Migrant workers and their family members stand in a queue and wait for the bus at Dharavi to go to the CSMT.
Coronavirus India News: The COVID-19 fatality rate in India is among the lowest in the world at 2.87 per cent, the government said on Tuesday, attributing the timely lockdown, early detection and management of coronavirus infection cases as the main reasons for the low death toll. From?3.38 per cent in April, the fatality rate in the country has come down to?2.87 per cent as against 6.4 per cent globally.
Addressing the press conference, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry, said ” India reported 0.3 per cent deaths per lakh population and the main reason for lowest fatality rate is lockdown in the country and how India prepared for it.”
India registered 6,535 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s Covid-19 tally to 1,45,380 on Tuesday. This includes 80,722 patients with the disease, 60,490 who have been treated and discharged and 4,167 deaths. Assam has emerged as one of India’s fastest growing states, in terms of cases, as migrants return to their home towns.
Globally, nearly 5.5 million people have been infected with the novel coronavirus so far, including 3.4 lakh deaths.
In other news, taking suo motu cognisance of the plight of lakhs of stranded migrant workers across the country, the Supreme Court on Tuesday pointed out the “inadequacies and lapses” in the handling of the crisis and issued notices to the Centre and state governments on steps taken to “redeem the situation.”
Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) Swargate set to start its services in Pimpri-Chinchwad and suburban areas outside Pune city limits with 50 per cent capacity (Express Photo: Pavan Khengre)
A woman and her daughter at Guru Nanak Dev Stadium in Ludhiana for screening before boarding train from railway station.
The Gujarat government while defending itself in a civil application, seeking clarification on the Gujarat High Court (HC) order that had stated the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital was “as good as a dungeon…maybe even worst”, said its (Ahmedabad’s) Covid-19 situation was better than Italy and France which had populations comparable to Ahmedabad. Read more here
The Gujarat Medical Education Research Society (GMERS)-run Covid-19 hospital in Gotri area of Vadodara witnessed a power outage for more than 12 hours on Tuesday causing some anxious moments among relatives of patients who were on life support systems.
At least 12 Covid-19 patients were on oxygen support and six on ventilator support at the time of the outage, caused due to a transformer hitch. The power supply was restored at 7 pm. The outage caused most of the air-conditioning units in the Covid-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to remain turned off. The Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd (MGVCL) officers said that the fault had arisen in the internal transformer of the hospital, leading to a day-long outage. Read more here
Pharmaceutical company Glenmark is set to commence a phase-3 clinical trial to study the efficacy of a combination of Favipiravir and Umifenovir drugs to treat Covid-19. The trial, which will involve 158 Indian patients, is the second trial to start in the country using Favipiravir.
The combination of the drugs will be used to check whether duration of viral shedding can be shortened. Viral shedding, which usually occurs before or at the onset of symptoms, means the virus is expelled from the body and can potentially infect others. Read more here
A 56-year-old fireman from Mumbai Fire Brigade succumbed to Covid-19 on Sunday. This is first such death reported from the fire brigade. So far, 35 fire brigade staffers have tested positive for coronavirus across the city.
The deceased, who was being treated for typhoid and dysentery, was posted at Gowalia Tank Fire station on Grant Road and was involved in fumigation and disinfection activities. He had been on leave since May 16 due to his illness. Read more here
On the second day after Mumbai airport resumed restricted operations of domestic flights, 41 flights were operated by six airlines to 13 locations. Of this, 22 departed from the city and 19 arrived, ferrying a total of 4,224 passengers comprising 3,114 departing and 1,110 arriving fliers. Most passenger load continued to be for departures to Delhi. Read more here
The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) on Tuesday ordered a complete lockdown of Mumbra from May 27, allowing only milk and medical shops to remain open. The area has reported 298 Covid-19 cases so far.
