Coronavirus India updates: As India entered its 46th day of the lockdown, the number of Covid-19 cases in the country neared the 60,000 mark, including 1,981 deaths. While the number of active cases stood at 39,834, as many as 17,846 persons have recovered so far. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with the highest number of cases (19,063) and deaths (731), and is followed by Gujarat (7,403 cases and 449 deaths). On a brighter side, Kerala recorded no new cases for the third consecutive day on Friday, reducing the number of active cases in the state to 16.
Meanwhile, India’s massive repatriation operation is underway which will see the state-owned airline–Air India–operating non-schduled commercial flights till May 14 to ferry around 15,000 Indian nationals from 12 countries in the first phase. Besides, the Navy has dispatched two ships to Male to commence the repatriation operations.
Here are the other major developments of the day
Gujarat: Migrant workers clash with police in Surat
Hundreds of agitated migrant workers clashed with the police at Mora village in Gujarat’s Surat district on Saturday, demanding a return passage to their home states, news agency PTI reported quoting an official. Over 40 workers were detained, after hundreds of them clashed with the police and pelted stones at police vehicles in Mora village near the industrial town of Hazira.
Protesting workers demanded that the district administration arrange for their travel back to their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, among others, the official told PTI.
Ever since the lockdown was announced, Surat has witnessed several incidents of migrants taking to streets and clashing with the police as they demand arrangements for their travel back to their hometowns.
Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda described the spate of such incidents in the state as the result of the government’s failure.
Another incident of police-migrants clash when hundreds of migrants in Mora village near Surat’s main industrial zone Hazira gathered demanding that they be allowed to go back immediately. The police had to use tear gas to disperse the mob. @the_hindu.
“Migrant workers in Gujarat want to go back to their homes. But the government has not been able to find any solution even after 45 days. They are not allowed to go home under pressure from industrialist friends. Workers and police are clashing in many cities. This is the result of the government’s failure,” Chavda tweeted, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
Bengal govt not allowing trains with migrants to reach state: Amit Shah
UnionHome Minister Amit Shah in a letter to West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjeehas said that the state government is creating further hardships for migrants by not allowing trains with migrant workers to reach the state. Shah said not allowing trains to reach West Bengal is “injustice” to the migrant workers from the state.
The home minister said in the letter that the Centre has facilitated more than two lakh migrants workers to reach home. (File)
Referring to the ‘Shramik Special’ trains being run by the central government to facilitate the transport of migrant workers from different parts of the country to various destinations, the home minister said in the letter that the Centre has facilitated more than two lakh migrants workers to reach home.
Over 360 Kashmiri students to return home from Bhopal in 18 buses
Over 360 Kashmiri students stranded in parts of Madhya Pradesh due to the lockdown will be sent back to their native places 18 buses from Bhopal on Saturday, an official said. The buses will leave around 2 pm from a private school in Gandhinagar locality where the students are currently accommodated.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had recently written a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, requesting him to make necessary arrangements for the nearly 400 Kashmiri students stuck in the state. He had said that as Jammu and Kashmir is under the central rule, it is the Centre’s duty to help the people from that region stranded in different parts of the country.
Kerala to regulate entry of those from red zones
As thousands of Keralites from red zones in other parts of the country wait to enter the state, the state government has decided to regulate their entry. A decision to make 14-day institutional quarantine mandatory for those travelling from red zone districts was taken Tuesday, a day after the government allowed the entry of such people.
Express photo by Vishal Srivastav
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters Friday that 3,216 people who arrived from hotspots on Thursday have been moved to institutional quarantine. “Others who reached Kerala from red zones before Thursday are being traced and shifted to institutional quarantine,” he said.
Assam hikes excise duty of Indian Made Foreign Liquor by 25%
The Assam government has decided to increase the excise duty on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) by 25 per cent, state Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said after a Cabinet meeting on Friday.
