Coronavirus, April 25 Highlights: No let up in Maharashtra as state records highest single-day spike in cases

Manipur Government on Saturday has started assessment work to ascertain the number of state natives who currently are stranded in different parts of the country due to the nationwide lockdown owing to COVID-19 pandemic.

The development comes a day after the state consultative committee for COVID-19 chaired by Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, on Friday discussed to work out a mechanism to bring back stranded state natives in the state among others.

The state consultative committee was formed on Thursday with the Chief Minister as the chairperson. The members of the committee include cabinet ministers, MLAs, health directors of JNIMS, RIMS among others.

The Vadodara administration on Saturday removed the Tandalja area from the list of red containment zones, easing movement in the area that has been put under cluster quarantine since April 8 after a doctor attached to a trust-run hospital in the locality tested positive for COVID-19. The area, which has a population of over 7,000, was moved to orange zone as no new case was reported from the locality since the quarantine period started. Read the full story here

Buoyed by the success of its indigenously designed anti-Covid hazmat suits for which Hindustan Latex Limited placed an order for a whopping one million pieces, Punjab-based firm JCT Limited, Phagwara, has now also turned its focus on life after the end of the lockdown. It has come up with another range of safety wear under the ‘JCT Sahayak’ category of the company.

The new range of anti-infective wear has been given the brand name of JCT’s ‘VB Go’ — which stands for ‘Viral Bacteria Go’. The ‘VB Go’ range of infective wears includes school uniforms, industrial coveralls, safety wear for the hospitality industry and other segments. Read full story by Navjeevan Gopal here

The Delhi government Saturday said it will implement the Centre’s latest guidelines on opening of neighborhood and standalone shops including those selling mobile phones, garments and stationary items. Sources in the Delhi government, however, said shops in coronavirus containment zones will remain shut and no activity will be allowed in such areas. Standalone shops and those in residential areas will open with social-distancing norms strictly followed, they said.Read more here

Doctors are attending to fewer patients to maintain social distancing norms. Many patients are accessing medical assistance and advice over the phone. Doctors in the city said while consultation over the phone during the lockdown had increased, general walk-in at out-patient departments and clinics had reduced by 80 per cent.

“We receive calls from patients and we consult by talking to them. We ask them to describe their symptoms and we prescribe required medication after referring to previous records. As for any physical symptoms, we ask them to either to click a picture and send or show it through a video call. We diagnose the problem and write them a prescription, click a picture and send it via WhatsApp. This way, they can go and get medicines from the pharmacy,” said Dr. Sanjay Patil, vice-president, Indian Medical Association (IMA), Maharashtra. Read more

District-wise details of COVID-19 cases reported in Tamil Nadu

District-wise details and other statistics of #COVID19 cases reported in #TN. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/WesvoFL05I

— Janardhan Koushik (@koushiktweets) April 25, 2020

Today's top updates of the situation in Tamil Nadu are as follows:

• Total number of positives cases now stands at 1,821 (1,240 male, 581 female)
• Samples tested today: 7,707 (Total 80,110)
• Deaths today: 1 (Total 23)
• Discharges: 94 (Total 960)
• Active cases: 835

Maharashtra recorded a staggering count of 818 Covid-19 positive cases on Saturday, the state's highest-single day jump so far. This takes the total number of cases to 7,628 in the state, including 323 deaths. Gujarat is the second worst-affected state with 3071 total cases and 133 deaths.

Gujarat on Saturday reported 256 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 3071. The death toll in the state too rose to 133 with six new fatalities.

While Beas has emerged as the cleanest river of the state during the lockdown, river Sutlej has not shown any improvement downstream from Budha Nallah in Ludhiana. This is majorly due to discharge of untreated domestic waste into the river at Ludhiana, and also decrease in water flow downstream from here in April. A comparative study of river water quality was conducted between March 20 and April 2o by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) under the National Water Monitoring Programme (NWMP). Read Anju Agnihotri Chaba's report here

Distribution of free pulses to 20 crore PDS households across the country will speed up in May first week as the massive operation of transportation and milling of 5.88 lakh tonne of pulses for the same is underway, the government said on Saturday. Most of the beneficiaries will receive the quota for the first month within April or latest by the first week of May. Several states would be able to distribute pulses for all three months in the first go itself, it said. For the remaining states, the efforts are being made to complete the distribution for all three months within May itself, preferably within the third week of May, it added. (PTI)

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday said the lockdown rules will remain unchanged in the state till May 3. Talking to PTI, Tope said there was no clarity in the Centre's latest order regarding reopening of shops. "We will get more clarity after a video conference with the Prime Minister on Monday," he said.  "We haven't taken any decision on the order of the Ministry of Home Affairs as yet. But there will be no further relaxation in lockdown rules till May 3," the minister added.

