Coronavirus Cases: Four states – Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra and Telangana – have already announced an extension of the lockdown till the end of this month
New Delhi: The highly infectious novel coronavirus or COVID-19 has infected 8,356 people in India, killed 273, the Union Health Ministry said today, adding that 909 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, 34 people died. The latest figures come a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who held a four-hour meet with at least 13 chief ministers on video conference on Saturday, indicated that the nationwide lockdown would be extended by two weeks. PM Modi is likely to give a televised address to the nation again to announce the extension of the lockdown, which began on March 25 to control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. This time, however, the government is likely to expand its focus to salvaging the economy while trying to control the spread of the virus to save lives at the same time amid rising number of cases.
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The coronavirus pandemic will hit India and other South Asia countries very hard and the significant gains made in poverty alleviation in the region are likely to be wiped out due to, the World Bank warned on Sunday, adding that the countries in the region will record their worst growth performance in four decades this year.
As a part of the shift in the government’s strategy to tackle the pandemic, the Council of Ministers, headed by PM Modi and including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman, will resume work at their ministries from Monday, a day before the nationwide shutdown ends, sources have said.
Four states – Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra and Telangana – have already announced an extension of the lockdown till the end of this month. The Bihar government in a letter to the centre raised no objection to extending the lockdown; however, it wants an exception for rural construction and flood relief work to continue, sources have told NDTV. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also supported the PM’s decision to extend the lockdown.
The number of coronavirus cases in India would have shot up to 8.2 lakh by April 15, the government said on Saturday, if a countrywide shutdown was not enforced. “According to a statistical analysis by us, India would have registered a 41 per cent cumulative rise in the number of cases, taking the total to 2.08 lakh on April 11 and 8.2 lakh by April 15 had there been no lockdown or other containment measures,” Health Ministry official Lav Agarwal said in his daily briefing.
In Mumbai, a COVID-19 hotpot, 15 fresh coronavirus cases have been reported from Dharavi, one of Asia’s largest slums, taking the total to 43, including four deaths. At least a million people live here in 5 square kilometres and five to six people share a single room.
At least three employees of the iconic Taj Mahal Palace and Taj Mahal Towers hotel in Mumbai have tested positive for COVID-19. Budget carrier IndiGo on Saturday said that one of its employees in Chennai has died due to coronavirus.
Delhi has identified three new coronavirus hotspots, it was announced late Saturday night. This takes the total number up to 33. Strict containment measures are being taken in these hotspots, which includes a complete ban on people leaving their homes. The national capital has recorded the second highest number of cases in the country (1,069) after Maharashtra with 1,761 cases including 127 deaths.
In Madhya Pradesh, the spike in number of infections in Indore — ranked the cleanest city in the country for the third time in a row last year in the central government’s cleanliness survey — has raised alarm among the officials. The city has recorded at least 27 of state’s 36 deaths, according to the figures reported on Saturday.
Globally, the United States has reported a record 20,000 deaths linked to COVID-19, the highest in the world. Italy, the hardest-hit country in Europe with a population a fifth the size of the US, has recorded 19,468 deaths.
More than 40 Indian-Americans and citizens of India have reportedly lost their lives in US, now the epicentre of the pandemic, due to the deadly coronavirus and the number of those having tested positive for the dreaded disease is likely over 1,500, news agency PTI has reported.
Courtesy: NDTV
