A Covid patient waits in an ambulance to be admitted to LNJP hospital, outside LNJP Hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)West Bengal Tuesday registered its highest single-day deaths of 107 Covid patients, taking the toll to 11,744, PTI reported. In Uttar Pradesh, 352 new Covid-related fatalities were recorded but the one-day recoveries outstripped new cases by over 12,500. The state reported 25,858 new cases and 38,683 recoveries, the data showed.
Coronavirus in India: Read Live Updates on May 5
Observing that the Centre was quibbling about “little things” when people are dying in Delhi, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the central government to showcase why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against it for non-compliance of judicial orders by not supplying 700 MTs of oxygen to Delhi. The court said Delhi was not receiving even the 590 MTs of allocated oxygen and that the national capital was facing a grim reality every day of people not able to secure oxygen beds and ICU beds.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced free ration for all ration cardholders for a period of 2 months. In Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced a complete Covid-19 lockdown till May 15 in the state.
India recorded over 3.57 lakh new covid-19 cases in the 24 hours ending 8 am Tuesday, taking the total infections past the 2 crore mark. With this, the country reported a decline in daily spike for the third consecutive day. Over 34 lakh cases are currently active, the lowest rise in active cases in a month, while over 1.66 crore people have recovered after testing positive. With 3,449 deaths, the toll is now over 2.22 lakh.
In another development, drug major Pfizer has said that it is in talks with the government to seek an “expedited approval pathway” for its Covid-19 vaccine, adding that while the application to register its vaccine “was submitted months ago”, it has not been done yet.
The last rites of Covid-19 victims being performed in Lucknow. (Express Photo: Vishal Srivastava)
Manipur on Tuesday imposed a complete ban on movement of vehicles, except for activities relating to essential services, in Greater Imphal and areas under Imphal Municipal Council (IMC).
The development comes in the wake of a surge of Covid cases and deaths in the state. On Tuesday, Manipur reported 433 Covid cases, the biggest spike for the current year, and two deaths. Read more
Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 51,880 new coronavirus infections which took the state's case tally to 48,22,902, while 891 fatalities pushed the death toll to 71,742, the health department said. Out of 891 deaths, 397 occurred in the last 48 hours while the rest had taken place earlier but were reported on Tuesday, officials said. PTI
The need for RT-PCR test in healthy individuals undertaking inter-state domestic travel may be completely removed to reduce the load on laboratories, recommended an ICMR advisory for COVID-19 testing during the second wave of the pandemic.
The advisory stated that RT-PCR test must not be repeated in any individual who has tested positive once either by RAT or RT-PCR and that testing is not required for COVID-19 recovered individuals at the time of hospital discharge in accordance with the discharge policy of the Ministry of Health.
The advisory was issued in view of laboratories facing challenges to meet the expected testing target due to extraordinary case load and staff getting infected with COVID-19. PTI
Uttar Pradesh Tuesday breached the 350-mark for daily Covid-19 deaths as 352 patients succumbed to the viral disease, but one-day recoveries outstripped new cases by over 12,500, according to official figures.
The state reported 25,858 new cases and 38,683 recoveries, the data showed.
The latest additions take the state's overall coronavirus numbers to 13,798 fatalities, 13,68,183 infections and 2,72,568 active cases, the data showed.
The total number of patients discharged from hospitals in the state stands at 10,81,817. (PTI)
The Jammu and Kashmir government Tuesday extended the Covid-19 induced curfew in four districts, including Jammu and Srinagar, till Monday next week.
Pointing out that the decision has been taken in view of the trend in Covid positive cases, the positivity rate and the cases per million, an official statement here said that it was earlier ending in Jammu, Srinagar, Baramulla and Budgam on Thursday 7 am.
Apart from this, it improved Corona curfew in Samba district also from Wednesday 7 pm till May 10 morning.
On Tuesday, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed 4650 new cases of COVID-19 including 1463 in Jammu division and 3187 in Kashmir. There were 37 Covid-related deaths also in the UT including 25 in Jammu division.
The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said that aid received from other countries has been distributed in different states to help deal with the rising number of Covid-19 cases.
