Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: Maharashtra set to extend lockdown till end of May, will send report to this effect to Centre today
Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates: Maharashtra set to extend lockdown till end of May, will send report to this effect to Centre today
LIVE NEWS and UPDATES
08:51 (IST)
Coronavirus Outbreak in Maharashtra Latest Updates
Maharashtra set to extend lockdown till end of May, will send report to this effect to Centre today
The Maharashtra government has called for an extension of lockdown in the State till 31 May, and is likely to send a report to this effect to the Centre by Friday.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with State Cabinet ministers to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the state and the measures needed to be implemented to contain the fast-spreading virus.
According to a senior minister, a consensus was reached on that the lockdown has to be extended in certain parts of the State, especially in red zones such as the Mumbai and Pune metropolitan regions, Malegaon and Solapur.
The Hindu quoted the minister as saying, "It was also agreed upon that the lockdown from now on has to be strictly implemented in red zones, especially in containment areas. At the same time, further relaxations could be given in orange and green zones," adding that the recommendation will be sent to the Centre on Friday.
08:36 (IST)
Coronavirus Outbreak in Bihar Latest Updates
Bihar registers 999 COVID-19 cases as 46 more test positive
With 46 more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Bihar, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state climbed to 999 on Thursday, a senior official said.
08:26 (IST)
Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates
Air India to open bookings for select repatriation flights from Delhi
Air India is taking bookings for about 30 outbound flights — mainly from Delhi — for some destinations in the US, Canada, UK, Paris, Frankfurt, Singapore and Australia.
These flights will operate from 17-28 May as part of the Vande Bharat Mission-II to fly back Indians stranded abroad.
08:05 (IST)
Coronavirus Outbreak in Uttar Pradesh Latest Updates
In Photos: Delhi migrant workers walk home to different parts in UP
08:02 (IST)
Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates
Flight attendants to wear face shield, gown and mask when airlines resume ops
Cabin crew members of Indian airlines will have personal protective equipment (PPE) like face shields, gowns and masks as part of their attire on commercial passenger flights when they resume operations, industry sources said.
Airlines such as IndiGo, Air India, Vistara and AirAsia India have decided to go with the new attire in order to ensure safety of cabin crew members as they are in close proximity to passengers during flights, the sources said.
"While AirAsia India will have face shields, masks, gowns, aprons and gloves as a part of their PPE attire for cabin crew members, Vistara would have a lap gown, face mask and face shield as the new dress code," a source said.
07:44 (IST)
Coronavirus Outbreak in Maharashtra Latest Updates
25 new COVID-19 deaths in Mumbai
Of the 44 deaths recorded in Maharashtra, 25 COVID-19 patients succumbed to the infection in financial capital Mumbai, 10 in Navi Mumbai, five in Pune, two in Aurangabad and one person each died in Panvel and Kalyan.
07:36 (IST)
Coronavirus Outbreak in Maharashtra Latest Updates
Maharashtra registers highest single-day jump with 1,602 new COVID-19 cases
Maharashtra on Thursday reported 1,602 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike so far, taking the state’s overall count to 27,524, according to state health department data.
With 44 deaths registered today, the death toll in Maharashtra due to the contagious coronavirus disease has now breached the 1000-mark and stands at 1019.
07:32 (IST)
Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates
India reports second-highest spike in COVID-19 cases with total inching towards 80,000
In the biggest surge in COVID-19 infections in Delhi, 472 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Thursday, as India's total neared 80,000 with 3,995 fresh cases reported, the second-highest rise in a day.
While this was the fifth consecutive day of over 3,500 cases being added to the country's overall count, the growth rate of the infection has gradually decreased during this period.
07:23 (IST)
Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates
Centre to provide free food grain to migrants, concessional credit to farmers
The government on Thursday announced a Rs 3.16 lakh crore package of free foodgrains for migrant workers, concessional credit to farmers and working capital loan for street vendors as part of the second tranche of fiscal stimulus to heal an economy hit hard by coronavirus lockdown.
At a news conference, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said 8 crore migrant workers will get 5 kgs of grains and 1 kg of pulses free for two months, while 50 lakh street vendors rendered jobless by the lockdown would be given a working capital loan of Rs 10,000 each.
Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: The Maharashtra government has called for an extension of lockdown in the State till 31 May, and is likely to send a report to this effect to the Centre by Friday.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with State Cabinet ministers to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the state and the measures needed to be implemented to contain the fast-spreading virus.
According to a senior minister, a consensus was reached on that the lockdown has to be extended in certain parts of the State, especially in red zones such as the Mumbai and Pune metropolitan regions, Malegaon and Solapur.
The Hindu quoted the minister as saying, "It was also agreed upon that the lockdown from now on has to be strictly implemented in red zones, especially in containment areas. At the same time, further relaxations could be given in orange and green zones," adding that the recommendation will be sent to the Centre on Friday.
Maharashtra on Thursday reported 1,602 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike so far, taking the state’s overall count to 27,524, according to state health department data.
With 44 deaths registered today, the death toll in Maharashtra due to the contagious coronavirus disease has now breached the 1000-mark and stands at 1019.
The number of deaths from COVID-19 disease rose to 2,549 and the number of cases climbed to 78,003 on Thursday, registering an increase of 134 fatalities and 3,722 infections in the last 24 hours since Wednesday 8 am, according to the Union Health Ministry.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 49,219 while 26,234 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.
Meanwhile, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the media for the second day in a row, and spelt out more details of the Centre's Rs 20-lakh-crore special economic package. She said the second tranche of economic stimulus package will be for the benefit of migrant workers, street vendors and small farmers.