The issue of sending migrant labourers back to their native places will also be taken up during the meeting with the prime minister, Tope said.

Tripura’s second Covid-19 patient, a jawan from Tripura State Rifles (TSR), was released Saturday from the isolation center at the state-run GB Panth Hospital. Following his release, he appealed people to follow precautions advised by medical experts, and said coronavirus shouldn’t be taken lightly and people should stay indoors.

The state’s first coronavirus patient, a woman who returned from Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati last month, tested positive on April 6. Four days later, the jawan, who had traveled with the first patient in the same train compartment on his way back to duty from home in Madhya Pradesh, tested positive for Covid-19. Read more here

Between her frantic trips to the COVID-19 isolation ward and intensive care during her rotational duty as the incharge, assistant professor at the medicine department of SSG hospital, Dr. Krupa Pathak communicated with her eight-year-old daughter via hurried text messages. The child had only begun to understand the pandemic, owing to conversations between adults around her and television news. Even as the doting daughter periodically checked whether her mother had eaten and taken safety precautions, Dr. Pathak did not return home for a week, fearing carrying back the virus to her children — the second, a three-year-old boy. Dr. Krupa Pathak, assistant professor at the medicine department of SSG hospital and rotational incharge of the COVID-19 isolation ward talks about life on the frontlines for healthcare workers as they treat COVID-19 patients. 

In Vadodara, Covid-19 tally has risen to 234; With three more cases, the day's total is now 11.

The three new cases are as follows

• 41-year-old, male, from Khodiyar Nagar, relative of 66-year-old female who tested positive on Friday
• 50-year-old, female, from Navapura
• 63-year-old, female, from Marathi Mohalla Navabazar, 2nd case of the day from the area

As on April 24, the Karnataka government has identified 111 containment zones across the state. 31.68 lakh people live in buffer zones.

#COVID19| As on April 24, #Karnataka had identified 111 containment zones across the state. Minister @nimmasuresh said 31.68 lakh people live in buffer zones.

Here’s how ‘containment’ and ‘buffer’ zones are described:@IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/Y9egheusOs

— Ralph Alex Arakal (@ralpharakal) April 25, 2020

Here are the top developments on coronavirus worldwide:

• Globally, over 2.8 million have been infected with the coronavirus and at least 197,667 people have died
• Brazil’s health system nears collapse as country reports 53,000 cases
• Sri Lanka reimposes 24-hour nationwide curfew after surge in cases
• Indians, ethnic minority medics in UK at high risk from Covid-19
• New York reports lowest deaths in weeks

Congress President Sonia Gandhi in a letter on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to strengthen medium, small and micro enterprises. "Govt has acknowledged MSMEs to be the backbone of our economy. It is time it takes measures to ensure revival and strengthening of that backbone. This is a case where timely and decisive action can make all the difference,"Gandhi wrote.

Among the demands put forward by Gandhi were:

# Announcement of Rs 1 lakh crore 'MSME Wage Protection' package

# Establishment and deployment of credit guarantee fund of Rs 1 lakh crore

# Actions taken by RBI must reflect in actions of commercial banks so that the MSMEs get hassle-free, timely credit

# Expansion and extension of RBI's moratorium on payment of loans

# Issues like high collateral security, high limits on 'margin money' leading to lack of access to available credit must be addressed

Govt has acknowledged MSMEs to be the backbone of our economy. It is time it takes measures to ensure revival & strengthening of that backbone. This is a case where timely & decisive action can make all the difference: Cong prez Sonia Gandhi in letter to @PMOIndia @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/zMBZQU8blZ

— Manoj C G (@manojcg4u) April 25, 2020

Uttar Pradesh government has started bringing back stranded labourers with 2,224 returning from Haryana in the first phase of the initiative, PTI quoted a senior official as saying on Saturday. Briefing reporters, Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Information) Awanish Awasthi said the first batch of workers was brought back in 82 buses from Haryana on Saturday, and 11,000 workers will return by Sunday. All the workers will be kept in a 14-day quarantine.