“There has been a substantial increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in Mumbra. Inspite of the lockdown, people are crowding at shops and vegetable markets. Social distancing norms are not being followed…,” the circular issued by TMC said. Read more here
The war of words between the Maharashtra government and Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal over Shramik special trains continued Tuesday, with the latter claiming that only a fraction of the 145 trains scheduled from Maharashtra could depart because of the state’s lack of preparedness.
The state government Monday evening had submitted a requirement of 145 trains to the Railways, including the details of passenger and their destinations. Based on the list, the Railways had scheduled as many trains to leave Tuesday from across Maharashtra. Of these 145 trains, 120 trains were from Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) alone. Read more here
In the first case of Covid-19 at a children’s institution in the city, two children and a staffer were infected at the Dongri home this month. While two patients have since recovered and been discharged, a 15-year-old girl is undergoing treatment at St George’s Hospital.
A 17-year-old boy, apprehended by the police in a sexual assault case, was the first person to be detected positive for the virus at the centre. Sent to the observation centre following the orders of the Juvenile Justice Board on May 6, the boy had first developed a fever and cough, and subsequently made to undergo tests. Read more here
Fourteen personnel from the Pune-based unit of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases in the Maharashtra SRPF above 520.
Two companies of the Pune-headquartered ‘Group 2’ of the SRPF — comprising around 100 personnel each — had been deployed in Mumbai. They returned to their base in Pune on May 21. While all of them were kept in quarantine as a precautionary measure after arrival, their swab tests were also conducted. Read mroe here
A 24-YEAR old passenger on board IndiGo’s Monday flight from Chennai to Coimbatore tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival at Coimbatore, following which the airline’s operating crew has been quarantined for 14 days. According to health officials, he was asymptomatic before boarding and was tested along with all passengers at the airport upon arrival on Monday evening. Read more here
Pune district recorded nine deaths from Covid-19 on Tuesday, taking the toll to 289. As many as 327 new positive cases were also recorded, with the total number of cases at 6,480.
Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said an analysis of deaths shows that almost 89 per cent patients had co-morbidities, and there was an urgent need to bring down the mortality rate. Read more here
The Bihar government on Tuesday said it was committed to bringing back all its people stuck in different places in the country, and would not prevent any trains from coming into the state. It said the Maharashtra government was free to send as many trains as are required to let interested people travel to Bihar. Read more here
The Karnataka government Tuesday said temples in the state could be reopened from June 1. The final decision, however, will be taken after the Centre releases its guidelines once the fourth phase of the lockdown is over on May 31.
Temples in Karnataka have been closed for more than two months now, due to the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown.
If they open on June 1, temples will have to follow a standard operating protocol (SOP) across the state. Read more here
Senior leaders of Gujarat Congress including state president Amit Chavda visited the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on Tuesday morning to interact with doctors and other medical staffers. Later, they attacked the BJP-led state government over the issue of ‘fake ventilators’ and the rise of Covid-related deaths.
Chavda, president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), alleged that doctors at the civil hospital have clarified that Dhaman-1 ventilators, which were recently gifted by a Rajkot-based businessman to the hospital, were not actually ventilators. A controversy had emerged after senior doctors at the civil hospital had claimed that Dhaman-1 is not leading to desired results. Read more here
Hours after eleven Covid-19 cases were identified in Tripura on Tuesday evening, 23 more persons tested positive for the coronavirus.
These new cases have raised the state's total tally to 232.
In a late evening tweet, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb wrote, "More 23 people found COVID19 #POSITIVE in Tripura today. Among them 18 people have come from Maharashtra by train & 5 others were in contact of Positive patients. Positive Cases : 232. Active Cases : 65. Discharged : 165. Migrated : 02 #TripuraCOVID19Count".
With 118 fresh cases reported on Tuesday, Assam’s Covid-19 tally reached 666. The maximum number of cases — 48 — were reported from the Golaghat district. Others were from across the state, including Nagaon, Karbi Anglong, Goalpara, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Kamrup (Metro). The state has seen a spike in cases in the last week as residents have returned from other states. State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to Twitter to state that all the cases were recent, imported and not reported within the quarantine centres. “All swaps were collected prior to quarantine. We have seen no spike inside quarantine centre . We are going to follow ruthless quarantine to prevent social transmission,” he wrote. The state currently has 597 active cases, and reported four deaths.
