Health workers in Mumbai’s Dharavi.
Coronavirus India Updates: With Covid-19 cases crossing 19,000-mark in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said his government may seek the deployment of central forces, if needed, to allow police personnel to take rest in phases. He, however, allayed the rumours of Army deployment in Mumbai. “There has been a rumour for the past 2-3 days that Army will be deployed in Mumbai. There is no need for Army deployment here,” Thackeray was quoted as saying by ANI.
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As far as Covid numbers are concerned, the overall tally stands at 56,342, including 1,886 deaths, as per the last update from the Health Ministry. While there are 37,916 active cases, as many as 16,539 persons have recovered.
Meanwhile, over 400 stranded Indians, including medical students, were brought back home today from Bangladesh and Singapore in two Air India aircraft as part of the government’s mega repatriation mission Vande Bharat. In other major news, sixteen migrant workers in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district were crushed to death by a local train as they were journeying home. The workers, who were walking to Bhusawal from Jalna to board a “Shramik Special” train to return to Madhya Pradesh, were sleeping on the railway line when the mishap occurred between Badnapur and Karmad stations in Nanded Division.
On the global front, at least 38,15,561 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus worldwide, including 2,67,469 deaths and 12,66,479 recoveries.
Vande Bharat Mission: A pregnant woman with her child at the Kochi airport after being repatriated from Abu Dhabi in a special flight Thursday (Source: PR Dept, Gov of Kerala)
Migrants arrive at Bengaluru’s Majestic Bus Stand to leave for their native places. (PTI)
An examination of procurement and company approvals shows that foreign firms account for the largest chunk of company approvals for COVID-19 diagnostic materials in the country.
Mike Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, President Donald Trump said, delaying the vice president’s departure for a trip to Iowa. She is the second person working at the executive residence to contract the virus this week.
The White House did not officially announce Miller’s positive test and she hadn’t been identified as the infected aide until a meeting between Trump and House Republicans. In answer to a question from a reporter about the infected aide, Trump said that Pence’s “press person,” whom he identified as “Katie,” had tested positive after a reporter asked him about it. Read report by Bloomberg
Thirty new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Tripura Friday, raising the count in the state to 118, out of which 116 are active. The fresh COVID-19 cases were again found from BSF 86th battalion and 138th battalion at Ambassa in Dhalai district, both of which were earlier declared ‘containment zones’ for being badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
Significantly, a truck driver has also tested positive for the infection. As per standard operating procedure laid down by the government, all truckers coming in the state are required to undergo a mandatory Covid-19 test at Churaibari on the Assam-Tripura inter-state boundary. Read more here
The death toll in Madhya Pradesh climbed to 200 on Friday and the novel coronavirus infection covered 38 out of its 52 districts. The count of positive cases increased by 89 in the last 24 hours to reach 3,341. The death toll was 99 and the count of positive patients was 1945 on April 25. While the number of serious patients was 26 on April 25, it has now risen to 274. Indore, Ujjain and Bhopal, which have so far reported 86, 43, and 24 deaths respectively, accounted for 71 of the new 89 positive cases. Sehore and Guna districts reported a case each. As many as 20 districts have so far reported cases in single digit. The count of the active cases continued to decline for the fifth day on Friday to reach 1,792. - Milind Ghatwai reports from Madhya Pradesh
As the total number of Covid-19 cases touched 6009 with 600 new cases on Friday, state health minister C Vijayabaskar said it was the increased number of testing and effective tracking and quarantining of suspected cases that helped the state to keep the crucial indicators of the epidemic under control. Vijayabaskar said the state’s death rate, .68, was the lowest among states with similar population and cases, and that samples tested were highest, 2.16 lakh, “compared to even states like Maharashtra that registered more number of cases.” Read more here
Govt gives relief on residency status to NRIs/foreign visitors whose stay in India got prolonged due to lockdown.Prolonged stay in India to be discounted. Further, circular for determining the residential status in such cases for Financial Year 2020-21 would be issued in due course, depending upon normalisation of/ resumption of international flights.
As the total number of COVID-19 cases touched 6009 in Tamil Nadu with 600 new cases Friday, state health minister C Vijayabaskar said it was the increased number of testing and effective tracking and quarantining of suspected cases that has helped the state keep the crucial indicators of the pandemic under control.