Based on the criteria and principles laid out by the ministry, depending on each state's requirement, 24 different categories of items numbering nearly 40 lakhs were distributed to 38 institutions in different states, the ministry said in a statement.
Major categories of equipment include BiPAP machines; oxygen (concentrators, cylinders, PSA Oxygen plants and pulse oximeters); drugs (Favipiravir and Remdesivir); and PPE (coveralls, N-95 masks and gowns).
Since grant in aid is limited in quantity, it has to be optimally utilized by allocating it to high burden states [states with higher number of active cases], where the requirement for such equipment/medicines is more, according to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for allocations.
Spreading such aid thinly each time over a large number of states may not bring forth the desired results, the ministry said, adding it will also lead to small packages travelling large distances, high turnaround times and possible wastage of resources.
The requirement of the high burden states in the context of number of persons admitted in hospitals and prior distribution done by the central government resources would also be considered. (PTI)
As many as 4,245 police personnel have tested positive and 25 have died due to Covid in the last 55 days -- since March 11. In total, 73,902 police personnel have received the first dose of the vaccine, and 63,510 have received both doses. At 441, the maximum number of cases have been reported from the Police Control Room (PCR) unit, while 343 cases have been reported from the security unit and 242 from the traffic unit, The Indian Express has learned.
An officer told The Indian Express that in the one year until March 10, around 7,724 police personnel had tested positive and 34 had died. “In the Cowin app, a total of 80,276 police personnel have registered themselves,” a senior Special CP-rank officer said.
The PCR unit has the maximum number of police personnel -- around 8,000 -- who are first responders to any distress calls. While giving a break-up of the security unit, where 343 cases have been reported, the officer said around 145 cases were reported from personnel posted at the L-G's house, CM’s house, Vidhan Sabha, and PSOs posted with protected persons. From the Prime Minister’s security wing, 65 cases have been reported. Report by Mahender Singh Manral
The last time AIIMS nursing officer Rakhi John spoke to her grandmother -- or amma, as she called her, because she was almost like a mother to her -- was a day before she was admitted to an ICU in Thiruvananthapuram.
As John looked after the health of Covid patients admitted at AIIMS, her 78-year-old grandmother also battled with the virus until her death on Sunday.
“I was in so much pain that day… She had raised me as her own child, took care of my education and everything else after my mother died from leukaemia when I was just a year old. She was my amma… but this disease is such that patients who wish to see their loved ones for one last time, and families wanting to say a final goodbye, are not able to do so,” said John (34).
She decided that her presence was needed more for patients she was looking after than her grandmother’s funeral in Kerala, even during which, owing to Covid protocols requiring bodies to be sealed in a bag, she could not have seen her face one final time. Read this report by Shivam Patel
Kerala on Tuesday logged 37,190 fresh COVID-19 cases, while 26,148 people were cured of the infection, taking the caseload to 17,01,979 and recoveries to 13.39 lakh, the state government said. The toll mountedto 5,507 with 57 more deaths.
With cases rising steeply, the government's earlier announcement of severe lockdown like restrictions from today till May 9 have come into force.
All central and state government offices, PSUs and private offices should function only with 25 per cent staff strength. The rest of the employees can work from home, a state government release said.
As many as 3,56,872 people are presently undergoing treatment for the infection, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here. (PTI)
Even as COVID-19 deaths continue to dominate the headlines, a civic-run hospital in south Mumbai has successfully delivered babies of 1,001 COVID-19 patients amid the pandemic, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said on Tuesday.
As per a release issued by the civic body, B Y L Nair Hospital achieved this milestone due to the efforts of three departments namely obstetrics, neonatal and paediatrics and anaesthesiology.
Doctors, nurses, ward boys and other staffers from the three departments worked tirelessly for hours, wearing uncomfortable PPE kits to carry out deliveries of infected mothers, it said, adding that the departments of obstetrics, neonatal and paediatrics has around 75 staffers each.
"The COVID-19 infection is not congenital. Even if the mother is infected with coronavirus, the baby does not get the infection. However, it can be transmitted through contact with the mother after birth," said Dr Sushma Malik of Nair Hospital. (PTI)
Renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma plays a 'song of comfort' to acknowledge India's fight against the Covid-19.
