Maharashtra Coronavirus Updates: Ram temple ‘bhoomi pujan’ can be done through video conference, says Thackeray

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch on Monday "high throughput" COVID-19 testing facilities in Noida, Mumbai and Kolkata, which will ramp up testing capacity and help strengthen early detection and treatment in the country, the Prime Minister's Office said. The virtual launch event will be attended by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and the chief ministers of Maharashtra, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh -- Uddhav Thackeray, Mamata Banerjee and Yogi Adityanath respectively. (PTI)

The decision to restrain persons above 65 years of age from attending shootings on film and television sets was not to discriminate against them, and was taken in the general interest of such people, the Maharashtra government has told the Bombay High Court. The government, however, also said no data or statistics were taken into consideration while prohibiting those above the age of 65 on sets of film and TV shows. In an affidavit, filed by Prasad Mahajan, under secretary in the state Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, the government said its order prohibiting people above the age of 65 years from going to film and television shooting sets was not with a view to discriminate, but was in the general interest and for the safety of such people. (PTI)

As the coronavirus crisis continues to impact lives, the ceremony of “Bhoomi Pujan” for the Ram temple construction in Ayodhya can be conducted via a video conference, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav said Sunday. 

In an interview published in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', Thackeray said 'An e-bhoomi pujan can be done. The ground-breaking ceremony can be held through video-conference. This is an event of joy, and lakhs of people would be interested in attending the ceremony. Will we allow the spread of coronavirus?' 

'This is not an ordinary temple. Today, we are fighting the coronavirus pandemic and religious gatherings are prohibited. I can go to Ayodhya for the ceremony, but what about lakhs of Ram bhakts. Will you stop them? You can do e-bhoomi pujan through video-conference,' he added.

According to members of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Ayodhya on August 5 for the 'bhoomi pujan' ceremony to begin the construction of the Ram temple.(With PTI inputs)

The coronavirus death toll in Mumbai surpassed the 6,000 mark on Saturday with 52 new fatalities reported in the last 24 hours taking the total toll to 6,033. Out of the new deaths, 33 were patients above the age of 65 while 40 of these patients were suffering from comorbidities. The city reported 1,090 new coronavirus cases taking the active number of infections at 23,071. The total number of patients reported in the city so far is 1,07,981 and 78,877 of them have recovered.

Pune district reported 2,891 new coronavirus cases till Saturday evening, taking its case tally to 66,965, a health official said. The death toll in the district due to the pandemic reached 1,672 with 47 patients succumbing to the infection. Out of the new cases,  1,479 are from the Pune Municipal Corporation limits, which has reported 43,083 patients so far and 1,041 are from Pimpri Chinchwad industrial belt where case count now stands at 15,997.(With PTI inputs)

Mumbai is recording hospital admissions of 150 to 200 Covid-19 patients daily, a drop from 1,000 daily admissions over a month, said BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal during a Facebook Live address on Saturday, in an indication that the number of symptomatic patients is on a steady decline in the city.

Mumbai has 22,854 active infections, out of more than one lakh Covid-19 cases recorded to date. As opposed to that, Pune district has 46,013 active cases and Thane district has 36,678. Pune has the highest active caseload in the state. On Saturday, the state recorded 9,251 new cases, and 257 deaths due to Covid-19. Mumbai recorded 1,080 cases taking its total to 1.08 lakh, and and 52 deaths with the toll rising to 6,036. Read more

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh Saturday met Shantabai Pawar, an 85-year-old woman whose stick-fighting video went viral on social media and drew widespread praise from netizens. In the video, Pawar was displaying seen her stick-fighting skills on the streets of Pune during lockdown to earn living for her family, which includes orphaned children she has taken under her care. “I had the privilege to meet 85yrs old Shantabai Pawar, the #WarriorAaji from #Pune, at her home. I heard from many people about the way she has been exercising for her livelihood. Felt inspired & refreshed upon meeting her & gifted her Nawari Saree & Rs 1 Lakh on Party’s behalf,” tweeted Deshmukh.

