Coronavirus LIVE Updates: death toll due to coronavirus touched 50 with 1,965 positive cases in the country
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Covid-19 Cases in India (2nd-04-2020) live tracker - There has been a major hike in the number of Coronavirus cases in India. On Wednesday, 300 people were tested positive which is the largest single-day spike in the number of confirmed cases in the country.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Covid-19 Cases in India (2nd-04-2020) live tracker - There has been a major hike in the number of Coronavirus cases in India. On Wednesday, 300 people were tested positive which is the largest single-day spike in the number of confirmed cases in the country. The spike was recorded after a large number of people attended a Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi’s Nizamuddin and some of them tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Meanwhile, Padma Shri and former Hazoori Raagi of the Golden Temple, Nirmal Singh Khalsa, died of cardiac arrest in a hospital in Amritsar city of Punjab in wee hours of Thursday. He passed away a day after testing positive for coronavirus.
Here are Coronavirus LIVE Updates -
19:00: Number of COVID-19 cases may shoot up in Delhi in coming days, says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Two people who had attended Nizamuddin Markaz have died due to ccorooronavirus today, he added. There are 31,307 people under self-quarantine. 108 COVID-19 patients are from Markaz, he revealed.
The national capital till Thursday report 219 coronavirus cases with two new deaths in last 24 hours, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said. "There are 219 COVID-19 patients in Delhi, of which 108 were evacuated from Nizamuddin Markaz," Kejriwal said.
Among the total patients, 51 are patients who have foreign travel history. "They got infection from abroad." 29 cases are the family members of those having travel history.
"Two more deaths have been reported in Delhi. Total four have died in the city due to infection."
18:50: The number of corona positive cases in Uttar Pradesh is now 121. Seventeen patients have been completely cured.
The Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) home, Avanish Awasthi, said on Thursday that samples of 429 people who attended Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi have been sent for testing.
"The cases are not rising exponentially, as only 8 cases have been reported since Wednesday," he said.
18:40: OYO Hotels and Homes on Thursday said its founder and group CEO Ritesh Agarwal will forego his salary for the rest of the year and its executive leadership team will take voluntary pay cuts as the hospitality industry reels under the COVID-19 pandemic.
This would be effective from April 2020 and the entire company is standing together to tide over these times, OYO said in a statement.
18:30: A 52-year-old man from Vadodara died due to the coronavirus infection on Thursday, taking the total death toll in Gujarat to seven. The total number of positive cases in Gujarat is 87.
The man was under treatment in Vadodara`s SSG Hospital and he had a travel history of Sri Lanka.
"The deceased had travel history of Sri Lanka and was admitted in the SSG hospital Vadodara on March 19. He had been complaining of COVID-19 symptoms.
Whereas, all the family members who accompanied him to Sri Lanka were admitted and are stable," said Jayanti Ravi, the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department.
18:20: Two government doctors in Uttar Pradesh, deputed for COVID-19 duty, have been booked under the Epidemic Diseases Act for allegedly not reporting to work in neighbouring Shamli district, officials said on Thursday.
The doctors, Praveen Sharma and Vineet Saini, were booked on Wednesday, they said.
18:00: A woman in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, had to face a bizarre situation when her husband refused entry to her in their house due to the coronavirus scare.
Police said Babita had returned from her parents' place in Bihar after a couple of months on Wednesday when her husband Ganesh Prasad denied entry to her. They were married around five years ago.
Later, the woman reached the district hospital, where she is currently staying. City police station incharge Vipin Singh said it was a family matter and they will talk to the woman's husband and make him understand the situation.
17:40: Anyone obstructing enforcement of lockdown could be punishable for jail term of up to 2 years, say Home Secretary. Violators of lockdown should be punished under IPC, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla tells states.
17:20: Former India cricketer and BJP lawmaker Gautam Gambhir on Thursday pledged to donate his two years salary towards Prime Minister`s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) set up for fight against coronavirus pandemic.
"People ask what can their country do for them. The real question is what can you do for your country? I am donating my two year`s salary to PM-CARES Fund. You should come forward too!" Gambhir said in a tweet asking other people to make contributions too.
17:00: A doctor posted at a primary health centre in Dhaurhara tehsil of Lakhimpur district has `resigned`, claiming that he has "contracted coronavirus".
In his resignation letter to the Chief Medical Officer, the doctor Neelesh Kumar Maurya posted at Ranjeetganj PHC, said that he had examined nearly 60 migrant labourers on March 30, without following personal safety guidelines due to limited facilities available at the centre.
He started developing Covid-19 symptoms. He did not want to infect anyone else, so he was quarantined himself and added that he will not be able to continue his services as a medical officer.
