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sion', we have to understand how much the disease has spread and where we stand in comparison to other countries,” said Nivedita Gupta, scientist, ICMR.
She added: “We are very far away from the peak. Our preventive measures to curtail the disease are very effective and we are better positioned in comparison with other countries.”
The ICMR is conducting a serological survey to understand the spread of the disease and around 34,000 individuals have been tested as part of the study. “The study is still going on... The results will be known to us by early next week,” Gupta added.
Over 3.9 million tests have been done in India so far, with more than 120,000 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, according to the ICMR data.
She said that there was no underreporting of deaths in the country. “It is not fair to attribute all deaths to Covid-19. Hospitals are doing a causality assessment to find out if deaths are Covid or non-covid,” Gupta added.
Agarwal said there was no abnormal increase in the number of deaths in the mortuaries. “The country is in safe hands and continuous efforts are on to manage the disease,” he said.
Talking about adapting the new normal, he said: “As we are in ‘Unlock 1’ situation, the challenge before us is how to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, be it in terms of travel or office functioning. We have to think in terms of a new normal on how to live with the virus by taking adequate precautions so as to protect ourselves from it,” he said.
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Cyclone ‘Nisarga’ is very likely to intensify into a “severe cyclonic storm” and cross Maharashtra and south Gujarat coast on Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.
The cyclone, the first to hit Mumbai in over a hundred years, will cross north Maharashtra and adjoining south Gujarat coast between Harihareshwar and Daman, with wind speeds as high as 120 kilometers per hour.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Gujarat and assured them of all help from the Centre.
The NDRF has deployed 40 teams in Maharashtra, Gujarat and UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Additional teams are also being airlifted. Rescue and relief teams of the Indian Army and the Indian Navy along with ships and aircrafts of the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force have been put on standby.
Thackeray asks people to be alert
Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said it was likely to be more severe than cyclonic storms in the past, and asked people to stay alert.
Later in the day, Mumbai and its metropolitan areas received rainfall, which intensified later in the night.
The IMD has predicted moderate rainfall in most parts of the metropolis and heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated
Airlines are cancelling flights to Mumbai scheduled for Wednesday and taking steps to protect their planes and ground equipment as the city braces for its first cyclone in over a hundred years.
Indigo has cancelled 17 flights to and from Mumbai and will operate only three flights from Mumbai (Chandigarh, Ranchi and Patna).
"All the passengers of the affected domestic flights are being notified," Indigo said.
Vistara has cancelled four flights including its departures to Delhi and Kolkata for Wednesday. Air India is rescheduling its morning flights. Domestic airlines are operating 50 flights to and from Mumbai.
Domestic airlines are operating 50 flights to and from Mumbai (25 arrivals and departures each) as a part of curtailed schedule upon resumption of domestic flights from May 25.
places over the next 24 hours.
Thackeray also elaborated on `do's and don'ts' in the situation.
"The cyclone could be more severe than the other storms....tomorrow and the day after are crucial i n coastal areas," he said.
"Activities which had resumed (as part of easing of lockdown to contain coronavirus) will be kept shut there
A meeting was held at Mumbai airport on Tuesday to review measures and take precautions to secure aircraft and equipment and safeguard installation at the airport.
Accordingly, small planes were moved to hangars. A few of the smaller planes were flown out to other cities. Parking arrangement of planes on the apron too is being changed to increase spacing between them. Ground support equipment and containers are also being secured so that those do not get blown away due to strong gusts.
A Mumbai airport spokesperson said the airport has undertaken various measures to safeguard the passengers and airlines at the airport.
"Preventive checks at different airport functions have been carried out and the airport has ensured that DG sets are in place to provide uninterrupted power supply. Water pumps have been positioned across the airport to clear water in case of waterlogging," MIAL said.
for the next two days in view of the cyclone....it is in our interest that people remain alert and inside their homes," the chief minister said.
Fifteen teams of the National Disaster Response Force and four teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in different coastal areas while five teams have been kept on standby, he said.