3rd Covid death in India
64-year-old from Mumbai dies after contracting coronavirus
One more death was reported from Maharashtra on Tuesday, taking the total number of deaths to three in India due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, while the number of positive cases jumped from 114 to 137 in the past
24 hours. Out of these, 120 are active cases while 14 persons have been cured.
The 63-year-old man from Maharashtra had a history of travel to Dubai and had not disclosed this to the doctors treating him at a private hospital. Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said the exact cause for his death was still being ascertained as the person was also suffering from various other ailments and later had tested positive for Covid19. The total number of cases include 24 foreign citizens. Among the new cases are two people from Noida and two persons who returned from Italy this week and were staying at an ITBP quarantine facility.
Delhi has so far reported eight positive cases while Uttar Pradesh has recorded 15, including one foreigner. Maharashtra has
39 cases, including three foreigners, while Kerala has 26 cases, which
includes two foreign nationals. Haryana reported 15, including 14 foreigners, Karnataka 11, Ladakh reported six, Jammu and Kashmir three, Telangana five, including two foreigners, Rajasthan four, including two foreigners. Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each.
Around 5,700 people across the country are
being kept under community surveillance through health workers, the health ministry said. Health minister Harsh Vardhan lauded the efforts of doctors and paramedics in dealing with the Covid-19 cases as he briefed the Rajya Sabha on the steps taken to contain the global pandemic.
The government has clarified that amid the rising cases, no community transmission of the virus has been seen so far, and there have only been a few cases of local transmission.
The DGCA has asked airlines to disinfect all aircraft every 24 hours and place hand sanitises in lavatories. To regulate crowds, the railway zones hiked the price of platform tickets from `10 to `50.
Taking preventive measures, the Indian government on Tuesday issued advisories asking all offices to get thermal scanners, sanitisers and minimising physical contact with people.
The routine issue of visitors and temporary passes has been suspended with immediate effect and all gyms, recreation centres and creches in government buildings have been asked to be closed.
India on Tuesday also banned the entry of passengers from Afghanistan, the Philippines and Malaysia till March 31, leading to chaos as several Indian students on their way back home were stranded in Malaysia and the Philippines.
Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla reviewed the level of preparedness to contain the Covid-19 threat with states bordering Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The health ministry has recommended use of antiHIV drug combinations Lopinavir and Ritonavir on a case-to-case basis depending on the severity of a patient’s condition who has the Covid-19 infection.
Meanwhile, states have started extending school and college vacations. Uttar Pradesh announced the closure of all educational institutions till April 2 while Himachal Pradesh advised people to shun the darshan of deities at temples.
The ITBP postponed an all-India written exam to be held Sunday. Russian deputy prime minister Yury Trutnev’s visit to India later this month has been cancelled.
Asking BJP MPs to spread awareness about the coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that the Budget Session of Parliament will not be curtailed as MPs should be seen to be doing their work at a time like this.
In his address at the BJP parliamentary party meeting, Mr Modi heaped praise on doctors and other medical staff as well as airline crews and others involved in tackling the coronavirus crisis, saying they worked positively and tirelessly, parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla reviewed preparations to tackle the spread of coronavirus in Parliament and was told that all non-essential visits to the Parliament House complex had been curtailed.
In a bid to ensure the availability of drugs to treat the coronavirus, the Centre has expedited the environmental clearance for Active Pharma-ceutical Ingredients related projects, which will get the approval at the state level itself.