With Indians stranded in the Middle East to be evacuated from Thursday, elaborate safety measures have been put in place at Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), where the first flight from Abu Dhabi is expected that night.
Pilots and cabin crew of Air India’s first batch of flights have been given training in infection control practices, apart from undergoing RT-PCR test. Twelve Air India personnel, including four pilots, were trained by Kochi government medical college.
Medical college Resident Medical Officer Dr Ganesh Mohan said, “We trained them in using PPE suits and wearing face shield on board and handling health emergencies on flight. They were also trained in infection control practices. The demonstrations were held as per the protocol, and they were given PPE kits,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Delhi International Airport will see over 3,600 Indian nationals stranded in other countries being flown in over the coming week. The GMR-led Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) issued guidelines for passengers and staff to follow to ensure their safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting Thursday, the evacuation process will continue for a week with over 14 flights coming in from Malaysia, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, USA, Philippines and Singapore. The first flight is from Malaysia with over 250 passengers. Airport authorities have stated that the flights will land at Terminal 3. Out of the 14 flights, three are connecting flights — they will land in Delhi and proceed to Bengaluru/ Hyderabad.
As per the flight plan prepared by the External Affairs Ministry, the Delhi Airport won’t see more than three evacuation flights a day. Passengers will first be screened, then sent to quarantine centres. After two weeks, they will be sent to their hometowns.
To hold NEET amid pandemic, NTA to double test centres
Administering the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for 15 lakh candidates amid a pandemic is set to become the largest and most challenging exam management exercise for the Union government.
The National Testing Agency (NTA), The Indian Express has learnt, has been asked by the HRD Ministry to double the number of test centres to maintain social distancing during the exam.
Following government directions, the NTA is now planning to seat two candidates two metres apart, which, in other words, means it will need roughly 6,000 test centres, as opposed to the originally planned 3,000, to accommodate 15 lakh NEET aspirants. Till last year, two candidates were usually seated at a distance of one metre.
China asks Pompeo to show ‘enormous evidence’ of COVID-19 originating from Wuhan lab
China on Wednesday dared US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to show the “enormous evidence” he has to prove that the novel coronavirus originated from a lab in Wuhan and asserted that the matter should be handled by scientists instead of politicians out of their domestic political compulsions in an election year.
In recent days, US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo have claimed that the deadly virus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak was first detected last December. The two leaders have also said that China has refused to give international scientists access to learn what happened.
WITH 383 new cases, the number of confirmed infections of novel Coronavirus in Gujarat has crossed the 7,000-mark Thursday — more than 1,200 cases were added in the last three days. Twenty-nine deaths were also reported from the state, taking the total toll to 425.
Gujarat has the second highest number of cases and deaths in the country, after Maharashtra. And just as Mumbai contributes a bulk of the cases as well as deaths in Maharashtra, an overwhelming number in Gujarat has been reported from Ahmedabad. Read more here
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As the number of COVID-19 cases in Vadodara reached 476, the district and city administration decided to open three more care centres outside the GMERS Gotri facility. Read more here
Gujarat has so far sent back 1.20 lakh migrants, stranded in the state due to the COVID-19 lockdown, to their home states in 101 Shramik Special trains including the 34 trains which will leave the state on Thursday. Read more here
Amid complaints of PDS dealers denying ration to card holders and selling grains in the market by citing problems with the e-PoS system, the Bihar government has asked the dealers not to deny ration to anyone and to use dealer authentication in case of any technical issue. There are 1.68 crore households with ration cards in the state and out of them, 1.02 crore cards are linked to Aadhaar.
Ration dealers, who had threatened to go on strike from May 1 to protest against the e-PoS system, withdrew the strike call after the government issued stern warnings. There are about 42,000 PDS shops in the state. Read more here
As part of its COVID-19 containment strategies, Vadodara Municipal Corporation has announced a few steps to identify super-spreaders as well as people flouting the lockdown guidelines. Read more here
Five companies of paramilitary forces arrived in Ahmedabad on Thursday from New Delhi in a special plane after the state government requested the Centre for assistance in the wake of Ahmedabad city entering complete shutdown from May 7 to May 15. Read more here
A large number of commercial sex workers (CSW) in Pune’s red light area at Budhwar Peth want to return home as their source of income is completely suspended due to a nationwide lockdown. However, being in a containment zone, travelling out of Pune is not permitted as of now, while the larger question is: will their families accept them?
