Covid-19 Cases in India Highlights: As the second wave of coronavirus continues to engulf several parts of the country, the Centre on Monday said some states are showing very early signs of plateauing in daily new COVID-19 cases, while some remain a cause of concern. Addressing a news briefing, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said 13 states, including Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Punjab, are showing early signs of plateauing, while states like Bihar, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and West Bengal are showing an increasing trend in daily cases.
The devastating second wave of the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc in India as the nation recorded more than 3.5 lakh fresh Covid-19 infections on Monday. This is the seventh day running when India has seen more than 3.5 lakh coronavirus cases.
On April 21st last month, India had breached the 3 lakh-mark in terms of the daily caseload. While the Narendra Modi government has said that it is chalking out a plan to scale up the Oxygen supply, the situation remains grim across India. In terms of fatalities, the official data says that close to 3,500 people lost their lives in the last 24 hours. But the crematoria, graveyards have a different story to say. Amid the buzz over national lockdown, here are the latest coronavirus updates from India and around the globe:
Amid growing demand, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh appealed to the Centre for more oxygen tankers. The state currently has only 15 tankers which are not enough to handle the increasing demand: Punjab CMO (ANI)
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal directs authorities to further strengthen city’s home-isolation system, asks officers to ensure COVID-19 patients get call from government-appointed teams of doctors within 24 hours of testing positive (PTI)
Private hospitals in Haryana found overcharging COVID-19 patients will face strict action: Health Minister Anil Vij (PTI)
Private hospitals in Haryana found overcharging COVID-19 patients will face strict action: Health Minister Anil Vij (PTI)
Goa records 2,703 new COVID-19 cases, 46 more deaths: Officials (PTI)
List of items granted exemption from IGST for imports-COVID19 relief materials. These were already given exemption from customs duty/health cess: Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister
Madhya Pradesh reports 12062 new COVID19 cases, 13408 recoveries, and 93 deaths today.
Total cases: 6,00,430
Death toll: 5,905
Active cases: 85,750 (ANI)
Four people from Panipat district arrested in connection with black-marketing of Remdesivir. One Pardeep, who is the prime accused, would buy it for Rs 12,000 from Uttarakhand and then sell it between Rs 15,000-30,000: Haryana Police (ANI)
COVID19 | Himachal Pradesh reports 2630 new cases, 1526 recoveries and 43 deaths during the past 24 hours in the state (ANI)
Punjab reports 6,798 fresh COVID-19 cases, 6,016 discharges, and 157 deaths in the last 24 hours
Active cases: 60,709
Total discharges: 3,21,861
Death toll: 9,472 (ANI)
A day after ordering more state-wide curbs, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday warned he will be forced to consider a total lockdown if people do not follow restrictions and the COVID-19 situation does not improve. He said he will not allow Punjab to go the way of some other states where patients can be seen, according to him, lying on the road. | Read More
The Ministry of Education Monday asked all centrally-funded institutions to postpone offline exams scheduled in May in view of the Covid-19 situation in the country, officials said. Such institutions include all IITs, NITs, IIITs and central universities. In a letter to the heads of centrally funded institutions, Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare asked them to postpone all offline examinations scheduled this month. | Read More
Manipur reports 362 new COVID positive cases, 7 deaths and 107 recoveries in the last 24 hours. Total cases at 32,523 and active cases at 2,071 (ANI)
Tamil Nadu reports 20,952 new COVID-19 cases, 18,016 recoveries, and 122 deaths in the last 24 hours
Active cases: 1,23,258
Total recoveries: 10,90,338
Death toll: 14,468 (ANI)
Gujarat reports 12,820 new positive cases, 11,999 recoveries and 140 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Total Cases: 6,07,422
Total Recoveries: 4,52,275
Active Cases: 1,47,499
Total Deaths: 7,648 (ANI)
Navy has reached out to all states, offered help in terms of hospital beds, transportation & other things: Navy chief tells PM Narendra Modi (PTI)
Amid surge in COVID cases, May 16 by-polls to be deferred in 110-Pipli AC of Odisha, 58-Jangipur & 56-Samserganj ACs of West Bengal. New dates to be announced after situation review. MCC in these constituencies is hereby lifted: Election Commission of India (ANI)
Maharashtra reports 48,621 new COVID19 positive cases, 59,500 discharges, and 567 deaths
Active cases: 6,56,870
Deaths: 70,851 (ANI)
Karnataka reports 44,438 fresh COVID19 cases including 22,112 cases in Bengaluru Urban, 20,901 discharges and 239 deaths.
Active cases: 4,44,734
Death toll: 16,250 (ANI)
Due to the second wave of COVID-19, Ministry of Education urged for postponement of all offline examinations scheduled in May. The Online examinations, etc may however continue: Ministry of Education (ANI)
Delhi: As the vaccination for 18 yrs and above commenced today in the national capital, people formed long queues to get the first jab at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Aya Nagar. (ANI)
Andhra Pradesh reports 18,972 new COVID19 cases, 71 deaths in the last 24 hours; Total positive cases in the state now 11,63,994 with 1,51,852 active cases (ANI)
AIIMS chief warns against rushing for CT scan in cases of mild COVID-19, saying it has side effects and can end up doing more harm than good | Read More
At least 30 people on board Air India’s Amritsar-Rome flight last Wednesday were found positive for COVID-19 on arrival: Aviation industry sources (PTI)
Bihar: Patna’s Patliputra indoor stadium has been converted into 110-bedded COVID hospital; the facility to be made functional soon (ANI)
Rajasthan reports 17,296 new COVID-19 cases, 11,949 recoveries, and 154 deaths in the last 24 hours
Active cases: 1,94,371
Total recoveries: 4,52,164
Death toll: 4,712 (ANI)
Chandigarh reports 890 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of cases to 45,196 (ANI)
5403 new COVID19 cases and 128 deaths have been reported in Uttarakhand today.