Taking a strict view of the ongoing Covid crisis in the capital, the Delhi High Court Tuesday issued a showcause notice to the Centre over non-compliance of orders passed by it and the Supreme Court for ensuring sufficient supply of medical oxygen to the national capital.
'It pains us that aspect of supply of oxygen for treatment of Covid-19 patients in Delhi should be viewed from the way it has been done by Central government. We are facing the grim reality every day of people not able to secure oxygen beds, even ICU beds. Situation has come to this hospitals have had to reduce beds offered by them because they are not able to service due to shortage of oxygen. On one hand there is need to augment capacity to deal with cases, on other hand existing infrastructure in crumbling. We therefore direct central government to showcase why contempt should not be initiated for non-compliance of orders passed by us and Supreme Court on April 30,' the court said.
Tech giant Samsung has pledged $5 million (Rs 37 Crores) as its contribution to India’s fight against the second wave Covid-19 by providing donations to central and state governments and boosting the healthcare sector with essential medical equipment for hospitals.
In a media release, the company said it will donate $3 mn to the Centre as well as to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
"In addition, to help the healthcare system that has been stretched over the last few weeks, Samsung will provide USD 2 million worth of medical supplies, including 100 Oxygen Concentrators, 3,000 Oxygen Cylinders and one million LDS syringes. These will be offered to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu," the statement read.
Eight Asiatic lions in Hyderabad zoo, which tested positive for Covid-19, have responded well to the treatment and recovering, the Centre said in a release.
The lions were tested for Covid after their saliva samples were examined by CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Rakesh Mishra, advisor of the premier research institute said on Tuesday.
"Preventive measures are already in place for all zoo staff and the zoo has been closed to visitors to avoid minimal external contact," a government release said.
The Joint Entrance Test for the IIT, scheduled this month, has been postponed considering the ongoing Covid-19 situation, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said.
The Air India’s pilot association released a statement Tuesday asking the management to vaccinate all flying crew above 18 years of age on priority. The pilot's body also warned of stopping work if their demand is not met.
Fierce new Covid-19 waves are enveloping other developing countries across the world, placing severe strain on their health-care systems and prompting appeals for help.
Nations ranging from Laos to Thailand in Southeast Asia, and those bordering India such as Bhutan and Nepal, have been reporting significant surges in infections in the past few weeks. The increase is mainly because of more contagious virus variants, though complacency and lack of resources to contain the spread have also been cited as reasons.
Nearly 35 tonnes of equipment, including 450 empty oxygen cylinders donated by the UK and airlifted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Britain arrived here early on Tuesday.
According to the Indian Red Cross Society, UK donated 5,000 cylinders to India through it to meet the emergency requirement for empty oxygen cylinders during the second wave of coronavirus in the country.
Of these, 900 cylinders were meant for Tamil Nadu. The equipment were brought from Brize Norton, by one of two IAF C-17 Globemaster aircraft that earlier left for the UK on May 2 from its Jamnagar air base in Gujarat to bring the supplies, a Defence release said. (PTI)
Claiming that Centre’s resources are being diverted for the “construction of a new house for the prime minister,” Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Tuesday criticised the government for not putting all its resources in saving the lives of people at a time when the country is struggling with shortage of oxygen, vaccines and hospital beds amid a deadly covid wave.
In a tweet this morning, Gandhi wrote: “When the people of the country are struggling with shortage of oxygen, vaccines, hospital beds, medicines, then it would be better if the government put all the resources in the work of saving the lives of the people, instead of constructing a new house of 13,000 crores.”
Delhi University (DU) Tuesday said it was suspending online classes in all colleges and departments till May 16 due to rising cases of COVID-19 in the capital. The decision has come after demands for suspension of classes have been raised by hundreds of first year students from various colleges.
In a notice Tuesday, Registrar Vikas Gupta said, “In view of sudden surge in COVID-19 cases, the online teaching shall remain suspended till May 16, 2021 in the Departments and Colleges of the University. This is issued with the approval of the Competent Authority.” (With Aranya Shankar)
IPL 2021 has been suspended for now as a Sunrisers Hyderabad team member Wriddhiman Saha tested positive for Covid-19.