The Tata group’s Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) will continue to provide meals to medical professionals for another month, a statement by the company said Tuesday.
According to the statement, “The Taj Public Service Welfare Trust is distributing nutritious meals to medical staff in key hospitals/COVID-19 centers in Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi. We have partnered with Chef Sanjeev Kapoor for Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi for this initiative. In partnership with Tata Sons, TPSWT is providing meals to migrant workers in Mumbai. This is also handled by TajSATS.”
Puneet Chhatwal , Managing Director and CEO, IHCL, said: “Now, after nearly 1.6 million meals distributed, we at IHCL have decided to continue offering the initiative for another month.”
Apart from meals, 11 IHCL hotels across the country are offering rooms for the medical fraternity – they are Taj Lands End, Taj Santacruz, The President and Ginger Andheri East in Mumbai; Ginger Madgaon; Ginger City Centre, Noida; Ginger New Delhi Rail Yatri Niwas; Ginger Kalinganagar; Ginger Manesar; Ginger Surat and Vivanta Guwahati.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday sought to know from the state government whether Covid-19 testing facilities are available in each district of Maharashtra and inquired if mobile clinics can be started across the state.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice K K Tated was hearing a plea filed by a fisherman seeking proper testing facilities in Ratnagiri, a non-red zone, in the light of thousands of stranded migrant workers returning home in the district from red zones such as Mumbai and Pune.
On May 22, the HC had directed Government Pleader Priyabhushan Kakade to respond to the petition. The state on Tuesday submitted that due measures are being taken to test suspected persons and sought two days’ time to take instructions from the authorities to file a reply. Read more here
Asymptomatic passengers who want to enter Haryana after landing at IGI airport, Delhi and Mohali Airport, Punjab will be permitted to leave the airport with the advice that they shall self-monitor their health for 14 days, the state government has said. As per the guidelines issued by the Haryana government, In case, they develop any symptoms, they shall inform the District Civil Surgeon/ District Control Room/ the State/ National Health call centre (1075) immediately”.
Haryana has also asked the concerned airport Authorities to “provide the details of the symptomatic passengers to the nodal officer and also e-mail the details of such passengers at four e-mail ids provided by the state government; upon receiving such information, the health teams of the concerned district shall follow the protocol defined by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and Government of Haryana regarding Covid-19”.
An Air India staff on Ludhiana- Delhi flight tested positive on Monday after the government resumed flight operations.
A day after the government resumed flight operations across the country, Civil Aviations Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said airports have handled 325 departures & 283 arrivals with 41,673 passengers till 5pm on 26 May 2020. " Our airports have handled 325 departures & 283 arrivals with 41,673 passengers till 5pm on 26 May 2020, the 2nd day after recommencement of domestic flights. Final report for the day will be prepared after details come in at midnight," he said.
Giving details on the Aarogya Setu app, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that there are 100 miliion users in 40 days. The App identified More than 3000 hotspots in 3-17 days ahead of time.
Tripura crossed 200 mark of COVID19 patients on Tuesday as eleven more persons were tested positive with COVID-19, taking the tally of coronavirus patients to 209. The new cases were identified among people who recently returned home from Maharashtra in a special train and relatives of Border Security Force (BSF) jawans from 86th Battalion of Dhalai district. According to latest reports, 16349 out of 26943 persons who were placed under surveillance for coronavirus till date have completed their 14 days observation period and were discharged.10594 others are currently under surveillance including 300 persons housed in different quarantine centers across Tripura and 10294 persons under home quarantine. 20871 samples were tested in Tripura since coronavirus alert was sounded early this year. Among them, 198 have tested positive so far, of which 165 have 'recovered'.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the plight of lakhs of stranded migrant workers across the country, the Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Centre, state governments and Union Territories (UTs) seeking reply on steps taken to redeem the miseries of the migrants, PTI reported. A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M R Shah said there had been lapses on part of the Centre and state governments and directed immediate measures be taken to provide travel, food and shelter to the migrant labourers, news agency ANI said.
