The Delhi government has decided to not relax the ongoing lockdown as of now as coronavirus appears to be spreading at a 'faster pace' in the national capital, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday, asserting that the decision is aimed at saving lives.
Addressing an online media briefing, Kejriwal said the government will assess the situation again after one week.
According to an order issued by Delhi chief secretary Vijay Dev, the government will review the situation on April 27.
'Many people are facing difficulties due to ongoing lockdown... We too want to relax the lockdown, which is an easy task. But if we give relaxations and if there is a shortage of ICU, ventilators, oxygen in hospitals and people lose their lives, we wouldn't be able to forgive us. Hence, the decision to not relax lockdown was taken today,' Kejriwal said.
As the virus has started spreading at a faster pace, containment zones have been increased, he said, but assured the situation is under control.
In Delhi, there are 11 districts that have hotspot areas and relaxation cannot be given there, according to central government's revised guidelines.
Kejriwal also said that there have been instances where people who did not show symptoms were found infected by Covid-19. Out of 736 samples collected recently, 186 people were found to be infected by Covid-19 on Saturday and all of them were asymptomatic, he said, adding they didn't even know they have been infected by the virus.
'When we talked to one of them, he said he was engaged in serving food at a government-run food centre set up during the lockdown. I have ordered for rapid testing of all those who had visited this centre. We will also conduct rapid testing of all people engaged in food distribution at government-run centres across the city,' the chief minister said.
He has previously said his government has been serving food to around 10 lakh people daily in the national capital.
On Sunday, Kejriwal said Delhi has 2 per cent of the country's population but 12 per cent of the total Covid-19 cases.
He cited the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin last month and a major inflow of travellers from other countries as the reason for the spread of the virus in Delhi.
'Delhi is fighting a difficult battle these days. Being the national capital of country, there was a major inflow of travellers from other countries. Delhi bore the brunt of maximum travellers from other countries. Delhi also bore the brunt due to an incident in the markaz,' he said.
Kejriwal said Delhi has reported 1,893 Covid-19 cases and 43 deaths, adding that there are currently 26 people in ICU and six on ventilator support. Of the 43 fatalities, 24 were aged above 60.
'If there had been no lockdown, the situation here would have been similar to Italy and Spain,' he said.
The Delhi government has declared 76 areas as containment zones to control the further spread of the highly contagious virus.
The civic authorities have carried out mass-sanitisation and disinfection drives in hotspot areas in the past several days using drones and other measures.
A dedicated 24x7 WhatsAapp number 8287972050 has been activated for lodging complaints from citizens in connection with Covid-19, the Delhi health department said in a statement.
An order has been issued for an incentivisation scheme for community lab testing being undertaken by the district, it said.
House-to-house surveillance activities are being carried out in identified cluster containment zones, and a total of 1,047 samples have been collected on Saturday from different clusters and sent for testing, the statement said.
A labourer piles up wheat grain at the New Grain Market as its procurement is picking up, amid ongoing Covid-19 lockdown in Chandigarh, Sunday, April 19, 2020 PTI
Death toll rises to 519
The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 519 and the number of cases climbed to 16,116 in the country on Sunday, registering an increase of 31 deaths and 1,324 cases since Saturday evening, according to the Union health ministry.
The number of active Covid-19 cases stood at 13,295 while 2,301 people have been cured and discharged, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.
The total number of cases includes 77 foreign nationals.
A total of 31 deaths were reported since Saturday evening -- 10 each from Gujarat and Maharashtra, three each from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, two from West Bengal and one each from Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
Of the 519 deaths, the highest number of 211 was reported from Maharashtra, followed by Madhya Pradesh (70), Gujarat (58), Delhi (43) and Telangana (18).
The death toll reached 17 and 16 in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab respectively. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have reported 15 deaths each.
Karnataka has reported 14 deaths, West Bengal 12, while Rajasthan has registered 11 fatalities.
The disease has claimed five lives in Jammu and Kashmir, while Kerala and Haryana have recorded three COVID-19 deaths each.
Jharkhand and Bihar have reported two deaths each, while Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.
However, a PTI tally of the figures reported by various states as on Sunday 6:40 pm showed 538 COVID-19 deaths in the country.
According to the health ministry's data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country is from Maharashtra (3,651), followed by Delhi (1,893), Gujarat (1,604), Madhya Pradesh (1,407) and Tamil Nadu (1,372).
The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 1,351 in Rajasthan and 1,084 in Uttar Pradesh.
Telangana has 844 cases, Andhra Pradesh 603 and Kerala 400.
The number of cases has risen to 384 in Karnataka, 341 in Jammu and Kashmir, 310 in West Bengal, 233 in Haryana and 219 in Punjab.
Bihar has reported 86 coronavirus cases, while Odisha has 61 such cases.
Forty-two people have been infected with the virus in Uttarakhand, while Himachal Pradesh has 39 cases.
