Today is the 53rd day of India’s nationwide lockdown, meant to stop the novel coronavirus pandemic. Known COVID-19 cases in India stand at 85,940, surpassing China's total tally. The death toll in India due to the outbreak has reached 2,752.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to announce the fourth tranche of the Rs 20 lakh crore economic package’s details for agriculture and allied activities to help them tide over the COVID-19 pandemic, on May 16.
There have been over 45.4 lakh confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally. At least 3.07 lakh people have died so far. Catch the latest updates here:
Coronavirus in Haryana LIVE update |
Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala today supported restarting of domestic flights as well as the opening of schools and universities, stressing on the resumption of normal life while dealing with COVID-19.
Addressing a webinar organised by Assocham, Chautala said all restrictions cannot be lifted from May 18. However, he was in favour of relaxing norms on public movement with certain restrictions. (PTI)
Coronavirus in Maharashtra LIVE update |
884 new COVID-19 positive cases reported in Mumbai today, taking the total number of cases to 18,396.
238 patients recovered and discharged today, while 4,806 patients have discharged till date. The death toll stands at 696: Municipal Corporation Greater Mumbai (ANI)
Coronavirus in India LIVE update | JUST IN:
Health ministry issues guidelines for preparedness and response to COVID-19 in urban settlements
Read more: Why zero-based budgeting trumps incremental budgeting in COVID-19 era
Zero-based budgeting is a term that is likely to be used more frequently as we deal with the after-effects of COVID-19 on the corporate sector in the coming months.
Coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh LIVE update |
Govt has decided not to conduct the remaining exams for Class 10 of Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education. The merit list of Class 10 will be announced based on the exams held. The pending exams of Class 12 will be held between June 8 and June 16: CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan (ANI)
Coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir LIVE update |
A man from Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir has become the twelfth fatality from COVID-19 in the Union Territory, officials said today. Jan said the patient was admitted to the hospital on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday after he complained of heart problem. However, the doctors attending him diagnosed a chest infection and his sample was taken for testing.
"The sample report came out positive this evening," the SKIMS medical superintendent told news agency PTI.
Coronavirus in India LIVE update |
Phishing attacks in the name of Aarogya Setu mobile application are witnessing a "high rise" as online scamsters are taking advantage of the increased inquisitiveness of internet users during the COVID-19 pandemic, India's cybersecurity agency has said.
Read more: Phishing attacks in name of Aarogya Setu app increasing: Cyber agency
Coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh LIVE update | HP reports two more COVID-19 cases, tally climbs to 79
Two more persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh today, taking the total number of coronavirus cases to 79 in the state. One person each tested positive in Hamirpur and Kangra districts, Special Secretary (Health) Nipun Jindal said. (PTI)
Coronavirus in Punjab LIVE update |
Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh has urged the Centre to change the criteria for allocation of 'Chana whole' from per household to per person, to ensure equitable distribution of foodgrain among the migrants amid coronavirus lockdown: State Public Relations Department (PTI)
Fresh wave of migration sees a large number of women, children and elderly on roads
Coronavirus in India LIVE update |
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today interacted with a group of migrant labourers near the Sukhdev Vihar flyover here and asked them about their problems as they walk home amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
Gandhi, dressed in black pants and a white kurta, was seen sitting on the footpath and asking migrant labourers near the Sukhdev Vihar flyover about their ordeal. (PTI)
Coronavirus in West Bengal LIVE update | 7 more COVID-19 fatalities push West Bengal death toll to 160
Seven more COVID-19 fatalities were recorded in West Bengal, raising the death toll to 160 in the state, while 115 new cases pushed the COVID-19 count to 2,576, Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said today.
The state has so far attributed 72 other deaths to comorbid health conditions, where the novel coronavirus was incidental. (PTI)
Read more: Ease of Business and Make in India headline Day 4 of stimulus measures
After announcing measures aimed at resurrecting MSMEs, rural economy and agriculture sector battered by the COVID-19 outbreak, FM Nirmala Sitharaman on May 16 unveiled the fourth tranche of stimulus package designed to help achieve the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Today's announcements focused on introducing structural reforms and the need to decongest sectors.
Coronavirus LIVE update | COVID-19 tally breaches 4,000-mark in UP with 83 new cases; 95 die
With 83 more testing positive for coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh today, the number of total infected cases till date rose to 4,140 in the state.
