Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Three out 10 people moving from cities to villages likely to carry coronavirus, Centre tells SC
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Covid-19 Cases in India (31st-03-2020) live tracker -The number of coronavirus cases in India have crossed the 1200 mark now with five new people testing positive in Maharashtra, taking the total number of such cases in the state to 230.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Covid-19 Cases in India (31st-03-2020) live tracker -The number of coronavirus cases in India have crossed the 1200 mark now with five new people testing positive in Maharashtra, taking the total number of such cases in the state to 230. Seventeen more people have tested positive in Indore, taking the total number of such cases in Madhya Pradesh to 66, officials say. As many as 32 people have already lost their lives.
Meanwhile, India cricketer Rohit Sharma on Tuesday donated Rs 80 lakhs in support of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Rohit said he has donated Rs 45 lakhs to Prime Minister`s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund), Rs 25 lakhs to Chief Minister`s Relief Fund for Maharashtra, Rs 5 lakhs to Zomato Feeding India and Rs 5 lakhs towards welfare of stray dogs.
Here are Coronavirus LIVE Updates:
19:00: Amid the COVID-19 lockdown, there are numerous foreign tourists stranded in India due to shutdown of air transport. Keeping the problem in mind, the Ministry of Tourism has come up with a portal to disseminate information regarding the services that can be availed by foreign tourists who are stuck.
The portal is titled `Stranded in India` (strandedinindia.com) and aims to act as a support network for foreign tourists stuck in various parts of the country.
18:55: Post offices in West Bengal will Deliver pension at the home of people who are 80-years old or above during the lockdown period, a senior official of the postal department said.
For others pension will be disbursed from the post offices from April 3, the official said.
"We have decided to deliver pension right at the doorsteps of citizens who are 80-years and above or those who are infirm", chief postmaster general (CPMG) of West Bengal circle Goutam Bhattacharya said.
He said delivery of pension at home will start from April 4 onwards and those who will be the beneficiaries have already been intimated in this regard.
18:50: Residents of an upscale condominium in Gurugram have locked four floors of a tower after a resident came down with high fever on Tuesday.
The victim was undergoing home quarantine for 5 days and taking treatment for typhoid. He was finally admitted in Fortis health care institute and hospital where he is undergoing treatment for novel coronavirus.
The residents claim that the victim did not inform about his foreign travel history to the RWA and the management of the condominium and put himself under home quarantine.
"The approach of that person was highly irresponsible. He has put the lives of other residents especially neighbours in danger," said a neighbour requesting anonymity.
"Moreover, a large number of guests also visited his flat to enquire about his health. Due to this, panic gripped the other residents. Since that person has recent travel history and high fever for the last five days, we have informed about his status to the civil surgeon office of Gurugram," he said.
18:45: Amid the unprecedented India lockdown, a staggering 85 per cent of India`s 100,000 pathological laboratories, an important component of the public health services, have downed shutters, industry players said.
Of these 100,000 path-labs, roughly 80 per cent, are run by technicians with diploma in Medical Lab Technology qualifications in Tier III or IV places, around 3,000 run by MD (Pathology), some 1,500 by institutions, diagnostic chains or major hospitals and the rest by MBBS doctors, mostly in Tier I and II centres.
18:40: Big worry! Chinese doctors have found the novel coronavirus in the sputum and faecal samples of some patients with negative pharyngeal swabs for COVID-19. The study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, found that some patients had positive, real-time fluorescence polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results for SARS-CoV-2 in the sputum or faeces after the pharyngeal swabs became negative.
Pharyngeal swabs are widely used to determine the appropriateness for a patient's discharge from the hospital and whether isolation continues to be required, said researchers from the Capital Medical University in China.
These findings raise concerns over whether patients with negative pharyngeal swabs are truly virus-free or if sampling of additional body sites might be needed.
18:30: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said flying squads have been set up in all 227 municipal wards of Mumbai for door-to-door survey as part of efforts to check the spread of coronavirus.
The step has been taken in view of the high density of population in Mumbai where there is more possibility of spread of the disease compared to other districts.
Thackeray held a meeting with municipal authorities and ward officials through video conference on Monday evening.
In a release issued on Tuesday, he said the Worli Koliwada has been declared as the 'containment area' and residents have been prohibited from moving around.
18:20: The Army Wives Welfare Organisation (AWWA) on Tuesday handed over 2,500 food packets to Delhi government for distribution to the needy people amid the lockdown imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic, an official statement said.