Total cases: 1,97,023
Active cases: 55,436 (ANI)
Adar Poonawalla — whose firm makes India’s most used COVID vaccine — on Monday ruled out the possibility of ramping up production overnight, saying vaccine making is a specialised process. The CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII) also said the population of India is huge and to produce enough doses for all adults is not an easy task. Poonawalla, who is in London, however, noted that the company is making every effort to enhance production of Covishield amid the second wave of COVID in the country. He added that 11 crore vaccines would be supplied to the government over the next few months. | Read More
Concerned over surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, the Supreme Court said the Centre and state governments may consider imposing a “lockdown to curb the virus in the second wave in the interest of public welfare”. However, the apex court put a caveat before them saying if they decide to go for lockdown then arrangements must be made beforehand to cater to the needs of the poor people. A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud, in its order passed in the suo motu case for ensuring essential supplies and services during the COVID-19 pandemic, also asked the Centre and state governments to put on record the efforts taken and to be taken by them in future to ensure that the disease does not spread further. (PTI)
In past few days, we had flights coming from Ireland, Belgium, France, Germany & Italy. We’re expecting another flight from Ireland tomorrow. So far we’re focusing on Oxygen & related equipment, ventilators & antiviral drugs such as Remdesivir. We expect more supplies to come in the days to come. We are in touch with the Indian government, as of now we are focusing on Oxygen and drugs: Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of European Union to India (ANI)
Indian Air Force heavy-lift transport aircraft brings 4 empty cryogenic oxygen containers from Frankfurt in Germany: Official statement (PTI)
Delhi: An oxygen production plant & 20 ventilators arrive from Italy. “We’re going to deliver an oxygen production machine to a hospital in Noida. It’ll provide oxygen to 100 patients at one time & to thousands in the days to come”, Vincenzo De Luca, Ambassador of Italy to India (ANI)
Delhi | Three people arrested for selling oxy flow meter at Rs 6,000, higher than the regular market price of Rs 500-1000 near Chawri Bazar Metro Station. Ten oxy flow meters recovered. Case has been registered: Sanjay Kumar Sain, DCP North-East (ANI)
Amid the raging pandemic in Delhi, the Indian Army has created COVID facilities on a war footing. Besides providing extensive medical assistance to veterans and their dependents, Military Hospitals (MIL) are now providing assistance to the civil administrations. Confirming this to Financial Express Online, Indian Army said, “With the numbers rising, the Military Hospitals across the country are instructed to assist the Civil Administrations to fight the CoVID-19 global pandemic.” | Read More
Sweden plans to donate 1 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to India via the U.N.-backed COVAX, an initiative devised to give countries access to coronavirus vaccines regardless of their wealth. The Scandinavian country’s International Development Cooperation Minister Per Olsson Fridh announced it Monday on Swedish broadcaster SVT, adding we see how the pandemic is raging around the world. People are dying, poverty is spreading, and children are still not back at school. (AP)
As India continues to battle against COVID-19, Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal CEO Aditya Mittal on Monday said the situation in the country is heartbreaking. Owned by Indian origin business tycoon L N Mittal, ArcelorMittal is the world’s largest steel-making company with a presence in over 150 countries. “The situation in India is heartbreaking and has the attention of the whole world. It is important that countries and companies pool their resources. ArcelorMittal is committed to playing its part,” AMNS India quoted its Chairman Aditya Mittal in a tweet. In February 2021, Aditya succeeded his father Lakshmi N Mittal as the CEO of ArcelorMittal. “Our company in India is sending oxygen to local medical facilities and we have partnered with Gujarat government and opened a 250-bed capacity hospital. We are monitoring the situation closely and will provide whatever assistance we are able to,” Aditya said. (PTI)
Sikkim’s COVID-19 tally rose to 8,468 as 27 more people tested positive for the virus while one new fatality pushed the death toll to 150, a health department bulletin said on Monday. The new COVID-19 cases were reported from East Sikkim district (13), West Sikkim (10) and South Sikkim district (4), it said. The Himalayan state now has 1,723 active COVID-19 cases, while 6,404 patients have recovered from the disease, the bulletin said, adding that 191 patients have migrated to other states. (PTI)
Complete lockdown ruled out in the state, but strict measures to be taken if people don’t comply with restrictions. All takeaway deliveries from restaurants to be disallowed, only home delivery permitted: Punjab Chief Minister’s Office (ANI)
Haryana, where a week-long lockdown started on Monday to curb the spread of COVID-19, added nearly 2 lakh cases and over 1,000 fatalities between April 1 and April 30. Gurgaon, which is the worst-affected district in the state, contributed 59,540 cases during April. Districts like Faridabad, Hisar, Karnal and Sonipat also fuelled the sharp increase in infections. Data issued by the state’s health department showed that as on April 1, Haryana’s total COVID-19 case count was 2,92,409, which rose to 4,87,978 on April 30, a jump of 1,95,569 cases. The total fatalities increased from 3,164 to 4,216 during the period, it showed. Among the worst-hit districts like Gurgaon, which share borders with Delhi, the infection count rose from 63,408 on April 1 to 1,22,948 on April 30. (PTI)