Vijayabaskar said the state’s death rate – at .68 — was the lowest among states with a similar population and cases, and that samples tested were highest, 2.16 lakh, “compared to even states like Maharashtra that have registered more number of cases”. The state has 52 labs, including 36 in the government sector and 16 in private facilities. Read more
* Students take to the radio for lessons in Meghalay
Doordarshan and All India Radio will start broadcasting lessons to students in Meghalaya, as many have been confined to their homes due to the coroanvirus-induced lockdown. Officials believe the move will help at least 2.5 lakh students in the primary, middle and high school levels, who are studying the Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBoSE) curriculum.
* In Kolkata, a part of a mosque may soon become a quarantine centre
A mosque in Kolkata’s Garden Reach area has offered the government a part of its premises to set up a quarantine centre. Maulana Qari Md Muslim Razwi, the imam of Bangali Bazar Masjid, said the gesture was in keeping with the spirit of Ramadan. The area, about 6,000 square feet, comes after the government sought places to set up treatment centres for people with Covid-19.
(Read more)
On Day two of the government's Vande Bharat Mission, at least three flights have landed in India so far. Just before noon Friday, Air India flight AI 381, carrying 234 passengers, landed in New Delhi from Singapore. At 2 pm, an AI 1242 flight from Dhaka in Bangladesh touched down in Srinagar. The third flight, from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, landed in Kerala’s Kozhikode at around 8.10 pm. More flights are scheduled to land in various cities tonight, stay tuned. Follow live updates on the Vande Bharat Mission here
The overall virus tally stands in the country stands at 56,342, including 1,886 deaths, as per the last update from the Health Ministry. While there are 37,916 active cases, as many as 16,539 persons have recovered.
The Indian Museum in Kolkata was sealed after a CISF officer posted there succumbed to the coronavirus, PTI quoted an official as saying.
About 33 CISF personnel were deployed at the gallery's security unit. All have been asked to quarantine, Indian Museum director A D Choudhury said. The entire museum premises and the security quarters are being sanitised and the staffers have been asked not to come to the office for the time being, he said. "... After a report of a CISF jawan testing coronavirus positive, these security personnel have been quarantined," the director said.
Kolkata has witnessed 55 of the total 72 deaths in West Bengal as on Friday with 572 active Covid-cases, while the state has recorded a total of 1,678 cases as 130 new cases surfaced.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray refuted speculation about the Army being called in Mumbai which has become a major coronavirus hotspot. In a live webcast, he said additional manpower may be sought from the Union government if needed so that the state police force gets some respite. Asking people not to believe rumours, the chief minister said the government might ask for additional manpowerfrom the Centre, if needed, to enable the police personnel to take rest in a phased manner. "This doesn't mean that Mumbai will be handed over to the Army. Police personnel are tired after working round-the- clock, some have fallen sick and a few of them have succumbed to the virus. They need rest," Thackeray said. (PTI)
Amidst surging coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, CM Uddhav Thackeray said the state may seek deployment of Central forces, if needed, to allow police personnel to take rest in phase. The chief minister further admitted that there has been no success yet in breaking the 'chain' of the virus. The cases in the state have dramatically risen to 19,063 including 731 deaths, the state health department stated. The cases in the state have dramatically risen to 19,063 including 731 deaths, the state health department said.
Referring to video showing patients at Mumbai hospital being treated next to dead bodies, Thackeray said, mismanagement at hospitals will not be tolerated.
The coronavirus cases in Mumbai's Dharavi slum have touched 805 cases with 25 new cases recorded today, according to PTI.
The central team had on Thursday advised Maharashtra to aggressively expand its isolation facilities and shift high-risk people in containment zones of Dharavi — which as on Thursday has reported 783 cases — to institutional quarantine to curb community spread.
Following the Supreme Court's order on liquor, passed earlier in the day, Madras High Court today directed the state to close all TASMAC shops, allowing online sale and home delivery of liquor.
The court took the decision as social distancing guidelines were violated by people across the state. Heavy crowds were witnessed after Tamil Nadu opened liquor stores on Wednesday. The order shall be followed till the end of the lockdown.
Migrant workers stand in queues after their medical screening at Guru Nanak Dev Stadium in Ludhiana. These workers will board one of the Shramik Special trains.
Over thousand migrants from Bihar boarded a train from New Delhi Railway Station on Friday arranged by the Delhi government.
Migrants on their way to Uttarakhand, boarded a truck in Bihar, passing through UP's Lucknow.
