Telangana and Delhi have requested for 60 and 10 coaches respectively. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)
As coronavirus cases across India show a steep rise, states have put forward their requisitions of isolation coaches from the Indian Railways. While Telangana and Delhi have requested for 60 and 10 coaches respectively, Uttar Pradesh has asked for a total of 240 coaches at 24 locations across the state.
The ICMR on Thursday said with Covid-19 prevalence as low as less than 1% in small districts in a large country like India, the nation is “definitely” not in the community transmission phase. Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal too put to rest questions on community transmission in Delhi saying, “If we get caught in grammar and let go of field action, we will suffer.” With nearly 10,000 fresh cases registered within a span of 24 hours, the Covid-19 tally in India rose to 286,579 on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. India continued to remain the fifth worst-affected country after the US, Brazil, Russia and the UK.
Globally, as many as 7,357,794 people have been infected while 416,116 have died so far. The United States is by far the hardest-hit country, in terms of both confirmed infections and deaths. The total death toll in the country could hit the grim figure of 200,000 by September and expecting a dramatic decrease in positive cases will be a “wishful thinking”, an eminent Indian-American professor has warned.
Coronavirus India LIVE updates: A boy at Delhi's Sarojini market after the easing of lockdown restrictions (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)
Coronavirus India LIVE updates: Community transmission or spread is said to be taking place when the source of the contagion is not known. In pic: Cops get their temperature tested
Coronavirus India LIVE updates: A lab technician extracts portions of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate during testing at the Chula Vaccine Research Center, run by Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. (AP)
To save more lives and reduce dependence on intensive care units (ICUs) and ventilators, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has decided ready at least 9,000 oxygen-supported beds by June 30 for coronavirus-afflicted patients experiencing breathlessness.
At least 10 per cent of Covid-19 patients, civic officials said, require oxygen support during treatment. Currently, Mumbai has 5,496 oxygen-equipped beds across public and private hospitals and at its jumbo facilities, like MMRDA grounds and NSCI Dome. Of them 71 per cent are already occupied, officials said. Read more here
Tamil Nadu recorded 1,875 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the state tally to 38,716. Among these, Chennai reported 1,407 positive cases, with the city’s total now 27,398.
Tamil Nadu recorded 23 deaths on Wednesday, putting the state toll at 349. Twenty of them had succumbed due to co-morbidities.
On Thursday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu touched 17,659. Till date, 23,981 men, 14,718 women and 17 transgenders have tested positive for the virus in the state. Read more
The European Union on Thursday announced plans to ease a ban on nonessential travel to the continent, with foreign students, non-EU nationals who normally live in Europe and certain highly skilled workers likely to be exempt from the coronavirus restrictions from July 1.
After the virus began spreading throughout Europe in March, the EU gradually extended a ban on all nonessential travel into the 27 member countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland until June 15.
Pune district reported 418 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the count to 10,812 on Thursday, while 11 more patients succumbed to the infection, a health official said. He said the death toll reached 460 in the district with 11 more patients succumbing to the infection in the last 24 hours. "Of the 418 cases, 292 were reported from Pune Municipal Corporation limits (city areas), which now has 8,893 patients. Also, 207 patients were discharged from hospitals," the official said. With 97 fresh cases in Pimpri Chinchwad, the COVID-19 count there now stands at 1015, he said. The number of positive cases in rural and Pune cantonment board areas has increased to 904, he said. PTI
Tribal women are enacting a street play on Covid-19 to spread awareness about the deadly virus among mostly illiterate tea garden workers in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district. The awareness campaign through the street play gains significance as many migrant workers from the area are scheduled to return from other states. The play ‘Corona Bhagao Desh Bachao’ (ward off Covid-19, save the country) has been written by Maxima Toppo in Hindi and Sadri languages and is being enacted by other local women in the Gairkata tea estate. While one woman dons the role of the novel coronavirus, others act as doctors and policemen. For other remarkable stories on Day 4 of India's Unlockdown, read here
Eighteen more people tested positive for coronavirus in Tripura on Thursday. With these patients, Tripura crossed 900-mark of coronavirus patients. All of these patients were said to have got recent travel history. Fourteen among them hail from Sepahijala district alone while the rest from South Tripura, Gomati and Dhalai districts.
The state now has 916 cases, out of which 638 are active cases. Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb tweeted: "Out of 1430 samples tested for #COVID19, 18 people found #POSITIVE. All of them have travel history. The count includes : Sepahijala Dist:14 West, South, Gomati and Dhalai Dist 1 each. #TripuraCOVID19Count". Earlier today, the state government discharged 39 COVID-19 patients from a COVID care centre set up at Bhagat Singh Youth Hostel after they achieved full recovery.