The state government today also issued a fresh order making it mandatory to wear face masks in public places and making its breach punishable with fine ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 500. Spitting in public too was made similarly punishable.
"Out of 4,140 total cases, the total number of active cases in the state now is 1,718 as 2,327 people have been cured and discharged," said Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad, reported news agency PTI.
Coronavirus LIVE update |
A total of 449 trains have so far brought over 5.64 lakh migrants back to Uttar Pradesh, the highest in the country, Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi today said.
Seventy-three trains are scheduled to arrive today while permission for 286 trains has been given for tomorrow. In this way, about 9.50 lakh migrant labourers and workers have either returned or arrangements for their return have been made, Awasthi said. (PTI)
Coronavirus in Gujarat LIVE update | 700 'super spreaders' found coronavirus positive in week
At least 700 "super spreaders" were found coronavirus positive in Ahmedabad in a massive screening of vegetable sellers and shopkeepers conducted in a week after officials had ordered the closure of shops, except those selling milk and medicines, between May 7 and 14, a senior bureaucrat said today.
"Super-spreaders" are potential carriers of the viral infection who could infect a large number of people coming in their contact. (PTI)
Forty-six more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar, taking the total number of cases in the state to 1,079, a senior health department official said here on Saturday.
Principal Secretary (Health) Sanjay Kumar said these 46 samples tested positive for the virus on Friday.
Among the fresh cases, five have been reported from Patna district where the tally has gone up to 105. While one is a 14-year-old girl from the rural Bakhtiyarpur area, the remaining four are male personnel of the Bihar Military Police's 14th battalion, he said.
The West Bengal government in collaboration with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is set to commence clinical trials of convalescent plasma therapy with the objective of treating COVID-19 patients in the city, after the Drug Control General of India gave its approval for the joint effort, an official said on Saturday.
The purpose of the clinical trials is to understand the efficacy of blood plasma of a recovered COVID-19 patient in the treatment of others suffering from the disease, he said.
The CRPF has ordered immediate withdrawal of scores of its personnel working as domestic help and orderlies with its retired or repatriated officials fearing they may contract coronavirus infection in the absence of proper health care facilities, officials said on Saturday.
The step has been taken in the country's largest paramilitary force, they said, after reports emerged recently that four jawans posted with a retired Additional Director General-rank officer of another paramilitary force had been infected with the novel coronavirus.
Police have registered a case against a 27-year-old woman and her younger brother, both COVID-19 patients, for allegedly threatening to "spread" the deadly infection in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Saturday.
The case was registered at Kotwali Police Station at Khargone on Friday, after a video in which the woman purportedly gave the threat went viral on social media. The video was shot by her brother, the official said.
Days after a 28-year-old inmate of Rohini jail tested positive for coronavirus, 15 others who shared a barrack with him and one head warden have also tested positive for the infection, officials said.
The Delhi Prison Department had tested for coronavirus 19 inmates from the barrack of the prisoner whose reports came back positive for the infection on Wednesday, they said.
All inmates and the staffer are asymptomatic so far.
The Indian Railways has operated 1,074 Shramik Special trains since May 1, ferrying more than 14 lakh workers, it said Saturday. On Friday, the Railways said it had received more than 1,000 approvals from states in the last 15 days to ferry migrants home, with most workers being received by Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal hailed the active participation of UP and Bihar in processing trains for their migrants, saying 80 per cent of the labour trains are terminating in these two states.
The Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa (BCMG) has told the Bombay High Court that it shall provide financial assistance under its welfare scheme to those advocates who have been affected by lack of work due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.
The Bar Council of India (BCI) also told the court on Friday that it, too, has provided some amount to the BCMG for the purpose of providing assistance to the needy lawyers.
Researchers have shown for the first time that a previously known antiviral drug can speed up recovery of COVID-19 patients, an advance that may help slow down the tide of the pandemic across the world.
According to the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, treatment with the drug interferon(IFN)- a2b may significantly accelerate virus clearance and reduce levels of inflammatory proteins in COVID-19 patients.
A PIL has been moved in the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Centre to bring back 56 pregnant nurses stranded in Saudi Arabia due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
The petition by the United Nurses Association was mentioned via weblink before the joint registrar concerned who allowed it to be listed on Monday (May 18), the lawyer representing the organisation said.
As many as 23 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Karnataka on Saturday, taking the number of affected in the state to 1,079, the health department said.
