Rajasthan death toll rises to 35

The death toll due to coronavirus in Rajasthan rose to 35 on Saturday, with three fresh casualties and the number of cases climbed to 2,083 as 49 more people tested positive for the infection, a senior official said.

The deaths were reported from Jaipur, Kota and Jodhpur districts. All three patients suffered from co-morbidities like heart and kidney issues, he said.

'A 65-year-old woman having coronary artery disease was admitted to the state-run SMS hospital in Jaipur on April 23. She died today (Saturday). In Kota, a 32-year-old man having chronic kidney disease also died,' additional chief secretary (health) Rohit Kumar Singh said.

The third patient was 65-year-old man from Jodhpur's Ratanada who suffered from cardiac issues. He was admitted to AIIMS on April 24 with a complaint of chest pain, fever and breathlessness, he said.

He tested positive for coronavirus on April 25 and died this evening, he added.

Singh said 49 fresh coronavirus cases were reported in Rajasthan on Saturday, pushing the number infections in the state to 2,083.

Cases climb to 26,496, death toll now 824

The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 824 and the number of cases climbed to 26,496 in India on Sunday, according to the Union health ministry.

The death toll increased by 45 and the number of cases by 1,554 since the ministry last updated its data on Saturday evening.

The number of active Covid-19 cases stood at 19,868 while 5,803 people were cured and discharged, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.

The total number of cases includes 111 foreign nationals.

Among the 45 deaths reported since Saturday evening, 22 are from Maharashtra, six from Gujarat and seven are from Madhya Pradesh.

Of the total 824 Covid-19 deaths, Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of 323 fatalities, followed by Gujarat (133), Madhya Pradesh (99), Delhi (54), Andhra Pradesh (31) and Rajasthan (27).

The death toll reached 27 in Uttar Pradesh, 26 in Telangana, 23 in Tamil Nadu, while Karnataka and West Bengal have reported 18 deaths each, the ministry said.

Punjab has registered 17 fatalities so far, Jammu and Kashmir six, Kerala four, while Jharkhand and Haryana have recorded three Covid-19 deaths each.

Bihar has reported two coronavirus deaths, while Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported a fatality each, according to the ministry data.

According to the health ministry data, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country is from Maharashtra at 7,628, followed by Gujarat at 3,071. Delhi (2,625), Rajasthan (2,083), Madhya Pradesh (2,096) and Uttar Pradesh (1,793).

• Delhi: 2,625
• Rajasthan: 2,083
• Madhya Pradesh: 2,096
• Tamil Nadu: 1,683
• Uttar Pradesh: 1,821 (*1,843)
• Andhra Pradesh: 1,061
• Telangana: 991
• Karnataka: 500
• Jammu and Kashmir: 494
• Kerala: 457
• Haryana: 289
• Punjab: 298
• West Bengal: 611
• Bihar: 243
• Odisha: 94
• Uttarakhand: 48
• Assam: 36
• Himachal Pradesh: 40
• Chhattisgarh: 36
• Chandigarh: 28
• Jharkhand: 67
• Ladakh: 20
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands: 33
• Meghalaya: 12
• Goa: 7
• Puducherry: 7
• Manipur: 2
• Tripura: 2
• Mizoram: 1
• Arunachal Pradesh: 1

India is currently under a nationwide lockdown to check the spread of the deadly virus. The lockdown, which began on March 25, has been extended till May 3.

Firefighters sanitize a hotspot area that has been sealed, during lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Prayagraj, Saturday, April 25, 2020. AP

Free rice distribution to 60% beneficiaries completed: Bedi

The Puducherry administration has distributed free rice to over 60 per cent of beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana to mitigate their sufferings and hardships due to the nationwide lockdown to combat coronavirus, lieutenant-governor Kiran Bedi has said.

Talking to PTI over phone, she said, 'I sincerely thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government for helping the UT (Union territory) administration to provide free rice for three months to 6.5 lakh poor and downtrodden beneficiaries to mitigate their hardship due to Covid-19 lockdown.'

'Rice has already been distributed to over 60 per cent of the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana. The UT government lifted 9,425 tonnes of additional rice from FCI (Food Corporation of India) and has already distributed over 6,000 tonnes,' she said.

Similarly the Centre has increased daily wage to labourers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to Rs 259 from Rs 229 with effect from this month.