Lakhimpur CMO Manoj Agarwal, however, accused the doctor of "shirking from his responsibility in this hour of crisis".
16:40: The number of people who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has increased to 24 in Bihar, officials said. Bihar Health Society Monitoring Officer, Ragini Mishra said on Wednesday that three more persons, one each from Begusarai, Nalanda and Gaya, were found to be infected with the coronavirus that has claimed over 40 lives in India so far.
The patient from Begusarai, who tested positive, has returned from Dubai and the one in Nalanda came back from Abu Dhabi. Besides, the COVID-19 patient of Gaya, a woman, returned to her home from Dubai, officials said.
A resident of Munger who had returned from Qatar and was infected with coronavirus succumbed to the deadly virus in AIIMS, Patna on March 21. Two of his neighbours were also found to be COVID-19 positive as they had come in contact with him.
The patient from Munger was later admitted to a private hospital in Patna. In that hospital, two more persons have also tested positive.
16:20: The national cyber security agency on Thursday cautioned against the cyber vulnerability of the popular video conferencing app 'Zoom', used by tens of thousands of professionals who are working from home in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and issued an advisory outlining the safety measures for both the operator and the users.
The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In), the national agency to combat cyber attacks and guarding the cyber space, said the unguarded usage of the digital application can be vulnerable to cyber attacks, including leakage of sensitive office information to cyber criminals.
16:00: Cheering the Indian engineers for building a low-cost ventilator, the US hopes that this invention succeeds and can eventually be mass produced as the critical medical equipment can save many lives from the deadly coronavirus that has killed over 5,000 people in America and 40,000 others globally.
The United States, which as per latest projections is expecting between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths due to the coronavirus, requires thousands of ventilators in the next few weeks. It has roped in 11 private sector companies, including car manufacturers and plane makers to build ventilators.
"We are cheering on these Indian engineers as they race to build a low-cost ventilator -- a potential game-changer for COVID19,? Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells tweeted.
15:40: Air India on Thursday temporarily suspended the contracts of around 200 pilots, who were re-employed after retirement, as all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended in the country till April 14 to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official said.
"Since almost all the planes have been grounded and the carrier's revenues have taken a significant fall during the last few weeks, the airline has decided to temporarily suspend the contract of around 200 pilots who were re-employed after their retirement," said the official.
15:20: A Texas-based Indian techie, who was tested positive for the novel coronavirus, was in critical condition and on ventilator support, according to a media report. The 42-year-old Rohan Bavadekar is currently admitted at the St Luke`s hospital in Texas, the American Bazaar said in the report on Wednesday.
A father of three young children, Bavadekar urgently needs a blood donor with blodd groups A or B, according to the doctors at the hospital.
The doctors added that the best match in such a circumstance would be someone who has recovered from the deadly disease in the past two weeks and was now healthy.
15:00: The national cyber security agency on Thursday cautioned against the cyber vulnerability of the popular video conferencing app 'Zoom', used by tens of thousands of professionals who are working from home in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and issued an advisory outlining the safety measures for both the operator and the users.
The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In), the national agency to combat cyber attacks and guarding the cyber space, said the unguarded usage of the digital application can be vulnerable to cyber attacks, including leakage of sensitive office information to cyber criminals.
14:40: The current 21-day lockdown may help reduce the projected number of symptomatic novel coronavirus cases in India by nearly 83 per cent till day 20 from the beginning of the intervention, thereby flattening the COVID-19 curve, scientists say.
The modelling study by researchers from Shiv Nadar University in Uttar Pradesh considered the optimistic scenario, where cases are isolated immediately within one or two days since showing symptoms.
"We also assumed 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the population resorted to social distancing," Samit Bhattacharya, Associate Professor at Shiv Nadar University said.
14:20: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday began distributing milk packets to the urban poor here. This comes a day after he announced procurement of unsold milk from producers and its free distribution to the poor facing hardship during the lock down in the state.
The Chief Minister marched through narrow lanes of slums in Ashwath Nagar and handed milk packets to the dwellers.
He was accompanied by the Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan, minister Shivaram Hebbar and health officials during his visit.
14:00: Forty eight suspected COVID-19 samples sent by the Goa Health Department to the National Institute of Virology in Pune earlier this week have rested negative, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said that Goa would be in the "safe zone" if the batch of test samples," one of the largest batches sent by the state to the NIV," tested negative.
Currently, five persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Goa, and according to health authorities their condition is stable.
13:40: A sub-inspector and three constables were injured when some people attacked them while they were trying to enforce lockdown in Morna area in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.
According to reports, the sub-inspector, Lekhraj Singh, has been shifted to Meerut in a critical condition.
Eyewitnesses said that some people were roaming on the streets when the police officers tried to make them go back.