Till the beginning of 2019, the approximate number of sex workers in Budhwar Peth was around 3,500. They lived in over 350 brothels and 70-odd buildings in the red light area. Following a police crackdown aimed at rescuing minor girls and those forced into sex work, their number stands at around 2,500 now, as per social organisations working for the welfare of CSWs. Read more here
Passengers embarking the flight from Dubai being screened at CCJ Airport, Kozhikode. (Photos: Air India Express)
Passengers coming out from the first repatriation flight from Abu Dhabi at Kochi Airport. (Photos: Air India Express)
Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clearly define the way forward for the country’s economic revival and an exit strategy from phase 3 of the lockdown.
In a letter to the PM, the chief minister said, “The exit strategy may not only lay down the parameters to contain COVID-19 within safe limits but should also define the path of economic revival. It should consider and focus on fiscal and economic empowerment of the states.” Punjab was the first state in the country to implement a curfew to check spread of coronavirus. Amarinder has also constituted a task force for chalking out an exit strategy for the state, apart from a panel headed by Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Read more here
Air India Express flight that took off from Abu Dhabi with 177 Indian nationals on board has landed in Kochi.
In just five days as many as 7.74 lakh migrants have applied through a government web portal to return to their native states from Haryana. The state government had launched this website Sunday. On the same portal, nearly 92,000 others have applied to be brought to Haryana from other states.
The numbers of those wanting to return and those wanting to leave now pose a big challenge to the authorities.
As of now, official sources revealed, the government has finalised plans to send only 40,000 migrant workers to their native states from Haryana. Officials believe that even those persons have applied on the web portal who are comparatively comfortable at their work places currently. READ MORE
Two BSF personnel succumbed to Covid-19 on Thursday even as the total infections in the force inched towards 200. Along with CRPF (161), ITBP (45) and SSB (13), the total infections in paramilitary forces have now crossed 400. Barring 30 cases in Tripura, all cases have been reported in Delhi.
Moreover, 41 more personnel from the force tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday, taking the total infections in the BSF to 193. Of the 41 new infections, 12 belonged to the company that was deployed to maintain law and order in Jama Masjid and Chandani Mahal areas with Delhi police. This company of 94 personnel now has 73 positive cases.
Among the two BSF personnel who died, one had kidney ailment and had been going through dialysis while the other had no co-morbidities. The latter was 45 years of age and died within two days of developing symptoms. His test results came three days after his death. READ MORE
The Brihanmummbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Thursday said it has up a committee to verify a purported video of dead bodies kept next to COVID-19 patients in city’s Sion Hospital which went viral on social media. This comes after the BJP hit out at the Sena-ruled BMC over the incident.
In a statement, the civic body said the committee will find out the facts and submit its report in next 24-hours. As per the finding of reports action will be taken against the guilty. Civic body will ensure that no such incidents happens, the statement said. READ MORE
As many as 72 inmates and seven jail officials have tested positive for Covid-19 at Arthur Road jail in Mumbai. This comes a day after an undertrial and two prison guards were tested positive for the same. This is the first time that the coronavirus cases have been detected in a prison in Maharashtra. The jail has nearly 2,600 inmates against a capacity of only 800.
Meanwhile, the first of the two flights from the UAE carrying 177 Indian nationals left for Kerala, as India began its biggest ever repatriation exercise to bring back its citizens stranded abroad amidst the international travel lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic. A total of 354 Indian nationals, including 11 pregnant women and a pair of twins, will return home Thursday in the two flights from the UAE to Kerala as part of the repatriation exercise named 'Vande Bharat Mission.' For more updates, track our separate live blog on evacuation here
Companies of Border Security Force (BSF), Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Gujarat Police conducted a flag march at Delhi Darwaza in old city Ahmedabad on Thursday evening as the city enters first day of the complete shutdown to control the spread of Covid-19. Civic authorities of Ahmedabad and Surat decided to close all shops except those selling milk and medicines for a week. While order came in effect from May 7 midnight in Ahmedabad, it will be enforced from Saturday in Surat. As many as 27 people succumbed to the virus in Gujarat on Wednesday — 25 of the deaths were from Ahmedabad. (Express Photo by Javed Raja)
Kamleshwar Singh)
A group of 13 migrant workers reached Jamnagar railway station in Gujarat on Wednesday evening after being stranded in the state for over 40 days. However, they were heartbroken when they found out that they won’t be able to board the Shramik Special train headed towards Uttar Pradesh, as they didn’t have the money to purchase the tickets. At that moment, Jamnagar Police stepped up and purchased train tickets for 13 of the workers. They ensured that the workers board the train and reach their homes by Thursday. Read more here
Delhi Police personnel shower flower petals at the ambulance carrying constable Amit Kumar's body. He died Tuesday evening, six hours after he was tested for coronavirus following complaints of breathlessness, slight fever and cough.