Orders have been issued to prepare shelter homes in the state in a major way so that the returnees can be quarantined there. "Instructions have been issued to install public address system at the shelter homes, and make arrangements for food and toilets," Awasthi said.

Here are the top developments on coronavirus today

• The coronavirus tally in India rises to 24,506 while the death toll stands at 775
• Uttar Pradesh government bans gatherings till June 30
• Tamil Nadu govt's order on intense lockdown triggers panic buying in Chennai
• Central team suggests stricter implementation of lockdown in North Bengal
• E-commerce firms can only sell essential items during lockdown,
  Centre clarifies
• Govt panel proposes delayed start to new college session, Sept instead of July
• Gujarat orders all shops, except those in containment areas, to reopen from Sunday
• Central teams assess COVID-19 situation in Ahmedabad, Surat

The UT administration on Saturday relaxed restrictions imposed in predominantly Muslim inhabited areas of Gujjar Nagar, Bhatindi, Sunjwan and Janipur’s Bhawani Nagar by shifting them from Red zone to Orange zone.

"The transition from Red zone to orange has been permitted in Janipur, Gujjar Nagar, Bhatindi & Sunjwan, keeping in view the guidelines for the same. Further, transition from orange to green will take place as per procedure, in due course of time (second week of May, if situation remains as it is today),’’ wrote Jammu Deputy Commissioner Sushma Chauhan on her WhatsApp group. "The order/ notification of withdrawal shall be issued when the transition from Red zone to green zone is complete,’’ she said.

A central team visiting north Bengal to assess the COVID-19 situation wrote to the West Bengal government on Saturday, suggesting stricter implementation of lockdown there. Two central teams are visiting the state -- one in Kolkata and the other at Siliguri in north Bengal.
In a letter to Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, the central team in north Bengal, led by senior bureaucrat Vineet Joshi, said more field officers are required to monitor and provide feedback about the effectiveness of various measures undertaken by the government. (PTI)

Even as chicken sales is getting back to normal amid the nationwide lockdown, poultry owners are concerned that the ban on import of birds from neighbouring state of Karnataka may lead to shortage and rise in prices, PTI reported. The Goa government had recently allowed poultry imports from Maharashtra. However, the ban still continues for Karnataka, after a few areas there allegedly reported cases of bird flu.

"The sale is only slowly getting back to normal. But the prices have gone up, pinching the pockets of consumers. The chicken prices will come down only if the ban on imports from Karnataka is lifted," PTI quoted Jaikrishna Naik, president of All Goa Poultry Owners' Association, as saying.

West Bengal police in North 4 Pargana's Barasat feed 100 homeless people for a couple of days. The cops have been doing it voluntarily while fishing out money from their own pocket. (Express Photos by Shashi Ghosh)

Condemning the rejection of temporary bail to Anand Teltumbde, who was arrested on April 14 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a case related to an alleged conspiracy to convene the Elgar Parishad event in Pune on December 31, 2017, amid the coronavirus lockdown, the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) said, "The targetting of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha is linked to the arrests of civil rights activists Sudha Bhardwaj, Arun Ferreira, Varavara Rao, and other in the 'Elgar Parisha-Bhima Koregaon' case in 2018 under the UAPA." It added, "We demand that the state and political leadership comply with the Supreme Court's suggestion and release prisoners instead of further incarceration".

As the Tamil Nadu government on Friday announced complete lockdown in five districts of the state, the suddenness triggered panic buying in several areas in Chennai since Saturday morning. Though Tamil Nadu co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation (AAVIN) said it has stepped up measures to ensure enough supply of milk to the public during the lockdown period which include tying up with food delivery aggregators and supermarkets, milk packets were sold out as early as 7 am across many shops in Tambaram, Pallavaram areas which have been brought under complete lockdown by the government.

