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Lockdown extended; special trains ferry stranded migrants home: Covid-19 news today
Here is a preview of important Covid-19 news today from India and the world
India decided on Friday to extend the lockdown imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for another two weeks, but announced a range of relaxations. The move came on the day the country saw its highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases with 2,364 fresh infections. Earlier, the home ministry allowed trains to ferry migrants, students and others stranded in different parts of the country to their home states, expanding the scope of an earlier order that initially permitted such travel by buses.
Graded easing of curbs over 2 weeks
With India’s extended 40-day lockdown drawing to an end on Sunday, the Union government has decided to extend the lockdown for another two weeks. But this has been accompanied with a range of relaxations, in varying degrees, across India.
India records 2,364 cases in a day, more than 1K in Maharashtra
India recorded the highest single-day spike in Covid-19 infections with 2,364 cases on Friday, the first time the country has reported more than 2,000 daily cases of the disease that first showed up in Kerala more than three months ago.
Special trains ferry stranded migrants home
Amid demands by states and a recognition of the logistical challenges involved in transporting millions of people back to their home states, the Centre on Friday decided to allow special trains — called Shramik Specials — to enable stranded migrants to return home.
130 districts identified as Covid hot spots home to nearly 400mn
The Centre on Friday listed 130 districts as hot spots of Covid 19, down from the previously designated 170 “red zones”, even as the number of “green zones” – areas that largely remain outside the spectre of the pathogen – decreased from 353 to 319, an announcement that came hours before the national lockdown was extended by two weeks, but with some relaxations.
Covid-19: What you need to know today
The ministry of health’s latest zoning document — the country is divided into red, orange and green zones — shows that around a third of the country’s population (according to the last census) lives in the so-called red zones, the most affected by the pandemic -- and even in these, there has been a significant relaxation of lockdown restrictions.
In a first, auto firms post nil sales in April
Indian automakers have for the first time reported zero local sales in April as factories and dealerships across the country remained shut to comply with a stringent lockdown. For comparison, nearly 250,000 vehicles were sold in the domestic market in April 2019. Indian automakers count the dispatch of vehicles from factories to dealers as sales.
Does concept of open offices still make sense?
Covid-19 may have finally killed the concept of the open office. As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the globe in February, most workplaces around the country (and the world) began to implement rules among employees to avoid clusters, maintain physical distance, wear masks, sanitise hands. and avoid biometric entry. Many put in place strict deep cleaning protocols. And finally, all suddenly discovered the merits of WFH (work from home).
Lit up warships, fly-pasts to honour Covid-19 warriors
India’s chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat on Friday said that the armed forces will show their gratitude to the country’s Covid-19 warriors on May 3 by performing a raft of activities including fly-pasts, flashing warship lights, and displays by Indian Army bands.
After curbs lift, air journeys in India may become quicker
When flying starts post lockdown, flying times may come down significantly with passenger airlines set to get access to defence airspace. Senior aviation officials have confirmed to Hindustan Times that Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting with Department of Military affairs allowed the use of this hitherto segregated airspace.
SC yet to frame post-lockdown plans, decide on summer break
India’s apex court, the Supreme Court of India hasn’t put in place an exit plan for return to normalcy as the government relaxes lockdown restrictions, prompting comparisons with the Delhi High Court, which has created a committee to come up with a plan on this and also asked all district, sessions, and family courts to do so in anticipation of a flurry of filings post-lockdown.
‘Focus has been on containment, situation is constantly improving’:Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said his state is now on the right track in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic even as his government has drawn flak for mismanaging the situation.
Will follow ICMR norms to audit deaths: West Bengal
The West Bengal government has divested an expert committee of doctors of its primary duty -- to audit deaths among Covid-19 patients and figuring out whether they had succumbed to the virus or due to co-morbidities.The Opposition had alleged that the committee had been formed to suppress the number of Covid-19 deaths.
Trump blames lab in Wuhan lab for coronavirus outbreak
US President Donald Trump has claimed to have seen evidence to substantiate the unproven theory that the coronavirus originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, despite the conclusion by American intelligence agencies that the pathogen was “not man-made or genetically modified”.
Tempering the tampering rule
In a 21-Test career spread across 10 years, England left-arm seamer John Lever could never relive the high of his stellar maiden series against India. He kicked that off with a 10-wicket haul on debut in Delhi in 1976-77. Lever’s menacing swing was one of the reasons England quickly went 2-0 up in the series, but his soaring stock crashed abruptly in the third Test in Chennai.
Mobility to recreational and retail places drops by 86%
India saw an 86% drop in people visiting retail and recreational places, while those visiting parks, transit stations, and grocery and pharmacy units dropped by more than 50% each during the national lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), according to the latest community mobility data released by Google.