The Indian Express spoke to two of his colleagues, who were with him since Monday. They alleged that Kumar was turned away from two hospitals, which asked for a coronavirus test before admitting him. Read more here
In the last six days, Gujarat transported around 1.20 lakh migrant workers in 101 Shramik trains, including 34 trains that will leave the platform on Thursday.
Listing out the 34 trains that will leave the state on Thursday, Ashwani Kumar, secretary to chief minister Vijay Rupani said that 20 of the trains will head for Uttar Pradesh, five for Odisha, four for Bihar, two each for Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh and one for Chhattisgarh. Majority of these trains (12) will run from Surat and six more from Sabarmati and Viramgam stations in Ahmedabad. Three trains will also operate from Morbi and two from Jamnagar. There are similar trains from Junagadh, Godhra, Palanpur and Mehsana.
Kerala recorded no new positive cases on Thursday. Also, five more persons—three from Kannur and two from neighbouring Kasaragod—have recovered, bringing the tally of active cases in the state to 25. Starting tonight, Kerala’s four international airports will begin to receive the first batch of expatriates stranded abroad as part of the Centre’s Vande Bharat evacuation efforts. As part of phase one of the evacuation efforts, 15 of the scheduled 64 flights from different countries between May 7 and May 13 are destined for Kerala, each carrying nearly 200 passengers. Flights operating to Kerala will carry people from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat, Kuala Lumpur and Dammam.
Click here to know more about how well is Kerala prepared to receive its expatriates
In case you missed it, here's a recap of all major developments on Covid-19 that happened today across the world.
The Indian Railways said it has operated 163 Shramik Special trains since May 1 and ferried home over 1.60 lakh migrants stranded in various parts of the country due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Railways said it ran 56 Shramik special trains on Wednesday and 14 so far on Thursday, taking the total tally to 163. Till May 7, 50 trains were still on their journeys while 113 have reached their destinations. PTI
A day after the Karnataka government's decision to scrap trains ferrying migrants back home attracted criticism from several quarters, the BS Yeddyurappa-led government has decided to restart train services for migrant labourers. The state government has written to nodal officers of various states seeking their consent to operate trains to their states.
Two personnel from the Border Security Force (BSF) have succumbed to Covid-19 infection. The force has recorded over 150 infections with around 30 cases in Tripura and rest all in Delhi. The paramilitary forces are fast emerging as a significant cluster for the novel coronavirus infections in the national capital, with CRPF and ITBP registering significant number of cases. Together, over 350 personnel in paramilitary forces are now said to be infected, and close to 320 are in Delhi alone. Read more here
The number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus infection crossed the 50,000 figure mark on Wednesday, as India added close to 3500 new cases in a day. Of these, the city of Mumbai alone has contributed over 10,000 cases. While it took India nearly a month and a half to discover the first 10,000 cases, the journey from 40,000 to 50,000 cases has taken just four days. Read more here
The Uttar Pradesh government has lifted its ban on 'paan masala' which does not contain nicotine and tobacco, according to an official order. "The ban on manufacturing and sale of 'paan masala' imposed on March 25 has been lifted," Commissioner Food Security and Drug administration Anita Singh said in the order issued on Wednesday. The order, however, clarified that the ban on manufacture, storage and sale of 'gutka/paan masala' with nicotine and tobacco will continue. PTI
A 55-year old woman from Davanagere became the 30th coronavirus-related fatality in Karnataka, where the total number of cases has crossed 700 mark, with eight new positive cases being confirmed, the health department said on Thursday. The deceased woman was a known case of diabetes and hypertension, she was admitted with complaint of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and was on ventilator, the department said in its mid-day situation update. She died today at designated hospital in Davanagere, it said. "Eight new positive cases have been reported from last evening to this noon... Till date 701 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed. This includes 30 deaths and 363 discharges," the update said.
