Chance to rework Mumbai town planning: architect Gadil

The spread of Covid-19 in Mumbai and Pune is an opportunity to rework the town planning of the two prominent Maharashtra cities by stopping their vertical growth and encouraging self-contained satellite townships around them, architect Anant Gadgil has said.

New town planning rules should focus on 'spread out housing'and encourage the concept of work from home for professionals, Gadgil, who is also a town planner and Congress MLC, told PTI.

He said the coronavirus has spread fast in congested areas, slums and chawls (tenements) in Mumbai and Pune, but its extent of spread is less in housing societies of the two cities.

'Since physical distancing is not possible in congested and densely populated areas, 'spread out housing' is the need of the hour,' he said.

Mumbai is a linear city due to which its growth has been in the northern suburbs. But, trade and commerce centres remain at the same place as before, in south and central areas, he said.

'There should be a plan to have sub-growth centres, or self-contained satellite townships like Navi Mumbai, between Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Nashik and Nashik-Mumbai. These townships should be modelled on the lines of Chandigarh, Gandhinagar and Delhi,' he said.

The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 1,694 and the number of cases climbed to 49,391 in the country on Wednesday, registering an increase of 126 deaths and 2,958 cases in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said.

The Health Ministry on Tuesday evening said that the nationwide case status will be updated on its website only once a day in the morning, instead of twice a day as was being done previously.

'In the last 24 hours, 1,457 patients recovered, taking the total of recovered people to 14,183. This takes the total recovery rate to 28.72 per cent,' a senior health ministry official said.

The number of active Covid-19 cases is 33,514 and one patient has migrated, it said.

The total number of cases include 111 foreign nationals.

A total of 111 deaths were reported since Tuesday evening, of which 49 fatalities were reported from Gujarat, 34 from Maharashtra, 12 from Rajasthan, seven from West Bengal, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Punjab and Tamil Nadu and one each from Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, the ministry said.

Of the 1,694 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 617 fatalities. Gujarat comes second with 368 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 176, West Bengal at 140, Rajasthan at 89, Delhi at 64, Uttar Pradesh at 56 and Andhra Pradesh at 36.

The death toll reached 33 in Tamil Nadu, 29 in Telengana, while Karnataka has reported 29 fatalities.

Punjab has registered 25 Covid-19 deaths, Jammu and Kashmir eight, Haryana six and Kerala and Bihar four deaths each.

Jharkhand has recorded three Covid-19 fatalities.

Meghalaya, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and Uttarakhand have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.

According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 15, 525, followed by Gujarat at 6,245, Delhi at 5,104, Tamil Nadu at 4,058, Rajasthan at 3,158, Madhya Pradesh at 3,049 and Uttar Pradesh at 2,880.

• Andaman & Nicobar 33
• Andhra Pradesh 1777
• Arunachal Pradesh 1
• Assam 44
• Bihar 539
• Chandigarh 120
• Chhattisgarh 58
• Delhi 5104
• Goa 7
• Gujarat 6245
• Haryana 555
• Himachal Pradesh 44
• Jammu & Kashmir 741
• Jharkhand 125
• Karnataka 693
• Kerala 502
• Ladakh 45
• Madhya Pradesh 3049
• Maharashtra 15525
• Manipur 2
• Meghalaya 12
• Mizoram 1
• Odisha 180
• Puducherry 10
• Punjab 1451
• Rajasthan 3240
• Tamil Nadu 4058
• Telangana 1096
• Tripura 42
• Uttarakhand 61
• Uttar Pradesh 2969
• West Bengal 1456

'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.

90-year-old Thane woman recovers

A 90-year-old woman was discharged from the civil hospital in Thane in Maharashtra on Tuesday after recovering from Covid-19, the district administration said.

Besides, a seven-month-old boy tested positive for coronavirus in Mira-Bhayander township of Thane district.

The district on Tuesday reported 121 new Covid-19 cases, taking its tally to 1,399, an official release said.

These include 452 cases from Thane municipal limits, 395 from Navi Mumbai, 224 from Kalyan-Dombivali, 189 from Mira Bhayander, 50 from Thane rural, 42 from Badlapur, 20 from Bhiwandi-Nizampur, 16 from Ulhasnagar and 11 from Ambernath municipal limits.

