‘Coronavirus will damage economy’

The woman, a resident of West Delhi, became the second person to die of novel coronavirus infection in the country. She had a history of contact with a positive case. Her son had returned on February 23 after travelling to Switzerland and Italy.

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March 10. He had recently returned from Saudi Arabia.

The second victim came in contact with her son, who became the fifth coronavirus case in Delhi after travelling to Switzerland and Italy between February 5 and 22.

She had a history of contact with a positive case. Her son had returned to India on February 23. He initially was asymptomatic, but developed fever and cough after one day and reported to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital on March 7,” a health ministry statement said.

Swimming pools in Noida and Greater Noida will remain closed till April 15 as a precautionary measure to check the coronavirus threat, officials said on Saturday.

The restriction is applicable on private and public use of swimming pools in schools, colleges, hotels and residential societies, the district administration said in an order.

According to the district

◗ health department, 854 people in Gautam Buddh Nagar were under surveillance for the novel coronavirus till Friday. Since mid-January, samples of 170 people were taken, of which 115 resulted negative and one positive, while reports of others were awaited, according to officials.

“In the wake of precautionary measures being taken to check and control coronavirus, the usage of all swimming pools in Gautam Buddh Nagar which are primarily located in schools, hotels and societies, among other places, is completely banned till April 15,” district magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh said in the order.

Besides administration officers, copies of the order have also been sent to the Noida Authority, Greater Noida Authority and the Yamuna Expressway Authority and all have been asked to ensure strict enforcement of the order.

Delhi finance minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday said that Covid-19 is not just a health crisis but is going to cause the most dangerous economic crisis in the world, urging the GST Council to discuss and take steps to avoid system failure.

“Corona is not only a health crisis. It’s going to be (the) most dangerous economic crisis (the) world is going to face. The crisis would result in job losses at large scale and revenue deficits in government. I demand (the) GST Council should discuss this and act in advance before the systems fail,” Mr Sisodia tweeted. The 39th GST Council meeting was scheduled to be held on Saturday.

Manish Sisodia