Around 1,200 food packets were handed over on Monday by the AWWA, the Defence ministry said in a statement, adding that the distribution of food packets would continue for the next five days free of charge.
18:10: After Gautam Buddh Nagar from where the maximum 38 coronavirus cases have been reported in Uttar Pradesh, Meerut has emerged the second hotspot in the state with 19 people testing positive for the disease.
An official said 17 samples were tested on Monday, of which six were declared positive. Confirming this, Chief Medical Officer Dr Rajkumar said the first COVID-19 case was reported from the district last Friday.
Four of the six people tested positive for the disease on Monday are family members of the man who had recently returned from Maharashtra.
The total count of COVID-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh has crossed the 100 mark, said officials.
17:50: The Centre on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court there is a possibility that 3 out of 10 people moving from cities to rural areas could be carrying coronavirus.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice L. Nageswara Rao held the hearing through video conferencing on plea by advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava seeking directions to provide food and shelter to migrant workers left helpless after the imposition of a nationwide lockdown to control the outbreak of the highly contagious coronavirus.
17:30: ITC`s perfume facility in Himachal Pradesh has commenced production of sanitisers to cater to the soaring demand due to the coronavirus pandemic, the company said on Tuesday.
Amidst the global health crisis and the unprecedented surge in demand for hand hygiene products, ITC repurposed its perfume facility in Manpura in Solan district to help producing an additional 1,25,000 litres of Savlon hand sanitisers.
In line with the government order and in public interest, ITC has also reduced prices of sanitisers, a company`s statement said.
17:10: Even as the Delhi Police on Tuesday continued to evacuate people from the Nizamuddin Markaz, the entire area of the southwest Delhi`s Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti and Nizamuddin west was sanitised by the sanitation workers.
In a series of tweets, Congress leader Yasmin Kidwai shared the pictures and videos of sanitation workers involved in sanitising the area.
She said, "It`s time to take steps to counter the fear of the virus. Nizamuddin west and Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti have been once again thoroughly sanitised - big thanks to Farhad Suri Faroukh sahab and all the sanitisation and health workers who at great personal risk have gone door to door sanitising the area thoroughly."
She further said that it was not an easy job and some of the workers have come riding bicycles for nine hours to help the people here.
16:50: Knowing no other way to communicate except the sign language, ten deaf and dumb persons from various states have got stuck in Gurgaon amid the coronavirus-triggered nationwide lockdown, finding it hard to access essentials and often sleeping on empty stomach.
But, not to be deterred by their handicaps, a group of four Madhya Pradesh natives first made video calls to two of their acquaintances in Indore, who knew sign language, and explained their plight to them on phone in sign language.
Working for various private firms in Gurgaon, the ten got stuck since the day of 'janata curfew' on March 22 entailing lockdown in the district from the same night
16:30: Food delivery platform Swiggy on Tuesday said it has set up a relief fund called `Swiggy Hunger Savior Covid Relief Fund which will be used towards the safety and welfare of delivery partners and their families.
The corpus for the fund will be created by Swiggy with primary contributions from the founders, senior leaders, employees and investors, as well as donations from customers.
Swiggy aims to raise Rs 10 crore for this fund and has already raised over 4 crore through initial contributions from Swiggy founders and employees.
16:10: SpiceJet has decided to cut 10-30 per cent salary of all its employees in March, with Chairman Ajay Singh opting for highest 30 per cent trimming in compensation, the airline said in an e-mail communication to the staff on Tuesday.
15:50: The Uttar Pradesh assembly secretariat will remain closed till April 14 due to the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown in the country.
"On the directives of the UP assembly Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit, the assembly secretariat was closed on Mar 23 till Mar 31. Due to the country wide lockdown, it will remain closed till Apr 14," Principal Secretary Uttar Pradesh assembly Pradeep Dubey said.
The decision has been taken in wake of the situation arising due to the spread of the coronavirus, he added.
15:30: Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala has appealed to industrialists, entrepreneurs and other businessmen in the state not to not send their employees on forced leave amid the 21-day nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus crisis.
His appeal to industrialists in Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal, Rewari, Yamunanagar, Ambala and Panchkula comes after thousands of migrant labourers thronged the roads in the National Capital Region to return to their native places due to no work after the lockdown.
15:10: Maharashtra Finance Minister Ajit Pawar announces 60% cut in March salaries of public representatives, including CM.
14:50: Coronavirus Blacklist: India is likely to blacklist about 300 foreigners who came from 16 countries, including Malaysia and Thailand, on tourist visas but attended an Islamic congregation at Nizamuddin here that has become a key source for the spread of coronavirus in the country, officials said on Tuesday.