The National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the Maharashtra Chief Secretary and the District Magistrate of Aurangabad over the train accident that occured earlier in the day, which claimed 16 migrant workers' lives, PTI stated. The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports about mowing down of 16 migrant workers by the goods train in the early hours of Friday, it said in a statement. The officers have been directed to submit a detailed report within four weeks. It should also include details of the steps taken by the state and the district authorities to provide food, shelter and other basic amenities to the poor people, especially migrant labourers, who are facing extreme difficulties from every angle during the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, it said.
The Railways has so far run 222 special trains to ferry over over 2.5 lakh people, including migrant workers, to different parts of the country. MHA Joint Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said the government's efforts have been to give maximum relaxations to people within the lockdown guidelines. She said the next step is to bring back Indians stranded abroad in a phased manner which started on Thursday using non-scheduled commercial flights and naval ships.
The sample of a 16-year-old girl tested positive for Covid after she died in Guwahati on Thursday night, making her the second in the state to die of the novel virus.Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam’s health and finance minister, said that it needed to be checked with the Centre whether she would be added in the official state toll because her diagnosis was after her death. Last month, a 65-year-old man from Hailakandi district succumbed to Covid.
The girl, a Guwahati resident, had complained of pain in her legs and fever on April 27 and was taken to a local hospital. She was checked and prescribed medicines. Then, she moved to her grandmother’s house in the staff quarter of a cancer hospital in Guwahati. The grandmother works as a support staff in the hospital.
The ICMR has received approval to conduct clinical trials of convalescent plasma therapy in 21 hospitals, the Health Ministry said. Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, informed that India's doubling time has reduced now. Two days ago it was 12 days. 'Challenge is to learn to live with the virus and it is imperetive to follow the guidelines.'
The MHA Joint Secretary PS Srivastava said Indian visas for stranded nationals abroad will be extended for a period of 30 days after online applications. Further, guidelines have been issued for using hotels, lodges etc for quarantine purposes, provided these facilities have an in-house doctor and a nurse and there are options of monitoring.
"It is important to srengthen containment efforts in hard-hit states inlcuding Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh," Agarwal said.
In 216 districts, no positive cases of COVID-19 have been detected, while 52 distrcits have not seen a single virus case in the last 28 days, the Health Ministry said. 27 ditricts reported no new case in the last 21 days, 37 districts saw zero cases in the last 14 days and 69 districts reported no Covid-19 case in last seven days. In the last 24 hours, 3,390 new cases have been reported, however, the recovery percentage is 29.33%; 3.2% of admitted on oxygen, 4.7% in ICU and 1.1% on ventilators, Agarwal said.
Agarwal said many different projections predict between thousands of cases to crores of cases, however, they are too widely varied for field action. It is important to identify rate of growth of cases, he added.
The Health Ministry Friday informed that in the last 24 hours about 3,390 fresh Covid-19 cases have surfaced an the recovery percentage is 29.33 per cent. Further, on the issue of migrant workers journey back home, Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said separte railway coaches will now be assigned for suspected and confirmed coronavirus cases.
Around 200 Indians, who were stranded in Sharjah due to coronavirus induced lockdown, will arrive in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow on Saturday. They are part of the repatriation phase conducted by the Centre, which aims to bring back about 15,000 Indians back from May 7 to May 13. 'An Air India flight is likely to arrive in Lucknow from Sharjah between 8.00 pm and 8.30 pm on Saturday. The tentative number of passengers arriving in Lucknow is 200,' AK Sharma, the director of Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, told PTI. According to a schedule prepared by the Ministry of External Affairs, in coordination with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the first of the 64 flights will carry 209 passengers from Abu Dhabi to Cochin International Airport on May 7.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is likely to hold the remaining Class 12 papers in the first two weeks of July, The Indian Express had learnt.
