Coronavirus India Updates: Covid-19 Cases In India At 23,452; Death Toll At 723

India recorded its biggest one-day addition of new Covid-19 infections as cases in the country crossed the 23,000-mark with over a week left before the nationwide lockdown is lifted.

The country added 1,752 new cases over the last 24 hours taking the total tally to 23,452, according to the health ministry's 5 p.m. update. This includes 4,814 who've recovered and 723 deaths.

Over the last 24 hours, 489 people have recovered while 37 have died.

Global Update:

U.S. infections rose at the slowest pace in three weeks, and China reported no deaths for a ninth straight day. Spain reported the greatest number of new cases and fatalities in almost a week, while Italy saw recoveries overtake new infections for the first time.

Total confirmed cases across the world exceeded 2.7 million while the death toll crossed 1,90,000, according to John Hopkins data.

Track latest news updates and developments on how the coronavirus situation is evolving in India here

India added 1,752 new cases in the last 24 hours—it's biggest one day addition—taking the total tally to 23,452 cases.

• Active cases: 17,915
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 4,814
• Deaths: 723

Source: Health Ministry (As of April 24, 5 p.m.)

The National Centre for Disease Control has said that the nationwide lockdown has helped in breaking the chain of community transmission in the country.

In the first week of the lockdown (March 24-30) the doubling rate was 5.2 days with total cases at 1,251, Sujeet Kumar, director at NCDC said in a press briefing. This rose slightly to 4.2 days in the second week.

By the third week (April 7-13) the doubling rate was 6 days with cases at 10,363 Kumar said. Between April 14-20 the doubling rate was 8.6 days.

The Gujarat government has started using the rapid antibody testing kits for Covid-19 surveillance in the state, despite the apprehensions expressed in some quarters in the country over the use of these kits.

The state health department said that the rapid testing kits will be used only for the purpose of surveillance and not to determine if someone is Covid-19 positive or not.

Earlier, the Indian Council of Medical Research had asked all the states to put on hold the use of rapid testing kits for some time after inconsistencies were found in the test results. It had later said that these kits could be used for surveillance.

"Gujarat has received 24,000 rapid testing kits four days back," Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi, said.

"Before starting its use, we calibrated these kits to avoid any issues afterwards. We even imparted training to the staff on how to conduct tests. When our experts found that there was still an issue of calibration, we addressed it," Ravi told reporters in Gandhinagar.

"Then the ICMR also informed us to put on hold the tests using these kits. We used that time for imparting training to our staff even at taluka level. Now, we have started rapid testing in 30 (out of 33) districts. This test is for only surveillance. It will give us an idea about the presence of suspected cases in a particular area," she said.

"Antibody tests are not final and conclusive. If we find any positive case using rapid testing, we will confirm it by doing the RT-PCR test, which is considered as final. These RTPCR tests are carried out in 16 government laboratories across the state," she added.

Source: PTI

A 30-year-old farm labourer who was quarantined at a school in Madhya Pradesh's Sidhi district, allegedly committed suicide, police said on Friday.

The man, who belongs to the Baiga tribe, was found hanging from a tree near the quarantine facility at Dubri Kala village, some 80 km from the district headquarters, on Thursday, superintendent of police RS Bevanshi said.

As per preliminary investigation, the man did not wish to be kept in isolation and wanted to be with his children.

The deceased, along with 21 other farm labourers, had returned to the village after harvest from neighbouring Sagar district amid the Covid-19 lockdown on Wednesday, the official said.

On their return, the farm workers were taken to a quarantine facility at a school in the village, he said.

The deceased had stepped out of the facility after informing the guard that he wished to relieve himself, but failed to return and was found hanging from a tree by some villagers on Thursday, the SP said.

Meanwhile, an initial compensation of Rs 10,000 has been given to the man's family, collector Ravindra Kumar Chaudhary said.

The biggest lesson the Covid-19 pandemic has taught India is to become self-reliant, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said while interacting with gram panchayat members.

He complimented them for describing social distancing in simple words 'Do Gaz Ki Doori' (maintaining distance of two yards) so that people can understand it easily.

"The biggest lesson Covid-19 has taught us is to become self-reliant," Modi said, underlining that it is now imperative that villages also become self-reliant for their basic needs.

Modi said the coronavirus pandemic has thrown up new challenges which the country never faced before, but it also made people learn new things.

Applauding people for observing lockdown rules, the prime minister said it is because of them, the entire world today is talking about how India has responded to Covid-19 crisis.

Despite limited resources amid the coronavirus crisis, citizens are taking on this challenge instead of succumbing to difficulties, he said.

Source: PTI

The Maharashtra government has amended its revised lockdown guidelines to allow carrying out of pre-monsoon-related works in Mumbai, Pune and Pimpri- Chinchwad, badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

In its revised guidelines issued on April 21 regarding relaxation of lockdown rules, the government had withdrawn all concessions to Mumbai and Pune regions, which account for a bulk of the more than 6,000 coronavirus cases in Maharashtra.