A single-day surge of 9,251 COVID-19 cases pushed Maharashtra's tally to 3,66,368 on Saturday, reported PTI. The death toll grew by 257 to stand at 13,389, said the Health department. A record 7,227 patients were discharged in the day, taking the number of recovered cases to 2,07,194. Maharashtra now has 1,45,785 active cases while a total of 18,36,920 people have been tested so far.

Four persons were arrested on Saturday for allegedly preparing bogus passes and selling them to people who wanted to travel to various districts in Maharashtra during the lockdown, a Mumbai crime branch official said. The genuine passes are issued by the offices of Mumbai police commissioner and district collector. The accused used to prepare bogus passes and forward them through social media, the official said. (PTI)

The 2-day 'Janta curfew' in Nagpur in Maharashtra began on Saturday with people showing good levels of compliance, with only establishments dealing in essential items remaining open as permitted, said officials. The decision to implement the Janta curfew (voluntary shutdown) was taken in a meeting on Friday which was attended by Nagpur Municipal Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, Mayor Sandip Joshi and other elected representatives and officials. (PTI)

The Maharashtra Government on Saturday announced that the syllabus for Classes 1 to 12 will be reduced by 25 per cent so as to reduce the burden on students amid the coronavirus pandemic. School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said details of which lessons from textbooks have been omitted will be uploaded on the website of the Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research and Training (MSCERT). Since schools have not reopened physically, the government wants to ease the burden on students, so the syllabus will be reduced by 25 per cent for the academic year 2020-21, she said in a statement. While schools remain closed, the academic year has started from June 15 and various alternative methods of learning are being adopted, the minister said. Read full story here

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Saturday inaugurated a Covid Care Centres at Kalyan and Dombivli in Thane through video link, PTI reported. Thackeray said the state government was committed towards providing all necessary facilities to batte out the pandemic. Local authorities should ensure proper care to patient, medical treatment and adequate oxygen supply at hospitals where coronavirus patients are being treated, the chief minister said.

The civic body in Maharashtra's Thane city on Saturday suspended the licence of a private hospital and cancelled its classification as a COVID-19 facility after it allegedly overcharged patients. The Thane Municipal Corporation set up an audit team to examine bills and detected excess billing to the tune of Rs 27 lakh by 15 hospitals. Based on the findings, the civic body cancelled the classification of a private hospital on Ghodbunder Road for COVID-19 treatment and suspended its licence for a month, an official said. (PTI)

A case has been filed against three people under the Disaster Management Act for poor upkeep of a hostel-turned-Covid facility in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra, PTI reported on Saturday. Osmanabad tehsildar had lodged a complaint against the manager of Panjabrao Deshmukh hostel and two others for failing to meet the guidelines orders regarding maintenance of the facility.

Having lost their livelihood due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, a couple in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city has resorted to selling few valuable possessions they have to buy ration. With no source of income, Motikaranja resident Mohammed Haroon and wife are trying to sell their induction cooktop, which they had purchased to save on LPG expenses just six months ago.

The 37-year-old, who worked as a helper at a company in Shendra industrial area, lost his job in the initial period of the lockdown. "I bought groceries four months ago and later some relatives helped us out. Now as we are running out of ration, we have to find our own way," Haroon said. (PTI)

The Covid-19 outbreak and the extended lockdown have put a spanner in the works of Rs 2,500-crore worth development projects, including rejuvenation and beautification of Poisar, Oshiwara and Dahisar rivers, modernisation of Deonar abattoir, consultancy services for the construction of a holding pond near Mithi river, up-gradation of Bhandup Sewage Treatment Plant among others, of the civic body.(Read Laxman Singh's report here)

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said that he is not considering the "complete lifting" of Covid-19 lockdown in the state only to address the economic concerns as he highlighted the need to strike a balance between issues related to health and economy amidst the ongoing crisis. 

In an interview to Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana',  Thackeray said "I will never say that the lockdown will be lifted completely. But I have started reopening a few things gradually. Once reopened, it shouldn't be shut again. Hence, I prefer taking steps in phases. You can't just think about economy or health. There needs to be a balance between the two.” The ongoing lockdown in the state will continue till July 31. (With PTI inputs)

The number of coronavirus cases amongst Maharashtra Police officers currently stand at 8,232. Out of these 1,825 are active cases while 6,314 officers have recovered. Till now, 93 police officers have succumbed to the virus, Mumbai Police said, ANI reported.