Over 3,400 migrant workers arrived in Uttar Pradesh from different parts of the country by Shramik special trains today, officials said, As many as 1,220 migrants arrived in Banda district by from Surat in Gujarat, 1,192 arrived in Lucknow from Bengaluru and 1,079 arrived in Barabanki from Hyderabad. According to Additional District Magistrate, Banda, Santosh Bahadur Singh, "The Shramik special train from Surat arrived in Banda at 6.40 am. All the 1,220 labourers after undergoing thermal scanning, are being sent by roadways buses," he said. Of these migrant labourers, 1,070 are from Banda and the rest from Fatehpur, Chitrakoot, Mahoba and Hamirpur, the ADM said, adding that they will be kept in 14 days of quarantine before being sent to their home.
TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu today requested the Prime Minister's Office to allow him to travel by flight from Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam to help those affected by the gas leak from a chemical plant. The request comes at a time when all domestic and international flights, except cargo and those engaged in essential and emergency services, are suspended due to the lockdown. The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister said a "great misfortune" has befallen the people of Visakhapatnam due to styrene gas leakage from LG Polymers. Naidu said he is obliged to visit the district as a former chief minister and as the leader of the opposition in the state assembly. The gas leak has left at least six people dead and scores of people are hospitalised. Rescue operations are underway. "I request you to grant me permission for air travel from Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam to Hyderabad by flight no VT-VKR," Naidu said in a letter to the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, P K Mishra.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday condoled the death of a Delhi Police constable due to coronavirus and said his family will be provided with an ex-gratia of Rs one crore. "Amit ji did not care for his life and kept serving us Delhi people. He got infected with corona and passed away. I pay homage to his sacrifice on behalf of all Delhi people. An ex gratia of Rs one crore will be given to his family," Kejriwal said in a tweet. The 31-year-old constable, who hailed from Sonipat, was posted at Bharat Nagar Police Station in northwest Delhi, police said.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh today said that 487 policemen have tested positive for the virus in the state ever since the nationwide lockdown came into force. The lockdown was imposed on March 24 and has been extended till May 17 to contain the spread of coronavirus. Taking to Twitter, Deshmukh said, '487 police personnel have tested positive for Covid-19 since the lockdown.' In a series of tweets, he also said that there is a steady rise in the number of calls regarding Covid-19 on the police helpline number 100. The minister added as many as 85,309 calls have been received on the number so far. The NCP leader also said that 3,10,694 passes have been issued for essential service providers and those caught in emergencies till now.
Briefing reporters on the evacuation process from Maldives, Indian envoy Sunjay Sudhir said, "For Maldives, we will witness an evacuation operation in the next few days, the largest ever evacuation in our history. I am grateful to the Indian Navy to launch Operation Samudra Setu to evacuate around 2,000 Indians from Maldives. The operation will be conducted in two phases, first to Kochi (Kerala) and second to Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu). It will be a big relief for Indians in Maldives.
Of the total 5,532 novel coronavirus cases reported in Delhi till Wednesday, more than one-third were recorded from May 1 to May 6. On Wednesday 428 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported in the national capital, the largest number in a single day. The previous largest spike in a day was 427 on May 3. In the last six days, May 1- May 6, as many as 2,017 cases were recorded. On May 1, 223 Covid-19 cases were reported; May 2 (384); May 3 (427); May 4 (349); May 5 (206); and May 6 (428). Besides the 428 novel coronavirus cases on Wednesday, one person died of the disease. No fresh death was reported from May 3 to May 5. Of the total number of 65 fatalities reported till date, 33 of the deceased were aged 60 and above, making over 50 per cent of the total death cases, officials said.