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday issued a clarification on the guidelines it put out on Friday, directing the opening of shops in market complexes outside municipality areas with 50 per cent workers and mandatory precautions like wearing of masks and social distancing norms. According to the clarification, the government said that all restaurants, salons, and barber shops will remain closed. In a press release, the MHA said, "They render services & the relaxations given under #lockdown restrictions yesterday pertain only to shops selling items". Furthermore, it added that the e-commerce companies will continue to sell only essential goods. It added that the sale of liquor and other items continues to be prohibited.

Press Release ?
Clarification on MHA order allowing Opening of Shops https://t.co/pUfijqtO7j@PMOIndia @HMOIndia @MoHFW_INDIA #lockdown #CoronaUpdate #IndiaFightsCorona

— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) April 25, 2020

A journalist is among the 15 new coronavirus cases reported in Karnataka, taking the total number of infections to 489, the state government said on Saturday. "Fifteen new positive cases have been reported from last evening till this noon...Till date 489 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed. This includes 18 deaths and 153 discharges," the department said in its mid-day situation bulletin. Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar, who is also leading the government's efforts against Covid-19 in Bengaluru and is in charge of the state war room, in a tweet confirmed that one journalist from Bengaluru had tested positive for the virus.

Amid the lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19, a couple in India decided to celebrate their traditional wedding ceremonies online .

"The meeting was at full capacity throughout the 2 hours and 30 minutes."

This couple in India took their traditional wedding celebration online as the country remains in lockdown as the #coronavirus outbreak rages on #IndiaFightsCOVID19 pic.twitter.com/zLVf6EbOdD

— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) April 24, 2020

Separate central teams visited Ahmedabad and Surat cities in Gujarat today to review the Covid-19 situation in these two districts, officials said. The teams held talks with senior officials, including collectors, civic chiefs, police commissioners in Ahmedabad and Surat, they said. Both the inter-ministerial central teams are headed by Additional Secretary-level officers.

A 45-year-old Indian-origin man has become the first person to face criminal charges in the US under the country's Defence Production Act for allegedly hoarding the scarce personal protective equipment and selling it at huge markups, PTI reported. According to authorities, Amardeep Singh stockpiled tonnes of respirators, surgical gowns, hand sanitisers and other personal protective equipment at a Long Island warehouse and sold it online through various websites and Nassau County storefronts at unconscionably excessive prices, Prosecutors from the US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn said in a statement on Friday. A criminal complaint was filed on Friday in a federal court in Central Islip charging Singh with violating the Defence Production Act of 1950 by hoarding PPE at a warehouse in Brentwood, New York, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and price-gouging customers of his retail store in Plainview, New York, the statement said.

Some residents of a containment area in Sector 15, Panchkula, wait for their food items amid the lockdown on Saturday. (Express photo/Jaipal Singh) 

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami permitted grocery and other necessary items shops to be remain open till 3 pm today in Chennai, Coimbatore Madurai, Salem and Tiruppur corporations as well as in districts like Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpet ahead of the complete lockdown from April 26.

CM #Edappadi allows grocery and other necessary items shops to be open till 3 pm today in Chennai, Coimbatore Madurai, Salem and Tiruppur corporations as well as in districts like Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpet ahead of complete lockdown from April 26. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/uLcv2ftFs6

— Janardhan Koushik (@koushiktweets) April 25, 2020

The Congress today urged the government to formulate a national plan for handling the coronavirus crisis under the Disaster Management Act. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said at a press conference via video-conferencing that it is time the government should rethink on lockdown measures as the country cannot have the "lockdown of people and lockout of the economy". He also called upon the judiciary to evolve a policy to ensure that the justice delivery system is considered an essential service during such crisis. Sibal alleged that bureaucrats, who do not have any idea about ground realities, were formulating policy for the government during the lockdown.

