The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 4,706 in the country, while the number of cases climbed to 1,65,799, registering an increase of 175 deaths and a record jump of 7,466 cases since Thursday 8 am, the Union Health Ministry said.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 89,98, while 71,105 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.
"Thus, around 42.89 per cent patients have recovered so far," a senior Health Ministry official said.
The total confirmed cases includes foreigners.
Finance and Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey on Friday urged BRICS nations to share COVID-19 related tax measures taken by the member countries that will help them understand the fiscal and economic impact of the pandemic. Pandey attended a virtual meeting of the heads of tax authorities of the BRICS countries. It was hosted by Russia to discuss the response of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Tax Authorities to the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore potential areas of cooperation in tax matters.
President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the US was cutting ties with the World Health Organization which he says, did not respond adequately to combat the initial spread of COVID-19. (READ MORE)
The Rajasthan government has decided to conduct board examinations for various subjects of classes 10 and 12, postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has instructed the state Education Department to make proper arrangements for conducting exams. Gehlot took the decision in a high-level meeting with officials of the Education Department on Friday.
A woman gave birth to a baby at a COVID-19 quarantine centre in Odisha's Kendrapara district on Friday, an official said. She had returned from Surat in Gujarat and was staying at a temporary medical centre at Badagaon Bajramahakali Primary School within the jurisdiction of Jayachandrapur panchayat, he said.
West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee on Friday said universities will take the decision on ways of conducting semester exams after the end of the lockdown, and the government will not interfere in their autonomy. Chatterjee told reporters he was informed by vice chancellors of several universities that they are already working out the modalities to conduct the final semester exams in consultation with faculty members.
For the first time in its 167-year history, the railways' on board ticket checking staff will be without their customary black coats and ties and will instead wear gloves, masks, PPEs and check tickets with magnifying glasses, the national transporter has said in an order issued Friday in view of the coronavirus pandemic. These instructions are part of the guidelines for TTEs for the 100 pairs of special trains which will begin operations from June 1.
The number of containment zones in Delhi has gone up to 102 with the city reporting over 2,000 fresh coronavirus positive cases in past two days, Delhi government officials said. The districts with higher containment zones included North (21), South-East (16), South (13), South West (12) and North West (10), official figures showed.
Hinting that lockdown might continue, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a slew of relaxations on Friday, including reopening of shrines from June 1 and functioning of state government offices with 70 per cent staff in attendance from June second week.
The number of fresh COVID-19 cases crossed 7,000 for the first time in India as the country recorded 7,466 new cases within a span of 24 hours, taking the total tally of cases past 1.65 lakh. (READ MORE)
Uttarakhand reported the biggest single-day spike of 216 cases on Friday, taking the total number in the state to 716. Out of the 13 districts in the state, 11 have reported fresh cases with Nainital registering the maximum number of 85 cases, followed by Dehradun where 72 new cases were detected.
From June 1 all government offices in the state will stay open from 10 am to 5 pm while the secretariat and state assembly from 9.30 am to 6 pm for five days a week as they used to before the lockdown, a government order on Friday stated. (READ MORE)
The Maharashtra government plans to start the new academic year for schools from June 15 via e-learning method and has requested the Centre to provide a 12-hour slot to it on Doordarshan for airing educational programmes for children. It has also sought two hours slot on All India Radio (AIR) for such programmes for school children. (READ MORE)
No death due to COVID 19 reported in Dharavi area of Mumbai today. 41 persons tested positive today, taking the total number of positive cases to 1715. Death toll stands at 70: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)
The Ahmedabad Medical Association (AMA) had approached the high court against a Gujarat government order, which prohibits private doctors and hospitals from conducting COVID-19 tests without getting approval from designated health officials. In its plea, the AMA argued against this directive saying that doctors' opinion should be treated as final because any delay would adversely affect the health of both the patient and the doctor.
Massive traffic jams were witnessed on the borders of Haryana and the national capital on Friday as the former restricted the entry of motorists, except essential service providers and e-movement pass holders, owing to a spike in coronavirus cases. Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij blamed Delhi for a spike in patients owing to free movement of people. He said the cases reported in districts (Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonepat and Jhajjar) that are located in the National Capital Region have been spiking despite certain restrictions.
