Cases rise to 96,169, death toll touches 3,029

The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 3,029 and the number of cases to 96,169 in the country on Monday, registering an increase of 157 deaths and a record jump of 5,242 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry.

The number of active Covid-19 cases stood at 56,316, while 36,823 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.

'Thus, around 38.29 per cent patients have recovered so far,' a senior health ministry official said.

The total confirmed cases include foreign nationals too, the ministry said.

Of the 157 deaths deaths reported since Sunday morning, 63 were in Maharashtra, 34 in Gujarat, 31 in Delhi, six in West Bengal, five each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, four in Tamil Nadu, three in Punjab and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Odisha.

Of the 3,029 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 1,198 deaths. Gujarat comes second with 659 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 248, West Bengal at 238, Delhi at 160, Rajasthan at 131, Uttar Pradesh at 104,Tamil Nadu at 78 and Andhra Pradesh at 50.

The death toll has reached 37 in Karnataka, 35 in Punjab and 34 in Telangana.

Haryana has reported 14 fatalities due to the disease. Jammu and Kashmir has 13 deaths, while Bihar has registered eight and Kerala and Odisha each have reported four deaths.

Jharkhand, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh each have recorded three Covid-19 fatalities each, while Assam has reported two deaths.

Meghalaya, Uttarakhand and Puducherry have reported one fatality each, according to the data shared by the ministry.

According to the ministry's website, more than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities, the existence of multiple disorders in the same person.

According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 33,053, followed by Gujarat at 11,379.

• Tamil Nadu: 11,224
• Delhi: 10,054
• Rajasthan: 5,202
• Madhya Pradesh: 4,977
• Uttar Pradesh: 4,259
• West Bengal: 2,677
• Andhra Pradesh: 2,407
• Punjab: 1,964
• Telangana: 1,551
• Bihar: 1,262
• Jammu and Kashmir: 1,183
• Karnataka: 1,147
• Haryana: 910
• Odisha: 828
• Kerala: 601
• Jharkhand: 223
• Chandigarh: 191
• Tripura: 167
• Assam: 101
• Uttarakhand: 92
• Chhattisgarh: 86
• Himachal Pradesh: 80
• Ladakh: 43
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands: 33
• Goa: 29
• Meghalaya: 13
• Puducherry: 13
• Manipur: 7
• Mizoram: 1
• Arunachal Pradesh: 1
• Dadar and Nagar Haveli: 1

'410 cases are being reassigned to states,' the ministry said on its website, adding 'our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR'.

State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui quarantined

Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui and his family members were placed under home quarantine after they reached Budhana town in Muzaffarnagar from Mumbai, police said on Monday.

Siddiqui, along with his family members, reached his hometown on Saturday after getting necessary permission for travel from the authorities in Maharashtra, superintendent of police (rural) Nepal Singh said.

He said the actor and the family members were tested for Covid-19 but their reports came negative.

However, they have been placed under mandatory 14-day home quarantine, Singh said.

Nawazuddin's brother Ayazuddin Siddiqui said the actor came to his ancestral place to celebrate Eid with his family.

He, however, said the actor will not meet anyone outside the family in the wake of the situation arising out of coronavirus.

Restrictions under Sec 144 extended in Chhattisgarh

The Chhattisgarh government has extended restrictions imposed in all districts of the state under CrPC Section 144 for next three months in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, an official said on Monday.

The state Home department issued a notification to this effect late Sunday evening, a public relations department official said.

As per reports submitted by collectors of all 28 districts, the situation is yet to be brought under complete control and there is still a possibility of spread of the coronavirus infection in several places, he said quoting the notification.

'Therefore, in view of the present circumstances and proposals by district collectors, it is inevitable to extend the period of Section-144, which bars assembly of four or more people, for next three months to contain the transmission of Covid-19,' the notification said.

Restaurants, hotel bars and clubs will remain closed in the state till May 31, while sports complexes and stadiums will continue to be shut till further orders, the official said.

Five doctors test positive

Five doctors, including four who treated a woman who died of Covid-19, have tested positive for coronavirus in Kashmir, officials said on Monday.

They said five doctors tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday night, taking the number of healthcare workers affected by the deadly virus in the valley to 16.

A senior doctor at the Chest Diseases Hospital, a designated Covid-19 hospital, said four of the doctors who tested positive for the disease were treating a coronavirus positive woman who died of comorbidities on Sunday.

'No one is immune to the infection. Please take precautions. The entire health department is at the service of all,' leading pulmonologist Dr Naveed Shah said while urging people to follow the Covid-19 advisories.

The total number of coronavirus cases stands at 1,188 in Jammu and Kashmir, including 13 deaths

Migrants travelling from Surat via a special train board a bus to reach their native places, during the ongoing Covid-19 nationwide lockdown, in Prayagraj, Monday, May 18, 2020. PTI

UP cases rise to 4,511

With 47 more people being confirmed positive for coronavirus, the number of cases of the disease rose to 4,511 in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, officials said.

'A total of 4,511 cases have been reported so far in the state from 75 districts, of which 1,763 are active while 2,636 people have been discharged from hospitals after recovery. Till now, 112 deaths have been reported so far in the state,' Principal Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said.

Of the total 112 fatalities, Agra has reported the maximum number of deaths in the state at 24. It is followed by 19 in Meerut, 11 in Moradabad, eight each in Aligarh and Kanpur, five in Gautam Buddha Nagar, four each in Firozabad, Mathura and Jhansi, two each in Mainpuri and Ghaziabad.

