07:58 (IST)
Coronavirus in India Latest Update
Lakshmi Mittal announces contribution of Rs 100 cr to PM CARES Fund
NRI billionaire Lakshmi N Mittal on Tuesday announced a contribution of Rs 100 crore to the PM CARES Fund to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus in India.
"ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India), a joint venture between (L N Mittal's) ArcelorMittal and Japan's Nippon Steel, and HMEL, a partnership between Hindustan Petroleum and Mittal Energy Investments, today announce a package of support to strengthen India's capacity to protect families and communities impacted by the virus.
"Both our operations in India commit equally to a total of Rs 100 crore to PM-CARES for the ongoing relief efforts countrywide," Mittal said in a statement.
"Citizens across India have shown extraordinary dedication, bravery and compassion in this moment of singular crisis and they deserve our support and the gratitude of the nation," the steel magnate said.
COVID-19 is having significant repercussions for people in every continent, Mittal said. No country will be immune to it and for nations like India which have a vast population, the impact could be very serious, he added. Collaboration in times like these is critical, the industrialist asserted.
Governments, companies and citizens must therefore work together to pool their resources, to ensure every action is taken to combat the pandemic as swiftly as possible, he said. Mittal also said his companies are providing daily meals to over 5,000 people and food kits to more than 30,000.
07:56 (IST)
Coronavirus in South Africa Latest Update
Prominent Indian-origin virologist in South Africa dies from COVID-19
World-renowned virologist Gita Ramjee has become the first Indian-origin South African to have died after contracting the novel coronavirus that has killed five people in the country.
Ramjee, a stellar vaccine scientist and an HIV prevention research leader, had returned from London a week ago but reportedly showed no symptoms of COVID-19.
Ramjee, aged nearly 50 years, was the Clinical Trials Unit Principal Investigator and Unit Director of the HIV Prevention Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) offices in Durban.
07:48 (IST)
Coronavirus in US Latest Update
Donald Trump says US headed for 'tough, painful' two weeks
The US is headed for a "tough two weeks", President Donald Trump has warned, advising people to be prepared for the "hard days" ahead, as the country fights the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic that the White House projects could claim one to two lakh lives in the coming weeks.
Trump's remarks came as Deborah Bix, a member of White House Task Force on coronavirus, based on a model from actual data from the ground, said the death toll in the US could be between 100,000 to 200,000, with the strict implementation of the existing mitigation measures including social distancing till 30 April.
If no steps were to be taken, the death toll could range between 1.5 million and 2.2 million, Brix said on a day when the confirmed number of coronavirus infections in the US, according to the Worldometer website, skyrocketed to over 188,000, adding more than 24,000 new cases in a single day and the fatalities rose to 3,867.
07:38 (IST)
Coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh Latest Update
50 quarantined in UP's Jaunpur for attending Nizamuddin congregation
The Jaunpur administration has quarantined about 50 people who attended a Tabligh-e-Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin area and returned to the district recently.
"People who returned two days ago from Delhi and Noida on buses were scanned. Of this, there were around 50 persons who returned after attending the Tabligh-e-Jamaat. These people have been quarantined at Shia College, and their health check-up is being done," District Magistrate Dinesh Kumar Singh said.
He said their addresses and the places they visited after attending the religious congregation are being ascertained. Nizamuddin area in Delhi has turned into a new hotspot after a number of people who attended the Jamaat's gathering tested positive for coronavirus.
07:34 (IST)
Coronavirus in West Bengal Latest Update
Toll rises to 4 in Bengal, total confirmed cases at 32
The death toll due to the coronavirus pandemic climbed to four in West Bengal on Tuesday after two patients succumbed to the contagion, while 10 new cases were reported, the highest single-day rise in the state so far.
Five people did not have any travel history, while the rest either came in contact with a positive patient or had a travel history outside the state. The two persons who died were among the 10 new cases, officials said.
A total of 1,03,391 people are under home isolation in various parts of the state as on Tuesday, while the total number of positive cases stands at 32. Two persons have earlier died due to the disease.
The state government so far had identified 70 people, who had attended a religious gathering in Delhi's Nizamuddin earlier this month.