As many as seven migrant labourers travelling in Shramik special trains to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were found dead in different incidents. The railways has drawn flak for the inordinate delay of trains and lack of food supply to migrants which is believed to have caused the deaths. However, the national transporter has attributed the deaths to pre-existing medical conditions of travellers.
The European Tour is all set to restart in July but one player who won't be joining the caravan anytime soon is Gaganjeet Bhullar. The 32-year-old thinks the time isn't right yet. "Yes, I think all of us got mails yesterday (Thursday) informing us about the restart dates," he told The New Indian Express. "But I think it's just too risky at the moment to go play."
"It is wrong to say that our government has failed to contain the virus. From day one we stepped up our vigil and took prompt measures to minimise the loss of lives," Palaniswami said. The recovery rate of the Coronavirus infected people following successful treatment at government institutions was 54.4 per cent, the highest in India, he claimed.
The Indian High Commission said the flight AI 0276, carrying 176 Indians under the 'Vande Bharat Mission', took off from Colombo for Mumbai, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata. Apart from the flight, Indian Naval Ship Jalashwa will make a voyage to Tuticorin from Colombo Port on Monday to repatriate nearly 700 Indians stranded in the country amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
The migrant worker, identified as Mohan Lal Sharma (38), a native of Basti district in eastern UP, might have boarded the train in Jhansi to go to Gorakhpur on May 23, Government Railway Police (GRP) authorities said. His family members said Sharma used to work in some factory in Mumbai and was returning home after being rendered jobless.
A troop of monkeys took away blood samples of some patients collected for routine tests, from lab technicians at Meerut Medical College on Friday morning. S K Garg, Principal, Meerut Medical College says,"Samples taken away by monekys do not include COVID19 swab test samples."
The AAP government informed the Delhi High Court on Friday that it was taking urgent steps, including extending the timings of crematoriums, to tackle the issue of cremating those who have died due to COVID-19 and the piling up of bodies at mortuaries. The Delhi government told the court that 28 such bodies were cremated on Thursday and the last rites of the remaining 35 will be performed by Saturday.
As the number of COVID-19 cases is rapidly surging in Mumbai, almost all intensive care unit (ICU) beds for the COVID-19 patients are occupied here, as per Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) data. As of May 27, of the 645 ICU beds, 99 per cent were occupied while a total of 65 per cent of the 4,292 beds with oxygen support were occupied. Seventy-two per cent of 373 ventilators were in use, reported PTI.
CM Pramod Sawant, who spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the phone on Thursday, said during the conversation he suggested lockdown extension for another 15 days, but sought relaxations for Goa during the period.
Uttarakhand reports 102 new COVID19 positive cases; taking the total number of cases to 602. Active cases stand at 505: State Control Room COVID-19
Regarding some of the hardships being faced by the retail traders even after the relaxations of the guidelines, Goyal said that a majority of shops have been allowed to be opened, without any distinction of essential and non-essential. "The decision to open the remaining shops in the malls, will be taken soon, after taking into account the guidelines of the health ministry," the ministry said in a statement.
The Delhi government had earlier filed its response to the petitions, saying that trade or consumption of liquor is not a fundamental right of a citizen and the State has the authority to regulate its sale and levying 70 per cent 'special corona fees' on MRP of all alcohol brands is a price for grant of such privilege to public.
Delhi govt believes that places where large gatherings take place, like cinema halls, should remain closed. Schools and colleges should also remain closed: Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on consultations with Union Home Minister Amit Shah over Coronavirus lockdown.
Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who got the nation together on multiple occasions to express gratitude to “corona warriors”, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday appealed to Odias all over the world to join voices and recite ‘Bande Utkal Janani’ at 5.30 pm on May 30, in honour of the State’s frontline workers.
Nine more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh, taking the total number of cases in the state to 290. There are 204 active cases in the state and 77 people have been recovered/discharged so far: State Health Department.