Even as the number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra is set to cross the one lakh mark, tribal dominated Gondia district has become the first with zero active cases. Of 69 cases – mainly migrants from Mumbai, Thane and Ahmedabad, who were returning to Gondia – the last one tested negative and was discharged. On Thursday, there were zero active cases in the district.
Known as the ‘rice city’ due to the abundance of rice mills in the area, the district is surrounded by hills and forests and has a population of 14 lakh. Dr Shyam Nimgade, District Health Officer of Gondia, which is in the Nagpur division, told The Indian Express that there has not been a single case of local infection so far.
“After the phase-wise lifting of the lockdown, we started reporting cases of coronavirus disease. The first case was a month ago, when a nurse returned from Mumbai to Gondia. By mid-May, we had 100 people who had returned from Mumbai and Ahmedabad,” Dr Nimgade said. Read full story here
Supreme Court takes suo motu cognisance of issues arising out of treatment of Covid patients and disposal of dead bodies. Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan to hear matter tomorrow.
A 57-year-old inspector with Gurgaon Police's Summons Branch died due to Coronavirus last night. Officials say he was due to retire next month. The district has recorded 6 covid deaths today, and 191 cases. 2,737 people have tested positive so far, 19 have succumbed.
Bengaluru now has 113 active containment zones. 17 fresh Covid cases were confirmed in the city today. Total active cases: 258
West Bengal on Thursday reported 440 fresh cases of COVID-19, taking the total to 9,768, the state health department said in its daily bulletin. Ten people died due to the infection during the day in different districts, raising the toll to 442, it said. Of the total fresh cases reported on Thursday, 117 were from Kolkata, it added.
Nine of the total deaths during the day happened due to co-morbidities, the health department said, adding that the state has so far witnessed 297 such fatalities. The active cases now stand at 5,338, it said. Since Wednesday, 209 people have been discharged from different hospitals in the state. (PTI)
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Thursday ordered stricter lockdown on weekends and public holidays, even as his state mulls stringent curbs, including mandatory testing certification, for those coming from Delhi. The decision to tighten the curbs on weekends and holidays has been taken amid apprehensions of COVID-19 reaching the community spread stage in Punjab and projections indicating that the peak in the state was still two months away. (PTI)
Surgeons led by an Indian-origin doctor have performed a double-lung transplant on a patient whose lungs were damaged by COVID-19, a surgery believed to be the first of its kind in the US since the pandemic began. Northwestern Medicine in Chicago said the recipient is a Hispanic woman in her 20s. The patient spent six weeks in the COVID ICU on a ventilator and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a life support machine that does the work of the heart and lungs, the hospital said. By early June, the patient's lungs showed irreversible damage. The lung transplant team listed her for a double-lung transplant, and 48 hours later, performed the life-saving procedure a the hospital. (PTI)
Delhi records 1,877 cases in a single day.
Three more persons tested positive for novel coronavirus in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, taking the total count of confirmed cases in the Union Territory to five on Thursday, officials said. The newly infected persons are family members of the returnee from Chennai by a flight on June 7, who had tested positive four days back. They have been admitted to G B Pant hospital here, where the man is undergoing treatment, the sources said. (PTI)
Nepal on Thursday reported 250 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total count to 4,614. According to the Ministry of Health, the new cases include 20 women. However, 187 infected people, including 8 women, have been discharged after successful treatment. With this, only 63 active corona patients have been added in the country in a single day, it said. There are currently 3,738 active COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment at different hospitals across the country. Till date, 15 people have died of coronavirus in Nepal. (PTI)
New York City announces schemes to boost economy, especially for the small producers hit hard by the pandemic.
As coronavirus cases across India show a steep rise, states have put forward their requisitions of isolation coaches from the Indian Railways. While Telangana and Delhi have requested for 60 and 10 coaches respectively, Uttar Pradesh has asked for a total of 240 coaches at 24 locations across the state.
Himachal Pradesh has reported 458 COVID-19 positive cases till now including 179 active cases, 262 recoveries, and 6 deaths, said State Health Department.
India's tour to Sri Lanka, which was scheduled to take place later this month, has become the latest series to be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, said International Cricket Council.
All private hospitals equipped with labs to test COVID-19 should be permitted to test all its patients, Delhi High Court said on Thursday.
A total of 83 people tested positive for COVID-19 today. The total number of cases in Kerala is now at 2,244, including 1,258 active cases. There are 133 hotspots in the state, said Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala Chief Minister.