FM announces concessional credit for farmers, free food grains for migrants
Sitharaman on Thursday announced a Rs 3.16 lakh crore package comprising free food grains for migrant workers, Rs 2 lakh crore concessional credit to small farmers and working capital loan for street vendors in a bid to help those hit hard by the nationwide lockdown.
Together with the Wednesday's Rs 5.94 lakh crore package that mostly comprised off-budget credit line and support to small businesses, shadow banks and electricity distribution companies, the government has unveiled over Rs 9 lakh crore plans out of the Rs 20 lakh crore package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to heal Asia's third-largest economy that was seen hurtling towards its first full-year contraction in four decades.
Representational image. AP
Sitharaman said each of the eight crore migrant workers, who had to leave their workplaces after imposition of the lockdown on 25 March, will get 5 kg grains and 1 kg pulses free for two months.
Also, 50 lakh street vendors who were rendered jobless as the government ordered stay-at-home would be given a working capital loan of Rs 10,000 each to restart their businesses.
For farmers, the finance minister announced a Rs 2 lakh crore concessional credit through Kisan Credits Cards, benefiting as many as 2.5 crore farmers.
However, the Congress criticised the economic package as a "jumla" saying it has so far been way short of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised and the entire press conference of the finance minister was classic display of "arrogance, ignorance and insensitivity".
Senior spokesperson of the party Anand Sharma said the country believed that Modi was serious when he made the "dramatic" announcement of giving 10 percent of the GDP as a package to revive the economy and support workers and migrant labourers and that expectations had soared.
"The finance minister's announcement dashed all hopes," he said.
State-wise deaths and cases
India has reported a total 134 deaths deaths since Wednesday morning, of which 54 were in Maharashtra, 29 in Gujarat, 20 in Delhi, 9 in West Bengal, seven in Madhya Pradesh, four in Rajasthan, three in Tamil Nadu, two each in Telangana and Karnataka and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh.
Of the 2,549 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 975 fatalities, Gujarat comes second with 566 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 232, West Bengal at 207, Rajasthan at 121, Delhi at 106, Uttar Pradesh at 83, Tamil Nadu at 64 and Andhra Pradesh at 47.
The toll reached 34 in Telangana, 33 in Karnataka and 32 in Punjab on Thursday. Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir have reported 11 fatalities each due to the respiratory disease while Bihar has registered seven and Kerala has reported four deaths.
Jharkhand, Chandigarh and Odisha have recorded three COVID-19 fatalities each while Himachal Pradesh and Assam have reported two deaths each. Meghalaya, Uttarakhand and Puducherry have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.
According to the ministry's website, more than 70 percent of the deaths are due to comorbidities.
According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country is from Maharashtra at 25,922, followed by Gujarat at 9,267, Tamil Nadu at 9,227, Delhi at 7,998, Rajasthan at 4,328, Madhya Pradesh at 4,173 and Uttar Pradesh at 3,729.
The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 2,290 in West Bengal, 2,137 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,924 in Punjab. It has risen to 1,367 in Telangana, 971 in Jammu and Kashmir, 959 in Karnataka, 940 in Bihar and 793 in Haryana.
Kerala has reported 534 coronavirus cases so far, while Odisha has 538 cases. A total of 187 people have been infected with the virus in Chandigarh and 173 in Jharkhand.
Tripura has reported 155 cases, Assam has 80 cases, Uttarakhand has 72, Himachal Pradesh has 66 cases, Chhattisgarh has 59 and Ladakh has registered 43 cases so far.
Thirty-three COVID-19 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Meghalaya and Puducherry have registered 13 cases each while Goa has seven COVID-19 cases.
Manipur has two cases. Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have reported a case each till now.
Doubling time has slowed to 13.9 days, says health minister
The doubling time of novel coronavirus cases has slowed to 13.9 days in the last three days and India now has a capacity of 1,00,000 COVID-19 tests per day with nearly 20 lakh carried out till now, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said.
Vardhan, who visited the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Delhi and dedicated a COBAS 6800 testing machine to the nation, said 14 states and Union territories have not reported any case of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours.
These states and UTs are Gujarat, Telangana, Jharkhand, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Puducherry.
Also, Daman and Diu, Sikkim, Nagaland and Lakshadweep have not reported any cases so far.
Meanwhile, the government has decided to use one time RT-PCR based pooled sampling for COVID-19 screening of migrant workers and returnees from abroad kept in quarantine facilities.
The same testing technique would also be used for monitoring in green zone districts which have reported no cases till now or in the last 21 days, the health ministry said while issuing "Guidelines for RT-PCR based pooled sampling for migrants/returnees from abroad/green zones".
806 shramik special trains brought into operation till now, says Railways
The Railways has operated 806 shramik special trains since 1 May, ferrying home 10 lakh migrant workers who were stranded in various parts of the country due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, officials said on Thursday. Of these, Uttar Pradesh received the maximum number of trains followed by Bihar, they said.
"As on 14 May, 2020, a total of 806 'shramik special' trains have been operationalised from various states across the country. More than 10 lakh passengers have reached their home state.
"Trains are being run by the Railways only after concurrence is given both by the state which is sending the passengers and the state which is receiving them," the railways said.
Out of the 806 trains which have been operated so far, 166 are in transit while 640 have terminated at various stations. Sixty-three more are in the pipeline, an official said.
These 806 trains were terminated in various states like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
With inputs from PTI
Updated Date: May 15, 2020 08:53:48 IST
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