The total cases include 494 discharges, 548 active cases, 36 coronavirus deaths and that of a coronavirus patient due to non-COVID cause, the department said in its daily bulletin.
Coronavirus in India LIVE update |
As part of the repatriation exercise to airlift stranded Indian citizens abroad under the Vande Bharat Mission, an Air India flight from Newark (USA) via Delhi landed at the HyderabadInternational Airport today with 121 passengers, airport sources said.
Air India AI 1839 flight landed at the airport at 03.14 am, they said. (PTI)
Coronavirus in Maharashtra LIVE update | Ensure treatment to non-COVID-19 patients: HC to Maharashtra government
The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to consider suggestions made by some petitioners for ensuring treatment to non-COVID-19 patients.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and AA Sayed yesterday said the authorities would accept such suggestions only if they were "realistic" and "within The court was hearing petitions filed by a lawyer and few social activists, which stated that people suffering from several chronic or serious ailments were being turned away from clinics and hospitals. (PTI)
Coronavirus LIVE update | Singapore reports 465 new COVID-19 cases
Singapore today reported 465 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total count to 27,356, with a senior minister warning that the city-state may see an increase in the number of infections when it allows more activities to resume from June 1.
The majority of new cases are foreigners on work permits and residing in dormitories, said the Health Ministry, as it continues to test foreign workers. (PTI)
Coronavirus in Delhi LIVE update |
438 more COVID-19 cases and 6 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. Total number of cases in the national capital is now at 9,333, including 5,278 active cases: State Health Department (ANI)
Coronavirus in Delhi LIVE update |
We had conducted COVID-19 testing for 19 inmates of Rohini jail who were sharing barracks with an inmate who had tested positive earlier. 15 out of the 19 inmates have tested positive, while one staff member has also tested positive: Sandeep Goel, DG Prisons, Delhi (ANI)
Coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh LIVE update | 65-year-old pneumonia patient dies, toll rises to 5 in Gautam Buddh Nagar
A 65-year-old Noida resident, who was hospitalised with pneumonia and was found positive for coronavirus on Friday, became the fifth COVID-19 casualty in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar, hospital officials said today.
The man, a resident of Sector 8 in Nodia, was admitted to the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida on May 12, they said. (PTI)
Coronavirus in Assam LIVE update |
A special train, carrying passengers from Dibrugarh arrived at New Delhi railway station today. All passengers were screened after they reached the railway station, as per guidelines by the government. (ANI)
Latest updates on COVID-19 crisis around the world:
> Rajasthan reports 91 fresh COVID-19 cases as the state's total cases climb to 4,838.
> India can avoid 72 percent of projected COVID-19 cases by closing red light areas, report says.
> Pakistan's coronavirus cases touch 38,799 with 834 deaths, Health Ministry says.
> US to donate ventilators to India to fight coronavirus, President Donald Trump says.
> Death toll due to COVID-19 in India rises to 2,752 as the number of cases climb to 85,940, Health Ministry says.
> Indore's COVID-19 cases go up by 79 to 2,378 as the death toll reaches 99.
> US President Donald Trump lauds Indian-American scientists and researchers for their efforts in developing medicines and vaccines to treat the deadly coronavirus.
(Source: PTI)
Coronavirus in India LIVE update | AIIMS Bhopal claims good results in drug trial
The government-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bhopal has been conducting drug trials for the treatment of COVID-19, which have yielded some good results, a senior official claimed today. The trials of the drug Mycobacterium W (Mw) were conducted on COVID-19 patients at AIIMS Bhopal for the last few days, the official said. (PTI)
With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting businesses globally, technology will play a "stronger role than ever before", enabling economic recovery, Microsoft India President Anant Maheshwari said.
Speaking at the Microsoft Envision Forum 2020, Maheshwari noted that the coronavirus pandemic has changed businesses, communities, industries and the world, forever.
After a week's hiatus, sale of alcoholic beverages resumed in non-containment zones of Tamil Nadu on Saturday amid police security except in State capital Chennai and neighbouring Tiruvallur. As part of measures to avoid crowding and ensure social distancing, authorities implemented colour-coded token system that specified the date and time allotted for the buyers at a designated outlet.
Rajasthan reported 91 fresh cases of coronavirus on Saturday, taking the infection tally in the state to 4,838, officials said. Out of the 91 fresh cases, 48 are from the district jail of Jaipur, they said.