Chhattisgarh has 36 cases, Assam and Jharkhand have registered 35 cases each. Chandigarh has 23 COVID-19 cases, Ladakh 18, while 14 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Meghalaya has reported 11 cases, while Goa and Puducherry have seven COVID-19 patients each.
Manipur and Tripura have two cases each, while Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each.
'Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR,' the ministry said on its website.
The website also mentioned that the patient from Nagaland was shifted to Assam.
Goa patients recover
All seven coronavirus patients in Goa have recovered from the infection and have been discharged, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Sunday.
He said that all the seven persons are natives of Goa, but six of them had returned to the state from abroad.
'The repeat samples of the seven coronavirus patients have tested negative for the infection. While six of them had been discharged earlier, the last patient was discharged on Sunday,' Sawant said.
He said that after their recovery, all of them have been shifted to a quarantine facility, where they will be kept under observation for the next few days.
He said his government will write to the Centre to inform it that all the patients have been cured and discharged, and no fresh cases have been reported in the state.
Odisha declares some areas of Balasore as containment zones
The Odisha government on Sunday declared some areas in Balasore as containment zones to conduct active surveillance and contact tracing, a day after a 58-year-old man tested positive to COVID-19 in the town, officials said.
Three wards located in Niliabag area of Balasore Municipality have been sealed and all the entry and exit points will remain closed initially for a week, Balasore District Collector K Sudarshan Chakravarthy said.
Describing Niliabag as a densely populated area, the collector said it requires intensive measures for active surveillance and contact tracing. Residents of the area would not be allowed to move out and people from outside are prevented from entering into the locality as a precautionary measure.
Medics arrange samples of a new fast test (Rapid test) for coronavirus at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital during a nationwide lockdown, in Chennai, Saturday, April 18, 2020. (PTI)
3 test positive in Tamil Nadu
Two Chennai-based journalists and a sub-Inspector on Sunday tested positive for coronavirus, more than a month after the first case was reported in the state, authorities said.
A reporter working for a Tamil daily and a sub-editor with a Tamil news television channel have tested positive for coronavirus, officials told PTI.
While the reporter has been admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, the other is being treated at Government Stanley Hospital, they said, adding both are in 'stable' condition.
A 52-year-old Sub-Inspector, a resident of police quarters at Alandur and posted in a downtown station also tested positive for coronavirus last night and he too is being treated at the RGGH and is doing well, the officials said.
Disinfection work is on in the respective neighbourhoods of the three people who have tested positive.
Lockdown violations
Chennai police on Sunday said they seized 808 vehicles -733 motorcycles, 48 autorickshaws and 27 light motor vehicles (including cars)- for flouting lockdown norms.
They said the violations were between 6am(Saturday) and 6 am(Sunday) and 1,155 First Information Reports have been filed in this connection.
Migrant workers take refuge at a camp run by Bihar government during a complete lockdown imposed in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, in Patna, Saturday, April 18, 2020. (PTI)
Advisories to medicine shops in Odisha, Bihar
Health advisories have been issued to medicine shops in Odisha as well as in some districts of Bihar to keep a record of people purchasing flu medicines as authorities suspect they could be used to suppress symptoms of coronavirus with an intent to skip testing.
The Drug Controller Administration under the Health and Family Welfare department of Odisha has asked pharmacists to note the address or at least telephone number of the persons buying medicines for cold, cough and sneezing.
In Bihar, though the health department denied issuing any such directive, but district administration of Bhojpur and Rohtas have sent a note to the chemists to this effect.
It also said that even private clinics and hospitals will provide information about such patients coming to them with synptoms of fever, cold and cough to the concerned government hospital.
Odisha Drug Controller said chemists outlets are sending the required data to different area Drug Inspectors.
Odisha restricts sale of HCQ
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik said the Drug Controller Administration has already restricted sale of certain medicines like Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin.
The chemist outlets are directed not to sell such medicines without doctors prescription, he said.
The Drugs Controller said that the government has already stopped supply of such medicines to outlets according to an order of the government. This is done to discourage people from using such medicines as they have side effects and therefore should be consumed on prescription of doctors.
Anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine is in much demand for management of coronavirus cases.
One more dies in Rajasthan; death toll 22
One more person died of coronavirus in Rajasthan's worst-hit Jaipur, pushing the death toll to 22 in the state, whose infection count soared to 1,431 with 80 fresh cases on Sunday.
So far, Jaipur has reported 526 cases, including 12 deaths.
'One death has been reported in Jaipur. The patient was admitted to a private hospital after he complained of fever and breathlessness, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rohit Kumar Singh said.
Officials said the 62-year-old man from the Raja Park area of Jaipur was admitted to the private hospital on April 16. He died on Saturday night.