One more person tested positive for coronavirus in Puducherry on Saturday, pushing the tally to four. Director of Health and Family Welfare Services S Mohan Kumar said the 18-year-old patient, now admitted to the Indira Gandhi Government Medical college hospital, has contact history as he is related to one of the three patients undergoing treatment for some days now. With this the total active cases in the Union Territory has risen to four. The hospital would conduct one more test on Sunday on the remaining one patient and also ascertain whether any one had had contact history

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today called for transparency over coronavirus tests being conducted in Uttar Pradesh as hiding data can prove fatal. Testing is the key to fighting the deadly disease and it should be scaled up, she said. "Many people are expressing concerns over testing in UP. Transparency is a big thing in the fight against coronavirus. The entire society and the government can together defeat this epidemic. In this context, I am sharing some suggestions here," she said in a tweet in Hindi. "UP has stopped testing for the past two days and should start testing on a large scale, while adopting transparency in this regard. Hiding data and the truth can prove fatal," the Congress leader added.

???? ??? ???????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ??????? ?????? ?? ??? ???? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ?????????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???? ???? ?? ????? ????? ?? ?? ??????? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ??????? ?? ??? ???? ???? ?? ??? ????#Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/79ET1BYCfO

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) April 25, 2020

A 70-year-old man, hailing from Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, on Saturday became the sixth person to die due to coronavirus in the Union Territory, officials said here. The person, a resident of Tangmarg area of the north Kashmir district, died at the SKIMS hospital in Bemina here on Saturday morning, the officials said. The patient had tested positive for coronavirus and was admitted to the hospital on April 13, they said. This is the sixth death due to coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir and the second from Tangmarg area, the officials added.

Nineteen people, including 18 members of an extended family, have tested positive for coronavirus in Santkabirnagar district and have been admitted to hospital, a senior administrative officer said on Saturday. A student of the Darul Uloom Deoband seminary who had come to the district last month had tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week. His family members and close relatives were subsequently kept in quarantine and their samples were sent for testing, of which 18 have been found to be positive, District Magistrate Ravish Kumar Gupta said. One person from Tilathi village in Bakhira police station area has also tested positive for the virus, Gupta said.

The number of Covid-19 cases crossed the 1000-mark in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday to stand at 1,016 after 61 more people tested positive within a span of 24 hours. Two deaths were reported taking the toll to 31 in the state. The latest Covid-19 bulletin said 26 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery.

While the country continues to struggle with Covid-19 cases, researchers at IIT Delhi’s Kusuma School of Biological Sciences developed affordable testing kit. The Indian Council of Medical Research has approved the testing kit.

Fifteen new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Karnataka, taking the total number of infections in the state to 489, the health department said on Saturday. "15 new positive cases have been reported from last evening till this noon....Till date 489 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed. This includes 18 deaths and 153 discharges," the department said in its mid-day situation update. Out of 15 new cases, six each are from Bengaluru urban and Hirebagewadi in Belagavi district; one each from Mandya, Chikkaballapura and Bantawala in Dakshina Kannada district.

Amid rising Covid-19 cases, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today directed officers to ensure no public gathering are allowed till June 30 across the state. Further decision will be taken depending on the situation, his office added.

BJP MP Ravindra Kushawaha on Saturday said he would give a cash reward of Rs 11,000 to anyone providing specific information about people, including Tablighi Jamaat members, who hid information about their travels and avoided screening for coronavirus. The MP from Salempur constituency claimed in a statement that several people, who had been to Tablighi Jamaat congregations or any foreign country, did not report to the authorities and "are living without proper testing". Such people need to inform the administration about their travel history and undergo test for the novel coronavirus, he said, adding that anyone providing specific information about such people would be rewarded.

Another junior doctor at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College hospital at Aligarh Muslim University has tested positive for coronavirus,district health authorities said on Saturday. The total number of Covid-19 cases in Aligarh has now risen to eight, they said. A spokesperson of the medical college said the doctor who tested positive on Friday neither has a known history of any contact with a coronavirus patient nor was he connected to the isolation ward. The doctor also has no travel history and investigations about how he contracted the infection were on. Earlier this week another?doctor of the JLN Medical College hospital, affiliated to the Aligarh Muslim University, had tested positive for coronavirus.

Despite the ongoing lockdown, several in Chennai were spotted flouting government orders by visiting the Koyambedu market together.

