Coronavirus April 14 Highlights: Death toll rises to 353, cases near 11,000 mark

2,44,893 samples from 2,29,426 individuals have been tested as on April 14. Out of these, 10,307 have been confirmed positive today. 26,351 samples have been reported. Of these, 853 were positive for SARS-CoV-2

Hours after Mumbai witnessed a protest by migrant workers demanding arrangements to go home, the Delhi government swung into action, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the city’s transport head urging people to not fall for rumours on availability of buses at the city’s exit points.

Kejriwal issued a short video message, in which he requested migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and other states to stay back at least till May 3. The Delhi government will make all arrangements for them in terms of food and medicines, the CM said in his appeal.

* Italy recorded 602 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 21,067. The confirmed coroanvirus cases have climbed to 162,488.

* The Unites States, now the epicentre of the coronvirus outbreak, has surpassed Italy's death toll recording 24,000 deaths so far. There are nearly 583,000 positive Covid-19 cases in US.

* Spain has recorded 18,056 deaths and about 172,541 people have contracted the virus.

* France has recorded 14,967 deaths with 137,887 coronavirus confirmed cases. 

* The UK has so far recorded 12,107 deaths with closing to one lakh cases. About 94,829 people have been infected.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held a telephonic conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and discussed the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. During his telephonic conversation with Abbas, the PM appreciated the efforts being made by the Palestinian authorities to protect their population from the virus, and assured all possible support from India for these efforts, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

"The two leaders discussed the challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and apprised each other of the steps being taken in their respective countries to control the situation," the statement said.

Modi and Abbas agreed to remain in touch at appropriate levels to explore avenues of cooperation at this challenging time.

Exactly six weeks after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Rajasthan, the state crossed the 1,000 mark on Tuesday evening. Jaipur accounts for almost half of those cases

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's appeal to migrant workers: Please do not fall for rumours.Perhaps some of you really want to go home. Please wait till May 3. We will ensure adequate food, medicines. DTC or UP govt buses are not available for you to go home. These are rumours.

Delhi Transport Department on alleged movement of migrants: It appears that some rumours are being spread that buses are available to go to the borders. No DTC buses or any other buses are available and lockdown is to be strictly observed.

Mother Dairy on Tuesday said it has made special arrangements to supply milk and other dairy products at 61 hotspots of coronavirus pandemic across the national capital region.

Mother Dairy is a leading milk supplier in the Delhi-NCR with per day sales of over 30 lakh per litre. Mother Dairy has deployed 15 vehicles for supply of milk and other products to 61 hotspots across Delhi-NCR, the company said in a statement. This step has been taken by the company in collaboration with the various RWAs and the local authorities to ensure that consumers in lockdown have easy access to their daily essentials of milk and milk products, it added.

"Through the arrangement of vehicle distribution, Mother Dairy sells an average of 78,622 litres of milk per day in the located Hotspots areas of Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon, and Faridabad," the company spokesperson said.(PTI)

Vidarbha's overall corona positive cases tally Tuesday crossed the 100-mark with nine more cases surfacing in Nagpur and four in Buldana. The region now has 109 cases from seven of the eleven districts.

An overwhelming number of these have been related to the Markaz event in Delhi last month. At least 47 of the total 52 cases till date in the Amravati division of the region are of either direct travelers from Delhi or of secondary infections caused by them to local residents.

In the division, Buldana tops the list with 21 positive cases followed by Akola (13), Yavatmal (12), Amravati (5) and Washim (1). In the Nagpur division, total cases crossed 50-mark with nine new positive cases being reported on Tuesday. The city now has 56 positive patients.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Tuesday said his government will set up a committee to revive the state's economy after the coronavirus outbreak ends. "After COVID-19 outbreak ends, we will have an equally serious challenge which will be the revival of the economy in the state. Therefore, we have formed committees which will prepare the plans for its revival," he said.

Thackeray also said Maharashtra is doing the highest number of tests in the country. "Mumbai has tested over 22000 samples. 2334 positive cases reported till today morning. 230 people - around 10% people have recovered," he said.

