Cases near 1.40 lakh; lockdown extended in two districts of Himachal till June 30
Coronavirus India Updates: India is now among the top 10 worst-hit nations, with more than 1.38 lakh coronavirus cases, according to the data put out by John Hopkins University. The total number of infections in India rose to 1,38,845 on Monday. Of these 77,103 are active, while 57,720 patients have been discharged. Follow coronavirus pandemic LIVE updates
Meanwhile, domestic flight operations took off across India after a hiatus of two months Monday, ending the complete blackout of the country's airspace in the backdrop of the coronavirus lockdown. All major airlines such as IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, Air Asia and others operated 30% of their regular schedules between destinations, strictly adhering to the safety protocols set by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Airports accordingly have been directed to undertake regular disinfection measures, supply of masks, gloves and sanitisers and thermal scanning.
However, the first day of air schedules was marred by a large number of cancellations at major airports including Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi. At least 82 flights, including arrivals and departures, were cancelled at the Delhi airport as some of the states requested the Centre to curtail services to meet their own guidelines. Many passengers were disappointed that they were not informed in advance about the cancellations.
The government devised an "intelligent testing strategy" and scaled up its preparedness to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, taking lessons from the 2009 swine flu outbreak that had "exposed glaring gaps" in the country's diagnosis infrastructure, the ICMR said on Monday. The apex health research body said to cater to the increasing need for testing, India developed an "intelligent testing strategy to remain ahead of the virus" by significantly shoring up its diagnosis infrastructure. The country now has 610 laboratories — 432 public and 178 private which are currently testing 1.1 lakh samples daily. The testing capacity has been increased to 1.4 lakh samples per day, which is being further raised to 2 lakh, it said.
As COVID-19 cases rise in Assam, incessant rain has led to the flooding in five districts (Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Darrang and Goalpara) of the state, affecting 30,701 people and 9,804 animals in127 villages.
On Monday, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Guwahati, predicted heavy rainfall in the Northeastern region for the next five days, issuing a red warning (extremely heavy rainfall) in Kokrajhar, Baksa and Chirang districts for the next two days. Rain — heavy to medium — is expected in other parts of the state too. "The rain will continue as per the forecast for five days," said Dr Sanjay O'Neill Shaw of RMC.
However, as per Pankaj Chakravarty, State Project Coordinator, Assam State Disaster Management Authority, the flood situation is still under control. "Yes, waters will rise but the situation is not very bad till now," he said, "All rivers aren't flowing above danger levels. It is only when all rivers flow above danger level that we have something to worry about." Two rivers (Jia Bharali in Sonipur district and Puthimari at Kamrup district) are flowing above the danger level.
Four more test positive for COVID-19 in Ladakh, tally crosses 50-mark
Four more people tested positive for coronavirus in Ladakh even as the first COVID-19 testing laboratory was inaugurated by parliamentarian Jamyang Tsering Namgyal on Monday, officials said. The state-of-the-art bio-safety level 2 (BSL-2) laboratory was set up at Chushot Yokma and is the first molecular laboratory in the region, which will be used for testing HIV, Tuberculosis, Swine flu, and Hepatitis-B after COVID-19 pandemic is over, they said. With the addition of the four patients, who are from Kargil district, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the union territory has reached 52, the officials said.
India lockdown diary, Day 62: Akhilesh asks for free chyawanprash supply; Kolkata artisans hope for turnaround; and more
'Chyawanprash' and 'kadha' (decoction) should be supplied to people for free if these are scientifically proven remedies to prevent coronavirus infection, Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav said on Monday.
"The Ministry of AYUSH is showing on TV that decoction and chyawanprash should be taken to avoid coronavirus. If these are scientifically proven remedies, then in times of crisis the government should supply them free of cost," he said in a tweet in hindi.
"People will be encouraged if these are given as an award for using 'Arogya Setu' application," the SP leader added.
Hamirpur and Solan districts in Himachal Pradesh will continue with the coronavirus lockdown for a month after the current nationwide phase ends on May 31. In addition, section 144 of the CrPC, which prohibits gathering of people, will also remain in force in Shimla district up to June 30, an official said.
The district magistrates of Hamirpur and Solan issued orders Monday extending the curfew in their areas up to June 30.
The two orders did not specifically mention the lockdown itself, but its extension is also implied. The state-wide curfew in Himachal Pradesh is meant to enforce the lockdown against coronavirus.
As in the rest of the state, the two districts allow several hours of relaxation in the curfew and the lockdown every day. Essential services remain open during the curfew hours as well. This will continue, officials said.
Four more test positive for COVID-19 in Ladakh, tally crosses 50-mark
Four more people tested positive for coronavirus in Ladakh even as the first COVID-19 testing laboratory was inaugurated by parliamentarian Jamyang Tsering Namgyal on Monday, officials said. The state-of-the-art bio-safety level 2 (BSL-2) laboratory was set up at Chushot Yokma and is the first molecular laboratory in the region, which will be used for testing HIV, Tuberculosis, Swine flu, and Hepatitis-B after COVID-19 pandemic is over, they said. With the addition of the four patients, who are from Kargil district, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the union territory has reached 52, the officials said.