"The IPL has been suspended for time being. We spoke to everyone from teams, broadcasters and all those who were involved in it. It was decided to defer the IPL especially looking at the sentiment and current situation in the country. For us players health is paramount and BCCI will always keeps safety first. We will meet again soon and decide when we can conclude this edition, we will have to see when is the next window available," Rajiv Shuka.
Delhi Police has arrested a 24-year-old contractual nurse of Moolchand Hospital for allegedly stealing remdesivir injection from patients who died in their hospital during treatment, and giving it to her friend, who was selling them at a high price. Police have also arrested the nurse’s four associates and recovered seven vials of the drug, which is being used in the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
Additional DCP (north-west) Dr Guriqbal Singh Singh Sidhu said, “We have arrested the accused identified as Lalitesh Chauhan, contractual nurse of Moolchand hospital, her friend, Shubham Patnaik (23), who has completed his nursing attendant course, his associates Vishal Kashyap (22) and Vipul Verma (29), working as clerk in Delhi government’s Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS).” (With Mahinder Singh Manral)
Having hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) was all set to resume today with SRH vs MI match in Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium but a new case of Covid-19 has come up in SRH camp. As per Indian Express Sources, an SRH player has tested positive which may lead to the postponement of today’s match as well.
Follow IPL 2021 Live Updates here
A PIL in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought a direction to the Centre to waive clinical trials of foreign vaccines so that they are available for use without any delay and to give priority in vaccination to those who have already taken the first dose.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh, however, said it will hear the matter on May 13 as issues raised in the petition are already being considered by the Supreme Court which has also passed a detailed order regarding the same on April 30.
The court decided to adjourn the matter after the central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia, appearing for the Union Health Ministry, said a similar issue was before the Supreme Court and it has issued directions to the Centre regarding the same. (PTI)
As Covid crisis continues in the capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced free ration for all ration card holders for a period of 2 months. “We have decided that all ration card holders in Delhi, around 72 lakhs in number, will be given free ration for the next 2 months. It doesn't mean that the lockdown will continue for 2 months. It is just being done to help the poor going through financial issues, Kejriwal said in a presser.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought responses of the Centre and the Delhi government on a PIL to temporarily increase the number of cremation and burial sites in the city in view of the "overwhelming" number of people dying due to COVID-19 daily.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh issued a notice to the Centre, Delhi government, National Disaster Management Authority and the municipal bodies seeking their stand on the plea by a lawyer. The court directed the authorities to consider data provided by the petitioner, Pratyush Prasanna, while filing their replies. (PTI)
As cases continue to rise, Bihar has decided to implement a complete Covid-19 lockdown till May 15, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced on Tuesday.
Following a request from the United Kingdom, samples of the double-mutant Indian variant of the coronavirus, suspected to be fuelling the fierce second surge, are being sent to London to enable wider studies on the effectiveness of the existing vaccines against it.
“The samples of the virus culture are in the process of being sent to the UK. In fact, an exchange of samples of the variants is happening. The first shipment should happen in the next few days,” Rakesh Mishra, who retired as director of the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology three days ago, told The Indian Express.
This particular variant, named B.1.617, first discovered in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in December last year, is the focus of global attention now, because of its possible role in triggering India’s second wave of infections. (Read Amitabh Sinha's report here)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the only way to stop the spread of Covid-19 now is a full lockdown and that the Central government is killing innocent people due to its "inaction" on this front. In a tweet, Rahul said, "GOI doesn’t get it. The only way to stop the spread of Corona now is a full lockdown- with the protection of NYAY for the vulnerable sections. GOI’s inaction is killing many innocent people."
The travel ban imposed by US President Joe Biden for people coming from India, which is experiencing one of the worst waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, came into effect on Tuesday. Biden issued a proclamation on Friday restricting travel from India starting from May 4.
Certain categories of students, academics, journalists and individuals have been exempted from the ban, according to the US State Department. US nationals, those having green cards, their non-citizen spouses and children below 21 years of age, are among the various categories exempted from the restrictions. The new travel restrictions have been imposed for an indefinite period and will require another presidential proclamation to end it. (PTI)
India recorded over 3.57 lakh new covid-19 cases in the 24 hours ending 8 am Tuesday, taking the total infections in the country to over 2.02 crore. Out of this, over 34 lakh cases are currently active while over 1.66 crore people have recovered after testing positive. With 3,449 deaths, the toll is now over 2.22 lakh.