Like many other parts of the world, Turkey has been issuing social distancing and lockdowns instructions along with hygiene advisories to ward off the novel coronavirus pandemic. However, there is one difference in how the Turkish people are tackling the outbreak.

Unlike most other countries, where soap and hand sanitisers have become highly sought-after hygiene products, in Turkey, another liquid solution is rapidly disappearing from shelves — cologne. Read more

Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday blamed the Centre for the protest by hundreds of migrant workers near Bandra railway station here and sought a road map to facilitate their journey back to their native places.

Hundreds of migrant workers who earn daily wages in Mumbai came out on road on Tuesday afternoon demanding transport arrangements to go back to their native places. The protest took place hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown till May 3.

In a series of tweets, Thackeray said, "The current situation in Bandra, now dispersed or even the rioting in Surat is a result of the union government not being able to take a call on arranging a way back home migrant labour."

"They don't want food or shelter, they want to go back home," Thackeray said. (PTI)

Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extension of the ongoing lockdown, Uttarakhand government on Tuesday said that electricity connections of consumers of all categories will not be disconnected till June 30 if they fail to pay the electricity bills and dues.

Also, those who will pay the bills on-line before the due date, they will get a discount of one per cent on the current bill amount. The maximum limit of this discount will be Rs one lakh for HT consumers and Rs 10,000 for LT connection consumers. The government has estimated that nearly 25 lakh consumers will be benefitted from it.

As relief measures for farmers who have private tubewells for irrigation, the state government said that a concession will be given in late payment surcharge on their electricity bills due till June 30. Nearly 20,000 farmers will be benefitted and this will cost Rs 3.64 crore to the state exchequer.

The government also announced to defer the recovery of fixed/demand charge from the consumers of industrial and commercial categories against the power consumption between March to May. Also, concession on late payment surcharge will be given in such cases. This decision will benefit nearly 2.7 lakh consumers and will cost Rs 8 crore to the state exchequer. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that such measures will give relief to electricity consumers who are facing hardships due to lockdown.

Number of active COVID-19 cases drops for first time in Jammu and Kashmir as 14 patients recover, Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary-Planning, Jammu and Kashmir said. On Tuesday, eight new cases were reported out of which six were from Kashmir while two were from Jammu. Total number of positive cases stands now at 278 in the Union Territory, Kansal said.

On the coronavirus situation in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, "In past few days, COVID-19 cases rose significantly. On 9 April, 51 cases were reported, 183 on 10th, 166 on 11th, 356 on 13th. In last 2 months, many foreigners came to Delhi from affected nations. 1 more incident took place here - of Markaz. This too caused additional burden."

Migrant workers from nearby settlements in Mumbai's Badnra gathered today demanding ration. The police later brought the situation under control.

Joint commissioner of police (law and order) Vinay Kumar Choubey sadi, " Those protesting reside near the Bandra station. When food was being distributed one group said they did not want food but wanted to go home. Since a huge crowd had gathered we called extra force and the crowd was dispersed. They went back to their residences near the railway station."

DRM of WR, GVL Satyakumar said, "The crowd was confined towards the local railway station and not the terminus, they were on the roads, in the local area and not on the station premises. All entries are locked to the station except one which is manned by RPF. The security on all stations will be strengthened."

Only 31 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Tamil Nadu today, lowest in April. State Health Secretary says decline in fresh cases may have started as a result of containment measures being taken across the state. Meanwhile, total cases in the state now sit at 1204.

Air carrier IndiGo has said it will resume flight operations from May 4 in phased manner. This announcement comes on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of nationwide lockdown till May 3 in order to flatten the curve of the coronavirus. All passenger trains and flights will remain suspended till May 3.

Actor-turned-politician #Rajinikanth's message to Tamils living abroad: "Stay safe wherever you are, follow the norms prescribed by the respective governments; this shall too pass."

On a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the nationwide lockdown till May 3, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said mass testing for coronavirus was key to fighting its spread but the country was currently “nowhere in the game”. Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India is in a much better position than many other nations in COVID-19 fight, Rahul Gandhi said India was currently in the company of countries like Laos, Niger and Honduras due to low level of testing for COVID-19. Read more here

A total of 1211 new cases and 31 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said in its briefing on Tuesday. While the death toll has risen to 339, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country neared 10400. As many as 1035 persons have recovered from the virus. 

