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Covid-19 cases near 3000, govt blacklists people from 41 nations: 10 points
Covid-19 cases in the country are inching toward the 3,000 mark with Union Ministry of Health updating the total count to 2,547 on Friday which includes 2,322 active cases, 162 patients who have recovered and 62 fatalities.
The coronavirus death toll in the country jumped to 62 on Friday. Covid-19 cases in the country are inching toward the 3,000 mark with Union Ministry of Health updating the total count to 2,547 on Friday which includes 2,322 active cases, 162 patients who have recovered and 62 fatalities.
The country on Saturday entered the eleventh day on the 21-day lockdown. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the nation and urged the citizens to switch off their lights on April 5 at 9 pm for 9 minutes. The PM asked citizens to light diyas, candles or use the flashlight of their phones to express solidarity in these difficult times on Sunday.
Here are the key developments:
1. Saturday saw the biggest jump in Covid-19 infections – from 2,520 on Thursday to 3,066 on Friday. The jump is largely driven by the diagnosis of hundreds of patients who attended the congregation of the Tablighi Jamaat, a Muslim missionary group, in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin last month.
2. Around 650 people among the thousands who gathered at the Jamaat’s headquarters, Nizamuddin Markaz, have tested positive in 14 states in the last two days, the health ministry said.
3. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said he would hold an interactive session with parents and schoolchildren on Saturday about “parenting in the time of corona.”
4. Mumbai, the worst Covid-19-affected city in India has activated 474 teams across 241 containment zones and checked at least 900,000 people as part of its plan to stop the spread of the Sars-Cov-2 virus through human-to-human contact.
5. Healthcare workers risk contracting Covid-19 due to a lack of infection control in hospitals, doctors say amid complaints about substandard personal protective equipment ( PPE) and lack of basic items like N 95 masks and even sanitisers.
6. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to switch off lights, on April 5, at 9 pm, for nine minutes, the union power ministry, on Friday, held a high-level review meeting to assess the impact of power fluctuation on the grid. The grid is already reeling under the stress of an unprecedented dip in demand during the lockdown period.
7. The government has cited the risk of livelihood loss and issued an advisory asking states and Union territories to allow street vendors to sell essential items and encourage their home delivery during the ongoing 21-day lockdown imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
8. The Centre on Friday released Rs 17,287 crore to the states a day after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video conference on which cash-strapped states urgently sought funds to combat the disease coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and its aftermath.
9. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has warned of strict action against those spreading fake news about the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
10. Citizens of 41 countries including the United States, United Kingdom and China are among 960 overseas-based Tablighi Jamaat members who have been blacklisted by India for violating their visa conditions, according to an initial government assessment seen by Hindustan Times.