The Punjab health department administered just 30,757 doses across the state Monday amid an extreme shortage of vaccines. Earlier, when stocks were sufficient, Punjab was administering 80,000-90,000 doses of the vaccine on an average per day.
On Saturday, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare allocated 6 lakh doses to Punjab — 4.63 lakh doses of Covishield and 1.52 lakh doses of Covaxin — under the ‘Government of India’ channel, of which the state is expected to receive 2 lakh doses of Covishield on Tuesday.
“We are to receive 2 lakh doses of Covishield Tuesday but they are for 45+ beneficiaries only as they are coming from the Centre. We had run out of vaccines today so very less doses could be administered,” said Dr G B Singh, director, health, Punjab.
Seven ISO tankers with 20 MT Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) each arrived at Gujrat's Mundra Port on Tuesday. This is the first such shipment of LMO to India. Deeply value the support from United Arab Emirates, says MEA spokesperson, ANI reported.
An Indian Air Force heavy-lift transport aircraft brought four empty cryogenic oxygen containers from Germany's Frankfurt to the Hindon airbase near Delhi on Monday, according to an official statement. The IAF is also in the process of airlifting 900 oxygen cylinders from Brize Norton in the UK to Chennai, the statement noted.
India is struggling with the second wave of the coronavirus infection as hospitals in several states are reeling under a severe shortage of drugs, oxygen and beds. "The C-17 aircraft flew out of Frankfurt-Hahn Airport after taking four empty cryogenic oxygen containers, to land at Hindon on May 3.... The airlift of 900 oxygen cylinders from Brize Norton, UK to Chennai is in progress," the IAF's statement said.
As the national capital continues to deal with the ongoing Covid-19 situation, people between the ages of 18 to 44 are coming out in large numbers to get themselves vaccinated. Long queues outside vaccination centres are being observed in Delhi.
S Air Force flights that were scheduled to leave for India with essential life-saving supplies have been delayed till Wednesday due to maintenance issues, the Pentagon said here on Monday. We just received word from USTRANSCOM that the flights for India are "delayed until at least Wednesday due to maintenance issues", a Pentagon spokesperson said. So far, only two US Air Force flights have landed in India.
Three US Air Force C-5 Super Galaxies and one C-17 Globemaster were scheduled to leave for India Monday to deliver critical supplies amid a surge in coronavirus cases there. (PTI)
Drug major Pfizer on Monday said it was in talks with the government to seek an “expedited approval pathway” for its Covid-19 vaccine, adding that while application to register its vaccine “was submitted months ago”, it has not been done yet.
“Pfizer is aware that access to vaccines is critical to ending this pandemic. Unfortunately, our vaccine is not registered in India although our application was submitted months ago. We are currently discussing with the Indian government an expedited approval pathway to make our Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine available for use in the country,” the company’s chairman and CEO Albert Bourla wrote to Pfizer’s India employees in a letter, which was posted on LinkedIn.
The pharmaceutical company had earlier said that it had decided to prioritise orders from the government, and supply doses of its Covid-19 vaccine “only through government contracts” in India.
Congress demands transparency in distribution of aid during COVID-19 pandemic, urges PM Modi to make public details of all relief material received by India from different countries, PTI reports.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal directs authorities to further strengthen city's home-isolation system, asks officers to ensure COVID-19 patients get call from government-appointed teams of doctors within 24 hours of testing positive, reports PTI.
"Union minister Thawarchand Gehlot's daughter Yogita Solanki dies of COVID-19 at private hospital in Indore," said Official of medical facility. --PTI
Former Doordarshan director general Archana Datta lost her mother and husband to COVID-19 in the span of an hour after a desperate scramble to get them admitted to hospital in time to stem their falling oxygen levels failed.
Both were declared Covid positive after their death in a Malviya Nagar government hospital on April 27, Datta said on Tuesday while recounting her trauma in a Twitter post.