Guidelines brought out in high density areas to control COVID-19. Total cases are now 10,363 cases, in which 1,211 cases and 31 deaths were recorded yesterday: Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health 

India has conducted over 2.31 lakh Covid-19 tests, ICMR's Dr R R Gangakhedka said. Of these, 18,664 tests were conducted yesterday in ICMR labs while 2,991 were done in private labs. The order of 33 lakh RTPCR kits and 37 lakh rapid kits are expected any time, he said.

At least 11 more people tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra's Palghar district on Tuesday, taking the tally to 53 in the region.

A health bulletin issued by the district administration stated that 11 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Palghar and the toll stood at five.

According to the report, of the 11 new cases, 10 were reported from the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) limits, while one person tested positive in Dahanu taluka.(PTI)

Poila Boishak' or Nobo Borsho (Bengali New Year) marks the beginning of the new financial year for the Bengali business community. However, owing to the coronavirus pandemic, there is a sense of forlorn in most big markets around the city, little to do with any celebrations. (Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)

In Barasat's otherwise bustling wholesale market, idol shops remained empty. However, the rituals are being done just for the sake of it. (Express Photo Shashi Ghosh)

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has urged the Centre to reconsider its directives asking industry and shops/commercial establishments to continue paying full wages to their workers during the COVID-19 lockdown period, as it may push them to bankruptcy.

He has urged the Government of India to look for innovative solutions to protect the interests of the workers, in these difficult times, without causing irreparable damage to the industry/commercial establishments etc.

The Chief Minister has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking reconsideration of the order of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The relevant part of the order reads: “that all the employers, be it in the Industry or in the shops and commercial estabishments, shall make payment of wages to their workers, at their work place, on the due date, without any deduction, for the period their establishment are under closure during the lockdown."

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Monday provided 25,000 PPE kits to the frontline medical staff in Maharashtra fighting to contain the novel coronavirus pandemic in the state. Rajesh Tope, Minister of Public Health and Family Welfare of Maharashtra, said the Fan actor’s contribution will help the healthcare workers immensely.

“Many thanks Mr Shah Rukh Khan for your kind contribution of 25,000 PPE kits. This will go a long way in supporting our fight against COVID19 & protecting our frontline medical care team @iamsrk @MeerFoundation @CMOMaharashtra,” Tope tweeted. Read more to know how the actor replied to the Health Minister.

Russia on Tuesday reported 2,774 new cases of the coronavirus, a record daily rise, bringing its overall nationwide tally to 21,102, the country’s coronavirus response centre said.

It said 170 people in Russia diagnosed with the virus have now died, an overnight rise of 22. (Reuters)

Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue was has put on a doctor's robe in honor of healthcare workers around the world fighting the coronavirus.

The Karnataka labour department has directed private sector employers in the state not to lay off workers and pay them wages on the due date without any deduction during the lock down.

"The labour department has issued a circular directing the private sector employers to abstain from layoffs or unpaid leaves during this countrywide lockdown. Employees would be paid wages on the due date without any deduction during this period," Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar tweeted last night. (PTI)

Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh has become the 24th district in the state to report a coronavirus positive case, an official said on Tuesday. The lone COVID-19 case from the district is a 38-year-old man from Lamera village who recently returned from the worst-hit Indore, he said. (PTI)

China is facing a new coronavirus flare-up along its remote northern border with Russia, far from the epicenter of Wuhan, where it has all but declared victory in the battle against the pandemic.

The frontier has been sealed and emergency medical units rushed to the area to prevent travelers from bringing the virus back from overseas. The virus originated in China, which is now striving to keep it virus out while the US and other countries struggle to bring their own epidemics under control.

The long, porous border of sprawling Heilongjiang province and neighboring Inner Mongolia has much less travel than major cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

But it is a popular alternative route into the country. Many Chinese live and work in Russia, where China has major investments encouraged by warm ties between Beijing and Moscow.