30 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the state; taking the total number of cases to 910. Number of active cases stand at 800: Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
This is possibly the first time that migrant workers are being evacuated in a chartered flight in the country. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
This is the fourth death from coronavirus in the about 1.62 lakh personnel strong force and the second from this unit, a defence PSU located in Kolkata. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
Cases of COVID-19 are increasing in the state, but I think it will also stop because all the cases are related to the migrants who have returned. This will be brought under control: Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat.
Till now there is no community spread in the state. Contact tracing team is very efficient and they are tracing all contacts: Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja.
In last 24 hours, 116 police personnel have tested positive for voronavirus in Maharashtra and 3 personnel have died due to the virus. The total number of COVID-19 infected personnel is now 2,211 in the state and 25 have died so far: Maharashtra police.
State Fire Services minister Sujit Bose has been advised to undergo home quarantine after his test results came out positive, the source said. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
Three new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported from Imphal West today; taking the total number of cases to 58 in Manipur: State Government.
The Health Ministry said the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 4,706 in the country, while the number of cases climbed to 1,65,799, registering an increase of 175 deaths and a record jump of 7,466 cases since Thursday 8 am. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
Even as the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic has been creating serious threats across the state, Kerala recorded its eighth Covid death on Friday. The deceased has been identified as Joshy Mathew(65), of Prakatt house, Perumthuruthi near Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
50 out of 2337 samples that were tested yesterday found positive for COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh: King's George Medical University.
A 65-year-old person who had tested positive for COVID-19 passed away at around 2 am today. He had returned from Sharjah on May 11.
Highest spike of 7,466 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours in the country; 175 deaths reported. Total number of cases in the country now at 165799 including 89987 active cases, 71105 cured/discharged/migrated and 4706 deaths: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
24 more COVID-19 cases reported in Assam, as of 11:55 pm 28th May. Total number of cases in the state is now at 880, including 770 active cases, 103 discharged and four deaths: Himanta Biswa Sarma, State Health Minister
Relaxations in curfew have been given in some areas which didn't report any fresh case in the last 15 days. Our focus in on ensuring that people take preventive measures against COVID-19: Jodhpur Police Commissioner Prafulla Kumar.
CM Naveen Patnaik has sought cooperation from Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on the singing of 'Bande Utkal Janani', a patriotic Odia song, on May 30 to boost the morale of Odisha's COVID warriors.
Four more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh- three of them had arrived from Thane, Maharashtra and one from Delhi: Kangra Deputy Commissioner, Rakesh Prajapati.
Five people from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh have tested positive for COVID-19. All of them had returned from various states. Their samples were collected on 26th May: Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner, Harikesh Meena.
The speed at which people are being discharged following treatment for COVID-19 has accelerated after the revised discharge policy came into force which could be reflecting in the recovery rate but many patients who had recovered earlier were not even counted, NITI Aayog member Dr V K Paul said.
Directions have been issued to provide PPE kits to civic staff working at cremation sites, authorities said on Thursday. The heads of the standing committees of Delhi's three municipal corporations -- NDMC, SDMC, EDMC -- in a joint statement said, in view of the coronavirus pandemic, instructions have been issued to streamline arrangements at crematoria and burial sites.
A one-and-a-half- year-old daughter of a migrant labourer and a pregnant woman died at coronavirus quarantine centres in two districts of Chhattisgarh, officials said on Thursday. While the pregnant woman died in Gariaband district on Thursday morning, the death of the child was reported from Gaurela-Penrda-Marwahi district on Wednesday, they said.
The count of coronavirus cases in Dharavi here rose to 1,675 on Thursday as 36 more people tested positive for the infection, an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
Over 45,000 stranded Indians were brought back home from abroad under the Vande Bharat mission and another 1,00,000 will be evacuated till June 13: Ministry of External Affairs.
It is not possible to host the National Games 2020 in October due to COVID19. We will write to the Union Sports Ministry to communicate with the Indian Olympic Association to hold a review & decide fresh dates: Goa CM Pramod Sawant
Two more persons died of COVID-19 in Punjab while nineteen more contracted the infection in the state on Thursday, officials said. A 60-year-old woman of Bunala village of Baba Bakala town in Amritsar had tested positive for COVID-19 on May 27 and was admitted to Amritsar hospital, health officials said.
