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackrey recently met with Hindi and Marathi film and TV production virtually to discuss the challenges. Read Full Story
Two Super 100 badminton tournaments - the Russian Open 2021 and Indonesia Masters -- have been cancelled due to COVID-19 related restrictions, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said on Monday. "The ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and complications left local organisers no choice but to cancel the tournaments," a BWF statement read. "The respective decisions of the National Badminton Federation of Russia and Badminton Indonesia were made in consultation and agreement with the BWF," it added. The Russian Open was scheduled in Vladivostok from July 20-25 and Indonesia Masters from October 5-10. (PTI)
Retail stores across most of Greece were allowed to reopen Monday despite an ongoing surge in COVID-19 infections, as the country battled to emerge from deep recession. Stores in greater Athens opened for pick-up services only but remain closed in Greece's second- and third-largest cities, Thessaloniki and Patras, due to fears of a more serious spike in infections. Lockdown measures have been in force since early November, although shops opened briefly around the Christmas holiday season. The prolonged closures piled pressure on the economy. Greek economic output shrank by 8.2% in 2020 while the national debt as a percentage of gross domestic product shot over 200%. (AP)
Not ruling out an expert prediction that Bengaluru alone may report 6,500 COVID cases per day by the middle of this month if control measures are not strictly followed, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Monday sought public cooperation to keep the situation under control. "Technical advisory committee in their report has said till May end...till May-end we have to take things seriously and together fight it (COVID), without the cooperation from the public, the government alone cannot do anything," Sudhakar said. Speaking to reporters here, he said, saving lives was important and the government was committed to it. "An expert from the technical advisory committee has said that there are chances of Bengaluru alone reporting nearly 6,500 cases per day by April 20, we have alreadyreached 3,500, we have to see," he said, adding that, by taking stricter measures we cannot control it, if not it cannot be ruled out. (PTI)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to unveil a series of measures later on Monday as part of plans to start unlocking the UK from its coronavirus lockdown, including so-called COVID passports for mass events and a traffic lights system for foreign travel. After a Cabinet meeting to finalise the latest set of plans, Johnson will host a Downing Street press conference in the evening to set out details of the next stage in his roadmap, which will see non-essential shops reopen and pubs and restaurants start serving outdoors from April 12. It comes as the government announced plans for twice weekly free coronavirus tests for everyone in England to be rolled out from the end of this week. "One of the things we don't want to see" and just as the vaccination programme is working so well "is getting new variants or risking new variants getting imported into this country," UK health minister Edward Argar told the BBC, in reference to the "very cautious" next phase of lifting lockdown restrictions. (PTI)
The AAP questioned the Centre for sending COVID-19 vaccines across the world instead of further accelerating the inoculation drive within the country, claiming it will take at least 15 years to vaccinate the entire population of India at this rate. Addressing a press conference here, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha questioned the reason for "exporting" vaccines and not supplying it to the people in India first. "Vaccination doses have been exported to 84 countries. The amount exported is higher than the number of vaccine doses given to the people in India. Should we care about people from our own country or from other countries?" Chadha said. "Where has the Centre's vaccine nationalism gone? The AAP demands an increase in the rate of vaccinations against COVID-19 so that each and every Indian can get vaccinated," he said. (PTI)
Everyone in England will be able to access free, regular, rapid coronavirus testing from later this week to track asymptomatic Covid-19 cases, the UK government announced on Monday. As a step forward to start lifting lockdown restrictions for all businesses, shops and restaurants, anyone will be able to access the free, rapid lateral flow tests for themselves and their families to use twice a week starting this Friday. It is hoped the data will help scientists track and trace any new variants of coronavirus more effectively because more people getting a test will increase the ability to identify and control mutations of the deadly virus. "Massive efforts have been made by the British public to stop the spread of the virus. As we continue to make good progress on our vaccine programme and with our roadmap to cautiously easing restrictions underway, regular rapid testing is even more important to make sure those efforts are not wasted," said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. (PTI)
Authorities in Kashmir on Monday ordered cancellation of leaves of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff in the valley hospitals in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases in the union territory. In an order, Director Health Services, Kashmir, asked all the chief medical officers/medical superintendents and other territorial offices falling within the jurisdiction of the Directorate to cancel the leaves amid upsurge of the pandemic. "All the leaves either sanctioned or under consideration at Directorate level or at respective offices of CMO's and other DDO's in respect of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and other official of this Department are here by cancelled forthwith except maternity leave and leave taken in view of extreme medical exigencies," the order said.