Kumartuli, the famed hub of claymodellers in Kolkata, is facing a double whammy — the lockdown trigerred by COVID-19 pandemic and the Cyclone Amphan — but are nonetheless hopeful of a turnaround and are getting busy ahead of Duga Puja.
Here's what has hapened throughout the day over coronavirus:
*India registered 6,535 new cases in a single day, taking the Covid-19 tally to 1,45,380 on Tuesday.
*The toll in the country rose to 4,167.
*Assam has emerged as one of thet fastest growing states, in terms of cases, as migrants return to their home towns.
*The Health Ministry said that India's recovery rate has improved to 41.61 per cent.
*The fatality rate remains the lowest in the world at 2.87 per cent now.
*Globally, nearly 5.5 million people have been infected so far, including 3.4 lakh deaths.
*The death toll in Delhi has mounted to 288, while 412 fresh cases of COVID-19 infection were reported, taking the virus tally in the city to 14,465
*Countries could still face an “immediate second peak” if they let up too soon on measures to halt the outbreak, the World Health Organization
*Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said India is the only country which is easing lockdown despite cases on the rise.
*Brazil recorded a daily death toll higher than the US for the first time (807 versus 620). Brazil has the world’s second highest number of infections.
*The number of deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK has topped 47,000, according to the latest available data.
Union Minister Prakash Javedkar called the lockdown period in India a success as he said,"the doubling rate of COVID-19 in India was three days before lockdown, it is now 13 days."
Delhi deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia briefed the migrant situation in the city and said around 241000 people have been sent back to their homes.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that migrants are welcomed back but not all together. Addressing a press conference he said, bringing all of them back together will be problamatic. He said, "priority will be given to students and pregnant women. Around 11,000 have returned till May 25, from abroad."
" The state is determined to take good care of the people returning to the state, if not done this, situation will be out of controll," said Vijayan.
However, expalining the fatality rate, the ICMR DG said that it is unclear on how the fatality rate is low. He said there are several hypotheses to this.
Addressing the press conference, LAV Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry said India has recorded the lowest fatality rate in the world. India reported 0.3 per cent deaths per lakh population. The main reason for lowest fatility rate is lockdown in India and how India prepared for it, he said.
The healthi Ministry begins it's daily briefing and said the recovery rate has increaced 46.61 per cent. " A total of 60,490 patients have recovered so far from #COVID19. Recovery rate continues to improve and presently it is 41.61%. The fatality rate is one among the lowest in the world, it is 2.87% now," said Lav Agarwal, Union Health Ministry Joint Secretary.
While addressing the nation via video-conferencing, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, "India is the only country where the coronavirus is exponentially rising and we are removing the lockdown. The aim and purpose of the lockdown has failed. India is facing the result of a failed lockdown."
The coronavirus death toll in Delhi has mounted to 288, while 412 fresh cases of COVID-19 infection were reported on Tuesday, taking the virus tally in the city to 14,465, authorities said. The city had recorded the highest spike in fresh cases -- 660 -- on May 22. On Monday, 635 fresh cases were reported. In a bulletin issued on Tuesday, the Delhi health department said, the death toll from coronavirus infection has risen to 288, and the total number of cases mounted to 14,465. ? It, however, added the cumulative?death figures refers to fatalities where primary cause of death was found to be COVID-19, as per the report of the Death Audit Committee on the basis of case sheets received from various hospitals. On Monday, the total number of cases stood at 14,053, including 276 deaths.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar conducted a meeting earlier today to review the Vande Bharat Mission, to help repatriate stranded Indian nationals in other countries return home. Officials from the foreign ministry, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Home Ministry and Bureau of Immigration attended the meeting. The focus of the meeting, Jaishankar said, was to increase flights under the mission and enhance its efficiency.