Starting July, COVID-19 patients in the country may get access to Ebola drug remdesivir, which has caught attention as a medicine that has shown some promise in reducing the recovery time in a large number of infected patients during a global trial by a premier US health agency. (READ MORE)
Over 100 doctors havetested COVID-19 positivein Ahmedabad city in the last two months, an office-bearer of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in Gujarat said on Thursday. While many of them were already given discharge following their recovery, some others are still undergoing treatment, secretary of IMA-Gujarat, Dr Kamlesh Saini, said.
Total positive case till date: 4536
Positive at present: 2573
Death: 223
Comorbidity death: 72
Discharged: 1,668
Total tests: 1,75,769
Positive cases in the last 24 hours: 344. It is highest number of new infection cases in 24 hours in the state till date.
We are targeting to bring back 100,000 passengers from 60 countries by the end of Phase II of Vande Bharat Mission. Preparations for the third phase are well underway: Ministry of External Affairs
Nine persons, (Tiruchy - 5, Namakkal - 2, Coimbatore, Erode – 1 each) who landed at Coimbatore International Airport on Wednesday, tested positive for COVID19. They were from places like Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.
Kerala on Thursday recorded 84 new COVID-19 cases. "One death has been reported in the state. The deceased who was a native of Telangana had mistakenly boarded a train for Kerala instead of Telangana," the chief minister said.
There are about a total of 30 groups in India, big industry to individual academics, who are trying got develop vaccines, of around 20 are keeping a good pace: Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India Prof K Vijay Raghavan.
Flight services at Salem airport resumed after two months with the arrival of a flight from Chennai carrying 56 passengers, which landed at 8.20 am. Later, the same flight took off from Salem to Chennai at 8.50 am with 48 passengers. Salem health officials quarantined all 56 passengers who arrived from Chennai at a facility in Karuppur and took swabs from them for testing (READ MORE)
Nearly 23 lakh people, who have moved within the country or arrived from international destinations during the ongoing nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are currently in quarantine facilities arranged by states and union territories.
According to officials, the man was brought to the Firozabad Medical College on May 26 after he tested positive for the virus. Police said he was admitted to an isolation ward from where he tried to escape on Wednesday night by breaking the railing. (READ MORE)
Police sources said Sansari Ojha, 70, allegedly decapitated the man on the premises of Maa Bramhanidei Temple on Wednesday night believing the sacrifice will reduce the impact of the pandemic. (READ MORE)
The Supreme Court further directs states to take the "burden of travel fares". "Migrants won't be charged for travel either by train or buses Stranded migrant workers shall be given food and water by the states where they are," the court directed.
Supreme Court hearing a matter relating to migrant labourers said, "we are concerned with the difficulties of migrants trying to get to their native place. There are several lapses that we've noticed in the process of registration, transportation, provision of food and water to them".
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court 91 lakh migrants shifted so far during a hearing on migrants' crisis.
There's been a steady rise in the number of COVID-19 calls on the police helpline 100. As many as 96,697 such calls received. 254 instances of assaults on policemen have left 86 injured and seen 833 arrests. There have been 40 attacks on health professionals too, sid Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh
Of the fresh cases, 12 were reported from Kamrup (Metro), five from Hojai, three from Dibrugarh and one each from Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Morigaon and Jorhat. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Assam now stands at 704, while 87 have recovered from the disease and three have migrated to other states. (READ MORE)
22 police personnel have died of COVID-19 in Maharashtra so far: Official
Bengaluru metro services are likely to start from June 1. The Karnataka has written to Ministry of Home Affairs seeking permission, says chief secretary Vijay Bhaskar.
He is admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurgaon, hospital sources said on Thursday. The BJP leader has shown symptoms of COVID-19, a source said.
Over 50 healthcare personnel, including one MBBS student, three resident doctors, eight nurses and five mess workers, have tested positive for COVID-19 over the last two days, the sources said. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
Southern Railway Division office in Chennai closed for disinfection after an official here tested positive for COVID-19. Testing is underway for other officials and workers: Railway PRO in Chennai.
Total COVID-19 cases in Himachal Pradesh now stand at 276, including 201 active cases, 66 recovered patients and five deaths: State Health Department.
