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Coronavirus (COVID-19) India updates: The Indian Railways has decided to cancel nearly 3,700 passenger trains scheduled for Sunday in view of the Janata curfew called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. This comes even as the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen to 236 in India, including 63 who tested positive in a day.
PM Modi, earlier in the day, held a video-conference with the Chief Ministers of all states to discuss ways to check the spread of the virus. In its daily press briefing, the Health Ministry officials stated that PM’s call for Janata curfew on Sunday will help break the chain of transmission in the country.
It also refused to count the death of a 70-year-old Italian in Jaipur among those who died due to coronavirus. “The Italian who died in Jaipur was a 70-year old chain smoker. He had tested negative for coronavirus twice. He died of cardiac arrest while treatment of other ailments was underway in another hospital. How can he be counted as COVID-19 case?” asked Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry.
In view of Janata curfew, about 1,300 long-distance trains scheduled for Sunday have been cancelled, in addition to another 2400 passenger trains. Local trains will be reduced to just skeletal, essential services during the period.
Trains already on the run will be allowed to reach their destinations. Passengers desirous of staying at stations during the Janata curfew will be accommodated at stations and waiting areas. IRCTC, the catering wing of the Railways, also decided to shut its food plazas, refreshment rooms, cell kitchens and such static units indefinitely and onboard catering services in mail/express trains will be suspended from Sunday.
Over 1,000 citizens stranded in coronavirus affected countries evacuated by Indian armed forces since Feb 1
Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China’s Wuhan, the Indian Armed forces have so far evacuated over 1000 stranded citizens from affected countries, including China, Japan, Italy, and Iran, according to a new release by the Defence ministry.
1059 people (including 5 foreigners) have been evacuated and quarantined at their facilities/bases in Manesar(Haryana), Hindan (Ghaziabad), Ghatkopar, Mumbai and Jaisalmer (Rajasthan). Most of them have recovered.
The Indian Navy has also set up a quarantine camp at INS Vishwakarma at Vishakhapatnam equipped to accommodate nearly 200 personnel. Navy has also set up isolation facilities at its premier hospital INHS Asvini at Mumbai. The Naval base, Kochi under Southern Naval Command (SNC), is gearing up to provide quarantine facilities for Indian nationals.
Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje said that she and her son BJP MP Dushyant Singh have gone into self-quarantine after attending singer Kanika Kapoor’s party.
Kapoor has become the first Bollywood celebrity to test positive for coronavirus in the country and said she has been under complete quarantine and medical care.
There were reports that the singer landed in Lucknow from the United Kingdom and was admitted in a city hospital after she showed signs of flu. In a statement released on Instagram, the 41-year-old ‘Baby Doll’ singer said she developed signs of flu in the last four days. Raje tweeted that she and Dushyant were going into self-isolation.
Subsequently, TMC MP Derek O’Brien said that he self-quarantined himself as he sat beside Dushyant at a Parliament meeting.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Friday that all workplaces in major cities in Maharashtra, including Mumbai and Pune, will remain closed till March 31. The shutdown will be applicable in Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Nagpur, Thackeray told reporters. He also said government offices will operate at 25 per cent attendance.
Thackeray said only essential services will remain open which include food, milk and medicines. He further said banks will also remain functional. The Chief Minister, however, ruled out shutting down public transport in Mumbai.
“The trains and buses are the city’s lifeline and cannot be stopped. I have been advised to take this step. But doing this will affect movement of those working in places which provide essential services to the city,” he said. The decision to shut down public transport will not be taken as of now, he said.
Maharashtra so far has 52 coronavirus positive cases, while one Covid-19 patient died in Mumbai this week. Thackeray said maximum number of patients were from these cities and had travelled abroad.
Announcing a slew of measures, Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state has tested a total of 57 samples so far and none came negative. “No Coronavirus case in Assam as of now, he said. Sarma also said the state government has advised the state election commission to defer Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections till a certain period.
From tomorrow, Sarma said, only 50 per cent of the staff will be working in the office at any point on a rotational basis in all government offices of Assam, except essential services, till March 31. He also said that from Sunday, incoming passengers with sufficient travel history outside — airports and stations — to Assam will be stamped saying: “I will be volunteering to be under home quarantine till 14 days (date)”.