Other states including Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi have hiked liquor prices (Express photo by Arul Horizon)
According to the state minister, this move will generate an additional income of Rs 1,000 crore for the state to deal with the financial burden and expenditure arising out of the coronavirus crisis. Other states including Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi have hiked liquor prices already to give a boost to their revenue income.
In a decision that will cut down India’s need for Covid-19 testing kits, the ministry of health in a late night upload on Friday, said that mild and moderate cases do not need to be tested prior to discharge. As per the earlier policy, patients had to test negative twice prior to discharge.
For severe cases, patients will be discharged after they test negative by RT-PCR. (PTI/file)
“Mild/very mild/pre-symptomatic cases admitted to a Covid Care Facility will undergo regular temperature and pulse oximetry monitoring. The patient can be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset and no fever for 3 days. There will be no need for testing prior to discharge. At the time of discharge, the patient will be advised to follow the home isolation for further 7 days as per guidelines…” reads the revised discharge policy on the ministry of health website.
5000 Indians stranded abroad will enter Haryana through special flights
Starting today, Haryana is expecting around 5000 people returning from abroad through special flights of Air India arranged by the Ministry of External Affairs. However, on arrival, they have to adhere to some mandatory instructions: downloading the Aarogya Setu app the moment they land and 14-day quarantine followed by a coronavirus test.They can return home only after quarantine, the test, and a certificate issued by the health department.
“The first batch of 67 persons, 21 of whom are from Haryana and remaining from other states, landed in Delhi from Singapore at 12 noon. Another flight from Dhaka is expected to bring back more people from Haryana on Saturday,” said Dr Hanif Qureshi, senior IPS officer, who has been appointed as nodal officer by the Haryana government.
Over 20,000 Indians stranded abroad to enter Punjab in the next few days
Over 20,000 Indians stranded abroad are expected to land in Punjab over the next few days starting Saturday, for whom the state government is making arrangements of ‘paid quarantine’ for 14 days. One such flight will land in New Delhi on Saturday from Dhaka with seven Punjabis on board. On May 11, another flight from Dhaka with 11 more Punjabis will arrive, while 56 Punjabis will be coming from the US on May 19 via New Delhi.
More flights are expected to arrive as well as take off from the country today.(Twitter/File)
If a passenger chooses to stay in a government quarantine centre, no charges will be levied.Meanwhile, the hotel industry is gearing up to offer their buildings as quarantine centres as otherwise also, the hotels are vacant and running into losses.
Over 1.09 lalk migrant workers from Bihar and UP have applied on a Haryana government web portal to come to the state, as migrants across the country head home. 79.29% have applied to come to districts with maximum industrial activities and business establishments including Gurgaon, Faridabad, Panipat, Sonipat, Jhajjar, Yamunanagar and Rewari. Little over 50,000 of them want to come to Gurgaon district.
Officials believe the state’s low coronavirus numbers are another factor in the workers seeking to return. Till Friday, Haryana had 647 positive cases, including 14 Italian nationals, and eight deaths. Of the 647 cases, 279 have recovered.
Alarm over migrant workers as Odisha sees spike
As the Supreme Court Friday stayed an interim order by the Orissa High Court asking the state government to ensure that the migrants seeking to come back “should (have) tested negative” for Covid-19, concerns are rising in the state about cases linked to returning workers.
Ganjam district, that had two cases on May 2, has 47 now, all linked to migrant labourers coming from hotspot Surat in Gujarat. In the orange zone earlier, Ganjam now is third in Odisha in number of cases, after Jajpur (55) and Khurda (50).
Other districts in Odisha have also reported cases of labourers returning from Surat testing positive — Bhadrak (3), Kendrapora (5), Balasore (2), Mayubhanj (4) and Jagatsinghpur (4).
The home minister said in the letter that the Centre has facilitated more than two lakh migrants workers to reach home. (File)
Express photo by Vishal Srivastav
Other states including Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi have hiked liquor prices (Express photo by Arul Horizon)
For severe cases, patients will be discharged after they test negative by RT-PCR. (PTI/file)
More flights are expected to arrive as well as take off from the country today.(Twitter/File)