As domestic flights resume, 511 passengers land in Imphal
The Bir Tikendrajit International Airport, Imphal, resumed operations of domestic flight service on Monday. As many as 511 passengers in four different flights from Delhi and Guwahati landed at the Imphal Airport. The same flights departed with 176 passengers from the Airport to their respective destinations.
Earlier, the Airport Authority announced that seven flights were scheduled to land and depart from the Imphal Airport. However, three flights, which were supposed to fly to Imphal via Kolkata Airport, were cancelled. S S Raju, DGM Imphal Airport said, "We were expecting seven flights but three had to be cancelled as the Koklata Airport did not operate due to flood inflicted by the super cyclone Amphan."
Have plans on flying more than 200 daily flights until May 31: IndiGo's flight operations
Indigo, Indigo flights, Indigo cancels flight, Indigo students stranded, domestic flights, flights resume india, domestic flights resume india, flight new rules, flight new rules india, domestic flight new rules, india domestic flight new rules, IndiGo's flight operations will support more than 20,000 passengers to be home by tonight.
IndiGo Airlines Monday said the company plans to fly more than 200 daily flights until May 31. In a statement, the budget carrier said, "IndiGo plans on flying more than 200 daily flights until May 31, 2020. Our customers can be assured that any flight that is on sale during this period is compliant to the latest Covid-19 guidelines issued yesterday night by the different states. Our schedule also takes in to account that some stations could only be opened at a later stage due to certain constraints imposed by different airports and states. IndiGo's flight operations will support more than 20,000 passengers to be home by tonight.
It added: "IndiGo operations ran smoothly and as of today afternoon, 85% of our flights have reached their final destination within 30minutes of scheduled arrival time. There were no major delays or any other disruptions. IndiGo is ensuring to provide courteous and hassle-free travel experience for its passengers by following additional measures including:
1. Website updated with all state requirements and SOPs for travel
2. Multiple mock drills for the staff whereas to facilitate the new guidelines for flying
Due to the change in state guidelines affected passengers were provided flexibility to either rebook on alternate flights or transfer their complete booking amount into credit shells for future bookings."
Gurgaon DM warns of action against private facilities refusing treatment to COVID
gurgaon lockdown, gurgaon delhi border, delhi border sealed, gurgaon lockdown guidelines, delhi city news, gurgaon news Haryana has already banned entry into four districts bordering Delhi — Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonepat and Jhajjar — for people coming from the national capital. (Express photo by Prem Nath Pandey)
The Gurgaon District Magistrate has today warned that action will be taken under the Epidemic Act, 1897, "without any prior notice", against private facilities refusing to treat patients who have tested positive for coronavirus or those looking for "other critical services". In an order to this effect issued on Monday, DM Amit Khatri has stated, "With rising cases of persons infected by the coronavirus, it is necessary to ensure optimum utilisation of available resources i.e. Private Hospitals/Nursing Homes for treatment of COVID-19 patients, so as to ensure appropriate Medical care is provided to all the COVID patients. But, in the recent past, it has come to notice that some private facilities are refusing to treat patients with symptoms of corona virus and other critical services which is a grave matter in times of such epidemic."
In view of this, the DM has ordered, "Private Hospital/Nursing Homes in district Gurugram shall not refuse any patient approaching them for treatment of corona virus infection and other critical services. If any Private Hospital/Nursing Home refuses treatment to any such patient/patients, action will be initiated against them under the Epidemic Act, (1897) without any prior notice."
Despite being ready, Tripura airport couldn't operate flights
Tripura's Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Airport didn't have any flight operation on Monday even as air travel resumed in the rest of the country. Speaking to indianexpress.com, MBB Airport Director V K Seth said air traffic was not functional due to non functionality of Netaji Subhash Chandra International Airport at Kolkata.
The Kolkata airport was damaged by cyclone Amphan two days back. It is still being repaired. "We had everything ready on our end. Frankly, we were a bit disappointed to learn that Kolkata airport wouldn't be operating any aircraft for next 48 hours. So, we couldn't have any aircraft movement in coming two days either," he said.
Asked about next course of action, airport director Seth said Kolkata airport said it would operate limited number of flights even after it resumes operation after May 27. "If Kolkata operates less flights, it is likely to impact our operations. But we can't say anything as of now. We shall wait for further information," the official said.
Scenes from airports across India on Day 1 of resumption of domestic flights
Confusion and chaos prevailed on Monday as domestic passenger flight operations resumed after a hiatus of two months amid reluctance by various states to open up their airports in view of rising cases of novel coronavirus. Passengers were greeted with long queues and a large number of flights were cancelled on Monday across the country.
(Input and image from theindianexpress.com)