07:22 (IST)
Coronavirus in Nagaland Latest Update
Total shutdown in Dimapur from Wednesday morning
At the end of the first week of 21-day nationwide lockdown, the district administration of Dimapur has ordered total closure of all shops, commercial, private establishments, and imposed restriction on movement of public and vehicles for 66 hours with effect from 6 am on Wednesday.
In exercise of powers under Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the state government order to initiate effective and immediate measures needed to prevent and contain the spread of coronavirus, the total closure will be imposed from 6 am on April 1 to Midnight of April 3, 2020, an order issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Dimapur, Anoop Khinchi, said on Tuesday.
The containment measure will remain in force in all parts of the district, he said.
07:17 (IST)
Coronavirus in US Latest Update
US death toll eclipses China's as reinforcements head to NYC
The US death toll from the coronavirus has climbed past 3,600, eclipsing China's official count, as hard-hit New York City rushed to bring in more medical professionals and ambulances and parked refrigerated morgue trucks on the streets to collect the dead.
The crisis hit close to home for Governor Andrew Cuomo, who reported teary-eyed that his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, was infected.
The governor pronounced on Tuesday the disaster unlike any other the city has weathered: "This is ongoing and the duration itself is debilitating and exhausting and depressing."
New York was the nation's deadliest hot spot, with about 1,550 deaths statewide, most of them in New York City, which braced for things to get much worse in the coming weeks.
A 1,000-bed emergency hospital set up at the mammoth Javits Convention Center began taking non-coronavirus patients to help relieve the city's overwhelmed health system. A Navy hospital ship with 1,000 beds that arrived on Monday was expected to begin accepting patients on Tuesday.
07:15 (IST)
Coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir Latest Update
Man reaches home in Poonch amid lockdown by faking his death
A man faked his death to reach home in an ambulance in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district during the nationwide lockdown, according to officials.
Hakam Din was admitted to Government Medical College hospital last week due to an injury.
After he was discharged, he conspired with three others and forged a certificate of his death to travel in a private ambulance, officials said. A police team intercepted the ambulance and found the man alive and subsequently arrested all the four accused. Police sent them to a quarantine facility.
07:12 (IST)
Coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh Latest Update
AP govt defers salaries of CM, govt staff
The Andhra Pradesh government late on Tuesday night announced deferment of payment of full salaries to the chief minister, officers, and employees, saying its revenue streams have "totally dried up" in view of the ongoing lockdown to combat coronavirus.
The deferments will range from 10 to 100 percent for different categories of employees, it said. In an order issued around midnight, Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney said the deferment will continue to be in force till further orders.
"While the revenue streams have totally dried up due to the lockdown, the demand on state resources has increased tremendously for contact tracing, quarantining, providing personal protection equipment, drugs, health facilities, etc. and for providing financial assistance to the poor people, most affected by the lockdown," he said.
07:11 (IST)
Coronavirus in India Latest Update
146 new cases reported in last 24 hours
The Centre on Tuesday said that there has been an increase of 146 novel coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 positive cases to 1,397 in India.
The total number includes 1,238 active cases, and 124 people who have been cured/discharged/migrated and 35 deaths. Three deaths — two in Punjab and one in Maharashtra — were reported on Tuesday.
Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST updates: The Centre on Tuesday said that there has been an increase of 146 novel coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 positive cases to 1,397 in India.
The total number includes 1,238 active cases, and 124 people who have been cured/discharged/migrated and 35 deaths. Three deaths — two in Punjab and one in Maharashtra — were reported on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court asked the Centre on Tuesday to prevent migration of people due to coronavirus and set up within 24 hours a portal for disseminating real-time information on the pandemic to counter the panic being spread through fake news.
Meanwhile, a religious congregation of the Tablighi Jamaat held from 1 to 15 March in Delhi's Nizamuddin West has become a point of concern for authorities after several people showed symptoms of coronavirus after taking part in the congregation. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has ordered the registration of an FIR against a cleric for leading the congregation
State-wise figures
The cases of coronavirus in Maharashtra, which is one of the worst-affected states by the pandemic, have gone up substantially, reports said on Tuesday adding that there are now 302 positive cases in the state. News18 reported that there are 59 cases in Mumbai, two each in Pune, Thane, KDMC and Navi Mumbai.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that seven positive cases have been reported in the state, two each in Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod. He said that additionally, one each was reported in Kollam, Thrissur, and Kannur. The total active cases are now 215 in the state.