A fruit vendor and a police personnel walk past a mural that glorifies medical workers, during the ongoing Covid-19 nationwide lockdown, in Guwahati, Wednesday, May 6, 2020 PTI

Govt asks AIOCD to ensure availability of virus drugs

The Union health ministry has written to the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), saying its member should ensure availability of critical drugs for management of Covid-19 and other essential drugs during these 'challenging times'.

The ministry has forwarded a list of 55 drugs for ICU management of coronavirus patients and a list of another 96 drugs for general availability and treatment of various co-morbid conditions. The list was prepared following a detailed exercise undertaken by the Director General Health Services.

The letter stated that in accordance with the Clinical Management Guidelines for Covid-19, hydroxychloroquine has been recommended as prophylaxis for certain categories like healthcare workers and household contacts of positive cases.

A combination of hydorxychloroquine and azithromycin has been prescribed for severe patients requiring ICU management. Some other drugs are also presently under various stages of trials, but have so far not been recommended for use in India, the letter stated.

The ministry also acknowledged the contribution of the Indian Pharma Trade channels during these difficult times, saying they have strived to maintain availability and supply of important drugs.

CEAI uregs govt to declare pandemic as force majeure event for infrastructural companies

Engineering professionals' body CEAI on Wednesday sought government intervention to declare Covid-19 as force majeure event for all infrastructure consultancy contracts as consulting firms are not able to meet contractual performance in ongoing projects.

'Force Majeure' clause is a contractual provision that addresses circumstances in which contractual performance becomes impossible or impractical due to events that could not be foreseen, and are not within party's control.

'The Consulting Engineers Association of India (CEAI), in a letter to the Union minister of finance Ms Nirmala Sithraman has urged the government to declare Covid-19 as a Force Majeure event for all infrastructure consultancy contracts under implementation as both parties, neither the client nor the consulting companies are able to meet contractual performance in ongoing projects,' CEAI said in a statement.

The total lockdown, though was inevitable, has major implications on companies, particularly the consulting companies, which have a small capital base, said K.K. Kapila, former president of CEAI and chairman of infrastructure committee.

'In present lockdown conditions, it will be difficult for these consulting companies to meet contractual performance for consultancy contracts under implementation or under service including preparation of Feasibility Report and Detailed Project Report (DPR), Detailed Engineering, Project Management by an authority engineer,' Kapila said.

Delhi govt launches Twitter handle for virus queries, complaints

The Delhi government on Wednesday launched a Twitter handle for addressing Covid-19 related queries and complaints of the people.

The handle @DelhiVsCorona will ensure authentic information about the disease and serve as a one-stop solution for all the COVID-19 related queries and complaints, the government said in a statement.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has formed a team to monitor this Twitter handle. The team will gather live status of the situation in government hospitals and provide authentic information on Covid-19, it said.

'The team will also respond and solve the issues of patients and doctors in the Delhi government hospitals.'

Twitter users can tag @DelhiVsCorona and tweet with their queries regarding ration, checkups, hospital-related queries or any other Covid-19 related questions, the statement read.

'The team of representatives will ensure swift and speedy action on the issues related to COVID-19 treatment raised on Twitter. This will help reduce panic and anxiety amongst the citizens of Delhi,' added the statement.

548 docs, nurses, paramedics infected so far

Coronavirus has infected around 548 doctors, nurses and paramedics across the country so far, according to data maintained by the Centre, official sources said on Wednesday.

The figure does not include field workers, ward boys, sanitation workers, security guards, lab attendants, peons, laundry and kitchen staff among others.

According to an official source, it has not been ascertained from where these doctors, nurses and paramedic staff have acquired the infection.

The figure includes doctors, nurses and paramedics from Centre-run and state government-run facilities across states and union territories.

'No epidemiological investigation of the cases were done. So there is no clear segregation on how many contracted the disease at workplace and how many got it from the community,' the official source said.

A family member of 47-year-old Virendra Singh, who died of COVID-19, performs his last rites before the cremation during the nationwide lockdown, in Prayagraj, Wednesday, May 6, 2020. PTI