08:14 (IST)
Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Update
One doctor, 5 other staffers of Delhi govt hospital test positive
One more doctor and five other staffers of the Delhi government's Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital in Jahangirpuri tested positive for coronavirus on Monday, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases at the facility to 65, officials said. Till Sunday, the number of staffers infected with the virus stood at 59.
According to a senior official, "Sixty-eight more samples were tested, whose reports came out on Monday. Five out of those came out positive, and some samples were sent to another lab, out of which one tested positive. So, a total of 65 people from the hospital are affected by coronavirus now".
He said the facility is practically closed due to this severe crisis.
08:08 (IST)
Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Update
Delhi govt lifts bar on vets, plumbers, electricians
The Delhi Government on Monday had lifted the bar on veterinarians, plumbers, and electricians after reviewing the COVID-19 situation in the national capital. In the order, Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) also allowed inter-state travel of health workers, lab technicians, and scientists, ANI reports.
Delhi Government yesterday lifted the bar on veterinarians, plumbers,& electricians after reviewing #COVID19 situation in the national capital. In the order, Delhi Disaster Management Authority(DDMA) also allowed inter-state travel of health workers, lab technicians & scientists. pic.twitter.com/4wlyzF6Mus
— ANI (@ANI) April 28, 2020
08:06 (IST)
Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Update
Services in emergency wards, three OPDs at Hindu Rao resumes
Services in emergency wards, including flu clinic, and three OPDs at the civic-run Hindu Rao Hospital were resumed from Monday, days after the facility was closed down after a nurse there had tested positive for COVID-19, authorities said.
The largest municipal hospital run by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation was closed down on Saturday. Sources said the authorities will be examining the inquiry report in the wake of an allegation by her coworkers that the nurse continued on her job despite complaining of having symptoms.
NDMC Commissioner Varsha Joshi said, complete sanitization at the hospital premises was done on Sunday.
Patients were seen in the emergency wards and the three OPDs, with 21 of those being seen in out-patient departments, and 12 in the emergency department.
08:02 (IST)
Coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh Latest Update
4-month-old baby dies of pneumonia as father tests positive for COVID-19
Two days after a four-month-old baby was 'brought dead' to a government-run hospital in Greater Noida, officials on Monday confirmed that his father has tested positive for the infection.
However, the authorities at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) denied that the child died due to coronavirus as his sample was declared negative on Monday.
The child's mother has also tested negative for the infection, they said. The boy was brought dead to the hospital, which has a dedicated facility for treating COVID-19 patients, at 10 am on 25 April, senior GIMS officials said. PTI could not immediately confirm the cause of the child's death.
07:53 (IST)
Coronavirus in US Latest Update
US registers 1,303 deaths in past 24 hours
United States of America (USA) recorded 1,303 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours as per Johns Hopkins University tally
07:52 (IST)
Coronavirus in Odisha Latest Update
8 fresh COVID-19 cases reported in Odisha, total mounts to 111
Eight people, including four women, tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, taking the total number of cases in Odisha to 111, officials said. While six fresh cases were reported from Balasore, one each was detected from Jajpur and Koraput districts, they said.
The patient from Koraput is a 22-year-old male health worker from Dasmantpur block, the first COVID-19 case reported from the tribal-dominated district as well as south Odisha.
The male staff nurse in a government facility is the state's first health worker to get infected with the deadly virus, the officials said, adding that he was asymptomatic. The Koraput patient, who had returned from Kolkata on April 14 to join duty, was put under quarantine in view of his travel history, and had not joined work.
Following the COVID-19 test, he was diagnosed with the disease, the officials said.
07:34 (IST)
Coronavirus in US Latest Update
US doing very 'serious investigation' against China, says Donald Trump
The United States is doing a "very serious" investigation against China, President Donald Trump said, indicating his administration is looking at a lot more money as compensation from Beijing than euro 130 billion being sought by Germany.
“Germany is looking at things and we''re looking at things and we''re talking about a lot more money than Germany is talking about,” Trump told reporters at his White House news conference Monday.
The deadly virus, which originated in China in mid-November has so far killed more than two lakh people and infected over 30 lakh globally. The largest number of them are in the US: more than 56,000 deaths and over 10 lakh infections.