Puducherry is the first government in the country to start MGNREGA work after the Union home ministry relaxed lockdown guidelines from April 20, she said.

Likewise the Centre has credited Rs 500 each in bank accounts of 83,000 women beneficiaries in the first week of this month under the Pradhan Mantri Jhan Dhan Yojana, the former IPS officer said, adding that a whopping Rs 4.15 crore has reached the women beneficiaries in Puducherry.

Maharashtra govt issues preventive guidelines for essential workers

The Maharashtra government has issued a circular stressing on the importance of social distancing, hygiene and wearing of protection gear, after some of its employees tested positive for coronavirus.

The circular issued by the public health department on Saturday said some government staff involved in the maintenance of essential services in the state have tested positive for the disease.

Employees should wear masks, hand gloves and if necessary, aprons, and ensure that soap, water and hand sanitisers (with at least 60 per cent alcohol) are available at workplaces, it said.

'Wash your hands applying soap and with water for at least 20 seconds before beginning your daily work. Use hand gloves then. Do not touch (your) face, eyes, nose and mouth.

Avoid putting hand gloves in pockets,' the circular said.

The objects which are touched often, like door handles and taps, should be disinfected every two-three hours with a liquid containing one per cent sodium hypochlorite, it said.

There should be a distance of at least one metre between two employees at the workplace, the circular said.

Health workers wearing protective suits are seen on a street after visiting a home where three coronavirus positive patients are found, during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown, in Jalandhar, Saturday, April 25, 2020 PTI

226 Swiss nationals evacuated

As many as 226 Swiss nationals stranded in India following the nationwide lockdown have left for Zurich by a Swiss International Airlines, an airport spokesperson said here on Sunday.

The flight departed for Zurich at 11.20pm on Saturday from Cochin airport, he said.

The aircraft had arrived in the national capital after picking up 62 Swiss nationals stranded in Kolkotta and 164 of them boarded the flight from here

Earlier, the UK and Oman had evacuated their citizens stranded in Kerala due to lockdown by operating special flights.

Maharashtra govt likely to extend lockdown in virus-hit urban areas

The Maharashtra government may extend the lockdown in the coronavirus-hit urban areas of the state after May 3, an official said on Sunday.

The state government is closely monitoring the situation in areas outside the cities of Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Amravati, a senior state official said.

'It is the cities where most of the Covid-19 cases are concentrated. If the state has to relax its current stringent lockdown measures, it would be in rural and least affected areas of the state. However, we are looking at the scenario as rural and urban areas are connected,' he said.

Despite minimum Covid-19 cases in rural areas of Pune district, the industries there have not resumed because most of their workforce live in cities, he said.

We need to work out some plans for every city or district-wise to get things moving. The administration needs more time to come up with solutions, hence it is highly unlikely to lift the lockdown restrictions May 3 onwards in all parts of the state, the official said.

Police personnel distribute food among needy people during the nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, at IP extension in East Delhi, Saturday, April 25, 2020 PTI

The lockdown in Delhi will not be relaxed beyond what the Union home ministry has suggested in its guidelines, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday and added that his government's focus is on bringing down Covid-19 infections in the city.

Addressing an online media briefing, the chief minister said, 'We are going through difficult times. We will have to continue our efforts to reduce the number of Covid-19 infections in Delhi.'

He said his government was implementing the Centre's guidelines on opening of neighbourhood and standalone shops during the lockdown till May 3.

No markets and malls will be allowed to open in the national capital and all shops in Covid-19 containment zones will remain shut, he added.

'The Delhi government will maintain status quo and will not relax lockdown restrictions till May 3, except those permitted by the Union home ministry,' he said.

The chief minister said the novel coronavirus doesn't discriminate between any religion. 'We need to work together. Plasma of a Muslim can be used to treat a Hindu patient and vice versa,' he added, referring to plasma therapy to deal with the deadly virus.

Kejriwal said that positive indication has come out from plasma therapy.

The chief minister cited improvement in condition of a critical patient at the LNJP Hospital following plasma therapy.

He appealed to those recovered from Covid-19 to come forward and donate their plasma.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Delhi stood at 2,625 on Saturday, with 111 new cases and one death being reported in a day, according to Delhi government authorities.

The death toll from Covid-19 in the national capital is now 54.