Several Indians who were stranded in Maldives are on their way back to India. (Source: Twitter/HCIMaldives)
Mizoram Health Minister R Lalthangliana has said that the state is not in a hurry for the 'Covid-19 free' tag as it is still vulnerable and a new case can be detected any time, The minister's comment comes even though the state's lone Covid-19 patient has tested negative more than once. The patient, who is currently undergoing treatment at the Zoram Medical College near Aizawl, has tested negative for the virus but is yet to be declared recovered, Lalthangliana said on Wednesday. We are not in a hurry to declare our state as 'COVID-19 free' because we are still vulnerable and can detect a new case at any time, he told new agency PTI. The patient tested negative for coronavirus infection for the first time on April 27. Four of his samples were collected and sent to Silchar on May 1, results of which came in as negative on Monday, Lalthangliana said.
Hours after Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa ‘requested’ migrant labourers to stay back on Wednesday, the state government decided to cancel all trains arranged to transport migrants to other states. The migrant labourers decided to towards Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand from Bengaluru.
Two sailors of INS Netaji Subhas, a land-based logistics hub of the Indian Navy in Kolkata, were tested for the virus after they showed flu-like symptoms, a defence spokesperson told PTI today. The close contacts of the two sailors have been quarantined, spokesperson Wing Commander M S Hooda said, adding that the test results of the two sailors, who showed flu-like symptoms, were awaited. 'Following laid down protocols/procedures, the other personnel have been quarantined as a precautionary measure,' the spokesperson said in a statement. He, however, did not specify the number of personnel at INS Subhas who have been quarantined.
An undertrial and two prison guards have tested positive for Covid-19 at Mumbai Central Prison, triggering fears of a possible infection hotspot. As many as 150 others, including over 15 staffers and senior prison officials who came in close proximity with the three, have undergone tests, with results expected on Thursday, Inspector General (Prisons) Deepak Pandey said. This is the first time that coronavirus cases have been detected in a prison in Maharashtra. The jail, better known as Arthur Road jail, has nearly 2,600 inmates against a capacity of only 800.
The Tripura government today revised the compensation for Covid-19 deaths from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 10 lakh even as no fresh casualties were reported. In a press statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office, CM Biplab Kumar Deb said the state government will provide Rs 10 lakh in case of death of any frontline worker. A previously announced ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh would be given from the SDRF and the remaining Rs 6 lakh would be sourced from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, he added. Deb also announced Covid-19 tests for all the media personnel on the ground.
Kerala Police today resorted to mild lathicharge in Koothattukulam area of Ernakulam district to disperse migrant labourers who were demanding that they be sent back to their native places.
All visas for foreign nationals and the OCI card visa free travel for Indian-origin people, who are not in the country, remain suspended till the restrictions on international travel to and from India remain in place, the Indian embassy in the US said on Wednesday. However, for all foreign nationals inside the country whose visas have expired and cannot travel out of India due to the international travel restrictions, can apply for their visa extension without any additional fee, it said in a statement.
‘Vande Bharat Mission’ will see the operation of 64 flights from May 7 to May 13 to bring back around 15,000 Indian nationals stranded abroad amid the Covid-19 lockdown.
Rajasthan recorded two more coronavirus deaths on Thursday, while 38 people tested positive for the virus, an official said. The death toll in the state has climbed to 95. The state has 1,521 active cases now, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rohit Kumar Singh said. The deaths were reported from Jaipur and Ajmer districts. Jaipur alone has reported 52 deaths. As many as 38 new cases, including 16 in Chittorgarh, nine in Jaipur, six in Pali, four in Dholpur, two in Kota and one in Udaipur have been reported, the health department official said. The state now has 3,355 confirmed cases of Covid-19, out of which 1,275 have been discharged from hospitals, Singh said.
Odisha on Thursday reported the "highest number of Covid-19 cases" in a day as 20 people, who recently returned from Surat, tested positive for coronavirus, an official told PTI. With these new cases, the total number of people afflicted with the disease has climbed to 205, he added. Of the 20 new patients, 17 are from Ganjam district and three from Mayrurbhanj, a new one in the list of districts where coronavirus cases have been reported, an Information and Public Relations department official said. "These new patients have recently returned from Surat and were in quarantine centres," the official said.
INS Jalashwa today headed towards Male port, under Operation Samudra Setu, to repatriate Indians from Maldives.