Vadodara Covid-19 tally at 1,447
Four days after places of worship reponed in the Capital, the Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid has decided that no congregational prayers will be held inside till June 30 due to the spike in #COVID19 numbers. At 8 pm today, it'll be shut down again.
A team of the National Humans Rights Commission (NHRC), led by its member Jyotika Kalra, is slated to visit the LNJP Hospital on Thursday for an on-spot inspection in the wake of allegations of mismanagement in handling the COVID-19 situation in Delhi. Lok Naik Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital is a dedicated COVID-19 facility under the Delhi government. Read more here
"We will not allow will of the virus in this nation," Dr V K Paul, member, NITI Aayog said. "If we get caught in grammar and let go of field action we will suffer," said Lav Agarwal JS, MoHFW on questions about community transmission in Delhi.
For such a large country, prevalence is so low, less than 1% in smaller districts slightly higher in cities and containment zones. So India is definitely not in community transmission stage, said ICMR. Prof Bhargava also said, "We have ramped up testing and we hve very calibrated guidelines. We hve capacity to do up to 2 lakh tests a day."
About serosurveillance, Professor Bhargava, DG, ICMR, said it gives scientific guidance, second part looked at infection spread in containment zone. Blood sample tested for IgG using Elisa test. "Serosurveillance shows 0.73% in these districts had evidence of past infection. Shows lockdown successful. Infection fatality very low 0.08%," he said.
In a press briefing, Lav agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said, at present the number of recovered cases is more than active cases of Covid-19. He added that countrywise comparisons unfair unless other countries have comparable population.
Two more persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Nagaland, taking the state's tally to 130 on Thursday, officials said. Both the new patients had recently returned to the state from other parts of the country and were placed under institutional quarantine in Kohima, they said. "Two new cases of COVID-19 have been reported out of 293 samples tested, both cases are from Kohima Quarantine Centre," state Minister for Health and Family Welfare, S Pangnyu Phom tweeted.
With nine new COVID-19 positive cases in Mizoram, the number of active cases has crossed the 100-mark in the northeastern state, an official of the health department told PTI. With this, the COVID-19 positive tally in the state has climbed from 1 to 102 in just 11 days. As many as 135 samples were tested of which nine tested positive at the Zoram Medical College (ZMC) on Wednesday night. Among the new positive positiv cases, five persons had returned from Delhi, three from Maharashtra and one from West Bengal, he said.
From counselling police personnel on social distancing to maintaining the law and order situation in a city that witnessed a communal flare-up just a few months ago, Delhi Police is fighting the battle against coronavirus for its own safety as well as for the safety of Delhiites, its chief SN Shrivastava said on Thursday. Shrivastava said the force has various Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place for the personnel right from guiding them on taking precautions to their treatment in case they test positive. Over 800 Delhi police personnel have tested positive while five have so far lost their lives to coronavirus. (PTI)
The Philippines has intensified its family-planning programs on concern that the coronavirus outbreak could result in a population boom. “We saw in the past, during the lifetimes of our parents or grandparents, the significant increase in birth rates after a major adverse event. This is the reason why family planning is even more important,” amid the coronavirus crisis, Commission on Population Development chief Juan Antonio Perez said in a statement released by Bayer Philippines Inc., which is supporting the commission’s program. Read full Bloomberg story here
While most of the world was in lockdown to stop the coronavirus spread, Loten Zangmo arrived at Bhutan’s Paro International Airport on April 13. Although she was relieved to be in her country, she was also anxious about the future.
The 22-year-old student first heard about the pandemic just days before her university in the Indian state of Punjab closed as a preventive measure against the novel coronavirus. At the time, she thought the virus would not last for long. But the Indian government imposed an extensive lockdown to tackle the situation.
