Cases rise to 81,970, death toll now 2,649
The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 2,649 and the number of cases climbed to 81,970 on Friday, registering an increase of 100 deaths and 3,967 cases in the last 24 hours since Thursday 8am, according to the Union health ministry.
The number of active cases stood at 51,401 while 27,919 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.
'Thus, around 34.06 per cent patients have recovered so far,' a senior health ministry official said.
The total confirmed cases include foreign nationals too.
Of the 100 deaths reported since Thursday morning, 44 were in Maharashtra, 20 in Gujarat, 9 in Delhi, 8 in West Bengal, five each in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, four in Rajasthan, two each in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and one in Andhra Pradesh.
Of the 2,649 fatalities, Maharashtra tops tally with 1,019 deaths, Gujarat comes second with 586 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 237, West Bengal at 215, Rajasthan at 125, Delhi at 115, Uttar Pradesh at 88,Tamil Nadu at 66 and Andhra Pradesh at 48.
The death toll reached 35 in Karnataka, 34 Telangana and 32 in Punjab.
Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir have reported 11 fatalities each due to the disease while Bihar has registered seven and Kerala has reported four deaths.
Jharkhand, Chandigarh and Odisha have recorded three Covid-19 fatalities each while Himachal Pradesh and Assam have reported two deaths each.
Meghalaya, Uttarakhand and Puducherry have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.
More than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities (existence of multiple disorders), according to the ministry.
The data updated this morning showed the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 27,524, followed by Tamil Nadu at 9,674, Gujarat at 9,591, Delhi at 8,470 Rajasthan at 4,534, Madhya Pradesh at 4,426 and Uttar Pradesh at 3,902.
The number of Covid-19 cases has gone up to 2,377 in West Bengal, 2,205 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,935 in Punjab.
It has risen to 1,414 in Telangana, 994 in Bihar, 987 in Karnataka, 983 in Jammu and Kashmir and 818 in Haryana.
Odisha has reported 611 coronavirus infection cases so far while Kerala has 560 cases. A total of 197 people have been infected with the virus in Jharkhand and 191 in Chandigarh.
Tripura has reported 156 cases, Assam has 87 cases, Uttarakhand has 78, Himachal Pradesh has 74 cases, Chhattisgarh has 60 and Ladakh has registered 43 cases so far.
Thirty-three Covid-19 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Goa reported 14 Covid-19 cases while Meghalaya and Puducherry registered 13 cases each.
Manipur has three cases. Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Dadar and Nagar Haveli reported a case each till how.
'Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR,' the ministry said on its website.
State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.
Calcutta HC CJI allows changes in dress code
The Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court has allowed changes in dress code of lawyers in view of the medical exigencies due to the Covid-19 outbreak, a senior official said on Friday.
On a recommendation of the committee for all Covid-19 related matters, Calcutta High Court Chief Justice T.B.N. Radhakrishnan directed that advocates of the high court and the subordinate courts will wear 'plain white shirt or white salwar kameez or white saree, with a plain white neck band' during the hearings conducted through video conference.
The direction came after Chief Justice of India (CJI) S.A. Bobde had on Wednesday said the judges and the lawyers should not wear coat and gown for the time being as they make it 'easier to catch virus'.
The dress code will remain in force 'till medical exigencies exist or until further orders,' Calcutta High Court registrar-general Rai Chattopadhyay said in a notification.
The same dress code will also be made applicable to the officers and registrars of the high court until further orders, excepting use of white band, it said.
Nursery rhyme for slum children
In a bid to create awareness about the Covid-19 pandemic among children in slums, a teacher in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city created a nursery rhyme in Marathi to teach them the 20-second hand-washing routine.
While frontline workers tackle Covid-19 on a war footing, teachers like Sunita Nagkirti are tasked with creating awareness about the pandemic in hotspot areas, especially slums.
A video of Nagkirti teaching a group of children the 20-second hand-washing technique using a nursery rhyme was posted on Twitter by state sports commissioner Om Prakash Bakoriya.
The teacher, who is associated with the state's scout and guide programme at Ravindra School here, has been travelling to slums to educate people about the pandemic and dos and don'ts they need to follow to prevent it.