“Many people like me perhaps thought that it couldn’t happen to them! But it did happen! My mother and husband, both, died without any treatment. We failed to have access to all top-notch Delhi hospitals we used to visit! Yes, after death they declared COVID positive,” Datta, who was Rashtrapati Bhawan spokesperson when Pratibha Patil was president, said. Read more
For the first time in the last 30 days, Maharashtra’s daily coronavirus cases dropped below 50,000 to 48,621 on Monday, taking the tally to 47,71,022. With 567 more patients succumbing to the disease, the cumulative toll mounted to 70,851, the state health department said. On April 3, the state had reported 49,447 infections, while 43,183 and 47,827 cases were added on April 1 and 2, respectively. The state had reported an average of 60,000 cases in most of April.
Vaccination drive for 18+ will start in Madhya Pradesh from May 5. At 1,480 centres 1.5 lakh doses will be administered between May 5 to 15 & it'll be expanded as per availability of doses. Gov has order for 4.76 crore doses of Covidshield & 52.25 lakh doses of Covaxin.
A day after ordering more state-wide curbs, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday warned he will be forced to consider a total lockdown if people do not follow restrictions and the COVID-19 situation does not improve. He said he will not allow Punjab to go the way of some other states where patients can be seen, according to him, lying on the road. On Sunday, his government ordered the closure of all shops not selling essential commodities, barred over 50 per cent attendance at government offices and made a coronavirus-negative report or a vaccination certificate mandatory for people entering the state. These curbs, in addition to measures like a weekend lockdown and a night curfew announcd earlier, will be in force till May 15. --PTI
IT major Capgemini on Monday announced a Rs 50 crore fund to build COVID care ICU facilities, oxygen generation plants, other long-term medical infrastructure and provide relief operations amid the deadly second wave of the pandemic. In addition, the French firm is also contributing Rs 5 crore to UNICEF to provide immediate support across India for critical COVID-19 response care, by setting up three oxygen generation plants and RT-PCR testing machines. German tech major SAP has also announced a doubling of its COVID-19 Emergency Fund that was announced last year to 6 million euros. --PTI
Serum Institute of India. CEO Serum chief Adar Poonawalla on Monday stated that it is not possible to ramp vaccine production overnight, especially according to the demand of a country as populated as India. "We also need to understand that the population of India is huge and to produce enough doses for all adults is not an easy task. Even the most advanced countries and companies are struggling in relatively smaller population," he said.
Uttar Pradesh Government this Monday decided to extend its lockdown further by two more days till 7 am on May 6. With rising COVID cases in many districts, State Government had earlier decided to increase the weekend restriction that started from 8pm on April 30 to 7 am on May 4. The decision was taken at the team-9 meeting taken by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath this Monday morning.
Meanwhile, UP Government has also decided to give additional honorarium as an incentive to health workers, doctors, paramedical staff, housekeeping staff, sanitation workers, ASHA workers, Anganwari workers engaged in COVID-19 duty.
Twelve states have over 1 lakh active COVID cases, 7 states have 50k to 1 lakh cases, while 17 states have less than 50k such infections, said Health Ministry. States like Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashta showing signs of plateauing in daily new COVID cases but these are very early signals to analyse anything., said the ministry.
PM authorises keys decisions to boost availability of medical personnel to fight COVID-19
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are among 10 states that account for 73.78 per cent of the new 3,68,147 Covid-19 cases registered in a day, while the daily positivity rate has increased to 21.19 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 56,647. It is followed by Karnataka with 37,733 while Kerala reported 31,959 new cases, the ministry said. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan are the other states on the list of 10. (PTI)
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Madhya Pradesh on Monday declared media professionals accredited with the state government as 'frontline workers'. While making the announcement, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said journalists were risking their lives while doing their duty during this "dangerous period of Covid-19 pandemic". "Therefore, we have decided to declare all accredited journalists as frontline workers in Madhya Pradesh. They will be taken care of," Chouhan said in a video statement posted on the Twitter handle of the Chief Minister's Office.