An addition of 1,698 cases on Friday took Thane district's COVID-19 count to 75,664 while the death toll increased by 22 to touch 2,075. Out of this Kalyan accounted for 342 of the new cases, taking the count there to 17,731, while Thane city's count rose by 285 to reach 17,144, and Navi Mumbai added 308 cases during the day and its caseload is now 12,907. (With PTI inputs)

The coronavirus cases in Amravati reached 1,608 as 58 people tested positive on Friday, while the death of an 89-year-old man took the toll to 45, an official said.The number of people who have been discharged so far is 1,066, including 27 during the day, leaving the district with 497 active cases, he added.

Meanwhile, a 60-hour curfew was enforced from 7pm on Friday to break the virus chain, the third time it is being done in as many weekends.

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Thursday revised the number of containment zones in the city from 109 to 87. This is the same number of containment zones announced by the civic body on July 2, a few days before Pune went under a complete 10-day lockdown from July 14 to July 23.

With 2,072 new cases in the last 24 hours, Pune district's case count rose to 64,074 on Friday as the death toll touched 1,615 with 53 new fatalities. Of the new cases, 892 were detected in Pune Municipal Corporation limits, which now has 41,604 cases, while Pimpri Chinchwad accounted for 811 which took its caseload to 14,956, PTI reported. The number of cases in rural and cantonment areas of the district is 7,505.

As lockdown norms were relaxed in most parts of the city on Friday, there was an increase in traffic on the roads.

*Commercial establishments were allowed to operate from 9 am to 7 pm with officials warning action if physical distancing norms and use of face masks were violated.

*The non-essential commodity shops that were closed for 10 days restarted their business but witnessed normal crowds.

*Many private offices restarted operations with limited staff as per government guidelines.

*Home delivery of cooked food also resumed, providing some relief to restaurants.

*Salons across the city have also started providing services by taking due precautionary measures.

Around 1,500 community health volunteers (CHVs) working with BMC, who are deployed in the eastern suburbs, are yet to receive their salary for the month of June.CHVs are the backbone of the civic body’s fight against Covid-19. Contact tracing of positive patients, screening of people in slums, quarantining the infected and their high-risk contacts, all are done by CHVs. Despite their crucial role, they are paid only Rs 9,000 every month. Till April, it was Rs 5,000.(Read Laxman Singh's report here)

Maharashtra on Friday recorded 9,615 new coronavirus cases, 1,057 of them in Mumbai, which took the case tally in the state to 3,57,117. The death toll due to the pandemic went up to 13,132 with 278 new fatalities, said a statement from the health department. 5,714 patients were discharged from hospitals on Friday, taking the number of recovered COVID-19 patients to 1,99,967. There are 1,44,018 active cases in Maharashtra. So far, 17,87,306people have been tested. The case recovery rate in the state is 55.99 per cent and fatality rate is 3.68 per cent, the health department said. (PTI)

The COVID-19 case count in Mumbai mounted to 1,06,891 after 1,062 people tested positive for the infection on Friday, the civic body said. The death toll rose to 5,981 after 54 patients succumbed to the infection, it said. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that the number of recovered persons in the city increased to 78,260 after 1,158 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients in the city has gone up to 73 per cent. According to the BMC, the city currently has 22,647 active patients and 1,051 suspected ones have been admitted to hospitals. (PTI)

Central Railway has deployed a smartphone app that will allow ticket checking in keeping with social distancing norms amid the coronavirus outbreak, officials said on Friday. The 'CheckIn Mater' app, in operation in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, allows ticket checkers to scan codes without having to touch the passenger's phone, they said. "It will help them discharge duties without fear, as the app has OCR and QR code scanning features to check PRS and UTS tickets from a safe distance. The app can also be used for attendance and real time monitoring of ticket checking staff. It is Rural Electrification Corporation's CSR initiative and has not cost CR any money," an official said. (PTI)

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said his administration was aiming at zero mortality from coronavirus in the state, which leads the country currently in terms of cases and deaths. The single-day surge of 9,615 COVID-19 cases pushed Maharashtra’s tally to 3,57,117. The death toll grew by 278 to stand at 13,132, said the Health department.