For Class 12, CBSE will conduct exams for business studies, geography, Hindi (core), Hindi (elective), home science, sociology, computer science (old), computer science (new), information practice (old), information practice (new), information technology and bio-technology. That apart, all the tests that Class 12 students of North East Delhi could take because of the riots. The entrance test for admission to NITs will be held over five days between July 18 and 23. CBSE has been asked to wrap up its remaining papers before that. (Read more)
A 30-year-old man was thrashed by a policeman for allegedly hugging people in Southwest Delhi on Wednesday. In a video, that went viral on social media, a policeman is seen attacking the man with a lathi. The victim is seen sitting in the middle of the road. He then tries to walk away but locals join the policeman and hit the man with sticks. When a passerby enquires about the beating, a man says: “He was hugging people near the park. Isko maaro (beat him).” The man has been identified as Imran, who lives with his family in Sagarpur. Police have confirmed that the incident took place in Sagarpur. Imran’s sister Raveena told The Indian Express, “He was walking near the park when the policeman accosted him. He was scared because he thought he was violating the lockdown walking on the road. He started running away. The policeman then shouted “Isko corona hai (He has the coronavirus)”. People joined him and attacked my brother. He doesn’t have the virus and even if he did, is it okay to hit a man like this?” Ingit Pratap Singh, Additional DCP (Southwest) said, “We have identified the policeman. He is a constable posted with Sagarpur police station. We have suspended him. A departmental inquiry against him is underway.”
A 60-year-old resident of Noida, who had tested positive for COVID-19, died early Friday morning at a government hospital in Noida. This is the first COVID-19 related death in Noida, where the first case of the virus was detected in the country.
A health official said that the man underwent a test at a private lab, and the result came positive on Wednesday. After the test, he was taken to the Metro hospital and shifted to Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) later, where he suffered a cardiac arrest and died.
Dr Rakesh Gupta, GIMS director, said, so far they know that he was suffering from pneumonia. "Other details about possible co-morbid conditions are yet to be ascertained. The body will be handed over to the administration for last rites," said Gupta. The 60-year-old was a resident of Noida Sector 22. The last rites will be conducted as per MHA-mandated COVID-19 protocol.
Till Thursday evening, the district had reported 202 positive cases with 109 recoveries. Earlier, a resident of Ghaziabad's Khoda, who had tested positive for COVID-19, died at a private hospital in Noida but medical authorities clarified that the case would not be counted in the district's tally since the deceased did not hail from Gautam Buddh Nagar. The district medial authorities have carried out 3,854 tests since the breakout and 366 persons in quarantine presently.
Meanwhile, Former chief minister of Gujarat Shankersinh Vaghela has asked for removal of prohibition policy in Gujarat alleging that spurious and illicit liquor is anyway available in the dry state, even during the ongoing lockdown, which is ruining the health of the youth and leaving the state resources bereft of the liquor revenue. In a recorded video message, Vaghela alleged that a fake and pretentious prohibition policy has been put in place in Gujarat for the past many years and no one has dared to speak about it.
" In Gandhi and Sardar Patel's Gujarat, there is prohibition on liquor for the past many years and no body has dared to speak about it. I appeal to the Gujarat public that neither Gandhi nor Sardar would have been happy with this fake and pretentious prohibition policy. Today, youth have ruined their lives by consuming spurious and country liquor and the time has come for a re-discussion on it," said Vaghela.
The Supreme Court on Friday observed that states should consider selling liquor via non-contact means such as home delivery during the coronavirus-induced lockdown. “We will not pass any order but the states should consider indirect sale/home delivery of liquor to maintain social distancing norms and standards,” Justice Ashok Bhushan, heading a three-judge bench said. Long queues, extending for a kilometre in some areas, were seen outside liquor stores across the country after the Centre announced lockdown relaxations from May 4.
The central team has advised Maharashtra to aggressively expand its isolation facilities and shift high-risk people in containment zones of Dharavi — which as on Thursday has reported 783 cases — to institutional quarantine to curb community spread. A team of health volunteers today conducted screening at Dharavi Koliwada.
One of the reasons for the surge in Coronavirus infections seen in Tamil Nadu in recent days has been the rapid rise in number of tests being carried out by the state. Tamil Nadu has tested many more people, and thus has discovered many more positive cases. On Thursday, the state surpassed Maharashtra in the total number of tests carried out till now. Tamil Nadu has now tested 202,436 samples while Maharashtra, which was leading till now, has tested 202,105. Tamil Nadu’s achievement has been all the more commendable considering that the state has just about 65 per cent of Maharashtra’s population. Also, Maharashtra’s total Coronavirus cases are at least three times more than that of Tamil Nadu. Read More
Temperature and latitude are not associated with the spread of COVID-19 disease, according to a global study that found school closures and other public health measures are having a positive effect on containing the novel coronavirus. The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, looked at 144 geopolitical areas -- states and provinces in Australia, the US, and Canada as well as various countries around the world -- and a total of over 3,75,600 confirmed COVID-19 cases. They determined the influence of latitude, temperature, humidity, school closures, restrictions of mass gatherings and social distancing measured during the exposure period of March 7 to 13.
