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Coronavirus India Updates: Total Cases Top 1.18 Lakh; Deaths Near 3,600

Track all the news updates on the coronavirus situation in India here.

People wear protective masks while walking in Lodhi Gardens after the New Delhi Municipal Corp. reopened parks and gardens for limited activities, during a partial lockdown imposed due to the Coronavirus, in New Delhi. (Photographer: T. Narayan/Bloomberg)
People wear protective masks while walking in Lodhi Gardens after the New Delhi Municipal Corp. reopened parks and gardens for limited activities, during a partial lockdown imposed due to the Coronavirus, in New Delhi. (Photographer: T. Narayan/Bloomberg)
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Covid-19 cases continue to mount in India as the highly contagious pathogen infected more than 1.18 lakh people, with authorities reporting more than 6,000 fresh cases in a day for the first time.

India added 6,066 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally to 1,18,447 in Asia’s third-largest economy, according to the health ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on May 22. That included 3,583 deaths and 48,534 patients who have recovered.

Active cases have gone beyond the 66,000-mark and the overall cases curve is only steepening.

Efforts to contain the pandemic become complicated in the eastern states of Odisha and West Bengal after the authorities had to evacuate 6.5 lakh people as cyclone ‘Amphan’ struck the coastal areas.

Global Update

Brazil had another record day of deaths, with 1,188 fatalities, as President Jair Bolsonaro reached a rare moment of consensus with state governors to back a financial aid package to help cope with the pandemic. A third of U.S. adults, about 94 million people, have delayed or avoided getting medical care during the outbreak, the Census Bureau estimates.

A report from a London college estimates 4.1 percent of the U.S. population is infected and that the epidemic isn’t under control in much of the country.

Total cases globally have topped 5 million with more than 3,31,000 dead.

Track all the news updates on the coronavirus situation in India here:

BMC Permits Liquor Home Delivery In Containment Areas

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has allowed home delivery of liquor in containment areas.

The liquor shop owners have been asked to follow these guidelines:

  • Under no circumstances over the counter sales of liquor can be permitted from such shops.
  • E-commerce platforms may be utilised by the liquor shops permitted to do home delivery.
  • The guidelines issued by state government and the state excise department shall be followed scrupulously.
  • The jurisdictional state excise officers and ward officers will ensure compliance of these orders in its totality.
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'Lockdown Can't Go On Forever'

A top official charged with formulating India’s Covid-19 response today said that the country cannot remain in a perpetual state of lockdown but instead will have to move on with life while taking all precautionary measures.

“Lockdown cannot go for an unlimited time. It was meant for a purpose and it has broadly achieved that purposes,” said VK Paul, Chairman of the empowered group of officials to tackle Covid-19. “Now it is very important that we continue in a manner which is creating headwinds for the virus. We need to maintain the balance between resuming livelihood and containing the virus.”

Still, Paul said that it is no time to relax yet. “We don’t have herd immunity yet, and there are a lot of things that we still don’t know about the virus.”


Uber Resumes Operations In Karnataka

Uber said on Friday it has resumed its operations in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Hubballi, in compliance with Lockdown 4.0 guidelines issued by the Government.

Riders in Bengaluru can book UberAuto, UberGO, Premier, Intercity, Hourly Rental, UberXL, Access, and Assist on their Uber App. UberAuto, UberGO, Premier, and Intercity are available in Mysuru, UberGO and Intercity services in Mangaluru, and UberAuto services in Hubballi.

Uber Intercity operations will be limited to travel with necessary authorisation and within state boundaries and permissible zones only, the company said in a statement.

Uber said it has launched comprehensive measures such as the distribution of PPE kits, including masks, sanitisers and disinfectants to drivers and the introduction of mandatory educational video courses for them.

Source: PTI

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Maharashtra: 80% Of All Hospital Beds At Regulated Rates, Says Thackray

The Maharashtra government has come out with three slabs on per day charges on treatment of Covid-19 patients in private and charitable hospitals and also decided to regulate rates for 80 percent of the operational bed capacity in these medical facilities.

Non-government health care providers in Maharashtra have been asked to accommodate maximum number of patients with 80 per cent of the operational bed capacity to be regulated by rates sanctioned by the government.

Fresh guidelines issued by the state government on Thursday said the fee regulation decision applies to both isolation and non-isolation beds in private and charitable hospitals.

This means 80 percent of beds in isolation and non- isolation wards available with any healthcare provider will be regulated by the state government/municipal commissioner/district collector.

There will be no difference in quality of treatment in 80 per cent and 20 per cent categories, it said.

Source: PTI


Assam To Adopt ‘Ruthless Quarantine Strategy With A Humane Heart’ To Check Coronavirus Spread

With Assam witnessing a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases ever since inter-state travel was allowed, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the state government will implement a "ruthless quarantine strategy with a humane heart".

The total number of positive cases in Assam went up to 212 on Friday morning with two more persons found to be infected with coronavirus. Of these, 151 cases are active, while 54 people have recovered. Four persons have died due to coronavirus in the state and three have migrated.

Sarma on Thursday had said that with air travel set to resume, there will be more challenges before the government as "we will have to deal with people coming in by three modes - roads, rail and air - but we will ensure strict quarantine of all".

More than 40,000 people already entered the state by road and rail since May 4 and another 12 lakh are waiting to come.

"We have positive patients mostly coming from outside the state and cases will increase for which we have to implement our quarantine policy effectively or else it will spread to the community," Sarma had said.

Sarma said to ensure that the quarantine policy is strictly implemented, "we have adopted the approach of ruthless quarantine with a humane heart".

"All coming from other states will have to undergo mandatory institutional quarantine and then after the test results, if found negative, will be allowed home quarantine," he said.

"We are not restricting people from coming back to their state, but an appeal to them to come in batches over a period of time, so that we can ensure proper quarantine facilities and prevent the spread of the disease to the community," the minister added.

Source: PTI

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