The Odisha Police has fined 167 persons for not wearing masks while venturing out of their houses amid the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of novel coronavirus, a senior officer said on Tuesday.

The fines were imposed by the Commissionerate of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack as per the state government rules which made it mandatory for people to wear masks while coming out of their houses in the twin cities, he said.

Offenders are fined Rs 200 for each of the first three violations and Rs 500 for every violation after that, the officer said. A total of 1,145 vehicles were also seized on Monday, he said. Read more

A cluster of rooms in Calangute houses over 50 men from West Bengal, sharing rooms with rents ranging from Rs 3000 and Rs 8,000. Their’s is not the lone case. Across Goa, volunteers and government staff on field are accounting stories where house owners have started asking for rents to be cleared. Read our report here

Residents of Paris were in for a surprise when they recently spotted circus animals running loose on the roads. Several videos of the bizarre incident were shared online by people who spotted a zebra and two horses running alongside vehicles on the road. “There’s a zebra in my friend’s town,” tweeted a user while sharing the video, which has now gone viral on social media. Watch:

On a day that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended lockdown due to the coronavirus, two activists, Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha are surrendering before authorities in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case. The Supreme Court last week had given them a week till today to turn themselves in. Several activists and politicians have called the arrests on Ambedkar Jayanti a "national shame". Yesterday, Teltumbde wrote an open letter to the people of India, stating that the “jingoist nation and nationalism have been weaponised by the political class to destroy dissent and polarise people”. Today, Navlakha, said he hoped for a speedy and fair trial for himself and co-accused.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted earlier this morning that the national capital would implement the Prime Minister's lockdown measures. Last week, after a meeting with the PM, Kejriwal had said PM Modi's decision to extend the lockdown was "correct".

China has begun testing on humans two vaccines to treat COVID-19, according to New York Times. The number of cases in China rose to 83,303 on Tuesday, an increase of 89 from the previous day.

France's decision to extended its lockdown to May 11 due to the coronavirus, will have an impact on the country's economy. A day after President Emmanuel Macron's televised address, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has said the economy will contract eight per cent in 2020. "Each day, each week of confinement... is worsening our public finances," he said.

The death toll due to COVID-19 in Karnataka rose to eight as two more deaths were recorded in the state late Monday night. The two patients were from Kalaburagi and Bengaluru. Identified as P 205 as per the coronavirus-related records by the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services, the resident of Kalaburagi town aged 55 and was suffering from Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI). “He was admitted to ESIC, Kalaburagi where he was being treated from April 10,” officials said.

Doctors at the Columbia University Department of Surgery, an affiliate of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, held a “healing concert” in the lobby of the hospital. A video of the performance, which was shared virtually with patients keeping in mind social distancing and quarantine norms, is now viral across the Internet. Watch:

On a day that PM Modi has called for innovation to fight COVID-19, the Indian Navy has released an air evacuation pod, to help transport patients while minimizing the spread of the infections. Here's what it looks like:

Apple and Google, which formed an unprecedented partnership last week to fight COVID-19, that governments will not be allowed to force citizens to use the technology. Last week, while announcing the joint venture, the companies had iterated that it would be an ‘opt-in’ feature, meaning the user would have to consent to it. Here's what representatives of the companies have said

Missed PM Narendra Modi's address to the nation this morning? Watch it below. He has announced an extension of the lockdown for 19 days, till May 3, to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. Read highlights from his speech here.

Shah Rukh Khan has provided 25,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits to frontline healthcare workers in Maharashtra. Rajesh Tope, Minister of Public Health and Family Welfare of Maharashtra, said his contribution would help immensely. “Many thanks Mr Shah Rukh Khan for your kind contribution of 25,000 PPE kits. This will go a long way in supporting our fight against COVID19 & protecting our frontline medical care team @iamsrk @MeerFoundation @CMOMaharashtra,” Tope tweeted.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has announced that all domestic and international flights will remain suspended till 11:59pm on May 3, 2020.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured that there is enough food, medicines and other essential commodities in the country. He appealed to people to help the poor living around them. He also praised the partnership between the states and the Centre in tackling the pandemic. He said the contributions of workers of essential services showed courage, and appealed to the people to cooperate with them.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the extension of France’s strict lockdown until May 11. The country has been under lockdown since March 17. Meanwhile, New York’s coronavirus death toll topped 10,000 and the worldwide number of confirmed cases hovered around 2 million even as the lack of fresh hot spots globally yielded a ray of optimism and fueled discussions about how some places might begin to reopen. According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University in the US, at least 1,911,407 people worldwide have been infected and 118,854 people have died. Click here to read all the global updates

