The number of positive Covid-19 cases in India has crossed 500 and 11 people have lost their lives battling the disease in the country. 36 patients have recovered and been discharged. The entire country has been put under lockdown as the government is ramping up efforts to keep the rise of the epidemic in check.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that at least 118 government laboratories had been included in the ICMR network of Covid-19 testing and the network had the capacity to test 12,000 samples a day. Additionally, 22 private laboratory chains with around 15,500 collection centers had been registered with ICMR till date.
The Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has also asked states to earmark hospitals dedicated for the handling of Covid-19 cases and ensure they are ready to function in case of an impending spike in the number.
Below is a round-up of the Covid-19 updates coming in from across the country.
North India
Delhi CM Kejriwal has said that no Covid-19 cases were reported there in the past 40 hours. He said 30 of the 53 patients had gone home and 23 patients were still under treatment. He, however, urged everyone to remain alert as the threat of the rise of the infection was still there.
Resident doctors of the AIIMS institute have written to Home Minister Amit Shah alleging that doctors across the country have been forced to vacate rented houses by landlords over fear that they will be more susceptible to infection with these healthcare workers actively involved in treatment around them.
A woman with no travel history tested positive in Noida, PTI reported. This takes the number of cases in the state of Uttar Pradesh up to nine. Currently 17 of 75 districts in the state are under lockdown, however, the whole state is set to go under lockdown by Wednesday.
Two more patients reported positive in Srinagar, taking the number of such patients in the city to three. 49 people were arrested in Kashmir for violating the lockdown order restricting the movement of people to stop the spread of the virus.
The total count of coronavirus patients in Punjab is at 29. Total cases in Rajasthan rose to 32 and the government is set to screen the entire 4.5 lakh population of Rajasthan city. The city is also preparing 1 lakh isolation beds in order to be prepared in a surge of cases, if any.
An indefinite curfew has been imposed in Himachal Pradesh. The total number of cases in Uttarakhand is currently at four. Madhya Pradesh has designated ICMR run Bhopal Memorial Hospital as a treatment facility for Covid-19. The current number of cases in MP is seven.
Khalsa Aid workers have come to the rescue of those who were trying to reach their destinations after bus services looted them and those who did not have enough money to pay for private vehicles or cabs which were charging hefty amounts rides.
North-East India
The first case in the Northeast was recorded in Manipur after a 23-year-old woman, who returned from the UK, became the first to be tested positive.
Assam has issued orders for a lockdown starting 6 PM on March 24. The Indo-Bhutan border has been closed, restricting all international crossings, after Bhutan reported its first case. Foreigners in the Kingdom of Bhutan will be allowed to exit, read a notification from the Royal Government of Bhutan.
Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram have also declared lockdown to curb the pandemic.
West India
Three more Covid-19 positive cases in Gujarat have taken the tally up to 33. The first state to do so, it has started conducting a survey through Integrated Disease Surveillance Platform (IDSP) of people with a travel history to foreign countries.
The total count of cases in Maharashtra rose to 106 making it the worst hit by the pandemic. All district and state borders have been sealed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the district.
Goa, with no positive case, continues to remain under lockdown till March 25, 2020.
Pune-based molecular diagnostics company Mylab Discovery Solutions on Monday said it has received commercial approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for its COVID-19 test kit. The test kit by the company is the first ”Made in India” kit to receive commercial approval from CDSCO, and is named as Mylab PathoDetect COVID-19 Qualitative PCR kit, the company said in a statement.
South India
The fear of isolation has pushed many people over the edge. Few passengers arriving at Coimbatore airport and railway station were allegedly reported to be taking paracetamol tablets to bypass thermal screening conducted by the health department.
145 Rotary Clubs of Kerala and Tamil Nadu are in the process of setting up hand-wash stations in public places like roads, hospitals, government offices and bus stations. Each station is set to cost Rs. 3,000 and 235 such wash basins with posters of the proper hand washing technique have been put up in Ernakulam, Thrissur, Idukki, Palakkad and Coimbatore.
The Kerala High Court will be shut down for 2 weeks starting March 24. Also, to ensure that the pandemic doesn’t reach the tribal communities in the state, the Scheduled Tribes department has come up with a novel initiative to shoot short videos in tribal languages, educating them about the pandemic and how to avoid it, and circulate them among the population.
The Lakshwadeep administration also banned the entry of outsiders into its territory. Two people from Maharashtra who flew to Agatti airport were met with stiff resistance by the locals as they had tried to enter the island without an entry permit. The UT had announced that it would stop issuing entry permits in a bid to keep the Covid-19 pandemic at bay.
Karnataka’s Minister for Health and Family Welfare said that the state had decided to procure 1,000 new ventilators and five lakh Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) suits for patients and health care workers from a Mysuru-based company called Scan Ray.
In a goodwill gesture, youngsters from a village in Guntur came together to spray bleaching powder on the streets. They were creating awareness among the villagers about Covid-19. They also distributed books to Zilla Parishad and primary school students in the village and installed an RO plant to supply drinking water to locals.
In Hyderabad, more than 800 people from the IT sector who have returned from abroad have been put under self-isolation. In Telangana, the Railway Police booked cases against five people, including two women, for violating government orders against using public transport after being advised to be under home quarantine on their return from abroad.
The Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in Hyderabad have begun home delivery of essentials – food and medicines, of the elderly and immobile in their local areas.
In Odisha, 104 people who returned from abroad have been flagged for breaking quarantine protocol. Three cases have been registered against four people. These people have been put in quarantine facilities at Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack and Sambalpur.
Two days after members from Tamil Nadu Chemists and Druggists Association (TNCDA) met with Minister of Health and Family Welfare C Vijayabaskar, the prices of hand sanitisers and face masks have now been capped at Rs. 10 for a 3ply surgical mask, Rs. 8 for a 2ply mask and Rs. 100 for a 200 ml sanitizer bottle.
DMK and its allies on Monday announced that they would be boycotting the TN state assembly sessions due to the state government not heeding to their request to call off sessions amid the coronavirus pandemic. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has been firm on his decision to not suspend the ongoing Assembly sessions saying continuing the Assembly as scheduled would allay fears among the general public around Covid-19.
(Resources – The Indian Express, The New Indian Express, Deccan Herald, The News Minute, The Economic Times, TOI, Tribune India, Deccan Chronicle, Firstpost)
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