Singh said of the 80 fresh cases, 30 were reported from Jodhpur; 17 in Bharatpur; 12 in Nagaur; seven in Jaipur; four in Swai Madhopur; two each in Kota, Bikaner and Jhalawar; and one each in Jaisalmer, Jhunjhunu, Bhilwara and Hanumangarh.
He said so far 302 patients have tested negative for the infection after treatment, of which 97 have been discharged from hospitals.
No pension cut for central govt employees
The finance ministry on Sunday said there will be no cut in pensions to central government employees.
The ministry clarified its position after reports that the government is planning to cut pensions.
'It is being reported that a 20 per cent cut in central government pensions is being planned. This news is false. There will be no cut in pension disbursements. It is clarified that salaries and pensions will not be affected by government cash management instructions,' the ministry said in a tweet.
The ministry's tweet was also shared by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Healthcare workers in Kashmir asked to ensure proper analysis of patients
Authorities in Kashmir have directed healthcare workers to ensure proper analysis of every Covid-19 patient including details about family or health conditions while contact tracing, officials said.
Kashmir divisional commissioner Pandurang K. Pole gave the directions while supervising the online contact tracing, sampling and other guidelines for Covid-19 patients on Saturday.
Pole directed analysis should include details about patient's family, neighbours, relatives, daily routine, if having co-morbidity like diabetes, cardiac condition or is on dialysis or has any other health condition, is a smoker or smokes hookah' and other related information, the officials said.
The total number of positive cases in the Union territory has risen to 341. Five patients have died in Jammu and Kashmir while 51 have recovered.
More than 60,000 people have been kept under surveillance including those who are either in government established quarantine facilities or in home isolation.
Till date 60,419 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been put under surveillance, which includes 6,071 persons in home quarantine and facilities operated by government, 285 in hospital isolation, 252 in hospital quarantine and 25,692 under home surveillance. Besides, 28,114 persons have completed their surveillance period, the officials said.
They said the security forces have sealed off main roads in most places in the Valley and erected barriers at several other places to check the unwanted movement of the people and to enforce the lockdown.
Only persons with valid movement passes were allowed passage, they added.
The declared containment or red zones across the Valley have been sealed to ensure strict adherence to the standard operating procedure.
The officials said there were 80 red zones in the Kashmir Valley and all such areas would remain as red zones up to 42 days, unless no new positive cases of Covid-19 are detected.
A balloon seller cycles on a road during ongoing Covid-19 lockdown in Ghaziabd, Sunday, April 19, 2020 PTI
2 doctors, 6 nurses test positive
At least two doctors and six nurses at the Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi have tested positive for coronavirus, sources said on Sunday.
They were all deployed at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of the hospital.
The hospital has initiated a contact tracing to find out who all had come in contact with them in the last few days.
According to a doctor, a 10-month-old baby who was recently brought to the emergency department with respiratory problems had tested positive for Covid-19.
Now, the entire Paediatric ICU is being sanitised, the doctor said.
Goa seeks Centre's help to revive tourism industry
The Goa tourism department will seek financial help from the Centre for the industry stakeholders to overcome the crisis they are facing due to the coronavirus outbreak.
State tourism minister Manohar Ajgaonkar, in an interview to PTI, said his department has written to chief minister Pramod Sawant, seeking help for the tourism industry from the Prime Minister's relief fund for Covid-19.
'How much fund is required for it has to be decided by a panel of experts. We have formed a committee headed by state finance secretary Daulat Hawaldar to study it. We will have to work out a plan to get out of this crisis,' he said.
Goa already has a tourism policy. The state wants to introduce a financial package for hoteliers, vendors, shack owners and others dependent on tourism so that they can restart their business, he said.
The minister further said the state government should not allow any tourists in the coastal state after the lockdown is lifted, unless they are certified negative for coronavirus.
This practice should continue for next two years till the situation normalises at the global level, he said.
Ajgaonkar said the coronavirus outbreak happened at a time when the coastal state had managed to get back its tourism industry on track after the global slump.
'But, because of Covid-19, we will again have to start from zero. Till all airports and other routes are opened tourism cannot re-start in the state, he said.
Recovered man in Himachal tests positive again
A man, who had recovered from the novel coronavirus, was again found suffering from the infection in Himachal Pradesh, officials said.
The man, a Tablighi Jamaat member, tested positive for the infection on Saturday within a week of his two reports coming out negative, they said.
Residents of different places in Mandi district, the man along with two other Jamaatis had been staying in a mosque of Nakroh village in Una'a Amb tehsil and all tested positive on April 2.
They were admitted to Tanda's Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC) in Kangra district on April 3.
As per the available information, they had tested negative for the first time on April 10 and they were declared as cured as per protocol after they tested negative for the second time on April 12.
Subsequently, they had been discharged from the RPGMC and were kept in institutional quarantine.
However, with the man again testing positive, the total number of active cases in the hill state has increased to 23 out of the total 40 positive cases.