The Indian Railways Tuesday said, "No advance booking of train tickets allowed till further notice. All passenger trains suspended till May 3. "Resumption of train services may be warranted... Keeping in view emergent situation", public safety, to be announced in due course."

In his address to the nation, Modi said, “The country has benefited from social distancing and lockdown and that India is in a much better position than many other nations in COVID-19 fight. Click here to read the highlights of PM Modi’s address to the nation today

All training camps at Sports Authority of India (SAI) centres across the country will remain suspended till May 3 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the ongoing national lockdown to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. "All SAI camps were postponed till April 14 because of the ongoing lockdown. We thought of taking a decision on the way forward after April 14. But since the lockdown is extended, the camps will remained suspended till May 3," a SAI source told PTI on Tuesday after the's address to the nation. However, athletes such as star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, currently at NIS Patiala, will be allowed to stay at SAI hostels.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram welcomed the lockdown decision by PM Modi but said the government is not prioritising the livelihood of poor people. "The poor have been left to fend for themselves for 21+19 days, including practically soliciting food. There is money, there is food, but the government will not release either money or food," he said.

Here's is how he reacted to the PM's address today:

1. We reciprocate the PM’s New Year greetings. We understand the compulsion for extending the lockdown. We support the decision

2. But beyond the lockdown, what was ‘new’ in PM’s new year message?

3. It is obvious that livelihood for the poor — their survival — is not among the priorities of the government.

4. CMs’ demand for money elicited no response. Not a rupee has been added to the miserly package of March 25, 2020

5. From Raghuram Rajan to Jean Dreze, from Prabhat Patnaik to Abhijit Banerji, their advice has fallen on deaf years

6. The poor have been left to fend for themselves for 21+19 days, including practically soliciting food. There is money, there is food, but the government will not release either money or food.

7. Cry, my beloved country

The Indian Railways has extended the suspension of its passenger services till May 3, PTI quoted senior officials as saying on Tuesday. They said the decision was taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the lockdown across the country will be extended till May 3 to fight the coronavirus pandemic. "We have taken the decision keeping in view the extended lockdown period. More updates will be available shortly," the official said. Earlier, all passenger services were cancelled till April 14 midnight.

Reacting to PM Modi's address, Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said, "PM's address rhetoric, hollow on specifics. No financial package...Neither for poor nor middle class. We want concrete palliatives for deprived classes and even for middle class and MSMEs."

During his address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also urged scientists and youngsters to come up with a vaccine to defeat the coronavirus epidemic. "We have limited measures to fight this battle. I have a request to the youngsters, scientists of this country to try and come up with a vaccine."

"Coronavirus testing is being done in over 220 labs. According to world's experience of tackling COVID-19, 1500-1600 beds are needed when cases reach 10,000. We have over 1 lakh beds in India & over 600 hospitals for treating COVID patients. We're expanding these facilities," he said.

Before I end my speech today, I will ask for seven things from you. 

1. Take care of old people, senior citizens

2. Use home-made masks sincerely

3. Download Aarogya Setu App and ask others to download too.

4. Take care of poor people, their food needs etc

5. Don't snatch anybody's job

6. Respect people who are helping us in this tough time like healthcare workers, sanitation workers, Police etc.

7. With all dedication, follow the lockdown till May 3. Stay wherever you are and be safe.

PM Modi says, "We will issue a detailed guideline tomorrow. We are making attempts so that farmers, poor people are least affected. If we will have patience, we will defeat the coronavirus. While making new guidelines, we have kept in mind the interests of the poor and daily wage workers. Harvesting of Rabi crops is also underway. Central Govt and state Govts are working together to ensure that farmers face minimal problems."