However, in an order issued on Thursday, the government said all pre-monsoon related works, including metro rail and any work permitted by the municipal commissioners of these three cities, will be allowed.

Bedside, attendants and care givers of senior citizens residing in their homeswill also be allowed to function during the lockdown, the order said.

The government has relaxed norms for some other activities in rest of the state provided social distancing measures are followed.

In relaxation to agriculture and horticulture, facilities for export/import such as pack houses, inspection and treatment facilities for seeds and horticulture produce, research establishments, inter and intra-state movement of planting materials, honey bee colonies, honey and other beehive products have been permitted, it said.

Essential goods supply will include food processing units like bread factories, milk processing plants, flour mills and dal mills, the order said.

Shops selling electric fans have been included in relaxations provided to private and commercial establishments,it said.

The order said responsibility of implementing social distancing and proper hygiene practices while carrying out these activities will be with the headof the organisation concerned to ensure compliance with lockdown norms.

Marathwada got its second Covid-19 testing facility, after a university in Nanded received the ICMR's approval to carry out coronavirus tests, an official said on Friday.

Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University has received the Indian Council of Medical Research's approval to commence testing, university vice-chancellor Uddhav Bhosale said in a release.

The Government Medical College in Aurangabad was the only testing facility in the region till now.

The lab at the Nanded-based university has already started testing since Thursday and has a capacity to study 500 samples a day, public relation officer Ashok Kadam said.

Source: PTI

The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to expedite the process of releasing prisoners and undertrials identified as qualified to be freed on temporary bail or parole in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Justice GS Kulkarni was on Thursday informed by public prosecutor Deepak Thakare that pursuant to a Supreme Court order, the state government has decided to temporarily release prisoners convicted for up to seven years and undertrials facing offences for which jail term is up to seven years.

Approximately 11,000 prisoners were to be released on emergency parole for a period of 45 days, the court was informed.

Thakare told the court that so far 4,060 prisoners have been released on parole/temporary bail and process is on to release the remaining inmates.

He told the court that at present there is not a single case of Covid-19 in any prison in the state.

The state government shall expedite steps which are being taken (to release prisoners), so that the orders of the Supreme Court, are implemented in letter and spirit, Justice Kulkarni said.

The high court had taken suo moto cognizance of a letter written by advocate SB Talekar raising the issue of prisoners/undertrials lodged in prisons across the state not being released despite directions from the Supreme Court amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

On March 23, the Supreme Court, in a suo moto (on its own) petition, directed for a high-powered committee to be set up to determine which class of prisoners can be released on parole or interim bail to reduce crowding in jails in view of the pandemic.

The apex court had said the parameters for release of inmates would be nature of the offence, sentence awarded to the convict and severity of the offence.

The panel decided that prisoners or undertrials booked in special acts like the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act, the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act shall not be released on temporary bail or parole.

The high-powered committee issued impugned decision with a blanket disqualification against the persons prosecuted for offences under special acts (other than IPC) like MCOCA, PMLA, MPID, NDPS and UAPA on the ground that there are higher restrictions on grant of bail in these Acts, Talekar argued.

With regard to the alleged discrimination being meted out to the prisoners under the decision of the high-powered Committee, it would be appropriate that the said committee considers the representations made by the advocate (Talekar) as early as possible and decide the same, the court said.

The court has posted the matter for further hearing on April 30.

Source: PTI

A 34-year-old man was allegedly attacked on suspicion of being a Covid-19 patient and died after falling into a gutter during the assault in Kalyan town of Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Friday.

The incident took place on Wednesday morning, when Ganesh Gupta had stepped out of his home to purchase some essentials amid the Covid-19 lockdown, an official said.

On noticing some policemen manning the street, the victim took an alternate route, where a few passersby assaulted him after he coughed while walking, he said.

The men suspected him of being a Covid-19 patient and attacked him, causing him to fall into a gutter and die, the official said.

The deceased's body was sent for post-mortem and a case of accidental death has been registered as of now, the station house officer of the Khadakpada police station said.

Source: PTI

• Has Franklin Templeton Convulsed An Entire MF Category?
• India’s Largest Fuel Retailer Expects Demand To Drop 40% In April-June
• India’s Textile Units Brace For Layers Of Uncertainty
• Construction Firms May Be Better Placed To Weather Second Slowdown Of The Decade
• Virus Lockdown Subdues India’s ‘Animal Spirits’ In March
• Ray Dalio Dives Deep Into Money To Explain Changing World Order
• India’s Once Lavish Weddings Are Now Taking Place on Zoom

The Indian Council of Medical Research has reported 23,502 confirmed cases of the respiratory illness-causing virus in the country, as of 9 a.m. That’s higher than the 23,077 cases reported by the Health Ministry.

A total of 5,41,789 samples from 5,25,667 individuals have been tested till date, the medical body said.

Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India rose to 23,077 cases, according to data made available by the Health Ministry website.

• Active cases: 17610
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 4748
• Deaths: 718

This suggests there were 1,684 new cases, 491 recovered and 37 deaths in the last 24 hours.