The Supreme Court Tuesday issued notice to the Centre on a batch of petitions seeking exemption from payment of wages to workers during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The apex court directed the Centre to treat the matter "with urgency".
The Mahalaxmi Race Course parking space has been converted into a quarantine and hospital facility to treat Covid-19 patients, in Mumbai. (Express Photos: Ganesh Shirsekar)
Karnataka Tuesday reported 100 new Covid-19 cases, including 45 people who returned to the state from Maharsahtra, 21 from Tamil Nadu and 13 from Jharkhand. The total number of cases in the state now stands at 2,282. At least 722 people have been treated and discharged.
A day after domestic flights resumed operations across the country, services began in Andhra Pradesh Tuesday. The first flight that landed in the state was a SpiceJet aircraft from Bengaluru. It landed at Vijaywada airport with 79 passengers, reports news agency PTI.
In case you missed our report, the HRD Ministry is working with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on devising basic guidelines for reopening of schools, whenever it is greenlighted by the Home Ministry. Older children of Classes 9, 10, 11, and 12 are expected to be back in schools first as they are better able to comply with rules on masks and social distancing, The Indian Express has learned. Read the full report here
SSSLC and Plus 2 examinations resume in Kerala. (Express Photos: Nitin RK)
At a time when the coronavirus-induced lockdown has restricted the movement of people, close to 19,000 persons in Punjab have been assigned an unique job — they have to protect nearly 73 lakh saplings, which were planted less than a year ago. These plant protectors have been appointed as ‘van mitras’ (forest friends) in all the villages of Punjab where 550 saplings each were planted last year to mark the 550th birth anniversary of first Sikh master Guru Nanak Dev.
Countries, where coronavirus infections are declining, could still face an “immediate second peak” if they let up too soon on measures to halt the outbreak, the World Health Organization said on Monday. The world is still in the middle of the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak, WHO emergencies head Dr Mike Ryan told an online briefing, noting that while cases are declining in many countries they are still increasing in Central and South America, South Asia and Africa.
Uber, one of the world’s top taxi aggregator, has announced that it is laying off 600 of its staff in India in a bid to cut costs amid the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The lay offs come from across driver and rider support, as well as other functions, the company said in a statement adding that these reductions are part of its previously announced global job cuts earlier this month.
The move comes nearly a week after Uber’s biggest rival in the country Ola announced a lay off of its 1,400 staff as the company’s revenue fell by 95 per cent.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says India is the only country which is easing lockdown despite cases on the rise. He asks the government to spell out its action plan to combat the pandemic. He also targets the government, saying the aim and purpose of the lockdown has "failed".
Rahul Gandhi is interacting with reporters on the Covid-19 pandemic. He questions the Centre on its action plan as cases across the country increases. "In Congress states, we have a strategy. But we cannot function without the national government," he says.
On Monday, Assam detected 148 new cases to take its tally to 526. Almost all of the new cases are people returning from other places, or their direct contacts. The fresh wave of infections had begun immediately after the lockdown restrictions were eased on May 4, but there has been a major acceleration in the last one week. In this time, the number of positive cases in the state has jumped more than five times, making Assam one of the fastest growing states at the moment. Amitabh Sinha explains the numbers
There are 36 new coronavirus cases in China, including 29 asymptomatic infections, its National Health Commission (NHC) said. Most of these infections were reported from Wuhan, the city where Covid-19 originated. However, no deaths were reported across the country.
At least 115 Indian nationals boarded an Air India flight in Israel's Tel Aviv this morning to return to the country amid the coronavirus pandemic. The flight, AI 140, is scheduled to land in New Delhi, after which a connecting flight will depart to Kerala's Kochi. The flight was part of the government's Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indian nationals stranded in other countries amid the pandemic.