These foreigners were among around 8,000 people who attended the Tabligh-e-Jamaat at Nizamuddin Markaz facility in March, many of whom have shown symptoms of COVID-19, a Union Home Ministry officlal said.
About 30 of those who attended the Nizamuddin event in mid-March tested positive and at least three have succumbed to the infection in last few days.
"Those who came on tourist visa but attended the Nizamuddin event stands being in our blacklist as they have violated the visa conditions. Tourist visa holders can't attend religious function," a Union Home ministry official said.
14:30: Gujarat coronavirus survivors: Social distancing and strong will power are the 'mantras' shared by some of the coronavirus patients who defeated the deadly viral infection and recovered from it.
Their stories offer a ray of hope to other patients who are battling the disease.
14:10: Karnataka coronavirus advisory: With many departmental stores, shops and establishments insisting on people to wear masks, Karnataka government on Tuesday clarified that as a rule every one need not wear a mask. The Commissionerate of Health and Family Welfare Services in an advisory said a person is supposed to wear mask only when he or she has symptoms of cold or cough or fever or any other respiratory problem.
It said a person who is caring for COVID-19 suspect or confirmed patient should wear mask.
Also, a health worker who is attending to a patient with respiratory symptoms should wear a mask.
The advisory also noted that those treating or handling COVID-19 suspects or patients need to wear N95 mask, while others can wear triple layer surgical mask.
13:50: Using tobacco and drinking alcohol to cope with boredom during the COVID-19 lockdown can affect immunity as well as mental health, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday, amid rising cases of the novel coronavirus.
It also urged people not to shun or judge those who are suffering from the infection, which has claimed 32 lives and affected 1,251 people in the country.
"If you know someone who might have the infection, tell them about precautions, and how to get medical assistance, if required," the ministry said in its document 'Minding our minds during the COVID-19 pandemic', which was released on Tuesday.
People who have the problem of substance use must go for professional help, especially when they feel stressed, the ministry said.
Here are the latest updates on the coronavirus crisis in India and other parts of the world on Tuesday.
11:45 a.m.
Samples of five more people test positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra, taking the total number of such cases in the state to 230, official says.
11:36 a.m.
Seventeen more people test positive for coronavirus in Indore, taking the total number of such cases in Madhya Pradesh to 66, officials say.
11:35 a.m.
Australian cricketers might have to accept a pay cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic, says country's Test captain Tim Paine.
11:34 a.m.
Twenty four people who attended Nizamuddin West religious congregation test COVID-19 positive.
11:26 a.m.
Scientists develop AI tool to predict which COVID-19 patients will develop respiratory disease.
11: 19 a.m.
AP reports 17 new coronavirus cases as the state's tally rises to 40.
11:14 a.m.
Three new COVID-19 cases are reported in Gujarat, taking the number of coronavirus-infected patients in the state to 73.
11:13 a.m.
The Odisha government sanctions Rs 54 lakh to feed stray animals in various cities during lockdown.
11:12 a.m.
Officials report three new cases of COVID-19 in Gujarat as tally reaches 73 in the state.
11:09 a.m.
Several organisations are feeding homeless and destitute people on the streets of Assam amid lockdown.
11:05 a.m.
A hospital in Ahmedabad sets up sanitising chamber to check COVID-19 spread.
11:04 a.m.
The US is coordinating with India to bring back stranded Americans, official says.
11:01 a.m.
IIT Guwahati students develop drone to sanitise large areas amid the coronavirus pandemic.
11:00 a.m.
Foreign IT professionals, a majority of them Indians with H-1B visas in the US, have urged the Trump administration to extend their permissible stay from 60 to 180 days after job loss, amidst massive layoffs in America due to the coronavirus pandemic.
10:49 a.m.
Those in home quarantine in Karnataka directed to send selfies every hour to government.
10:17 a.m.
A woman infected with coronavirus died at a hospital in West Bengal's Howrah district, taking the total number of COVID-19 deaths to three in the state.
10:15 a.m.
The US begins stockpiling malaria medicine for treating COVID-19 patients.
10:14 a.m.
A 68-year-old man died of the novel coronavirus here, taking the number of COVID-19 deaths in Kerala to two, official says.
10:13 a.m.
A US-based university develops hand-held, automatic ventilators to fight coronavirus.
10:07 a.m.
The BMC starts GIS mapping of coronavirus affected areas in the city and set up a 'war room' to monitor the viral infection in the city and take steps to prevent its spread further.
07:02 PM IST