After the US, Europe has been the worst hit by the virus. In India, mainly because of the early and aggressive preventive measures, the fatalities have remained low at 886 and infections at 28,000.
07:18 (IST)
Coronavirus in West Bengal Latest Update
4 West Bengal districts declared as red zones, 287 areas in Kolkata declared as containment zones
The West Bengal government on Monday released a list, saying four districts, including Kolkata, have been declared as red zones in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, and 287 areas in the metropolis identified as containment zones.
Howrah, North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts have been declared as red zones, besides Kolkata. Eleven districts have been identified as orange zones, while eight are in the green zone, as per the list released by the state government.
Those in the orange zone are South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Paschim Medinipur, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman, Kalimpong, Nadia, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Murshidabad and Malda. The eight districts in the green zone are Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakhin Dinajpur, Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram.
07:11 (IST)
Coronavirus in India Latest Update
India reports highest daily jump in COVID-19 toll
India on Monday recorded its highest single-day spike in toll due to COVID-19 as 60 deaths and 1,463 new infections were reported in the last twenty-four hours, taking the countrywide total to 28,380 and the number of deaths to 886.
The Union health ministry, in its evening update, said there has been a spike of 1,463 cases since Sunday evening, taking the case count to 28,380. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 21,132, while 6,361 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said. The total number of cases includes 111 foreign nationals. With 60 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, the toll rose to 886.
Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: India on Monday recorded its highest single-day spike in toll due to COVID-19 as 60 deaths and 1,463 new infections were reported in the last twenty-four hours, taking the countrywide total to 28,380 and the number of deaths to 886.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video conference with chief ministers said the lockdown has been successful as thousands of deaths had been prevented but cautioned that the crisis was far from over.
In another significant development, the Indian Council of Medical Research has asked states to stop using the COVID-19 rapid antibody test kits procured from two Chinese companies.
India reports highest daily jump in COVID-19 toll
The Union health ministry, in its evening update, said there has been a spike of 1,463 cases since Sunday evening, taking the case count to 28,380. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 21,132, while 6,361 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said. The total number of cases includes 111 foreign nationals. With 60 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, the toll rose to 886.
However, on the positive side, more than 6,300 patients have been discharged, pushing the recovery rate to over 22 percent, according to the Union Health Ministry.
Among major cities, Mumbai alone has reported 5,589 cases, while Delhi has more than 2,900 and Ahmedabad more than 2,100 cases.
Besides, more than 200 have died in Mumbai, over 100 in Ahmedabad and at least 54 in the National Capital. These three major urban centres also impact a significant part of the country's overall economic activities.
Of the nationwide toll of 886, Maharashtra has reported the most fatalities (342), followed by Gujarat at 151, Madhya Pradesh at 106, Delhi at 54, Rajasthan at 41, and Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh at 31 each.
The death toll reached 26 in Telangana, 24 in Tamil Nadu while West Bengal and Karnataka have reported 20 deaths each.
Punjab has registered 18 fatalities so far. The disease has claimed six lives in Jammu and Kashmir, four in Kerala while Jharkhand and Haryana have recorded three COVID-19 deaths each.
Bihar has reported two deaths, while Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.
According to the health ministry data, Maharashtra also has the maximum number of confirmed cases at 8,068, followed by Gujarat at 3,301, Delhi at 2,918, Rajasthan at 2,185, Madhya Pradesh at 2,168, Uttar Pradesh at 1,955 and Tamil Nadu at 1,885.
The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 1,177 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,002 in Telangana.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Reddy asked people to take precautions to prevent the infection as he warned, "We cannot eliminate it, so we have to live with it."
On the positive side, the Health Ministry said 85 districts have not reported a single positive case in the last 14 days, while 16 districts have not witnessed even one case in the last 28 weeks.
Separately, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said five Northeastern states — Sikkim, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura — are now completely coronavirus-free and the other three —Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram— have not added any new COVID-19 positive case in the last few days.
Narendra Modi holds video conference with chief ministers
As the final week of the second phase of lockdown began, Modi conveyed to chief ministers that the country will have to give importance to the economy as well as continue the fight against the novel coronavirus.