Karnataka's coronavirus tally rose to 750 on Friday with 45 new cases.
"We need to start our domestic economy soon, the more time we lose, the worse impact it will have. If the government wants to open lockdown, it has to convert people's fear of disease into confidence, added Rahul Gandhi.
Adrresing the public on Covid-19 crisis, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the government needs to be more transparent on the lockdown exit plan. Businesses are collapsing and the economy is collapsing. There is a view in the government if that we move too fast and spend too much money, we may create a problem with the rupee. We have to move aggressively now, Rahul Gandhi also said.
Expressing grieft of the death of 15 migrant workers, Corngress leader Rahul Gandhi said, " We need to have empathy with the migrants. The states should interact and the Centre has to oversee it. We need to build a wall for the poor and also create financial support for them. Many companies are going to go down. Hence it is important to protect these daily wage workers."
Even as Tamil Nadu records surge in COVID-19 infections and a new cluster of cases linked to the state’s largest vegetable market in Koyambedu was found, the Tamil Nadu government opened opened retail liquor outlets across the state. The total sale recorded on Thursday was about Rs 170 crore worth liquor, or about 20 lakh litres. Despite restrictions such as timings for different age groups, physical distancing norms and mandatory ID cards, queues as long as 1 km were seen in many places. Tamil Nadu reported 580 new positive cases Thursday, taking the total to 5,409.
Two BSF personnel succumbed to Covid-19 on Thursday even as the total number of infections in the force crossed 200, officials said. The new infections have taken the number of cases in the paramilitary to over 500, including 162 in CRPF, 82 in ITBP, 32 in CISF and 17 in SSB. Most of these cases have been reported from Delhi, except for over 50 BSF cases in Tripura and 19 from CISF in other parts of the country. Read more
The Indian High Commission in Maldives said that Indian Nationals on board will be charged 600 Maldivian Rufiyaa or an equivalent amount of US $40
The first flight from Dhaka carrying students from Jammu and Kashmir is ready to depart at 11pm. The flight is full with 167 passengers. The flight will land at the Srinagar airport.
Today under Vande Bharat Mission, flights carrying Indian nationals will be arriving from Bahrain to Kochi (Dept:16:30 hrs, arrival: 2330 hrs) and Dubai to Chennai (Dept: 1450 hrs, arrival 2010 hrs). Another flight will arrive from Singapore to Delhi. Delhi will also see flights from Bangladesh. Calicut airport in Kerala will also receive Indian Nationals from Saudi Arabia.
After India began its biggest evacuation operation on Thursday by bringing over 350 expatriates from overseas. INS Jalashwa, under operation Samudra Detu will leave the Male port in Maldives carrying Indian nationals. Here is the first visual of citizens arriving at the Ferry Terminal in Malé to go through necessary checks and procedures as they prepare for evacuation by INS Jalashwa.
India’s testing capacity continues to be majorly reliant on global supply chains even as domestic manufacturing of other COVID-19-related requirements has been rapidly ramped up. According to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) list released on Wednesday, 85 of 95 (close to 90 per cent) approved antibody test kit manufacturers are foreign companies. Similarly, 11 out of 21 (more than 50 per cent) ICMR-approved RT-PCR manufacturers are foreign. Sixty per cent of the approved rapid antibody test manufacturers are Chinese. Read More
When compared to other countries with similar or higher case load, India called its strict lockdown at a much earlier point on its case and death curves. Other countries had more than 500 cases when they called their strictest lockdown, while India had 320. Again, India had only four deaths on March 22, when its score reached 100, while most countries had more deaths at that point (except Switzerland; no deaths).