Angered by this, they attacked the cops with rods and lathis and beat them up. The miscreants fled after the attack.
Three persons, including a former village head, have been detained in connection with the incident. Further details are awaited.
13:20: Pan masala, gutkha BANNED in Haryana for 12 months in bid to fight coronavirus. The Haryana state Food and Drugs Administration on Wednesday slapped a one-year ban on the selling and manufacturing of gutkha and pan masala in view of spread of COVID-19 in the state.
The ban was directed by the Commissioner of Food and Drugs Administration who has directed all districts to comply and implement his orders strictly.
"The letter said, in exercise of section-30 of the Food and Safety and Standard act, 2006, Commissioner Food and Drugs Administration of Haryana, has prohibited in the interest of public health and banned the manufacture, storage distribution or sale of tobacco which is either flavoured, scented or mixed with any addictive in view of spread of COVID-19 in Haryana state", said RS Sangwan, DPRO of Gurugram.
13:10: Death toll related to coronavirus in India touches 50, total number of positive cases rise to 1,965 in country, revealed a Health Ministry official.
12:40: The second coronavirus patient of Odisha has recovered completely and was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday. "The second COVID-19 positive case in Odisha, belonging to Bhubaneswar has completely recovered and tested negative. He is being discharged," the Health Department tweeted.
The patient was undergoing treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar.
After returning from the UK on March 18, the 20-year-old youth had shown symptoms of the disease and was admitted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar. Later, he tested positive for Covid--19.
12:20: Haryana recorded its first COVID-19-related death as a 67-year-old man from Ambala died at the PGIMER here soon after testing positive for coronavirus, a senior health department official said on Thursday.
The man had multiple underlying health conditions and had reported to Ambala civil hospital with acute respiratory distress from where he was referred to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh, he said.
Haryana has so far reported 29 positive cases of coronavirus.
12:00: A 23-year-old migrant labourer who escaped from a quarantine centre to meet his family in Lakhimpur, allegedly committed suicide after learning that police were searching for him.
The victim, youngest among six siblings, was quarantined at a school on the village outskirts on returning from Gurugram on March 28.
According to police, he had escaped from the quarantine centre twice to meet his family, but officials thwarted his attempts on both the occasion and brought him back to the camp.
11:40: Social distancing guidelines will likely stay in place in the US until there are "no new cases and no deaths", the White House coronavirus task force has indicated while confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country climbed beyond 200,000 and deaths topped 4,700.
"The ultimate solution to a virus that might keep coming back is a vaccine", America`s top infectious diseases doctor Anthony Fauci said at a White House briefing on Wednesday.
The US now has the world`s highest caseload from the pandemic, the wail of ambulances loudest in New York which is reporting the most crushing numbers. Trump is bracing the nation for "horrific" days ahead.
11:20: The skeletons are apparently tumbling out of the closet. A media report on Wednesday claimed that the Chinese government has deliberately underreported the total number of new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and deaths in the country.
Citing US intelligence officials, Bloomberg said that "China`s public reporting of COVID-19 infections and deaths is purposefully incomplete".
The US intelligence community has submitted a classified report on this to the White House.
"Two of the officials said the report concludes that China`s numbers are fake," the Bloomberg report added.
According to the data from Johns Hopkins University, China has reported 82,361 coronavirus cases and 3,305 deaths while the cases in the US has almost touched 2 lakh, with over 4,000 deaths.
11:00: The death toll from COVID-19 in the US jumped by 884 over the past 24 hours, setting a new one-day record for the country, according to Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday evening.
So far, the total COVID-19 death toll the US reached 4,757, Xinhua reported.
10:40: A health department team on a visit to locate persons reportedly infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Indore`s Tat Patti Bakhal area was pelted with stones. The health team consisted of five persons including three doctors.
Though reports had earlier suggested that two women doctors suffered injuries to their legs, police said no one was hurt in the stone-pelting incident on Wednesday.
"The moment we started enquiring about a particular person`s health, people began protesting and were joined by others who resorted to pelting stones. Policemen standing nearby came to our rescue," a woman doctor said.
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10:20: The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Gautam Budh Nagar Anurag Bhargava has been removed from the crucial post and will be replaced by A.P. Chaturvedi.
This is the second high profile sacking from the Noida administration after Noida District Magistrate B.N. Singh was removed a couple of days following Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath`s visit to the city.
The Chief Minister was visibly angry with the Noida hierarchy and in a video that surfaced was seen to be lashing out at the District Magistrate.
The orders for the removal of Bhargava were issued late wednesday night.
In place of Bhargava, Joint Director, Directorate General of Family Welfare A.P. Chaturvedi has been given the duty of CMO Gautam Budh Nagar.
07:10 PM IST