14 BSF jawans in Chhattisgarh quarantined

Fourteen Border Security Force (BSF) jawans have been quarantined in Chhattisgarh for suspected coronavirus infection after they returned from Agra, officials said on Sunday.

Their samples have been sent for testing and the reports are awaited, a senior official said.

The troops, onboard a truck of the force, had reached Bhilai town in the central Indian state on Saturday after staying at a police line in Agra for 20 days.

'As per information, the cook of the local police in the Agra camp has been found positive for Covid-19 infection,' the official said.

All the 14 personnel were tested upon their arrival and subsequently two of them sent to an isolation facility in Durg district, while the rest quarantined at a centre of the Bhilai Steel Plant, he said.

Senior govt doctor, another man die of Covid-19 in Bengal

A senior government doctor involved in the fight against COVID-19 and a 34-year-old man, both diagnosed with the disease, died at a hospital here on Sunday, sources at the facility said.

Sixty-year-old Dr Biplab Kanti Dasgupta, posted as assistant director health services (equipment and stores), was initially admitted to Beliaghata Infectious Diseases hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Salt Lake on April 18, where he succumbed to the disease.

'After he tested positive for COVID-19, he was first taken to Beliaghata ID hospital and then to the Salt Lake private hospital. The doctor was suffering from respiratory distress and other co-morbidities and had been on ventilator since he was admitted to the hospital. He died at 1.20 am on Sunday,' sources told PTI.

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Blocking burial, cremation to attract 3 year prison term in Tamil Nadu

Blocking the 'dignified' burial or cremation of people, who had died of a notified disease in Tamil Nadu will now attract a three year prison term, an ordinance promulgated by the state government said.

The move comes in the wake of public protests against the burial of two doctors who died of Covid-19 in the city recently, with one of them turning violent where agitators even attacked health workers and civic body staff.

According to the ordinance, blocking or attempting to block the 'dignified burial or cremation of those who had died of a notified disease' has been made a criminal offence, an official release here said.

Under section 74 of The Tamil Nadu Public Health Act, 1939, those indulging in such acts will have to face a minimum jail term of one year while the maximum award will be three years, the release added.

The offence will also carry a fine, it said, but did not specify.

CMC seeks Mayor's approval to terminate 'absent' medical officers

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation is contemplating termination of services of medical officers who have not been turning up for duty at clinics run by the civic body during the COVID-19 crisis, a KMC official said on Sunday.

The chief municipal health officer (CMHO) of the KMC has written to Mayor Firhad Hakim, seeking approval for terminating the services of medical officers who have not been turning up for duty though the department had made arrangements for their travel or accomodation in the city.

Deputy mayor Atin Ghosh said that around 30 per cent of medical officers and paramedics are not turning up for duty at the KMC-run clinics.

There are 144 wards in the KMC and each ward has a clinic which is supposed to be attended by a doctor and paramedic staff.

On April 21, Ghosh had proposed to the Mayor to issue a 'stern warning' to 'such category of staff who have not risen to the occasion and have not undertaken duties in such times of emergency' and also suggested withholding of salaries of such staff for their respective period of absence.

However, since the medical officers continued to remain absent from duty, the CMHO sought approval from the Mayor for terminating the services of the errant doctors, in a letter written to him on April 25.

15 CRPF personnel based in Delhi test positive

Fifteen Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel posted in a Delhi-based battalion have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said on Sunday.

The troops belong to CRPF's 31st battalion in which nine men had tested positive on Thursday, a senior official said.

With the fresh cases, the number of infected personnel in this unit stands at 24.

The patients have been isolated and admitted to a hospital in Mandawali area here, the official said.

Belle Vue Clinic cook tests positive

A cook at Belle Vue Clinic, one of the Calcutta's top hospitals, tested positive for Covid-19, following which the medical facility shut down one of its kitchens, and placed his co-workers under home quarantine, a senior official at the facility said on Sunday.

The cook, in his early 50s, was admitted to an isolation ward of the private hospital as he complained of uneasiness and exhibited symptoms of Covid-19, he said.

After test results confirmed he had contracted the disease, the Belle Vue Clinic employee was immediately shifted to Beliaghata ID hospital on Saturday, the official said.

A doctor and three nurses who treated him at the private facility have been put in home isolation, he said.

A policeman questions two children during the nationwide lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus, in Hyderabad, Sunday, April 26, 2020. AP