Loten was among many foreign nationals stranded on the university campus. After Bhutanese students reached out to their embassy in New Delhi, their government arranged a repatriation flight to bring them back home safely. Read DW report here
At least 31 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Manipur, taking the state's total tally to 342, officials said on Thursday. Of the 31 fresh cases, 13 each are from Imphal West district and Tamenglong, two each from Kakching and Ukhrul district and one from Bishenpur district, a statement issued by the COVID-19 Common Control Room here said. The control room, in its statement, asked people not to stigmatise or discriminate against people who have recovered from the disease. (PTI)
A newly constructed building, which was set to operate as the Burns and Plastic Surgery Block at the AIIMS in Delhi, will now be used temporarily as a dedicated facility for treating COVID-19 patients. The decision by the AIIMS authorities comes after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that Delhi will need 1.5 lakh beds in healthcare facilities by July 31 once people start coming to the city for treatment from other states. Officials said the 100 bed-facility, which is located next to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, is being readied for the care of coronavirus infected patients and is likely to be functional by the weekend. (PTI)
After days of facing uncertainty in Mumbai, there was a sense of relief among the 180 migrant workers who arrived at the airport in Lucknow on Thursday morning by a special flight arranged by megastar Amitabh Bachchan. Migrants hailing from Gonda, Ambedkar Nagar, Unnao and other parts in Uttar Pradesh were looking forward to reach their homes. Coming out of the airport after due testing, Abdul Jalil Khan of Gonda who lives in Bandra in Mumbai, said he had boarded the flight with his wife and children. (PTI)
Junior doctors at Gandhi Hospital continue with their strike on Day 3 demanding decentralisation of Covid-19 treatment in Telangana and immediate recruitment of manpower after talks with the state government on Wednesday failed. (Video is sourced)
The number of coronavirus cases in Uttarakhand rose to 1,637 on Thursday.
A PIL has been moved in the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the AAP government to impose a strict lockdown in the national capital in view of the rising coronavirus cases, PTI reported. The plea, by a lawyer and his office boy, has said the Delhi government itself admitted there would be around one lakh Covid-19 cases in the national capital by end of June and the number would escalate to around 2.25 lakh by mid-July and over 5.5 lakh by July end. In such a scenario, the government should consider imposing strict lockdown in Delhi, the plea by lawyer Anirban Mondal and his employee Pawan Kumar has contended. The petition, filed through advocate Mridul Chakravarty, has also sought a direction to the Delhi government to consider constituting an expert committee of doctors, medical specialists and virologists to prepare a 'detailed blue print' for controlling or containing the spread of the virus.
On reports of missing deaths from the government data, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said: "We don't hide the number of deaths, we won't gain anything if we do that." He added: "There is no community spread in Tamil Nadu till now. Coronavirus has been curtailed in many districts of the state. Since Chennai is densely populated, the spread of the virus is more there."
India's first unmanned mission slated this year as part of its ambitious human space flight venture "Gaganyaan" may face some delay with preparations adversely impacted due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, according to ISRO officials. Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) had earlier said it has planned two trial flights without crew ahead of Gaganyaan -- the first one around December 2020 and the second around July 2021. "...there are some disturbances because of COVID, but still nothing is confirmed (about delay). We need to see, still we have got some six months time. We are trying to see if we can reach there," a senior ISRO official told news agency PTI.
With an employee testing positive for coronavirus, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has begun contact tracing of its passengers and has assured all safety measures to minimise the risk of the spread of the virus. According to BMTC officials, the employee was admitted to a designated-COVID hospital in the city soon after his test results were confirmed. “The employee had a travel history to Kalaburagi and Vijayapura and was on leave for three days before he got himself tested on June 10 in Bengaluru,” an official told indianexpress.com.
The Kanpur district court has been sealed for two days after a senior lawyer tested positive for coronavirus, the general secretary of the district bar association said on Thursday. The lawyer tested positive for the virus on Wednesday, PTI reported. As the senior lawyer, a resident of Gwaltoli, tested positive on Wednesday, the acting district judge, Mohd Riyaz, has ordered sealing of the entire court campus, Kanpur Bar Association's general secretary, Kapil Deep Sachan, said.
The Sabarimala temple in Kerala will not be opened for public during its monthly prayers this time, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran announced on Thursday.
Automobile dealers' body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) on Thursday said passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales in May declined 86.97 per cent to 30,749 units as compared to same month last year, hit by coronavirus-led lockdown. According to FADA, which collected vehicle registration data from 1,225 out of the 1,435 regional transport offices (RTOs), PV sales stood at 2,35,933 units in May 2019. Two-wheeler sales declined 88.8 per cent to 1,59,039 units last month as compared with 14,19,842 units in May 2019.
The following video tells you what all behaviour changes one must embrace to keep oneself and others safe from the risk of the infection.
For the second consecutive day, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest single-day jump in the number of coronavirus-linked deaths on Wednesday, prompting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to direct officials to ensure reduction of Covid-linked death rate in the state and provide immediate medical treatment to patients with mild symptoms. At least 20 people infected with coronavirus died in the last 24 hours, taking the total toll in the state to 321. On Tuesday, the state had reported 18 deaths, and close to 100 people have died in the last seven days. The total coronavirus cases also rose to 11,610 with 275 fresh cases in the last 24 hours. At the review meeting on the Covid situation, the Chief Minister said that while the death rate in UP is low in terms of population as compared to other states, efforts should be on to reduce it further.
