6 Lakh Migrants in 21k Relief Camps; Spotlight Shifts to Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz

In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, over 20,000 houses have been marked as “home quarantine” in Delhi, Times of India reported Lieutenant Governor  Anil Baijal as saying.

Number of food distribution centres to be increased from 500 to 2,500 to ensure social distancing, says Delhi LG Anil Baijal

Amid the nationwide lockdown, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways announced extension of validity of fitness, permit (all types), driving licenses, registration or any other documents, which would have expired since February 1st this year or by June 30 this year. They will be treated as valid now till June 30 2020, news agency ANI reported.

Banaras Hindu University's Department of Molecular & Human Genetics claims it has discovered a new technology to test Coronavirus to give accurate results in 5 to 6 hours, news agency ANI reported.

“We've tried to target a protein sequence present only in COVID19 &not present in any other viral strain. We're hopeful when testing is done it will only detect COVID19 presence, so there'll be less chance of false detection,” ANI reported Dr. Geeta Rai of BHU’s Department of Molecular & Human Genetics, as saying.

The testing technology, however, is yet to be validated by Pune’s National Institute of Virology and seek approval by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Andaman & Nicobar administration on Tuesday confirmed that 9 out of the 10 people who tested positive for coronavirus in Andaman & Nicobar, had attended Tablighi Jamaat event at Markaz, Nizamuddin in Delhi, according to news agency ANI.

Abhijit Roy, Deputy Director of Heath and Nodal Officer, COVID 19 in Andaman & Nicobar added that wife of one of these people later tested positive.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister on Tuesday confirms seven fresh cases of coronavirus infection in the state. With this, the state tally of COVID-19 patients has climbed to 74, including one death.

Karnataka’s Health Minster B Sriramulu on Tuesday confirmed 98 cases of coronavirus infection in the state, including 3 deaths and 6 discharges.

Ten new cases were reportd since 30.03.2020, 5.00pm to 31.03.2020, 8.00am, he added.

Till date 98 #COVID19 positive cases have been confirmed. This includes 3 deaths & 6 discharges.

10 new cases were confirmed since 30.03.2020, 5.00pm to 31.03.2020, 8.00am.#IndiaFightsCorona

— B Sriramulu (@sriramulubjp) March 31, 2020

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, Maharashtra Finance Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday announced a 60 per cent cut in March salaries of public representatives, including that of Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister.

A 65-year-old coronavirus patient passed way in Punjab, officials informed on Tuesday afternoon. With this, the death toll in the state due to COVID-19 has reached four.

The state has total 41 confirmed cases of infectious virus, including one who recovered.

As the aviation sector taking a huge brunt of the coronavirus outbreak among others, SpiceJet is the latest airline service in the country to announce pay cuts. It is set to cut 10 to 30 per cent salary of all employees in March, including that of its chairman who will take 30 per cent less pay.

Six new cases of coronavirus infection reported in Kashmir, officials informed on Tuesday afternoon. With this, the total number of positive cases for virus in the state of Jammu and Kashmir has jumped to 55.

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (Prime Minister’s Scheme for Welfare of the Poor), was announced on 26 March, with the Finance Minister claiming that the package was for “the poor who needed immediate help like migrant workers and urban and rural poor”.

Vignesh Karthik KR and  Saumya Gupta analyse the package in the context of the FM’s claims and argue in favour of an urgent need for increased state participation, broad-basing of the relief measures and saturating the system with enough funds to help vulnerable sections of society and fight the pandemic confronting the nation. Read more here.

Shortages of protective health gear in India is forcing some doctors to use raincoats and motorbike helmets while fighting the coronavirus, exposing the weak state of the public health system ahead of an anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases, news agency Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Ten more evacuees from Iran tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of cases in Rajasthan to 93, officials informed on Tuesday afternoon.

According to media reports, two batches of people, evacuated from Iran, had landed at the Jodhpur airport in Rajasthan recently.

After preliminary screening of the evacuees, mostly pilgrims, at the airport, they were taken to the Army Wellness Facility set up at the Jodhpur Military Station.

Spain has recorded 849 deaths in last 24 hours due to COVID-19, AFP reported.

According to the report, the increase came after a day in which the number of deaths had fallen slightly, raising hopes the epidemic could be reaching a peak in Spain, which has logged the world''s second-highest number of deaths from the virus, after Italy.

Another 9,222 people tested positive for the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 94,417.

The Indian Railways on Tuesday said that its plan to offer 20,000 coaches converted into isolation wards for coronavirus patients, saying that these coaches can accommodate up to 3.2 lakh possible beds, according to PTI.

It has also earmarked targets for its 16 zones, with the South Central Railways headquartered at Secunderabad in Telangana leading the pack with 486 coaches being allocated for conversion, followed by Mumbai headquartered Central Railway being allocated 482 coaches.

Only non-AC ICF sleeper coaches are being planned to be utilised for conversion into quarantine/isolation coaches.

A 35-year-old man with a travel history to Dubai tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday in Patna, taking the tally of those afflicted in Bihar to 16, PTI quoting official said.

Middle-aged people, and not just the elderly, have a dramatically higher risk of dying or developing serious illness from COVID-19, new research from Britain, published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, showed on Tuesday, according to news agency AFP.

The findings came in a new comprehensive analysis of virus cases in mainland China. The researchers found that age was a key determining factor in serious infections, with nearly one in five over-80s requiring hospitalisation, compared to around 1 percent among people under 30.

Punya Salila Srivastava Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, informed on Tuesday that over 21,000 relief camps are operational in various states and Union Territories, where more than 6.6 lakh people are sheltered.

Indian Council of Medical Research, India’s leading medical body in its fight against coronavirus, confirmed on Tuesday that 42,788 samples for COVID-19 have been tested so far out of which 4,346 samples were tested on Monday.