How frequent, and how severe, are strokes among Covid-19 patients? A series of papers in the journal Stroke, published by the American Heart Association, examines trends from four countries. Click here to read the broad findings.
Some BJP Chief Ministers seems to have turned the crisis into an opportunity not just for weakening their rivals inside and outside the party, but also consolidated their positions earning more political capital. But a few have failed despite having rich experience and strong political backing. Liz Mathew looks at the actions of B S Yeddyurappa (Karnataka), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Jai Ram Thakur (Himachal Pradesh) and Biplab Kumar Deb (Tripura), who have earned kudos for their handling of the crisis.
Traffic builds up at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border at Ghaziabad on Tuesday morning, a day after the administration said it would block entry amid a sharp increase in cases. (Express Photos: Prem Nath Pandey)
India registered 6,535 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s Covid-19 tally to 1,45,380 on Tuesday. This includes 80,722 patients with the disease and 60,490 who have been treated and discharged and 4,167 deaths.
After weeks of negotiations, the German government Monday agreed to a $9.8 billion bailout package to help struggling Lufthansa stay in the air. According to details of the deal, Berlin gets 20% stake in Lufthansa and a veto in the event of a hostile big for the airline company.
A day after it announced travel restrictions for passengers flying into the country from Brazil, the United States Monday revised its statement bringing forward the travel ban by two days. The initial restrictions from May 28 have been moved up to May 26 without any reason provided. Brazil Monday recorded 374,898 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 23,473 deaths.
For the third time, Singapore Tuesday downgraded its 2020 GDP forecast to a contraction range of -7% to -4% from the prior range of -1% to -4%. The country's economy has taken a hit because of the lockdown imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. In case you didn't know, Singapore calls its lockdown a "circuit breaker".
"There continues to be a significant degree of uncertainty over the length and severity of the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as the trajectory of the economic recovery," said Gabriel Lim, permanent secretary at the ministry of trade and industry.
The curfew imposed in Saudi Arabia will be lifted starting May 31, except in the holy city of Mecca. The Kingdom has imposed restrictions on domestic travel, holding prayers in mosques, and attending private and public offices. From June 21, prayers will be allowed in mosques, reported news agency Reuters.
Offering a glimmer of hope, Novavax Inc commenced Phase 1 of its clinical trials for the NVX-CoV2373 vaccine. The preliminary results of the tests are expected in July. In other news, the Japanese government has lost hope in approving Fujifilm Holdings Corp's Avigan drug by May end after a study showed no clear evidence of its efficacy. The drug remains contentious as it has shown birth defects in animal studies.
India Observatory, an open-source database, has come up with a GIS-enabled dashboard that includes an India map reflecting the movement of migrants in real time on their long journeys, often on foot, along with facilities and relief organisations on their routes. The map matches “time and spatial data, on administrative facilities in the area, transportation and healthcare facilities of an area and summaries, on the fly, in real time of people passing by,” said Jagdeesh Rao, CEO of FES.
In 2009-10, the National Sample Survey Office (now National Statistical Office or NSO) conducted a large sample survey of Household Consumer Expenditure (HCE). This survey, usually carried out once in five years, was repeated in 2011-12. The reason: 2009-10 saw India suffer both a severe drought and the aftereffects of the global financial crisis. 2011-12 was a “normal” year like 1999-2000 and 2004-05, “free” from any major economic downturn.
The 2020-21 survey is supposed to start from July, which looks unlikely given the novel coronavirus-induced situation. What else is uncertain? Read our explainer
Having more than trebled daily testing over a month, India is now gearing up to ramp it to 2 lakh a day. While the daily average has crossed 1 lakh tests, private laboratories, who fought long and hard to be allowed to test, have contributed to less than 20% of the total samples tested daily. This despite the fact that they make up almost 30% of the laboratory infrastructure.
An analysis of testing records between April 16 and May 23 reveals that while tests in government labs went up by almost 270 per cent from 23,932 to 88,947, for private labs the figure rose more sharply, just under four times, from 4408 to 21450. Read more here