India Reports 328 Cases, 12 Deaths in 24 Hrs; Asia’s Largest Slum Dharavi Now on Spotlight

A 31-year-old man, who attended a congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin West, tested positive for COVID-19 in Lohit district on Thursday, making it the first case of coronavirus in Arunachal Pradesh, PTI reported health officials as saying.

The man attended the congregation in Nizamuddin on March 13, officials said.

Six more persons who attended the congregation were located in Namsai district and have tested negative for COVID-19, State Surveillance Officer (Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme) L Jampa said.

A 52-year-old Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) sanitisation worker has been found positive for the coronavirus, making it a second confirmed case of virus in Asia’s largest slum Dharavi, according to ANI.
Dharavi also reported first casualty due to the contagious virus yesterday of a 56-year-old man who reportedly had no travel history.
Maharashtra Health Minster Rajesh Tope has expressed concern over the virus now reaching one of the most congested places in Mumbai.

The government of India wants the media to stop creating panic by disseminating fake news about the ongoing crisis before first ascertaining from it ‘true’ and ‘factual’ information. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court stated that it does not intend ‘interfering’ with ‘free discussion’ while directing the media to ‘refer to and publish the official version of developments’ and events.

In the wake of these developments, Independent Journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta explores whether the media is moving towards a situation that prevailed in the country in the mid-1970s during the Emergency period when Indira Gandhi’s government. Read more here.

A three-day-old boy and her mother on Wednesday tested positive for COVID-19 in Mumbai, according to an Indian Express report.

According to the report, it is suspected that both have caught the virus from the bed occupied by an infected patient before it was allotted to the mother in Sai Hospital in Mumbai.

After the hospital was asked to shut down on March 31 allegedly to carry out disinfection, the mother and son were shifted to Kurla Bhabha hospital and later to Kasturba Hospital – the nodal hospital for coronavirus-related cases in Mumbai.

Four contractual doctors at Hindu Rao Hospital – governed by North Delhi Municipal Corporation – gave their resignation apparently after their demand for personal protection equipment was not met, according to Times of India report.

However, according to the report, the administration on Wednesday clarified that no resignation would be accepted and necessary action will be taken against the doctors and nurses.

A man from Kargil has tested positive for coronavirus and efforts are being made to trace all his contacts, news agency PTI reported a senior official as saying on Thursday.

“The test of one person has arrived. He is positive. The person belongs to Sanjak area of Chitan belt of Kargil”, Commissioner (Health) Rigzin Samphel told reporters.

>While the man has no history of foreign travel, he had come in contact with pilgrims from Iran, he added.

Four persons were arrested from Indore’s Taat Patti Bakhal area on Thursday for attacking doctors and health workers during COVID-19 screening, according to Times of India report. Ten persons have been named in the FIR, four of whom have been arrested. 

Earlier in the day, a video surfaced on social media in which health workers and doctors were allegedly attacked during screening for coronavirus infection.

Taking suo-moto cognizance of the inhumane conditions prevailing in the brothels situated at New Delhi’s GB Road, the Delhi Commission for Women issued a notice to Delhi police on Thursday seeking information on “steps taken to enforce lockdown and social distancing measures in the area.”

The commission also sought details by April 6 regarding availability of food and personal hygiene materials in the area.

DCW chief @SwatiJaiHind issues notice to the Delhi Police seeking information on conditions in GB Road brothels. pic.twitter.com/jMg6uD8Ut2

— Delhi Commission for Women - DCW (@DCWDelhi) April 2, 2020

A resident doctor from Delhi's prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences has tested positive for coronavirus, NDTV reported sources as saying on Thursday.

The doctor, who belongs to the Physiology Department, has been admitted to the new private ward for further evaluation and multiple testing, according to the report.

In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, this is the seventh case of a physician contracting the virus in the national capital.

Air India has suspended contracts with approximately 200 pilots who were re-employed after retirement, says official.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Air India also said, "We have released flying allowances of January to our pilots."

The resumption of international flights to be considered on case-by-case basis after the lockdown ends, according to the Aviation minister

Air India CMD, added that the airline has got approval from China to operate freight flights to Shanghai on April 4 and 5.

He said that there have been cases of few ground staff members falling ill, but they have all tested COVID-19 negative.

Apprising the media in a briefing on Thursday, Health ministry official confirmed 328 fresh cases of coronavirus infection in the country and 12 deaths since Wednesday.

The Naval Dockyard in Mumbai has developed a low cost handheld temperature sensor to screen its personnel in light of the coronavirus outbreak in the city, PTI reported an official as saying on Thursday.

The infrared technology based sensor is manufactured using in house resources under Rs. 1000 – a fraction of the cost of temperature guns available in the market – according to the official.

The dockyard is capable of scaling up the production of the affordable device and is in the process of searching for its components, the official added.

Defying lockdown, thousands of devotees gather in temples in various parts of West Bengal on occasion of Ram Navami, news agency PTI reported. In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, police has asked them to return home immediately.

A senior CRPF doctor, who was staying at a force’s transit mess in south Delhi’s Saket area, has tested positive for COVID-19, news agency PTI quoted officials as saying on Thursday.

The doctor has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Haryana’s Jhajjar, according to PTI.

It was not immediately clear how the doctor contracted the infection. Those present in the mess have been quarantined.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday confirmed 208 coronavirus infected patients in the national capital, of whom 108 have been evacuated from Nizamuddin Markaz. He further informed that two people who had attended Nizamuddin Markaz have died due to COVID-19 on Thursday.

As of now, there are 31,307 people who are under self-quarantine. Kejriwal warned that number of COVID-19 cases may shoot up in the national capital in coming days.

In the wake of Coronavirus-induced lockdown, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced to provide Rs. 5000 to autorickshaw, e-rickshaw, gramin-sewa drivers in the national capital.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) in New Delhi has alleged that the administration and corporate social responsibility (CSR) section  of the hospital had redirected ₹50 lakh from Bharat Dynamics under the Ministry of Defence to PM-CARES fund rather than the originally assigned purpose of buying personal protection equipment (PPE), reported The Hindu.

According to the report, the AIIMS RDA has also written to the Central government about the recent assault on doctors treating a COVID-19 patient at the Gandhi Hospital, Hyderabad.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan confirmed on Thursday that the state has reported 21 fresh cases of coronavirus infection. The fresh cases include eight from the worst hit district by the virus in the state, Kasaragod.

Health officials confirmed that there were 81 new cases of coronavirus infection in Maharashtra on Thursday. With this, the state tally of COVID-19 has climbed to 416, making Maharashtra among the states worst hit by the outbreak.

Tamil Nadu State government on Thursday confirmed 75 fresh cases of coronavirus infection in the state. With this, the state tally of COVID-19 cases is now 309.