Coronavirus India Updates: Total Covid-19 Cases In India At 4,789, Death Toll At 124

A panel headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has recommended a partial lifting of the lockdown after April 15, Bloomberg reported citing people with the knowledge of the matter.

• Areas with large clusters of Covid-19 cases will remain closed
• Cities can open markets on alternate days after the three week period ends
• States can allow harvesting of crops across the country

The National Task Force has recommended establishing a Covid-19 Clinical Research Collaborative Network that will be coordinated by the ICMR. The aim is to improve the understanding of the infectious disease and come up with more specific protocols.

The National Institute of Virology, Pune has validated 7 antibody-based rapid tests, that are cheaper and can give faster results.

The Maharashtra government said it oer 2,600 intensive care beds, over 10,000 isolation beds and more than 3 lakh N95 masks available.

India has ramped up testing with over 1,07,006 tests conducted in the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research said today.

Yesterday, 11,795 tests were conducted, ICMR chief epidemiologist RR Gangakhedkar said in press briefing. Of these, 2,530 were done by private labs.

Currently there are 136 government laboratories that are testing for Covid-19 while 59 private labs have been given the go-ahead to test.

The government has adopted a strategy for cluster containment to manage the coronavirus outbreak in the country, joint health secretary Lav Agarwal said. Such a strategy is showing results in some areas.

A case has been registered against 40 people in Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh for defying lockdown norms and coming out on the roads despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's request to light lamps indoors, police said on Tuesday.

Millions of Indians across the country switched off lights at their homes and lit candles and diyas or turned on mobile phone torches on Sunday night, responding to Modi's appeal to show the nation's "collective resolve and solidarity" in its fight against coronavirus.

"While people across the country lit earthen lamps and candles on the prime minister's call, some people in Tulsipur Bazar came out on the roads in large numbers," ASP Arvind Kumar Mishra. Taking note of it, an FIR has been registered against 40 people for violating lockdown norms, he said, adding that strict action will be taken against those found flouting government orders.

Source: PTI

Mumbai Police registered an FIR against 150 people who attended the religious congregation of Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in New Delhi last month, for alleged negligent act during the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Tuesday.

The offence was registered on a complaint lodged by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation at the Azad Maidan Police Station, he said.

The Mumbai Police on Monday requested the Tablighi Jamaat members to approach the BMC and inform it about their travel details or face action.

Later, the BMC lodged a police complaint following which a case was registered against 150 people under Indian Penal Code Sections 269 (whoever willfully or negligently does any act which is likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life) and 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule) and other relevant provisions, the official said.

Source: PTI

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has sealed the Intelligence Bureau office in the city and put all its employees under home quarantine, after a staff member came in contact with a Covid-19 patient, an official said on Tuesday.

The IB office has been sealed for a period of 14 days from April 6 to April 19, 2020 and nobody is allowed to enter the premises, the BMC official said. The civic body has made elaborate arrangements to sanitise the RN Singhdeo Marg area including the IB Colony, he added.

"All employees have been kept under home quarantine and their swab samples sent for testing," BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Chuadhary said.

Source: PTI

Twelve new coronavirus cases were found in Bhopal, taking the number of such cases in Madhya Pradesh to 268, a health official said on Tuesday.

Among the new patients, seven are police personnel and their family members, and five are health department employees, Bhopal's Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Sudhir Kumar Deharia said.

With today's additions, the total number of coronavirus cases in the state capital has gone up to 74. Two of them have been discharged after recovery so far, Deharia said.

Out of the total 268 cases in Madhya Pradesh, maximum 151 were reported from Indore. 18 people died from Covid-19 in the state, including 13 from Indore, two from Ujjain and one each from Khargone, Chhindwara and Bhopal.

Source: PTI

Two more people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Dharavi, taking the total number of such cases in the slum area to seven, a civic official said on Tuesday.

The two men, aged 80 and 49 years, hail from Dr Baliga Nagar locality of Dharavi and are close contacts of a 30-year old woman who earlier tested positive, the official said.

Among the Covid-19 cases in Dharavi, a 56-year old man died while undergoing treatment at a hospital on April 1.

Four Dharavi localities - Dr Baliga Nagar, Vaibhav apartment, Mukund Nagar and Madina Nagar - have been demarcated as containment zones and civic officials have been regularly spraying disinfectants there.

The Karnataka Government indicated on Tuesday it's too early to take a call on lifting the nation-wide lockdown, said it's in favour of an extension in Covid-19 hotspots by at least two weeks.

"We need to see for another few days before taking final call," Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K, who is in-charge of all matters related to Covid-19, told PTI when asked if the State is in favour of the rollback after the 21- day period ends on April 14.

When the lockdown is lifted, it has to be in a staggered and phased manner, and not at one go, Sudhakar said. "Where there are red alerts those zones, in my opinion, should continue to be in a lockdown at least for two weeks... till this month-end, I will request them (the Centre) to do this," he said.

Source: PTI

Police in Chhattisgarh's Janjgir-Champa district have created a mobile application to keep a tab on those violating the home quarantine order, an official said.

Nearly 6,200 people, most of them with history of travel to foreign nations or other affected states in India, are kept under home quarantine in Janjgir-Champa district.

"With a large number of people in home quarantine, it is not possible to keep each one under surveillance on a regular basis. So, we decided to use the digital mechanism to tackle the issue," Janjgir-Champa Superintendent of Police Parul Mathur told PTI on Tuesday.

The police, with the help of Noida-based startup Mobcoder, developed the app 'Rakhsa Sarv', which enables them to track the quarantined people through Google Maps.

"The quarantined person will have to upload a selfie in the app every hour which will specify his/her location. If the person steps out of the house (along with mobile) and reach the prescribed limit of 200 metres, the app will send an alert to the local police station," she said. The app sends an alert even if the home-quarantined people turn off the phone or location or internet connection, she said.

Inspector General, Bilaspur Range, Dipanshu Kabra said they want to use the technology more and more for community and self-policing. "This is a great initiative and will be replicated in other parts of the Bilaspur Range," Kabra said.

Source: PTI

Four Tablighi Jamaat members who attended a religious congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin have tested positive for the coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh, a senior health official said. With this, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the state rose to 19.

All the four who tested positive were from Tissa area of Chamba district and had attended the Jamaat event in the national capital, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) RD Dhiman said.

Eleven Covid-19 patients were being treated in the state and all of them had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation. Two of them have recovered, two died and four patients voluntarily shifted to a private hospital outside Himachal Pradesh, a health department official said.

Source: PTI