1. Number of Infections Cross 600 as COVID-19 Footprint Expands in India
The number of people infected by coronavirus in India crossed the 600 mark on Wednesday with Maharashtra recording the highest rise of 16 new cases followed by 10 fresh cases in Karnataka while Mizoram recorded its first positive case.
By the end of Wednesday the count of infected people stood at 606. Two casualties were reported – one each from Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
There were nine new cases in Kerala, seven in Haryana, six in Madhya Pradesh, five in Delhi, four each in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, two each in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and one in Uttarakhand.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. On Table: Cash Transfers for Unorganised Workers, 7 Kg Subsidised Grain per Person
The government is finalising an economic package, the broad contours of which are likely to include targeted monetary transfers to unorganised sector workers, especially daily wage workers, sops for small and medium enterprises and relaxations in banking sector prudential norms to help companies tide over the countrywide lockdown that is causing significant disruption across the economy.
While the government may use money available with certain labour welfare funds, a limited fiscal space would be its biggest constraint. The Centre may borrow more to fund the relief package, which is expected to be announced later this week, said senior officials.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Coronavirus Update: Lockdown to Curb COVID-19 Spread Hits Logistics Industry
Manufacturers struggled to distribute essential products to many parts of India on the first day of an unprecedented 21-day lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19, a move that drew praise from the World Health Organisation but left local authorities confused about its enforcement.
Production at many companies ranging from automobile makers to manufacturers of electronic goods have already ground to a halt, but others such as food and consumer goods companies tried to maintain a semblance of normal operations as police stopped transport of essential goods and raw materials, despite government orders to allow them to ply. Amrinder Singh, director of Bonn Industries, one of the top suppliers of bread in north India, said the company has struggled to transport even the food staple.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Coronavirus Update: Higher Humidity May Slow COVID-19 Spread, Finds Study
Warm and humid weather may combat the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a new study suggests, arguing that Asian countries experiencing monsoon may see a slowdown in the transmission of the deadly infection that has claimed 10 lives in India and almost 20,000 around the world.
Analysing COVID-19 infection data from across the world until 22 March, two researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) show that the cases have a correlation with two parameters: temperature and absolute humidity, which is a measure of water vapour per square metre of area (more humid countries will have higher absolute humidity).
The study finds that 90 percent of the cases were reported from countries with a range of temperature between 3 and 17 degree C and absolute humidity between 4 and 9g/m3.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. COVID-19: Delhi Doctor’s Wife, Teen Daughter Also Test Positive for Coronavirus
Delhi on Wednesday reported five new COVID-19 cases, taking the total to 35, according to officials from Delhi’s health department.
Two of these latest five cases are the wife (48) and daughter (17) of the 49-year-old Dilshad Garden doctor who worked in a Mohalla Clinic in Shahdara. The doctor had tested positive for COVID-19 on 21 March, after a 38-year-old woman who had returned from Saudi Arabia visited the clinic near his house.
Both had been kept in the isolation facility at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.
Another 35-year-old man from Jahangirpuri who also tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday had come in contact with the woman who had returned from Dilshad Garden. Four other family members of the woman had also tested positive for the disease earlier.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. India Lockdown: Vegetables Prices Soar, Hundreds Arrested for Flouting Restrictions
The first day of the 21-day nationwide lockdown in West Bengal saw empty streets, closed markets and police stopping people from defying the restrictions. However, no fresh positive novel coronavirus (COVID-19) case was reported from the state.
With supply chain hit, vegetable prices sold at a few markets in the morning soared across the state. In grocery stores, people jostled with each other to buy essential goods.
To disperse unruly people at some places, police baton-charged them at some places. Police were seen moving in neighbourhoods asking people to remain indoors and assuring them of regular supply of grocery, LPG cylinders and foodgrains.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Airline Staff Racially Abused, Says Cops Refused to File FIR
A 29-year-old woman from Darjeeling was racially abused at a market in the city’s Gorabazar area on Wednesday, and accused of spreading the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The woman, who is a crew member at an airlines company, said she went to the market at 10.30 am along with her elder sister to buy groceries.
“My grandmother, who lives with us, is very old,” the flight attendant told The Indian Express. “She can’t go to the market. So, after yesterday Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a lockdown for 21 days, we went to buy some groceries and other essential things in the morning. After buying all my groceries, I was standing in front of a rice shop, waiting for my elder sister to come back with a rickshaw.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. PM Modi to Join G-20 Session on COVID-19 Chaired by Saudi King
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday join a virtual summit of G-20 leaders, organised to discuss the coronavirus pandemic, which will be chaired by Saudi King Salman.
Modi tweeted on Wednesday, “The #G20 has an important global role to play in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. I look forward to productive discussions tomorrow at the #G20VirtualSummit, being coordinated by the Saudi G20 Presidency.”
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman will chair the virtual summit on 26 March to advance the global coordinated response to the pandemic.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Man Arrested for Calling Northeast Woman ‘Corona’, Spitting on Her: Delhi Police
A 40-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly spitting paan at a woman and calling her ''coronavirus'' in Delhi's Vijay Nagar, police said.
According to Vijayanta Arya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) North West, the accused has been identified as Gaurav Vohra. A scooty has also been seized from him, he said.
The man allegedly harassed the woman from northeast. After her complaint, a case was registered against the person.
Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs wrote to all States and Union Territories, asking them to take appropriate action against those who are harassing people from the Northeast by linking them with COVID-19.
(Source: NDTV)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)