59 Districts Report No New Case in Last 14 Days; Doubling Rate Now 7.5 Days

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday announced that the ongoing lockdown in the state will continue till May 7 without any relaxations – making it the first state to further extend the restrictions.

The announcement came a day before when restrictions in certain parts of the country were permitted to be relaxed. Telangana state cabinet, however, decided not to give any restrictions.

“No relaxation will be given in Telangana,” PTI quoted Rao as saying, adding the decision was taken in the interest of public health.

With 18 fresh cases, the total number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus as on Sunday stood at 858, while the number of active cases was 651. So far, 21 have succumbed to the virus in the state.

Four more patients succumbed to the coronavirus in Gujarat, taking the toll in the state to 67, PTI quoting a health department official said, on Monday.

Out of the four deaths, two each were reported from Ahmedabad and Surat, principal secretary (health) Jayanti Ravi said.

Three of these patients had underlying health conditions like diabetes,hypertension, and kidney disease.

“Most of these COVID-19 patients had some health risk factors or co-morbid conditions or both. So far, only seven deceased (amounting to 10.44 per cent of the total deaths) were without any risk factors or co-morbid conditions,” Ravi said.

There were also patients with multiple co-morbidity, and such victims accounted for 50 per cent of the deaths, the official said.

In the wake of virus outbreak in the state, Bihar has now decided to screen its entire 11.5 crore population for the novel coronavirus – “two-pronged” strategy for which have been laid out, according to the Indian Express.

The report said that the administration has started knocking doors in all 38 districts to collect sample and have instructed both, ASHA workers and medical shops in the state to collect details of those having cough, fever, or breathing issue.

By 17 April, the state admin managed to reach out to 12,25,968 households having 64,77,267 family members, Bihar principal secretary (health) Sanjay Kumar told the Indian Express.

Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson, in a series of tweet on Monday, warned states that violations of lockdown measures are being reported, posing serious “health hazard” to the public.

Adding that the situation is serious in Indore, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Jaipur among others, the spokesperson said. He said that the centre has constituted 6 Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) to “make on-spot assessment of situation, issue necessary directions to State Authorities for its redressel & submit their report to the Central Government in larger interest of general public.”

GoI to States:
Violations to #lockdown measures reported, posing a serious health hazard to public & risk for spread of #COVIDー19:

Incidents of violence on frontline healthcare prof; complete violations of social distancing norms; movement of vehicles in urban areas

— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) April 20, 2020

A newborn baby has tested positive for coronavirus in Rajasthan''s Nagaur district,  PTI quoting an official said on Monday.
“The baby born on Saturday is coronavirus positive. Her mother, father and other family members too are COVID-19 patients,” Nagaur chief medical and health officer Dr Sukumar Kashyap said.
In Nagaur, 59 people have tested positive so far. A 62-year-old man from the district, who was admitted at SMS hospital in Jaipur, died on Sunday night.

Andhra Health Department on Monday confirmed 75 fresh cases of novel coronavirus in the state in last 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases to jump to 772. In a tweet, the department informed that of the total positive cases, 92 have been cured, while 610 are “active” cases. So far, 20 have succumbed to COVID-19.

The Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT), constituted by the Centre to assess on-spot situations in areas that are “serious”, will visit Mumbai and Pune districts within next three day, Ministry of Home Affairs informed Maharashtra government.

In an order, MHA wrote to Maharashtra over violations to COVID19 lockdown measures and said that the situation is “especially serious in Mumbai and Pune districts in the state of Maharashtra,” news agency ANI reported.

The visiting IMCTs will “issue necessary directions to the State Authorities for redressal of the situation.”

In view of the COVID-19 outbreak, all areas of Pune have been ordered by its municipal corporation to be sealed for next seven days, April 27.

The West Bengal government has alleged that the Covid-19 testing kits supplied by the NICED, ICMR’s nodal agency in the state, a fortnight ago, are "apparently defective" as they show “inconclusive results” leading to repeated confirmatory tests and delaying diagnosis of the disease, PTI reported on Monday.

The ICMR’s NICED authorities said it could be possibly because the kits “have not been standardized” and it is considering the matter “very seriously”.

West Bengal has reported 12 deaths and 276 cases of COVID-19 affliction.

3/5 There was no problem earlier when the testing kits were being received directly from National Institute of Virology, Pune. Recently, the supplies to Government Labs in West Bengal have been routed through ICMR-NICED, Kolkata.

— Department of Health & Family Welfare, West Bengal (@wbdhfw) April 19, 2020

In a tweet, senior advocate and activist Prashant Bhushan said that the petition seeking government to pay minimum wages to millions of stranded migrant workers has been cancelled on Monday “without notification of reason or next date.”
Earlier, the Supreme Court while hearing the PIL filed by Harsh Mander and others seeking immediate payment of wages to migrant workers had questioned the need of money. The SC had asked, according to the Times of India, why they [migrant workers] needed money now as the government said anyone in need of food was being provided for.

Health Ministry on Monday confirmed that the doubling rate of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the country has increased to 7.5 days, based on the data of last seven days. Among the states, Odisha and Kerala are the only two state with doubling rate of cases more than 30 days.

The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) condemned the Centre over its order to permit work in some areas and directing stranded migrant workers to get back to work “without even considering for their immediate demands for ration/food/water and medications etc.”
Terming the step as “less for the benefit of these workers”, the central trade union, in a statement on Monday, alleged that the measures are taken “under the pressure from the big builders lobby and other big business houses.”
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Sunday paved the way for resuming work in non-containment zones, adding in its order that state borders will, however, remain close.
“The approach of the government is to succumb to these pressures rather than looking at the immediate basic needs of these workers who are generally not paid the promised wages,” added AITUC.

Four inmates of the central jail in Indore, Madhya Pradesh have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the total number of COVID-19 prisoners in the city to six, nPTI quoted a senior official as saying on Monday.
They were admitted in MY Hospital on April 17, Central Jail Superintendent Rakesh Kumar Bhangre told PTI.
“They are in the 28-34 age group. The number of prisoners infected with coronavirus here is now six. All inmates who came in contact are being shifted to a temporary jail to be examined by medical staff,” he said.
Bhangre said the jail holds 2,220 inmates against a sanctioned capacity of 1,230.
“The prison barracks have been divided into seven zones and the municipal corporation has disinfected them. The inmates have been given masks,” he added.

Karnataka's Health Department on Monday confirmed 18 fresh cases of novel coronavirus in the state in last 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases to jump to 408. In a tweet, the department informed that of the total positive cases, 112 have been cured, while 278 are “active” cases. So far, 16 have succumbed to COVID-19.