Sarma also announced a $2,000 monetary relief measure for those residents who had travelled abroad from the state in the past 30 days and were now “stuck” with no way to come back home.
“Many Assamese may have travelled out of the state — either as a tourist, or for work (maybe training, workshops, seminars)— in the past 30 days. However, now due to the outbreak and recent rules announced by the government, they are unable to come back,” said Sarma.
All shopping malls in New Delhi will be shut with immediate effect in view of the novel coronavirus cases, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced Friday. As many as 14 cases, including one death, have been registered in the national capital so far. Grocery stores, pharmacies, and vegetable shops in malls, however, will remain open, he added.
CM Kejriwal also announced that restaurants in the national capital will remain closed at least until March 31 even as he announced a fresh set of restrictions, including barring gatherings of more than 20 people, to contain the spread of coronavirus.
A 22-year-old youth, who returned from London to Kolkata on March 13, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, sources in the state health department said on Friday. This is the second COVID-19 case in West Bengal, after another youth who had returned from the UK recently and evaded medical tests contracted the disease.
The youth, a resident of Ballygunge area in south Kolkata, was in home isolation after he complained of fever and cough on March 16. A day later, he was admitted to Beliaghata ID and BG Hospital while his swab sample was sent to NICED (National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases) in the city.
According to sources, the two classmates of the second positive case have similarly contracted the virus and are being treated at hospitals in Chandigarh and Chhattisgarh, respectively. The family members of the youth have been kept at home quarantine and their condition is being monitored closely, said the official.
The number of persons infected with coronavirus in Kerala jumped to 38 after 12 new cases were detected in Ernakulam district Friday. Three others have been discharged after they recovered from the illness. Minister for Agriculture VS Sunil Kumar told reporters at a press conference in Kochi that the five new persons detected with the virus are all foreigners and part of the group of the 57-year-old British tourist who had escaped from quarantine at a resort in Munnar and travelled to the Cochin airport. The British native, who had earlier been tested positive for the virus, was taken out of a Dubai-bound flight minutes before it took off and admitted to the isolation ward at the Kalamassery Medical College. The minister confirmed that the medical condition of the five new patients was stable and that they are between the ages of 60 and 85.
Aside from the five cases in Ernakulam, six more have tested positive in Kasaragod and one in Palakkad, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said that all bars and pubs will be shut from Saturday evening onwards till March 31. All hotels and restaurants in the state to close dine-in facilities in the wake of the announcement of the Janata Curfew on Sunday.
The Indian embassy in Iran Friday shared another list of 26 stranded pilgrims who have been found positive of coronavirus in Iran. Of the 26 positive persons, at least 16 are from Kashmir. The list was shared by the Indian Embassy officials on the WhatsApp group created recently for the stranded pilgrims to stay connected. Over 800 pilgrims, mostly from Ladakh, are currently stranded in Iran’s city of Qom.
The government Friday released a MyGov corona helpdesk on WhatsApp to help reduce panic.
Also, a day after it cancelled almost 155 trains across the country, the Railway Ministry Friday installed a mechanism to operate lifts without touching buttons at the North Western Railway Headquarters in Jaipur.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Friday said coronavirus infections have not reached the “community level” and asserted the government is trying to use “good information” in the best manner to deal with the situation. “We are in touch with everything going on the research front,” he said. The number of coronavirus cases have crossed 190 in India and at least four people have died due to the infection.
The minister told Lok Sabha that there is a well-defined protocol and scientific advice on who needs to be tested for the coronavirus infection. Measures have been taken for detailed tracing of contacts and that the ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research) is conducting tests, he said.
Here’s a quick coronavirus guide for you to stay updated: Who all should be tested for Covid-19 and when? | How should you quarantine yourself? | How often (and how) should you clean your home? | What is the Janata Curfew announced by PM Modi? | Who are restricted from coming to India, and from when? | How long can the virus live on surfaces or in air around you? | Still more Coronavirus Q&A Explained news here