'At least 30 people had tested positive in hotspot areas of Kailas Nagar and Rohidas Nagar when I was sent there 10 days ago,' said Nagkirti.
Initially, residents were wary of her, but she broke the ice by distributing essentials and masks, which she bought from her own pocket.
'Children were worried when they saw bottles of sanitisers and handwash liquids. But I used some popular Marathi nursery rhymes and created a fun handwash song,' she said.
Manipur quarantine centre sealed
A community quarantine centre in Manipur's Imphal east district was sealed after a man who was lodged in the facility tested positive for Covid-19, an official said on Friday.
Imphal east deputy commissioner Rangitabali Waikhom said the Jamia Galina Aziz Girls School, which was a designated quarantine centre, was declared a 'containment zone' and the building 'completely sealed' as per the Manipur Epidemic Diseases Covid-19 Regulations 2020.
A 31-year-old man who had been quarantined in the centre since May 13 tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday.
The positive patient was now lodged at an isolation ward of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Scienes. He had come from Mumbai along with four others in a hired vehicle and reached the state on May 13.
Officials said the patient is 'asymptomatic as of now.'
Meanwhile, a health department release said contact tracing of the patient has already started.
Over 150 people to be quarantined in Goa
Over 150 people from Goa, who returned to the state on Friday after working on different ships as crew members, will be quarantined, chief minister Pramod Sawant said.
This is the second batch of Goans, who have arrived in the state after working on different ships. Around 100 crew members of a cruise ship had returned to the state last month.
'Today, 154 Goan seafarers have been brought to Goa by road directly after signing off at Mumbai Port. Our Govt is working continuously in coordination with central depts to ensure that Goans stranded in different parts of the country & world reach home safely,' Sawant said in a tweet.
The state government has set up paid quarantine facilities for these crew members.
They are being tested for Covid-19 infection before being quarantined for 14 days.
After being free of COVID-19 for more than a month, Goa has recorded eight fresh cases, one of them a member of a ship's crew. He had undergone 14 days quarantine at Mumbai, but was tested positive after his arrival in Goa on Thursday.
A man cycles on a rooftop during a lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, in Calcutta, Thursday, May 14, 2020. AP
States should ban chewing tobacco sale, spitting in public: Vardhan
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has appealed to all states and Union Territories to ban sale of smokeless tobacco products and spitting in public places in line with the orders of the Rajasthan and Jharkhand governments to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection.
In a letter to all state health ministers, Vardhan said smokeless tobacco users have a tendency to spit in public places or otherwise and therefore, increase health risks especially those of spreading contagious diseases like Ccovid-19, tuberculosis, swine flu, encephalitis and others.
'Use of smokeless tobacco also creates an unhygienic environment which further spreads the diseases. Large gathering at the retail outlets where smokeless tobacco products are sold, also pose the risk of spread of Covid-19,' he said.
In the letter dated May 11, the Union minister underlined that tobacco use is a major threat to public health globally. He also mentioned the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) appeal to the public not to consume and spit smokeless tobacco products in public places.
Chewing tobacco products and areca nut increases production of saliva followed by a very strong urge to spit. Spitting in public places could enhance the spread of the Covid-19, Vardhan said.
'By banning spitting in public places, states and UTs can help in achieving not only Swachh Bharat but also Swasth Bharat (Clean India and Healthy India),' he said.
Vardhan also mentioned the May 1 guidelines issued by the Union Home Ministry under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005, which stipulate that 'spitting in public places shall be punishable with fine as may be prescribed by the state/UT local authority and consumption of liquor, paan, gutkha, tobacco etc in public places is not allowed'.
Appreciating the efforts of Rajasthan and Jharkhand in this direction, the Union Health Minister urged all states to take similar measures and create widespread awareness regarding the harm of spitting in public places.
The Rajasthan government had by an ordinance banned spinning in public places and sale of paan, gutka and tobacco in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The Jharkhand too has imposed a complete ban on all types of tobacco products to prevent spitting in public places that could increase the spread of coronavirus infection.