The single-day surge of 9,615 COVID-19 cases on Friday pushed Maharashtra's tally to 3,57,117. The death toll grew by 278 to stand at 13,132, the Health department said.

A woman has been arrested from Ulhasnagar in Thane district for allegedly selling at an injection being used to treat coronavirus patients at inflated prices. According to Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials, acting on a tip-off, an FDA team raided the premises of Nita Panjwani on Thursday for selling Tocilizumab Actemra injection for Rs 60,000 instead of the stipulated price of Rs 40,545, an official told PTI.

An 85-year-old woman from Pune in Maharashtra is garnering praise from across quarters and help amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown after a video of her displaying exemplary stick-fighting skills went viral on social media. Shantabai Pawar was showing off her stick-fighting skills on the streets of the city during lockdown to earn living for her family, that comprises orphaned children she has taken under her care. Her video not only fetched praises but also a number of people came forward with ration and monetary help.

Among them  was film actor Riteish Deshmukh who described her as 'warrior aaji' (warrior grandmother) on a micro-blogging site and contacted her. Pawar said she had been learning stick-fighting skills since the age of eight, and would travel to different places to display it. But of late, she was facing a lot of distress as the lockdown had brought everything to a standstill.

Even civilised people don't follow social distancing norms and other rules to avoid the spread of COVID-19, the Bombay High Court remarked on Friday, saying it would be wrong to blame beggars only. A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Madhav Jamdar made the observation while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Pune resident Dhyandeshwar Darwatkar. The petitioner had raised concerns that beggars were not following social distancing norms or rules like wearing masks while approaching people on road. (PTI)

'Janta Curfew' will be imposed in Nagpur city on July 25 and 26, wherein only essential services will remain functional.

The Bombay High Court on Friday asked the Maharashtra government that if the state does not prohibit a senior citizen from opening his shop and sitting there all day, then on what basis does it prevent artistes above 65 years of age from going out to work amid the current lockdown. A bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and R I Chagla said that the state's decision to prohibit the artistes above 65 years of age, even if they are physically fit, from going out for shooting and such work, seemed like a case of 'discrimination'. (PTI)

With close to 74,000 cases of COVID-19 recorded in Maharashtra's Thane district so far, the authorities on Friday noted that new infections are being detected in housing complexes and not slums as seen before. As many as 1,718 cases were reported in Thane district on Thursday, taking the tally to 73,922, while the toll has gone up to 2,053, an official said.

Fresh COVID-19 cases are now emerging from big housing complexes and not slums as seen before, Thane municipal commissioner Dr Vipin Sharma said. "We have to concentrate more on housing complexes and impose certain restrictions on them," he said, adding that residential buildings will now have to record movement of visitors. Among the major towns and cities in the district, Kalyan has recorded 17,389 COVID-19 cases and accounts for 24 per cent of the region's tally, he said.

The state has called upon the district administration to ramp up infrastructure and augment hospital bed strength, in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases.

State Medical Education Secretary Dr Sanjay Mukherjee told The Indian Express that they had urged the Divisional Commissioner’s office to make at least 1,000 beds operational for coronavirus patients at Sassoon General Hospital.

Anticipating at least 27,000 active cases of Covid-19 by July end, the district administration has stepped up measures to augment the capacity of oxygenated and ICU beds at both private as well as government hospitals. Saurabh Rao, officer on special duty at the Divisional Commissioner’s office, said there was a backlog of beds to be increased, and that daily, they were asking each hospital in the city and surrounding areas to increase the number.

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Thursday revised the number of containment zones in the city from 109 to 87. This is the same number of containment zones announced by the civic body on July 2, a few days before Pune went under a complete 10-day lockdown from July 14 to July 23.

To further curb the spread of infection, the assistant municipal commissioner and incident commander of the respective ward office have been entrusted the task of sealing off a specific area, building or housing society within the containment zone, if a spike in the number of cases is seen.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has said only five people should participate in arrival and immersion processions of domestic Lord Ganesh idols during the Ganpati festival next month in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. The BMC, which is spearheading Mumbai's fight against coronavirus, on Thursday made a special appeal to citizens in this regard ahead of the festival to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the metropolis, which has recorded more than 1 lakh cases and nearly 6,000 deaths so far. Besides public installation of Lord Ganesh idols, thousands of people install such idols at home and immerse them on different days during the 10-day festival, the most popular religious event in Maharashtra.