Around 4,000 journalists are currently accredited with the state government, according to a public relations department official. The official said the state government was yet to decide on other modalities regarding this announcement. Madhya Pradesh reported 12,662 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, which took its infection tally to 5,88,368, while 94 deaths pushed the fatality count to 5,812, as per official data. (PTI)
The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Centre and various pharma majors to respond to a PIL seeking that all drug firms making Remdesivir, used in Covid-19 treatment, be allowed to sell it in the domestic market. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh issued notice to the Health Ministry, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, Director General of Foreign Trade and various pharma companies, like Cipla, Zydus and Cadila, seeking their stand on the plea which claims only a handful of such firms are allowed to sell the medicine in the domestic market.
The remaining companies were involved in manufacturing the drug for export, petitioner Dincur Bajaj said, adding that since export of Remdesivir has been banned by the Centre, the companies which were producing it for export be permitted to manufacture and sell it in the domestic market. (PTI)
Global Pharma major Pfizer is discussing with the Indian government an expedited approval pathway to make Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine available for use in the country, the company's Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said on Monday. Earlier in April, Pfizer said that it had offered a not-for-profit price for its vaccine for the government immunisation programme in India and it remains committed to continuing engagement with the government to make the vaccine available in India.
"Pfizer is aware that access to vaccines is critical to ending this pandemic. Unfortunately, our vaccine is not registered in India although our application was submitted months ago. We are currently discussing with the Indian government an expedited approval pathway to make our Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine available for use in the country," Bourla said in a mail sent to Pfizer India employees that he has shared on his linked.in post. (PTI)
The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to extend curfew hours in its efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. During a review meeting by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, the government has decided to impose a curfew from 12 noon till 6 am from May 5.
Shops and business establishments can only remain open from 6 am to 12 pm, after which only essential services will be allowed to operate. Read more
The Congress on Monday demanded the resignation of the Karnataka health minister after the death of 24 patients at a hospital in Chamarajanagar district of the state due to alleged oxygen shortage. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked how much more will people suffer before the system wakes up. "Died or Killed? My heartfelt condolences to their families. How much more suffering before the 'system' wakes up," he asked on Twitter.
As many as 24 patients including 23 suffering from Covid-19 died in Chamarajanagar due to alleged oxygen shortage in the district hospital, officials said.
Gandhi also lashed out at the Central government over the pace of the Covid-19 vaccination drive and alleged policy paralysis on its part, a charge that the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government faced from the BJP. "A policy paralysed GOI cannot secure victory over the virus. Face it. Don't fake it," Gandhi tweeted, sharing a media report that the Centre is yet to place fresh vaccine order.
The Delhi High Court issues notice to state government over a PIL seeking directions to cap the price of High-Resolution Computerised Tomography (HRCT) scan/test, which is nowadays massively recommended to people having symptoms of Covid-19. (ANI)
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa speaks with the district collector of Chamarajanagar district over the death of the 24 patients and has called an emergency Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. (ANI)
Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Centre to apprise it about any action taken on Delhi government's request for assistance of Army. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has written to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday and requested for help of Army for setting up of hospitals with oxygenated beds and ICU beds.
It added that the Centre cannot tell the Court that the Supreme Court has passed an order and only apex court will deal with issues. "We all are duty bound," said the division bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli. (Inputs from Sofi Ahsan)
Delhi has sought the help of the Army to set up, operationalise and run some Covid-19 health facilities with about 10,000 oxygenated non-ICU beds and 1,000 ICU beds, as the Capital is grappling with the increase in the number of fresh infections, daily deaths, while people are running from pillar to post in search of oxygen and other medical essentials. (ANI)
As many as 24 patients, including 23 suffering from Covid-19, died in Karnataka's Chamarajanagar due to alleged oxygen shortage in the district hospital, officials said.
Family members of the dead also staged a demonstration at the hospital and alleged there was a shorten of oxygen and raised slogans. Chamarajanagar district in-charge Minister S Suresh Kumar, who is also the Primary and Secondary Education Minister, said he has ordered a death audit report from the district administration into the incident. He, however, maintained that all the deaths did not occur due to oxygen shortage.
"It's not appropriate to say that all the 24 deaths happened due to oxygen shortage. These deaths had happened from Sunday morning to this morning. The oxygen shortage happened early on Monday — between 12.30 am and 2.30 am," Kumar informed. (PTI)