The confirmed number of Covid-19 cases in India has crossed 21,000, the Union health ministry said on Thursday.
There are 16,454 patients currently under treatment and 4,257 people have recovered from the disease.
The country’s death toll is at 681.
What you need to know today
1. Growth of Covid-19 cases linear, not exponential: Govt
The government said on Thursday that the growth of coronavirus cases in the country has been more or less linear and not exponential.
Addressing a daily press conference, CK Mishra, the chairman of Empowered Group Two, said, “One crucial weapon we employed during the 30-day lockdown period is RT-PCR test to ascertain if one has contracted the disease or not.”
As on March 23, nearly 15,000 tests were done across the country and by April 22 more than 5 lakh tests were conducted, which is about “33 times in 30 days”, he said, adding, “But we are conscious of the fact that this is not enough and we have to continuously ramp up testing in the country and we will do that.”
“The growth of COVID-19 cases has been more or less linear, not exponential; this indicates that the strategies we adopted have succeeded in containing the infection to a particular level. Post imposition of lockdown, while the number of new positive cases has increased by 16 times, testing increased by 24 times,” Mishra said. — PTI
2. EC looks at South Korea for clues on elections during pandemic
The Election Commission is taking note of how South Korea held parliamentary elections amid the coronavirus outbreak to implement some of those modifications in India if elections are needed to be held amid the pandemic.
PTI reported Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa as saying, “Our people are studying the modifications made by South Korea in procedures while holding elections.”
The Election Commission, Lavasa pointed out, will take into consideration the modifications that have been necessitated where polls have taken place, or might have to be conducted “in this kind of pandemic environment”.
Responding to a question on how the poll campaign and conduct of elections will be affected if the coronavirus pandemic refuses to die down soon, the election commissioner said whatever measures are to be taken will be taken in consultation with the health authorities of the country and the stakeholders.
He, however, added that much will depend on how long the present situation continues. “If this persists, some modifications of the existing procedures might be required,” he said.
However, he added that it was “too early” to say whether COVID-19 would have a bearing on future Indian elections.
“The Bihar Assembly polls are still some months away,” an EC functionary pointed out.
The term of the present Bihar Assembly ends in November.
In March, the poll panel had deferred Rajya Sabha elections to 18 seats due to the coronavirus outbreak.
No fresh dates have been announced yet.
3. No dearness allowance for govt staff till July 2021
The government has said that dearness allowance for government employees will be stopped to battle the economic situation.
NDTV reported that the freeze on the Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief for government employees will be applicable from January and on till June 2021.
The report said that according to the government, if such a step is also taken by the states, it will save Rs 1.20 lakh crore.
4. 12 crore jobs lost in first phase of lockdown, says Sonia Gandhi
“Since our meeting three weeks ago, the pandemic has increased disturbingly - both in spread and speed,” Sonia Gandhi says at Congress Working Committee meeting.
5. Gujarat cases, death toll tripled in a week
The number of people testing positive for novel coronavirus in Gujarat has more than tripled, from 766 on April 15 to 2407 on Wednesday, April 22, Indian Express reported.
The report said the death toll in the state had also tripled in this period, from 36 to 103.
6. Aggressive evacuation planned of suspected patients in Dharavi
The Maharashtra government has decided to aggressively evacuate suspected coronavirus patients from Dharavi and other hotspots and put them in institutional quarantine, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Wednesday.
The densely populated Dharavi slum area has reported close to 190 cases of coronavirus infection so far.
“Houses in Dharavi are very small and 10-12 people live in a house. Even if we advise home quarantine, the shortage of space defeats the purpose,” he said.
Grounds of schools can be used for institutional quarantine shelters and authorities have already started working on arranging artificial oxygen supply in such places, Tope said.
“We can easily quarantine as many as 73,000 people. The total capacity of the state for isolation is around 1.55 lakh beds,” the health minister said. (PTI)
7. Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad among 6 cities with 45% of India’s total cases
Government data shows six major cities have registered over 500 cases so far, accounting for about 45 per cent of the total cases in India. Mumbai leads with over 3,000 cases, followed by Delhi at 2,081, Ahmedabad at 1,298, Indore at 915, Pune at 660 and Jaipur 537, NDTV reported.
8 . UP will allow states to take stranded residents home, says Adityanath
The Uttar Pradesh government will allow other states to take their stranded residents home if they wished and cooperate with them on this, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday.
Uttar Pradesh recently sent buses to bring home its own students stranded in Rajasthan’s Kota. Earlier, the government briefly allowed the movement of migrant workers heading back to Uttar Pradesh.
9. J-K administration withdraws cancellation of Amarnath Yatra
Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), headed by Lt Governor G C Murmu, on Wednesday said a decision on the annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath would be taken after a fresh review of the coronavirus situation in the coming future.
Earlier, the SASB had announced the cancellation of the pilgrimage due to coronavirus pandemic but the official statement was “cancelled and withdrawn” by the Jammu and Kashmir administration minutes later.
A fresh official statement by SASB said the board expressed its apprehension and held that as of date, it might not be possible to organise the pilgrimage this year.
The 42-day-long yatra to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas was scheduled to commence from the twin tracks of Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district on June 23. (PTI)