The BMC on Thursday organised a first-of-its-kind screening camp for plasma donation in Dharavi, one of the hotspots of Covid-19 infection in the state. The camp was set up at Kamraj School to encourage those who had contracted the infection and have since recovered, to voluntarily donate their blood for screening. Blood samples of 47 patients who have recovered were collected on Thursday. Besides collecting samples, the doctors at the camp noted down the detailed medical history of the prospective donors and physically examined them. The samples will be screened for infectious diseases like HIV and Hepatitis and those testing negative will be asked to donate plasma.

The Covid-19 tally in India rose to 12,87,945on Friday after 49,311 fresh cases were reported within a span of 24 hours. The Centre is today scheduled to hold a video conference with eight states, which it views as a “cause of concern”, to check the spread of the virus. The meeting, scheduled for Friday, will feature a detailed discussion between a team of experts from the Centre as well as senior Health Ministry officials and officers from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh, The Indian Express has learnt.

Covid-19 pandemic has left Mumbai’s only abattoir at Deonar, the largest in India, an unviable option for dealers and traders of mutton. The abattoir that resumed operations on July 3 with stringent guidelines has not seen a single goat or sheep being slaughtered over the last 20 days.

The vacuum left by the city’s sole abattoir is being swiftly filled by a flourishing black market business in the slaughter of animals and sale of meat, with no hygiene checks.

The traders and mutton dealers have called the guidelines issued by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for Deonar as unreasonable and detrimental to business, pushing them to rely on the unregularised and underground markets that have mushroomed across the city.

The phase-3 clinical trial of the antiviral drug Favipiravir has found “faster clinical cure” in mild to moderately ill patients. The Covid-19 patients administered with Favipiravir reported average improvement in oxygen levels, fever, and cough in three days as compared to five days among those under routine care.

The antiviral drug trial was conducted on 150 Covid-19 patients between May and July 3 across seven hospitals, five of which were in Maharashtra. In Mumbai, Kasturba and Breach Candy hospitals were a part of the trial. Government Medical Colleges in Nagpur and Aurangabad were also a part of the trial, besides AIIMS Raipur, GMERS Hospital, Vadodara, and HCG Hospital, Ahmedabad.

A sub-inspector posted at JJ Marg police station who submitted a no-objection report in a case despite being on ‘sick leave’ was suspended by the Mumbai Police department for ‘neglect of duty’.The suspension order, dated June 17, states the sub-inspector had “vested interest” in submitting the no-objection report.

According to police sources, Sub-Inspector Praveen Chaudhary had submitted an application for ‘sick leave’ on May 13 despite testing negative for Covid-19 and had resumed duty only after 12 days. Despite being on leave, Chaudhary had submitted a no-objection report in a cheating and lockdown violation case in the intervening period. He had tested negative for the virus on April 29 as well, police said.

The phase-3 clinical trial of the antiviral drug Favipiravir has found “faster clinical cure” in mild to moderately ill patients. The Covid-19 patients administered with Favipiravir reported average improvement in oxygen levels, fever, and cough in three days as compared to five days among those under routine care.

The antiviral drug trial was conducted on 150 Covid-19 patients between May and July 3 across seven hospitals, five of which were in Maharashtra. In Mumbai, Kasturba and Breach Candy hospitals were a part of the trial. Government Medical Colleges in Nagpur and Aurangabad were also a part of the trial, besides AIIMS Raipur, GMERS Hospital, Vadodara, and HCG Hospital, Ahmedabad. Read more here

The BMC on Thursday organised a first-of-its-kind screening camp for plasma donation in Dharavi, one of the hotspots of Covid-19 infection in the state.

The camp was set up at Kamraj School to encourage those who had contracted the infection and have since recovered, to voluntarily donate their blood for screening. Blood samples of 47 patients who have recovered were collected on Thursday. Read more here