"At this time we have to take the Indian economy out of 'command and control' and push it towards 'plug and play'. This isn't the time for conservative approach. It's time for bold decisions and bold investments. It's time to prepare a globally competitive domestic supply chain," the Prime Minister said.
Continuing his address, PM Modi said: "Decades ago Swami Vivekananda wrote, 'The simplest method to be worked upon at present is to induce Indians to use their own produce and get markets for Indian artware in other countries'. This path shown by Swami Vivekananda is an inspiration for India in post-COVID world."
PM Modi added: "Every citizen of this country has resolved to turn this crisis into an opportunity. We have to make this a major turning point for this nation. What is that turning point? A self-reliant India."
Addressing the nation on the occasion of 95th Annual Day of Indian Chamber of Commerce, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said: "The world is fighting coronavirus, India is fighting that too. But there are other issues also - flood, locusts, hailstorm, fire in oil well, small earthquakes, two cyclones - we are fighting all of these together."
A special flight arranged by actor Amitabh Bachchan to ferry 180 migrants from Mumbai landed at the Lucknow airport on Thursday morning. On arrival, the migrants hailing from Unnao, Gonda, Lucknow and other districts of the state thanked the Bollywood star for helping them reach home. Airport Director, AK Sharma, said 180 passengers have arrived by the special flight. Stepping in to help stranded migrants reach their villages, Bachchan had arranged for four special flights to send about 700 people to their homes in Uttar Pradesh. Sources close to Bachchan had said that he wanted to book a train for the migrants but the logistics did not work out.
The number of people who have recovered from Covid-19 disease is now more than those who are currently sick. But besides being an interesting milestone, this statistic has little significance as of now. This is neither the beginning of the end of the epidemic nor the arrival of the ‘peak’. It does not mean that the number of cases would be declining from now on. In fact, once we bring in the number of deaths into the equation, 7,745 at last count, it becomes clear that the number of recoveries is still below 50 per cent of the people who have so far been infected.
An Indian-origin husband-wife doctor couple have launched judicial review proceedings against the UK government over what they say is a refusal to address safety issues around personal protective equipment (PPE) for doctors and healthcare workers during the coronavirus pandemic, PTI reported. Dr Nishant Joshi and his pregnant wife, Dr Meenal Viz, had initiated the legal action in April with a pre-action letter seeking answers from the UK's Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England. They decided to push ahead with the case in the High Court in London on Wednesday because they feel they are "no longer willing to wait". "We don't want to be doing this. We didn't plan on doing this. We're doctors in a pandemic. We want to focus on saving lives and stitching this country back together," the couple said in a statement. "But we have been pushed into taking action by the government's refusal to address the issues we have raised," they said.
A new modelling study led by the University of Cambridge suggests that if facemasks are used across a population, it keeps the coronavirus ‘reproduction number’ under 1.0. When combined with lockdowns, widespread facemask use prevents further waves of the virus, according to the study, led by the University of Cambridge and published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A. The research suggests that lockdowns alone will not stop the resurgence of SARS-CoV-2. However, even homemade masks with limited effectiveness can dramatically reduce transmission rates if worn by enough people, regardless of whether they show symptoms.
What holds for the jobs market as the economy contracts after the unlockdown. Watch this E-xplained session with Manish Sabharwal, Chairman & Co-Founder, TeamLease Services Ltd and Director, Central Board of RBI.
As many as 441 people have been detained in Manipur for not wearing masks and not maintaining social distancing in public places amid the Covid-19 outbreak, police said. A total of 467 vehicles were also seized from their possession, they said. The accused were produced before courts on Wednesday and a total fine of Rs 71,300 was imposed on them, a release issued by Additional Director General of Police, L Kailun said. Those violating the safety norms will face legal action under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005, it added. A total of 311 Covid-19 cases have been reported in Manipur till Wednesday, of which 248 are active.
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director-general, Dr Balram Bhargava, on Wednesday said that there has been a revision in the treatment protocol for clinical management of Covid-19 patients. “We will put up details on the (ICMR’s) website on Thursday,” Dr Bhargava told The Indian Express. ICMR, the country’s apex health research institution, has been mulling over the use of Remdesivir, an antiviral drug that has shown improvement in coronavirus patients in formal clinical trials. The drug is at present allowed for emergency/compassionate use in treating severely ill Covid-19 patients and is likely to be part of the protocol.