Heavy crowd in Chennai Koyambedu vegitable market now after intensified lockdown announcement by TN CM Edapadi Palani Sami yesterday. @chennaicorp @CMOTamilNadu pic.twitter.com/JLc6vUGsyZ

— Ronald (@ronaldchennai) April 25, 2020

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today urged the government to help fishermen from Andhra Pradesh who are stranded in Gujarat due to the lockdown, and sought their transfer to relief camps. Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, around 6,000 fishermen from the southern state were stranded in Gujarat and were living in unhygienic conditions without water and food. "Over 6,000 fishermen from AP, stranded in Gujarat, have been confined to their tiny fishing trawlers for over a month, in unhygienic conditions with limited food and water. I appeal to the government to move my brothers to relief camps and ensure their well-being," he posted on the micro-blogging site.

Over 6,000 fishermen from AP, stranded in Gujarat, have been confined to their tiny fishing trawlers for over a month, in unhygienic conditions with limited food & water. I appeal to the Govt to move my brothers to relief camps and ensure their well being.https://t.co/cQ2sBcAR5i

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 25, 2020

Parts of India have recorded dramatic falls in the number of deaths at a time when funeral parlours were bracing for a surge amid the coronavirus crisis. Some experts said the trend suggested that deaths from Covid-19, which are recorded separately and generally announced before overall mortality data, were not being under-reported as has happened in other countries. But emergency room doctors, officials, and crematoriums noted that strict lockdowns had cut the number of road traffic accidents and deaths on India’s packed railways, and may also be deterring relatives from reporting a family death. While deaths in some countries have risen sharply in recent weeks, in India, where overall data is unavailable, the opposite seems to be happening in some places, leaving hospitals, funeral services and cremation sites wondering what is going on.

Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja speaks to The Indian Express on how the state managed to flatten the Covid-19 curve and why it is too early to rest. "Our planning and preparedness are the most important factors behind our success. We had planned in advance. In early January, when I heard that a virus had been spotted in Wuhan, a high-level meeting of the health department was held. I could easily sense the danger because there are students from Kerala in Wuhan and some medical students had even approached me in the past for internships. I told the officials that the students usually return during February-March and hence we should be careful. After the 2018 Nipah outbreak in Kerala, reports of virus spotting anywhere in the world is a matter of concern for the state. On January 24, we initiated an action plan, which was taken down to all districts. That worked well and we handled very well all the three positive cases from Wuhan without any of their contacts getting infected," she said.

Even as a fresh MHA advisory permitted shops in residential complexes to resume operations, Assam Chief Secretary Sanjay Krishna said there will be relaxation of the lockdown and a final call in this regard will be taken on April 27. Under the Disaster Management Act, states are free to reject these relaxations in certain areas if they feel it is detrimental to their Covid containment efforts.

In a bid to promote reading during lockdown, an Aizawl locality has started free service of door-to-door delivery of books. On April 18, NGO Young Mizo Association (YMA) in Mizoram, started an initiative called the Kawtkai Library (‘kawtkai’ translates to doorstep in Mizo) which brings people a book of their choice. “Every locality has a library in Mizoram,” said B. Lalmalsawma of the YMA, “Ramhlun South, our locality, does too. We realised that people are bored during the lockdown, and what better way to utilise time than reading?” As per the 2011 Census, Mizoram has a literacy rate of 91.33 percent — one of the highest in India.

In a bid to promote reading during #lockdown , an Aizawl locality has started free service of door-to-door delivery of books. As per the 2011 Census, Mizoram has a literacy rate of 91.33 percent — one of the highest in India.

Read full story: https://t.co/3sUcXQ98pd pic.twitter.com/6yRej4ocec

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) April 25, 2020

With 25 fresh cases on Saturday, the tally in Rajasthan rose to 2,059, an official said. Thirty-two people have died so far, with state capital Jaipur accounting for 18 deaths. "As many as 25 fresh cases have been reported in six districts of the state. However, the growth rate curve of coronavirus cases in state has flattened," Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rohit Kumar Singh said. Singh said that of the 25 fresh cases, eight were reported from Ajmer, five each from Jodhpur and Jhalawar, four from Kota, two in Dholpur, and one in Dungarpur. 