Stating that COVID-19 has not yet been contained in India, the rating agency in a statement said the government stimulus package is low relative to countries with similar economic impacts from the pandemic. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
Speaking in the Congress' 'SpeakUp' campaign to take the voice of poor, migrants, small businesses and the middle class to the central government, Sonia Gandhi said, "In the last two months the lockdown to combat the spread of novel coronavirus, has created a huge problem of economic crisis." (READ FULL STORY HERE)
"A Joint Director level employee has been found positive for COVID-19. Three more employees were found yesterday. Contact tracing is being done by district authorities as per protocol. The building has been sealed. A disinfection drive will be carried out," a senior NDMC official said. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
Asymptomatic passenger tested positive for COVID-19 at quarantine centre in Madurai after flying in from Bengaluru on May 27: IndiGo.
A large number of people, including migrant labourers from outside the state, have been returning home, all have been put under quarantine -- a large number of them who are in home quarantine, instead of institutionalised ones -- have been found to breach protocol. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
For most of the people who had been waiting for the launch of the much-awaited social distancing app 'BevQ', which rolled out the virtual queue system at the liquor outlets in the state, the downloading and booking online token through the app was a test of patience. Chaos and confusion prevailed as the app which appeared in the public domain by Wednesday midnight developed technical snags. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
Party chief Sonia Gandhi urges Centre to unlock its coffers and help needy affected by COVID-19.
Expediting regulatory framework for the Covid-19 vaccine development in India, an empowered committee, under the Department of Biotechnology, has allowed consideration of pre-clinical and clinical data generated outside the country submitted by companies for vaccine approval in India. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
Dr Ravi said that with the Lockdown 4.0 ending in the next few days, it is important for the states to be fully geared up with medical infrastructure to handle the increase in cases, especially those which will require intensive medical care and treatment. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
Though domestic flight operations across the country began on May 25, they could not be restarted in Kolkata as the state machinery was involved in relief and restoration work after Cyclone Amphan whiplashed many areas of the state. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
An Air Asia passenger, who arrived in Kolkata from Delhi today, was reported to have a high fever. The passenger was handed over to the state health department: Airport official.
Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba to hold a video conference on the issue of ‘Public health response to COVID-19’ with all states/union territories today at 11:30 AM.
Three more COVID-19 positive cases reported in Himachal Pradesh today, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 276, including 201 active cases: State Additional Chief Secretary (Health) RD Dhiman.
Six more positive cases reported in Bapu Dham Colony. The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in Chandigarh rises to 288.
Of the total passengers, who reached Mumbai on Tuesday, 107 of them were flown to the Netherlands from other countries such as 52 from Mexico, 47 from Peru and eight from Portugal, the official said in a statement. (READ THE FULL STORY HERE)
The Modi stimulus package is in three parts — direct government spend, bank credit, and rate cut and lending by RBI to banks. Modi’s detractors damn the package saying the bank credit part of the package is large and the government share is insignificant. But their criticism is founded on poor understanding of the Indian financial model and the fiscal relationship between state-owned banks and the government. Comparing the Modi package with those of the Group of Seven (G7) nations is also irrational as the Indian banking model differs vastly from G7’s. Unless this vast difference is understood, the logic behind the Modi package math cannot be appreciated. (READ THE FULL OPINION HERE)
Spike of 6,566 new COVID-19 cases and 194 deaths in the last 24 hours. Total number of cases in the country now at 1,58,333 including 86110 active cases, 67692 cured/discharged/migrated and 4531 deaths: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
"Two passengers who had travelled with SpiceJet from Ahmedabad to Guwahati on May 25 have tested positive for COVID-19. The passengers had travelled on SG-8194 (Ahmedabad-Delhi) and SG-8152 (Delhi-Guwahati)," an airline spokesperson said. (READ FULL STORY HERE)
78 more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh's Indore, taking the total number of positive cases in the district to 3260. Death toll in the district stands at 122: Chief Medical and Health Officer, Indore district.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren has announced that industrial activities will now be allowed in all urban areas of the state, except in containment zones: Jharkhand Government
Out of the 1239 samples tested yesterday for COVID-19, results of 25 are positive: King George's Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow.