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PM’s lockdown message and stimulus plan: Covid-19 news from India
Here are the top stories on Covid-19 pandemic from India today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told floor leaders of political parties in Parliament that the lockdown will not be lifted in its entirety after April 14 in order to contain Covid-19. His government may also set up a fund with a corpus of about ₹50,000 crore to ₹75,000 crore to revive industries as part of a stimulus package under consideration to revive growth in the post-Covid-19 era.
Here are the top stories on Covid-19 pandemic from India today.
Abrupt end to curbs not possible, says PM Modi
“It’s not possible to lift the lockdown abruptly,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a meeting with the floor leaders of political parties in Parliament in the strongest message yet from the government that the nationwide, three-week lockdown it clamped to fight the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) will not be lifted in its entirety when it ends on April 14. Read more.
Masks must in Delhi, 23 ‘zones’ sealed fully
Authorities in Delhi announced on Wednesday a hard lockdown of 23 neighbourhoods with large number of Covid-19 cases and ordered all citizens to wear masks while stepping out of their homes, tightening curbs to combat the outbreak even as 93 new cases took the total number of infections in the national capital to 669. Read more.
12 hot spots in GB Nagar, 13 in Ghaziabad to be under intensive lockdown till April 14
With the Uttar Pradesh government Wednesday announcing the sealing of 105 Covid-19 hot spots across 15 districts, 25 such clusters in the NCR -- 13 in Ghaziabad and 12 in Gautam Budh Nagar – will be under intensive lockdown measures for a week, with residents confined indoors, all shops and banks shut, and all vehicular movement completely curtailed. Read more.
Covid-19: What you need to know today
On Wednesday morning, some TV channels that use the health ministry’s data on Covid-19 put out an alarming number – that the number of cases had increased by 773 in the previous 24 hours, after increasing by only 354 in the 24 hours prior to that. This wasn’t entirely accurate, simply because, while the number of cases did increase by 773, not all cases were discovered in the previous 24 hours. Read more.
Less testing, delayed screening led to Maharashtra’s Covid-19 toll: Experts
Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 117 more cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), taking the number of infected people in India’s worst-hit state to 1,135 (72 of them have died). The state crossed the 1,000-case mark in just 30 days, from March 9 to April 7, with a 5.98% mortality rate, at least twice the overall mortality rate of 2.66% across India. The past five days have accounted for 56.8% (645) of the state’s cases. Read more.
Millions in migrant camps battle despair about uncertain future
A truck driver, Mahto was in Punjab’s Ludhiana city when sweeping restrictions were announced to stop the spread of Covid-19. On the second day of the lockdown, he and some other stranded workers hitched a ride on a truck to get back to their villages in Bihar. But the vehicle was intercepted in Patna the next day, and the workers sent to a government school that was turned into a migrant shelter. With no friends or family around, and bland food every day, Mahto spends his days in a small room with strangers. Read more.
Supreme Court directs private labs to conduct tests free of cost
The Supreme Court on Wednesday made tests for the coronavirus disease Covid-19 in government and private laboratories free, and asked the government to pass the necessary orders so as to make this possible. The tests are already free in government laboratories. Read more.
No dearth of anti-malaria drug, say states amid local concerns
A day after India said it will allow limited exports of the anti-malaria hydroxychloroquine, officials across several states insisted there is no shortage of the drug. Hydroxychloroquine has emerged as the most sought-after medicine after preliminary trials in China suggested it boosted recovery and lowered the severity of the coronavirus disease. Read more.
Where relief falls short, groups of volunteers step in, plug gaps
Utpal Basumallik was on one of the last international flights to land in India, arriving in Kolkata on March 19 from New Jersey with a stopover in Abu Dhabi, three days before India suspended all inbound flights to stop the spread of the coronavirus infection (Covid-19). Read more.
Mumbai, UP, J&K, and Ladakh make mask-wearing mandatory
The city of Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, Uttar Pradesh state and the newly created Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Wednesday made it compulsory for people to wear face masks in public places, warning that action shall be taken against those who don’t follow the rule imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19. Read more.
India’s 5000 cases in 37 days
New ₹75,000 crore fund to boost small industry in post-Covid world
The government may set up a fund with a corpus of about ₹50,000 crore to ₹75,000 crore to revive industries, particularly labour-intensive small and medium units, as part of an economic stimulus package currently under consideration to revive growth in the post-covid-19 era, two officials aware of the plan said. Read more.
₹18,000 crore released as tax refunds
The finance ministry on Wednesday released ₹18,000 crore of tax refunds to 1.4 million income-tax payers and 100,000 businessmen awaiting Goods and Services Tax (GST) and customs refunds and asked government departments to restrict their expenditure in the fiscal first quarter (April-June) -- the first to improve the cash position of individuals and businesses in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more.
Coronavirus pandemic could push 400mn Indians deeper into poverty, says ILO
As many as 400 million Indians, including migrant workers and daily wage earners, are at risk of being pushed deeper into poverty because of the covid-19 pandemic, the International Labour Organisation said, terming the crisis as the most severe since the Second World War. The pandemic is likely to impact 2.7 billion workers, or 81% of the world’s workforce, the Geneva-based body said on Wednesday.Read more.
Newspaper Society opposes suggestion to suspend govt ads
The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) and the Association of Radio Operators (AROI) for India strongly opposed on Wednesday a suggestion by Congress president Sonia Gandhi that the government and public sector undertakings should not issue any print or electronic media advertisements for two years in order to save money. Read more.
Govt issues advisory to stem social stigma
The backlash against health care and sanitation workers and police personnel at the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has prompted the government to release a set of guidelines for the general public titled “Addressing Social Stigma Associated with Covid-19”. Read more.