"A total of 91 fresh cases were reported on Saturday. A maximum of them, 55, are from Jaipur, including 48 from the district jail. Besides 21 cases were reported from Dungarpur, nine from Udaipur, two from Sirohi and one each from Ajmer, Bharatpur, Jhunjhunu and Kota," an official said.
India can add 17 days of additional delay to reaching the peak of novel coronavirus cases, and prevent 72 per cent of projected new cases by closing down its red light areas till a COVID-19 vaccine is developed, scientists say.
Based on modelling studies, the researchers including those from Yale School of Medicine in the US, said closing down these places of sex work may reduce projected COVID-19 death toll increase in India by 63 per cent post the easing of lockdown measures. They said Indians are at a much lower risk of getting COVID-19 if red light areas are kept closed after the lockdown until an effective treatment or vaccine for COVID-19 is developed.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday condoled the death of migrant workers in a road accident in Uttar Pradesh, saying the government is carrying out relief work in full swing.
At least 24 migrant labourers lost their lives and 36 people sustained injuries when two trucks collided in Auraiya in the early hours of Saturday.
"The accident in Auraiya of Uttar Pradesh is very tragic. The government is carrying out relief work in full swing," the prime minister tweeted.
An assistant police inspector, who tested positive for COVID-19, succumbed to the infection at a civic-run hospital here on Saturday, an official said.
The 33-year-old officer attached to Shahu Nagar police station in Dharavi was found unconscious at his home in the early hours of the day and was rushed to civic-run Lokmanya Tilak Hospital in Sion, where he died, the official said.
The task force set up by the Maharashtra government to assist it in managing the coronavirus situation, has asked the administration to gear up for non-COVID-19 diseases during the upcoming monsoon season.
Talking to PTI, chairman of the task force, Sanjay Oak, said they have asked the government to gear up for mitigation of malaria and dengue during the rainy season. "Water-borne diarrhoea and jaundice may complicate the coronavirus situation," he said.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal requests PM for certain rules to open up Delhi
-Taxi, cabs permitted with condition that except driver only two passengers will be allowed. Carpooling or cab sharing by aggregators should not be allowed.
-Buses should seat not more than 20 passengers with two marshals mandatory at the entry and the exit.
-Metro services should be permitted for government employees, PSUs between 7:30 am and 10:30 am and from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm
-For private vehicles, two-wheelers should not be permitted to have a pillion rider. Cars to have maximum two passengers besides driver.
-Private offices to start with 50 percent workforce in all zones. Remaining employees to work from home.
-Markets and complexes to open on an odd-even basis. Complexes to open on condition that only 33 percent of shops operate. Responsibility of enforcement of rules lies with management.
-Shops, depending on their number, should open on alternate days. Essential items shops to be permitted to remain open on all days.
With 79 more people testing coronavirus positive in the last 24 hours, the number of patients in Indore district of Madhya Pradesh has grown to 2,378, a health official said on Saturday.
The virus claimed one more life in the district during this period, which took the death toll to 99, the official said.
Home delivery of liquor will be allowed only within the limits of various municipalities in Maharashtra's Thane district, barring containment zones in these areas, amid the COVID-19 lockdown, an official said on Saturday. Thane district collector Rajesh Narvekar on Friday evening issued an order regarding home delivery and online sale of liquor in the district.
China has reported 21 new COVID-19 infections, including 13 asymptomatic ones, taking the number of cases in the country to 82,941, health authorities said on Saturday, as Wuhan city, where the outbreak originated, ramped up efforts for the mass testing of its 11 million residents.
China's National Health Commission (NHC) said that of the eight new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported on Friday, six were imported infections.
The Madhya Pradesh government has declared that nine districts in the state, which had earlier reported COVID-19 cases, were now coronavirus-free.
Additional chief secretary (Health) Mohammed Suleman said that the nine districts- Barwani, Agar-Malwa, Shajapur, Sheopur, Alirajpur, Harda, Shahdol, Tikamgarh and Betul- were now free from the infection. It was declared during a review meeting held on Friday.
On a day 24 migrant labourers died in a collision between two trucks in Uttar Pradesh's Auraiya, BSP president Mayawati asked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday to ensure that his directives on the safety of stranded labourers returning home were being implemented by the officials.
She asked parties in power at the Centre and different states to rise above petty politics in this hour of crisis and ensure the safety of the migrants trying to make their way home amid the coronavirus-forced lockdown.