Besides these, one death each was reported in Lucknow, Varanasi, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Basti, Bijnor, Prayagraj, Jalaun, Sant Kabir Nagar, Pratapgarh, Amroha, Bareilly, Shrawasti, Azamgarh, Etah, Kanpur Dehat, Mahoba and Lalitpur.

Prasad said as many as 6,247 Covid-19 tests were conducted across the state on Sunday, adding that the state is also increasing pool testing facility.

'We are emphasising on surveillance and over 3.23 crore people have been surveyed by 79,825 teams in UP. Those having symptoms (of Covid-19) have been given required treatment,' Prasad said.

He said the Aaroga Setu app was used and alerts are being sent to people. 'We have made 17,447 calls on the basis of alerts generated by the app and 109 people have been quarantined.'

The official said migrant workers coming from other states are been monitored by the health workers. Of them, 466 people had shown symptoms of coronavirus and their samples have been sent for testing, he added.

10 more test Covid-19 positive in Goa

The number of active Covid-19 cases in Goa rose to 36 after 10 more people tested positive for the disease on Monday, officials said.

The new patients included nine who reached Goa in a train from Mumbai on Sunday, and another woman who travelled to the coastal state in her car and was quarantined at Vasco, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said.

Samples of all the 10 people came out positive in TrueNat (rapid) tests, he said.

Nearly 456 passengers who arrived here in the Mumbai- Goa train were tested since Sunday at a lab set up at Hospicio Hospital in Margao town of South Goa district, according to a health department bulletin.

Till Sunday, there were 26 active Covid-19 cases in the state, but since Monday morning 10 new cases were reported, taking the tally to 36.

'All the 36 patients have been admitted to a specially-designated Covid-19 hospital in Margao town,' Rane said.

So far, 12 passengers of the Mumbai-Goa train have tested positive for coronavirus, he said.

Earlier, six passengers, who travelled to Goa in the Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani train on Saturday, had tested positive for the infection.

On May 1, Goa was declared a green zone after all the seven Covid-19 patients previously found in the state recovered.

However, the coastal state has witnessed a rise in the number of cases over the last few days.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday claimed there was no community transmission of the infection in the state.

Karnataka registers largest spike

Karnataka has reported its biggest ever spike with 84 new Covid-19 positive cases, taking the total number of infections to 1,231, the health department said on Monday.

With 37 deaths and 521 discharges, there are 672 active corona cases in the state, the department said in its mid-day situation report.

Among the 84 cases, Bengaluru urban, Mandya, Uttara Kannada constitute major share, while cases have also been reported from Hassan, Raichur, Koppal, Vijayapura, Gadag, Ballari, Davangere, Yadgir, Bidar and Belagavi.

Most of the cases which tested positive have an inter state travel history to Maharashtra, followed by contacts of patients already tested positive.

Bhubaneswar declared Covid-19 free

Odisha capital Bhubaneswar on Monday become coronavirus free with the recovery of all the 48 Covid-19 patients in the city, an official said.

Bhubaneswar, which reported the states first Covid-19 case on March 15 and Odishas first corona fatality on April 6 was declared as free from the highly infectious disease, the official said.

The last batch of three patients were among the states total 57 cases declared as Covid-19 cured patients on Monday.

Of the 50 cases reported from the city, 48 have recovered and two persons died .

Bhubaneswar and Jagatsinghpur district now have no active cases of Covid-19, a health department statement said.

Of the 57 persons declared as recovered from the disease, 40 patients are from Ganjam district, 5 from Jagatsinghpur, 4 from Mayurbhanj, 3 from Bhubaneswar, 2 from Bolangir and one each from Sundergarh, Balasore and Kendrapara.

With this, the total number of patients so far recovered from the disease increased to 277 out of the 876 Covid-19 cases. Four persons have so far died due to COVID-19.

As many as 48 new COVID-19 cases were detected on Monday, officials said.

Earlier, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Dhenkanal and Koraput districts were also declared coronavirus free. The Covid-19 cases have been reported from 23 of the states 30 districts, officials said.

Health workers wearing personnel protection equipments (PPE) take rest in Guwahati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) in Guwahati, Sunday, May 17, 2020. AP

India took all the necessary steps well in time to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, Union Health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday, asserting that the country has done well in dealing with the disease till now and is confident of doing better in months to come.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally monitored the situation and ensured a preemptive, proactive and graded response, leaving no stones unturned to contain the deadly virus from spreading, Vardhan said addressing the the 73rd World Health Assembly via video conferencing.

'India took all necessary steps well in time, including surveillance at points of entry, evacuation of nationals stranded overseas, massive community surveillance through robust disease surveillance network, strengthening of health infrastructure, capacity building of over two million frontline human resources, risk communication and community involvement,' he said.

'I think we did our best and we did well. We are learning and we are confident of doing better in the months to come,' Vardhan added.

The minister stood up towards the end of his speech to hail the efforts of the Covid-19 warriors around the globe.

His remarks come after India on Monday joined nearly 120 countries at the crucial conference of the World Health Organisation in pushing for an impartial and comprehensive evaluation of the global response into the coronavirus crisis as well as to examine the origin of the deadly infection.

The two-day 73rd session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) of the WHO began in Geneva amid growing calls including by US President Donald Trump to investigate how the virus originated in China's Wuhan city and subsequent action by Beijing.