Confirmed COVID-19 cases surge past 1,000 as India enters day 5 of lockdown

New Delhi, Mar 29
Figures furnished by the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare reveal that the Government has iden-tified 1,091 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus across the country as of 10 am on March 29, 2020. This number is inclusive of 86 COVID-19 patients who have been treated or discharged in addition to an Italian tourist who decided to return home after under-going treatment for the infection in India.
The figure also includes 25 individuals who died after testing positive for the infection. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare also claims to have screened 15,24,266 passengers at airports in India before the Central Government decided to impose a morato- rium on the entry of international flights in Indian airspace.
The infection has affected more than 680,696 people across the globe, claiming over 31,920 deaths since the first case was reported in China's Hubei province on January 1 of this year.
Confirmed cases in India:
On Sunday, the total number of confirmed cases in Maharashtra rose to 193 with 12 more people testing positive for COVID-19 in the State. Similarly, five new cases were reported each in Madhya Pradesh (39) and Jammu and Kashmir (38), and three in Gujarat (58) followed by one in Rajasthan.
A pilot with SpiceJet was also one of the individuals who tested positive for COVID-19. In an official statement, the private airline carrier said that the pilot last flew a domestic aircraft on March 21 and has been in home quarantine since.
COVID-19 death toll in India (India Today):
Authorities reported sev-en fresh deaths on March 29, one each from Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir. Here is a breakdown of novel coronavirus casualties in India as of yet.
Maharashtra (6), Gujarat (5), Karnataka (3), Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir (2 each), Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh (1 each)
Treated/cured/discharged in India:
On Sunday, five people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Pimpri Chinchwad, near Pune in Maharashtra, were discharged after undergoing treatment for the infection and testing negative thereafter.
India's medical apparatus against Covid-19:
At present, India has 47 private labs ready and certified to conduct tests to determine the presence of the novel coronavirus.
The Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on Sunday wrote to the health secretaries and chief secretaries of all states and union territories, urging them to ensure availability and distribution of masks, gloves and hand sanitizers.
In Karnataka's capital city of Bengaluru, the civic body (BBMP) has started fever clinics as proposed by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.
Relief measures by Central/State Governments:
With India under a 21-day lockdown, the Centre along with state governments has implemented a number of measures to enforce a nationwide curfew without any disruption to essential services. These have been identified as hospitals, clinics, manufacturers/transporters/retailers of medical equipment, chemist shops, and departmental stores dealing in milk and food items, green-grocers, banks and media persons.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore economic relief package for Indian citizens. This will include food grains, direct deposit of money ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 2000 in the bank accounts of beneficiaries of the public distribution system (PDS). In addition, LPG cylinders will be given free of cost to beneficiaries of the Ujjwala Yojana, an ex-gratia amount to female Jan Dhan account holders and doubled collateral-free loans to Rs 20 lakhs for self-help groups for women. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other key stakeholders have also introduced reforms for the public in this time of crisis.
Similar measures have been announced by state governments. These packages are aimed at supporting low-income households, daily wage earners and small business owners.
Provisions for migrant workers amid Covid-19 lockdown:
Recent developments have shown that low-income migrant workers have been severely impacted by the 21-day nationwide lockdown. In the absence of inter-state bus or passenger train services, the sight of thousands of workers taking to the highways on foot to return to their native villages have flooded the internet these past few days.
Chief ministers of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Maharashtra among others have acknowledged the problem and are taking steps to help these migrant workers with food and shelter. In some cases, the workers were screened with a thermal scanner and dispatched to their respective villages by the UP government. Similarly, the Bihar government has set up quarantine camps for migrant workers returning home. This is being done to ensure that the workers do not act as carriers of the infection.
Novel coronavirus, around the world:
As many as 70 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Singapore on Sunday, including two Indians. South Korea on March 29 reported 105 new cases of Covid-19, followed by Japan where doctors identified 68 new cases of infection on the same day.
Italy's death toll shot past 10,000 on Saturday with the country reporting 889 new deaths within 24 hours.
The Covid-19 death toll in the United States of America crossed 2,000 on March 28. Officials pointed out that the number of patients who succumbed to the infection in the US doubled in a matter of three days. Sri Lanka on Sunday reported its first novel coronavirus-related casualty. A top official in Pakistan said that the country is staring at over 12,000 suspected cases of Covid-19 even as the official number of confirmed cases in Pakistan stood at 1,495. India Today