As the government prepares to bring home stranded Indians from abroad, here is a look at the flights that will run amid the lockdown. (Source: PIB)
The Delhi government is discussing the possibility of home delivery of alcohol amid the lockdown, something that Chhattisgarh and Punjab have already announced. Senior government officials, however, said there were major challenges to the plan, especially in a city as densely populated as Delhi. “Discussions are underway, though at a preliminary stage. The biggest issue that needs to be resolved, if we go forward with this, is that of back-end operations. In a city like Delhi, demand is going to be high. We have to see if we have the capacity to fulfil that demand…,” said an official. The Delhi government had said government-owned liquor stores could open from Monday provided they are not located in malls or market complexes, and social distancing norms are followed, as per orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Alarming doubling rate, confirmation percentage “way above” the national average and high fatality rate — three districts in the national capital have come under the lens of the Union government for a set of worrying factors, as per official documents. The Indian Express has learnt that Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev sought a report on the “underperformance” of these three districts — Central, Southeast and North — after the Union Health Ministry raised the matter in a meeting chaired by the Union Cabinet Secretary on May 3. There are 11 districts in Delhi.
A 58-year-old assistant sub-inspector of police has died of coronavirus in Maharashtras Solapur district, an official said on Thursday. With this, five police personnel from the state have so far succumbed to the viral infection. The assistant sub-inspector, posted at Solapur MIDC police station, was admitted to the civil hospital there on Tuesday after he tested positive for coronavirus. He died while undergoing treatment at the hospital on Wednesday, the official said. The victim, who was set to retire after four months, was on duty till last week, he said.
With fresh Covid-19 cases reported in India, here's what the latest figures look like. (Source: PIB)
Seven non-scheduled special flights will operate from Saturday to fly back Indian nationals stranded in the US amidst the international travel lockdown, the Indian embassy in Washington said. A computerised draw of lots would identify the names of the Indian nationals for the special seven flights back home, due to the limited number of seats available. "Since the number of seats on the flights would be limited, passengers with the compelling cases such as those facing medical emergencies or requiring return due to bereavement in the family, students, pregnant women, elderly or those facing expiry of visas will be given priority, and identified through an electronic random selection method," the embassy said.
The number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus infection crossed the 50,000 figure mark on Wednesday, as India added close to 3,500 new cases in a day. Of these, the city of Mumbai alone has contributed over 10,000 cases. While it took India nearly a month and a half to discover the first 10,000 cases, the journey from 40,000 to 50,000 cases has taken just four days. Globally, now there are only 13 countries with more infections than India. One of them, Peru has about 55,000 cases, which India is likely to surpass today itself.
Of the 548 deaths recorded in Maharashtra as of May 3, 239 (44 per cent) are from the minority Muslim community — almost thrice their share (just under 12 per cent) in the state’s population. This has prompted the state epidemiology department to plan issuing Covid awareness messages in Urdu in select hotspots and roping in local religious leaders for outreach. An analysis of official records by The Indian Express shows that between March 17, when the first death was reported in the state, and April 15, 89 of the 187 deaths were from the Muslim community. Between April 15 to May 3, of the 361 additional deaths, 150 were from the community. State officials and experts point to several reasons behind this: curbs on travellers from the Gulf came as late as mid-March; Friday prayers in many mosques continued until March 20; a significant share of the community lives in neighbourhoods where social distancing is difficult, population density is high, and access to healthcare poor.
The Uttar Pradesh Public Health and Epidemic Disease Control Ordinance, 2020, cleared by the Cabinet on Wednesday, prescribes a maximum punishment of life term if “death be caused by intentional (Covid-19) affliction”. Section 24 of the ordinance on “punishment for intentional affliction” says any person who “intentionally” infects another person with a contagious disease shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for 2-5 years. Section 25 defines “mass affliction” as infecting five or more persons. Section 26 states that “whoever causes death by affliction under Sections 24 and 25, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years but may extend to imprisonment for life”, and shall also be liable to pay a fine ranging from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. When contacted, Chief Secretary R K Tiwari said the meaning of “intentionally here is the same as defined in legal terms”.
Another coronavirus death was registered in Kashmir after a patient at SMHS hospital (Srinagar) passed away on Wednesday night. Nine Covid-19 deaths have been registered in the Union Territori (8 Kashmir, one Udhampur) so far while 775 people have been infected.
The first Shramik Special from Bihar to Telangana, Khagaria- Lingampalli (Telangana), started off with several migrants workers this morning.