MHA issues revised guidelines for extended lockdown; relaxation for agriculture, select industrial activities
Coronavirus (COVID-19) tracker: The death toll due to the coronavirus epidemic rose to 377 and the total number of infections crossed the 11,000-mark in India to reach 11,439 including 1,305 people who have been treated and discharged on Wednesday. As many as 24 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours from across the country, which recorded over 1,400 new cases on the day the nationwide lockdown was extended for another 19 days. Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of cases at 2,726 including 160 deaths and 229 cured cases followed by Delhi with 1,568 infections including 28 deaths and Tamil Nadu with 1,242 cases and 11 deaths.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing an extension of the lockdown, migrant labourers, rendered homeless and without jobs, came out on roads in Mumbai's Bandra, asking to be sent back home. In Surat too, hundreds of textile labourers came out on the streets demanding to go back to their home states because they were not getting enough food.
On Tuesday, PM Modi said the lockdown will be enforced strictly until April 20, after which there could be conditional relaxation in specific areas following assessment of the situation. But added that "permission will be withdrawn immediately if lockdown rules are broken, and spread of coronavirus risked." The government will issue guidelines Wednesday in this regard.
Globally, the total number of novel coronavirus cases has neared 2 million at 1,980,003, including 1,26,577 deaths. The death toll in the United States crossed 25,000 on Tuesday with the country witnessing the highest single-day tally of 2,129. In total, 25,981 Americans have died due to the deadly virus, Johns Hopkins University said. This is followed by Italy (21,067) and Spain (18.056). The total number of infections is also highest in the US at 608,458 followed by Spain (173,060), Italy (162,488), Germany (132,210) and France (131,361).
(Inputs and image from theinidanexpress.com)