In his fourth video conference with the chief ministers over the pandemic, Modi also underlined that the nationwide lockdown has "yielded positive results as the country has managed to save thousands of lives in the past one and a half months."
"The prime minister said that the country has seen two lockdowns till now, both different in certain aspects, and now we have to think of the way ahead. He said that as per experts, the impact of coronavirus will remain visible in the coming months," according to an official statement.
The first lockdown was announced by Modi on 24 March in a bid to combat the coronavirus endemic. It was later extended till 3 May.
Reiterating the mantra of 'do gaz doori' (six feet distance),Modi said masks and face covers will become part of people's lives in the days ahead. He emphasised on the importance of the use of technology as much as possible, and also on a need to embrace reform measures. He, however, forewarned that the danger of the virus is far from over and a constant vigil is of paramount importance.
Several news reports said that the prime minister had also hinted at extending the lockdown in red-zones or coronvairus hotspots after 3 May while asking the chief minister to prepare a graded exit plan depending on the situation in each state.
During the virtual interaction, chief ministers also put forth their concerns and suggestions. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik sought framing of a national standard operating procedure (SOP) for smooth movement of lakhs of people stranded across the country due to the lockdown imposed to combat COVID-19.
On similar lines, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said it would not be possible for the state to bring back students from places like Kota until the Centre amended its lockdown guidelines.
Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani favoured a gradual lifting of the coronavirus lockdown, while the chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Meghalaya favoured extending the lockdown.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, after his interaction with the prime minister, asked state officials to make specific plans for the period after 3 May, when the second phase of the lockdown is scheduled to end.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, however, alleged that the Centre was making contradictory statements on enforcement of the lockdown, and wanted greater clarity on the recent union home ministry order on reopening shops. Claiming that many states were not allowed to speak during Modi's video conference with chief ministers owing to the rotation system, Banerjee said given a chance she would have raised several questions, including the need to send central teams to Bengal.
Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami sought more RT-PCR kits for COVID-19 screening to help the state ramp up its testing capacity to 10,000 a day against the existing 7,500.
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, in a written submission to the Centre demanded that GST arrears of over Rs 4,000 crore be released and also demanded a grant due to meet the revenue deficit.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who did not participate in the interaction, said that the state government favours a partial lockdown in the state till 15 May and sought aspecial financial package from the Centre for various sectors, including rehabilitation of expatriates who
wish to return.
ICMR asks states to stop using China-made antibody testing kits
In the meantime, the country's apex health research body ICMR asked states to stop using the COVID-19 rapid antibody test kits procured from two Chinese companies and return them to be sent back to the suppliers.
States are advised to stop using these kits procured from the two companies (Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech and Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics kits) and return them to be sent back to the suppliers: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) #COVID19 https://t.co/aGgEOpibuN
— ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2020
Some states including Rajasthan had flagged issues with results given by these kits. Citing media reports, Opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that some people were indulging in profiteering while supplying rapid test kits for COVID-19 to the government.
That any human being would try & profiteer from the immeasurable suffering of millions of his brothers & sisters, is beyond belief & comprehension. This scam is an insult to every Indian. I urge the PM to act swiftly to bring the corrupt to justice.https://t.co/04KJqALs80
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 27, 2020
However, the health ministry explained the procedure followed for procuring the kits and clarified that no payment had been made for them.
"The ICMR has not made any payment in respect of these supplies. Because of the due process followed (not going for procurement with 100 per cent advance amount), Government of India does not stand to lose a single rupee," it said in a statement.
Uttar Pradesh brings back migrant workers
Over 12,000 workers from Uttar Pradesh who were stranded in Haryana due to the coronavirus lockdown have been brought back to the state and are now being sent to their home districts, reported PTI. Within Uttar Pradesh, the state government is preparing to send nearly 10,000 students stranded in Allahabad to their home districts in a phased manner.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court sought a reply from the Centre on a plea seeking direction to authorities to allow migrant workers across the country to return home after conducting coronavirus tests.
With inputs from agencies
from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/3aHEhW6
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