During this time of #lockdown, the state government has taken several measures so that women can stay healthy and safe during pregnancy and child birth. #Rajasthan government is committed to fulfill its responsibility towards pregnant women.#COVID19Pandemic #????????_?????_?? pic.twitter.com/krkTzHCteM

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) April 24, 2020

FIFA said an advance payments of 500,000 dollars will be sent to member associations to cover running costs during the coronavirus pandemic. Each of the 211 member associations is entitled to 6 million dollars from FIFA spread over the four-year World Cup cycle. FIFA added that he next instalment due in July will now be paid in the coming days along with other payments due from last year. The internation governing body of football is easing some criteria required before being paid but the money is still subject to audit checks.

Which football player can succeed on the virtual pitch? ???@yordy_10 ?? vs. @Rpizarrot ??

Now live on https://t.co/5Dotna6kr8 ? pic.twitter.com/8ISg2lMEIx

— FIFA eWorld Cup (@FIFAeWorldCup) April 24, 2020

Several NRIs are stuck in India in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. In the absence of any word from the government of India regarding opening up of the airspace and resuming international air travel, hundreds of NRIs with the US work visas are a distressed lot. While possible loss of employment, existing financial burdens like loans, mortgages, lease agreements; and debts possibly arising out of the loss of income, are a major cause of worry, the lockdown-induced travel ban has left many separated from their families. An online petition “Start international flights in India” on change.org has garnered over 5400 signatures as of April 24. On Twitter, hashtags #IndiaResumeOutboundFlights2US, #OutboundFlightsFromIndiaNOW, and #PeopleCameInNeed2GoBack have been trending.

The Covid-19 lockdown has officially delayed the 2020-21 academic year, with a government-appointed committee recommending that the traditional mid-July start for higher education should be pushed to September. Universities and schools across the country have been closed since March 16 when the Union government announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as one of the measures to contain the outbreak. The seven-member committee, which was set up by the University Grants Commission to deliberate on issues related to examination and the academic calendar in the wake of the classroom shutdown, submitted its report Friday.

The death toll due to coronavirus in Indore city of Madhya Pradesh, one of the hotspots in the country, reached 57 after two more persons succumbed to the infection, an official said on Saturday. Two men, aged 75 and 55, have died in the last three days, Chief Medical and Health Officer Praveen Jadia said. One of them suffered from bronchitis, he said. According to him, the number of coronavirus positive patients in the city has gone up to 1,085 after 56 more people tested positive in the last 24 hours. Of them, 107 have recovered and returned home so far, Jadia added.

Seven more people have tested positive for coronavirys in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, taking the total number of cases in the Union Territory to 29, an official said on Saturday. All of them are residents of the Bambooflat area in the south Andaman district, he added. "Of the new cases, six are from one family, and all of them came in contact with a COVID-19 patient detected earlier," the official said. All the patients are undergoing treatment at the GB Pant Hospital, a health department official said.

Two Chinese pharma companies, which supplied 5.5 lakh rapid testing kits for COVID-19 to India, said they are ready to cooperate with Indian agencies looking into allegations of poor accuracy of their products. In separate statements, Guongzhou Wondfo Biotech and Livzon Diagnostics said they follow strict quality control of their products, asserting that specified guidelines must be followed in storage of the kits as as well in their usages to get accurate results. Last week, India procured 5.5 lakh rapid antibody test kits from these two Chinese firms and they were distributed to several states reporting rising cases of coronavirus infection. While Guongzhou Wondfo Biotech supplied 3 lakh test kits, Livzon Diagnostics delivered 2.5 lakh.

The area around Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad wore a deserted look as people remained indoors during Ramzan on Saturday.

Telangana: Area around Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad wears a deserted look as people remain indoors and refrain from public gathering amid the #CoronavirusLockdown; the holy month of #Ramzan commences today. pic.twitter.com/rGd6qEeSnk

— ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2020

The US Food and Drug Administration has issued a safety communication regarding the known side effects of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, touted by President Donald Trump for treating coronavirus patients. The side effects include serious and potentially life-threatening heart rhythm problems. The FDA in a Drug Safety Communication said that hydroxychloroquine has been given Emergency Use Authorisation for the treatment of patients who have tested positive with coronavirus. These risks, FDA said are already in the drug labels for their approved uses and may be mitigated when health care professionals closely screen and supervise these patients such as in a hospital setting or a clinical trial.