1. 30 States Under Total Lockdown as Coronavirus Cases Cross 470
Thirty states and Union territories declared a lockdown by late evening on Monday as the country recorded its ninth death linked to the highly contagious coronavirus. Overall, 471 people have tested positive for the virus in the country – 75 of them in the last 24 hours.
Two persons have died, one in Bengal and the other in Himachal Pradesh. As reports of infection came in from all the key states, the Centre tightened its clampdown with a ban on domestic flights and warned of legal action against rule-breakers.
Punjab, which had thousands of expats heading for home, declared curfew. So did Maharashtra, which has the highest number of COVID-19 cases. In Kolkata, sources said the 57-year-old who died at a private hospital, did not have any travel history, raising concern about the chain of transmission of the virus.
(Source: NDTV)
2. No Domestic Flights From Wednesday, Says Centre Amid Coronavirus Crisis
No domestic flights will operate from Wednesday, the government announced today in a massive step in India's fight to check the spread of coronavirus.
Airlines have to plan operations so as to land at their destination before 11.59 pm on Tuesday, the government said. Only cargo flights will be allowed.
International flights had already been banned for a week and most of the country's land borders have been sealed.
Yesterday, trains, metros and inter-state buses were banned to stop the movement of people between states.
(Source: NDTV)
3. India Has Tremendous Capacity, Must Continue to Take Aggressive Action Against COVID-19: WHO
World Health Organisation director Dr Michael J Ryan on Monday said that India has tremendous capacities and had previously led the world in eradicating two silent killers – Small Pox and Polio. Ryan said that India, like China, is hugely populated and the future of coronavirus will depend largely by what happens in densely populated countries like India.
He called on for India to be aggressive in its fight against COVID-19.
“India led the world in eradicating two silent killers – Small Pox and Polio. India has tremendous capacities, all countries have tremendous capacities when communities and civil societies are mobilised,” he said.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Shivraj Singh Chouhan Takes Oath as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday took oath as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, days after the fall of Kamal Nath-led Congress government.
This is 61-year-old Chouhan’s fourth term as chief minister.
During the political crisis the Congress faced in the state, Chouhan took the lead and continued to attack the government. It was he who filed the petition in the Supreme Court last Monday along with nine other MLAs seeking directions to issue an order to the speaker of the state Assembly to conduct a floor test.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. COVID-19: Delhi Tightens Lockdown, Police to Issue Curfew Passes
Delhi’s lockdown to fight coronavirus tightened Monday evening with the police announcing that those involved in essential goods and services will need to get a curfew pass to move about.
“For the movement of persons involved in the essential goods and services, the concerned Delhi-based organisations have to get the curfew passes from their respective district Police headquarters,” the Delhi Police said.
Media personnel will not require a curfew pass, but they will need to carry their identity cards.
The decision of the Delhi Police comes in the wake of reports of widespread violation of lockdown restrictions in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Over 300 Indian Students Stranded at Kazakhstan Airport, Seek ‘Just One Flight Home’
Over 300 Indian medical students are stranded in Kazakhstan’s Almaty Airport after India banned international arrivals from 22 March to 31 March. The students haven’t been able to leave the airport for more than three days now as Almaty is under lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Almaty is Kazakhstan’s biggest city and its airport accounts for half of the country’s air traffic.
Students said the discrimination by the locals are adding to their woes. People are denying them accommodation, they claimed, adding shopkeepers too are refusing groceries, sanitisers and masks to them.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Bengal Records First Coronavirus-Linked Death; Patient Had No Foreign-Travel History, Say Kin
A 55-year-old man, who was admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata and had tested positive for COVID-19, died on Monday afternoon. This is the first case of conoravirus-linked death in West Bengal.
The resident of Dumdum, who died of cardiac arrest, was admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital with acute respiratory distress syndrome and was put on ventilator. His samples were sent to NICED and SSKM hospital, one of which came positive. Later, fresh samples were sent to SSKM and NICED again and results of both came positive on 21 March. According to the sources in the private hospital, family members stated that he had no history of foreign travel.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. India Might See 2,60,000 COVID-19 Cases by May, Says US Based Study
India could face between around 100,000 and 1.3 million confirmed cases of the disease caused by the new coronavirus by mid-May if it continues to spread at its current pace, according to a team of scientists based mainly in the United States.
The estimates reinforce concerns among some medical officials and experts in India that the country of 1.4 billion people could see coronavirus cases jump sharply in the coming weeks and put its health system under severe strain.
The scientists said projections could change as the country conducts more testing, while also putting in place stricter restrictions and measures to stem the spread of the virus.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Coronavirus: ICMR Recommends Hydroxychloroquine for These Two ‘High Risk’ Groups
The National Task force for COVID-19, constituted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has suggested the use of a medication known as hydroxy-chloroquine for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) for two categories of ‘high risk population’.
The two categories, namely, ‘Asymptomatic Healthcare Workers’ and ‘Asymptomatic household contacts’ of laboratory-confirmed cases have been advised to use the medication to contain further spread of the pandemic. The protocol recommended by the National Task force has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India for restricted use in emergency situations.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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