Thirteen new cases of coronavirus were reported in Karnataka in the last 21 hours, reports said. The total number of positive cases in the state rose to 101, including three deaths and eight discharged/cured cases.
Additionally, reports said that 88 COVID-19 patients (including one pregnant woman) are in isolation at
designated hospitals and are stable, while two are in the ICU.
In Assam, a 52-year-old person has been found positive for coronavirus, state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. Sarma said that it is Assam's first COVID-19 patient. He is undergoing treatment at Silchar Medical College and his condition is stable, the minister said.
In Madhya Pradesh, the total number of coronavirus positive cases on Tuesday rose to 66 in the state, of which 44 positive cases have been reported in Indore. Five people have died due to the infection till now in the state.
However, in what comes as a positive development, several patients have been successfully cured of the disease across the country. News18 India reported that in Rajasthan's Bhilwara, 13 out of 26 positive cases have been cured.
The first three COVID-19 patients in West Bengal have recovered, reports said, adding that they will remain in quarantine for the time being. Meanwhile, two new cases were confirmed for the infection in the state on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 27.
Row over Tablighi Jamaat event
At least 24 members of the Tablighi Jamaat tested positive in Delhi and another six died in Telangana due to the virus, nearly two weeks after attending a congregation in its Nizamuddin West centre.
Following this, the Centre has asked all states and Union territories to immediately trace and quarantine the estimated 2,000 foreign workers of the organisation present in India.
The Home Ministry in a letter to all chief secretaries and police heads told them to deport all foreign Jamaat followers who test negative for the deadly virus to their countries "by the first available flights".
"Presently, it is estimated that about 2,000 foreigners, on tourist visa, from over 70 countries are spread all over the country for Tabligh work. Majority of these foreign nationals belong to Bangladesh (493), Indonesia (472), Malaysia (150) and Thailand (142) and their period of stay in the country is up to six months," the Ministry of Home Affairs said in the letter.
Some Jamaat members in Erode district of Tamil Nadu and eight Indonesian nationals, part of a Jamaat team in Hyderabad in Telangana, tested positive for the virus recently.
Kejriwal said that the congregation at the Nizammudin markaz (centre) in Delhi, which was attended by around 2,000 people, was "highly irresponsible".
Prevent migration, SC tells Centre
The Supreme Court asked the Centre to prevent migration of people due to coronavirus and set up within 24 hours a portal for disseminating real-time information on the pandemic to counter the panic being spread through fake news.
"Panic will destroy more lives than the virus", the top court said and asked the Centre to get trained counsellors and community leaders of all faiths to calm down the migrants, who are kept in shelter homes across the country.
It said these shelters should be run by volunteers and not the police, and there should be no use of force and intimidation.
It asked the Centre to prevent migration of people and take care of their needs of food, shelter, nourishment and medical aid.
The Centre told the apex court that the suggestion by a petitioner to sprinkle water and chemicals on migrants to sanitise them does not work scientifically and is not the right way.
Meanwhile, the Centre, in an affidavit, also sought a direction from the Supreme Court on Tuesday that no media outlet print, publish or telecast anything on coronavirus without first ascertaining facts from the mechanism provided by the government.
It said that in an unprecedented situation of this nature, any deliberate or unintended fake or inaccurate reporting either in electronic, print, social media or web portals has a serious and inevitable potential of causing panic in large sections of the society.
Considering the very nature of the infectious disease which the world is struggling to deal with, any panic reaction by any section of the society based upon such reporting would not only be harmful for such situation but would harm the entire nation," it said.
The government said that though an act of creating panic is a criminal offence under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, appropriate direction from the top court would protect the country from any potential and inevitable consequence resulting from a false alarm having the potential of creating panic in a section of the society .
With inputs from PTI
from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2V4PcDx
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