Prioritising who receives the limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines available can save lives and reduce the spread of the viral infection, according to a study. Researchers from the University of California (UC), Davis in the US noted that while there is mostly universal agreement that older people should be prioritised for vaccination, debates are currently underway about giving priority to a variety of other groups. "Prioritisation has benefits because people differ in at least two key ways -- their risk of infection and the likelihood of serious consequences from infection," said UC Davis professor Michael Springborn, senior author of the study published in the journal PNAS. "We know that front-line essential workers have less capacity to socially distance and thus an elevated risk, while seniors are more seriously impacted by infection," said Springborn, adding that accounting for this substantially increases the benefits of vaccination. (PTI)
Thai health officials were considering the closure of entertainment venues in Bangkok on Monday after an outbreak of coronavirus cases in nightspots in and around the capital, and another at a prison in the south. Apisamai Srirangsan, a spokesperson for the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said 194 new coronavirus cases were confirmed, most from Bangkok entertainment venues and from Narathiwat prison. Thailand has had 29,321 confirmed cases, including 95 deaths. The center ordered affected nightspots closed until they undergo deep cleaning. Health officials said they are considering ordering the closure of Bangkok entertainment venues for two weeks to try to stop the spread of the virus. Bangkok's city government announced the names of the venues involved and urged people who patronised them over the past month to be tested for COVID-19. (PTI)
Director-General of the Council Of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Dr Shekhar Mande said a "third wave" of COVID-19 infections cannot be ruled out and it was for people to ensure it does not happen. Speaking to reporters online on Sunday night, the head of the premier institution under the Union ministry of science and technology, said people have to maintain self-discipline and self-regulation and show the way to beat the disease. "All the pandemics in the world have come in the form of waves. We are currently seeing a strong third wave in some European countries, so a third wave cannot be ruled out (in India)," said Mande. (PTI)
Puducherry recorded 180 fresh cases of coronavirus on Monday, pushing the overall tally to 42,539. With no new deaths, toll from the virus remained at 684, according to a government release. The Puducherry region topped the daily additions with 344 fresh infections, followed by Karaikal (31), Yanam (3) and Mahe at two. The number of active cases stood at 1,677 while 95 discharges on Monday pushed the total recoveries to 40,178, it said. (PTI)
India has hit a new high in terms of the rising viral caseload and with new variants and double mutations of the virus occurring, the hope seems only now on a much more speeded up vaccination drive and more stricter adherence to safety protocols. In about 80 days now since Indian embarked on its vaccination drive, nearly 80 million doses have been administered so far though the rate per day has been increasing with time, the expert view seems to be that we still have some distance to cover before we can take comfort. “India needs to vaccinate four to five times what is being done currently because we have a very large population. If the US is administering 3 million COVID vaccines a day, India should be doing 10 million a day if we have any hope of reaching people as quickly as possible,” says Dr Gagandeep Kang, a highly regarded medical scientist and the professor at the Christian Medical College, Vellore. READ FULL STORY
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to chair a meeting tomorrow over surge in COVID-19 cases; health ministers of 11 states & UTs to attend the meet: Sources (ANI)
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said there was no immediate plan to impose lockdown or curfew here but the COVID-19 situation in the state and neighbouring ones was being monitored by his government. He said the number of tests in the state had increased and asked people to adhere to COVID-19 norms strictly so that the outbreak can be tackled. (PTI)
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As per doctors, the COVID19 virus spreads rapidly but is less severe in this wave. We will soon launch micro containment zones in areas with 2-3 patients. People who have recovered from #COVID19 are requested to donate plasma: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain (ANI)