Spain called for its strictest measures later in its case and death count than all others. Sweden has had the most liberal measures in this set, and Iran the second most liberal. Other countries with a 100 score are Honduras, Argentina, Jordan, Libya, Sri Lanka, Serbia, and Rwanda. India now has the highest number of cases in this set. read more
Number of cases in Maharashtra neared 18,000 with death toll at 694. The state is the worst affected followed by Gujarat (7012), Delhi(5980) and Tamil Nadu (5409)
Assam reported 8 cases on Thursday — four in Cachar district, and four in the capital, Guwahati, which had 0 active cases till yesterday. “4 persons in Guwahati test COVID19 + One of them have come from outside Assam, and is in home quarantine, while 3 are from Guwahati” tweeted Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday night. While further details are awaited, the minister said that one of the four included a PG student of the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, the state’s biggest government hospital. “Consequently we have to screen everyone who came in contact with him and sanitize the entire GMCH premises,” he said. While the hospital will be closed for the next few days, special arrangements will be in place for patients already admitted and collection of new swab samples.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Assam now stands at 53, with 18 active cases and 34 discharged.
The total number of cases in India breached 56,000 mark to stand at 56,341. The death toll rose to 1886 with 103 deaths reported in single day.
*Total number of cases stand at 52,952, death toll at 1784
*Maharashtra continues to worst affected with over 20,000 cases and 651 deaths
*India’s testing capacity continues to be majorly reliant on global supply chains even as domestic manufacturing of other COVID-19-related requirements has been rapidly ramped up.
*India on Thursday launched one of its biggest evacuation exercises, bringing back the first batch of expatriates stranded overseas amid the COVID-19 shutdown, two flights arrived in Kerala with over 350 Expatriates
*Karnataka to restart trains for migrants, but many start walking
*In Gujarat, cases cross 7,000 after over 1,200 test positive in 3 days
Some global updates this morning:
*Russia overtook France and Germany, with the fifth highest number of cases in the world.
*Deaths in Italy climbed by 274 on Thursday, against 369 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections declined marginally to 1,401 from 1,444 on Wednesday.
*US deaths from the coronavirus topped 75,000 deaths on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally.
* US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have tested negative for the coronavirus after a member of the U.S. military who works at the White House as a valet came down with the virus.
*Brazil, one of the world's emerging hot spots, registered a record number of cases and deaths on Wednesday. President Bolsonaro's spokesman has tested positive and is quarantined in his home.
*China said it supports the WHO in trying to pinpoint the origins of the pandemic and accused the U.S. Secretary of State of lying in his attacks on Beijing.
*Japan has approved Gilead's remdesivir as a treatment for COVID-19, the health ministry said, making it the country's first officially authorized drug for the disease.
*Italy's confirmed coronavirus death toll is nearing 30,000. The health ministry says there were 274 deaths in the 24-hour period ending Thursday evening, raising to 29,958 the number of people who have died with diagnosed COVID-19 infections.
*The coronavirus could kill between 83,000 and 190,000 people in Africa in the first year and infect between 29 million and 44 million in the first year if it is not contained, the WHO said.
In a major relief to thousands of migrant workers and other stranded persons willing to return to their home states amid the lockdown, the Maharashtra government Thursday discontinued the need for a medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner while seeking permission to travel from the police.
The order, signed by Maharashtra Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta, stated migrants and stranded persons will be screened by government medical staff at the time of start of their journey, free of cost. Subsequently, a list of all passengers, indicating that they have been screened and found to be not displaying any influenza-like illness, will be issued by the medical person in-charge, which shall suffice, it stated. Read more here
In a meeting with leaders of various political parties on the current COVID-19 situation, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday indicated that the lockdown might be extended till the end of May in the state. Read more here
The last time the three-year-old Viaan spoke to his father, Delhi Police constable Amit Kumar (32), over the phone was on Monday evening. It was a quick chat as Kumar wasn’t feeling too well. “Papa doesn’t call me, I am angry with him now. I won’t speak to him,” said the child to his maternal uncle Ravi at their house in Haryana’s Sonepat. Little does the toddler know that a day after he last spoke to his father, the constable, posted at Bharat Nagar police station, died while on his way to Delhi’s RML hospital. A day after his death, his COVID-19 result came positive. Read Somya Lakhani's report
Two staffers of a private hospital in Greater Noida were arrested on Thursday for allegedly molesting a coronavirus patient. According to police, the accused, Luvkush and Praveen, worked in Sharda Hospital’s isolation ward and allegedly molested a 20-year-old woman on the pretext of taking her samples. She had given birth on April 20. Read more
India on Thursday launched one of its biggest evacuation exercises, bringing back the first batch of expatriates stranded overseas amid the COVID-19 shutdown. At 10.20 pm, an Air India Express flight from Abu Dhabi landed in Kerala’s Kochi international airport with 177 passengers and four children.
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