'I am happy to note that the governments of Jharkhand and Rajasthan have already completely banned sale of tobacco products and spitting in public places. Therefore, I urge upon you to take similar measures and also create widespread awareness in your state/ UT regarding harms of spitting in public places.
'It is also requested that the directions of Ministry of Home Affairs in this regard may be implemented scrupulously and effectively,' Vardhan said in the letter.
Tobacco smoking is a known risk factor for many respiratory infections and increases the severity of related diseases. A review of studies by public health experts convened by WHO on April 29 found that smokers are more likely to develop severe diseases, compared to non-smokers, said Binoy Mathew, senior programme officer of Voluntary Health Association of India.
It is one of the main risk factors for a number of chronic ailments, including cancer, lung and cardiovascular diseases, he said, adding that according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, with 268 million or 28.6 per cent of all adults in India, the country has the second largest number of tobacco users in the world.
At least 12 lakh die from tobacco-related diseases every year, Mathew said.
Those keen to quit smoking and smokeless products can avail of free of charge telephone-based services launched by the government. The Ministry of Health has set up a National Tobacco Quit Line Services to provide counselling services to help tobacco consumers quit the habit.
UP fire and emergency services employee sprays disinfectant in the Narahi area of Hazratganj, as a measure to contain the spread of coronavirus, during the nationwide lockdown, in Lucknow, Friday, May 15, 2020 PTIi
The nationwide tally of confirmed Covid-19 cases crossed 85,000 on Friday with more people testing positive for the deadly virus infection from Kashmir to Kerala and from Karnataka to Bihar, even as indications emerged about greater relaxations in the fourth phase of the lockdown beginning Monday to contain economic costs of the pandemic.
Going by the numbers declared by different states and union territories, India has now surpassed China's official tally of 82,933 confirmed Covid-19 cases.
Though some new cases have emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan -- the epicentre of the deadly virus -- less than 100 people are now undergoing treatment across China, which recorded 4,633 deaths due to Covid-19 but more than 78,000 have been discharged after recovery, as per their official data.
Globally, more than 3 lakh people have died and nearly 45 lakh have tested positive for the deadly virus since its emergence in Wuhan last December. While China and several other countries have begun reopening their economies, fresh concerns have begun mounting about a possible re-emergence of the virus.
India is now the 11th most affected nation in the world, but each one of the top-ten have one lakh or more cases. The US tops the charts with more than 14 lakh cases, followed by Russia, UK, Spain, Italy and Brazil with over 2 lakh cases each; and France, Germany, Turkey and Iran having over 1 lakh cases each.
In its morning 8 AM update, the Union Health Ministry said the death toll due to Covid-19 across India has risen to 2,649 and the number of cases has climbed to 81,970, registering an increase of 100 deaths and 3,967 cases in the last 24 hours since Thursday morning. There are more than 51,000 active cases, while nearly 28,000 have recovered, giving a recovery rate of over 34 per cent.
However, a PTI tally of numbers reported by states and UTs, as of 9 PM, put the total number of confirmed cases across the country much higher at 85,538. This also showed at least 2,679 deaths and nearly 30,000 recoveries.
Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar and Karnataka breached the 1,000-mark in terms of the number of people having tested positive, while testing and containment measures were ramped up in places like, Kerala, Goa and Manipur that were being seen as being mostly virus-free till a few days back. Even a quarantine centre had to be sealed in Manipur.
On the other hand, large numbers of cases continued to get detected in big urban clusters. Maharashtra, the most-affected state, reported 1,576 new cases to take its tally to 29,100, while its death toll rose to 1,068. Tamil Nadu crossed the 10,000 mark with 434 new cases, while Gujarat saw 340 more people testing positive to push its tally to 9,932.
According to the Union Health Ministry, 30 municipal areas account for 79 per cent of India's coronavirus infection caseload.
At a meeting of a group of ministers chaired by Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, it was stressed that the focus of Covid-19 management strategy needs to be on the states with the highest number of confirmed cases and fatalities. Also, focus is needed on treatment and case fatality management, for which timely detection and contact tracing were the best way forward.
