JUNE 11, 2020
Free grocery kits are distributed by a private organization after the government eased a nationwide lockdown imposed as a preventive measure against COVID-19, in Bengaluru, India, on June 5. – Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images
India on Thursday recorded 9996 new cases of the novel coronavirus, pushing the country’s tally of confirmed cases of infection to 2,86,579. This figure is inclusive of 1,37,448 active cases along with 1,41,029 recoveries and 8,102 casualties to date.
Maharashtra, the state with the most number of confirmed cases recorded 3607 new cases of infection between Wednesday night and Thursday evening. With this development, the state’s tally stands at 97,648. The state also witnessed 150 coronavirus-related deaths during the same time and its Covid-19 death toll is now 3,590.
Tamil Nadu is second only to Maharashtra with 38,716 confirmed cases followed by Delhi with 34,687 cases and Gujarat with 22,067 cases.
India surpasses UK to become fourth worst-hit country
On Thursday, India replaced the United Kingdom to become the fourth worst-hit country by Covid-19 with a caseload of 2,97,205 as per Worldometer. Earlier this week, India had surpassed Spain to take the fifth spot.
Now, India is only behind the US, Brazil and Russia.
PIL in Delhi HC to lock down national capital
The Delhi HC has entered a PIL seeking a lockdown in the national capital till June 30. In the plea, the petitioner has claimed that lifting the lockdown will result in unrestricted transmission of the infection.
Neither the government nor the police seems prepared to handle this outbreak if restrictions are lifted, added the petitioner. The court is expected to hear the plea in the coming days.
‘No Community Transmission in India’
In response to a question about the possibility of community transmission in India, Director General of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) rubbished any such claims on Thursday.
“But we are definitely, India is not in community transmission and I would like to emphasise it. India is not in community transmission and that’s only a term which is used but we have to continue with the strategy of testing, tracing, tracking, and quarantine and continue with the containment measures as we have found success until now,” ICMR DG Balram Bhargava said during the Government of India’s COVID briefing.
Turn crisis into opportunity: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking at the annual plenary session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) said, “We have to turn COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity for creating Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
SC takes suo moto cognisance
The Supreme Court of India took suo moto cognizance of the treatment of Covid-19 patients and the disposal of their bodies. A bench of India’s apex court will hear arguments in this regard on Friday. The matter will be heard by a three-judge bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice MR Shah.
ICMR’s serosurvey
The ICMR also released a serosurvey conducted in the third week of May. The population-based survey was done in 83 districts, covering around 28,000 households with a sample size of about 26,400 respondents. The survey was broad-based, covering urban-rural clusters, villages, and urban wards in 15 districts.
Risk in urban areas and urban slums are 1.09 and 1.89 times higher than rural areas, respectively, revealed the survey apart from the fact that a large proportion of the population is still susceptible.
MCD claims Delhi’s Covid-19 losses double than official figure
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (EDMC, SDMC and NDMC) claimed that the civic body cremated 2,098 corpses of Covid-19 patients to date against the Delhi government’s official toll of 984 as of Thursday morning. Jai Prakash, Chairperson of the Standing Committee of NDMC said that 1080 bodies of Covid-19 patients were cremated by SDMC, 976 by NDMC and 42 by EDMC.
In response, the Delhi government maintained that the official figures are formulated by a death audit committee approved by the Delhi High Court and any attempt by the BJP-run MCD to malign the data is merely political maneuvering.
An equally troubling premise has come to light about the availability of beds for Covid-19 patients in the national capital. Figures put out by the ‘Delhi CORONA’ mobile app show that 70 per cent of beds in state-run COVID facilities are vacant while the ones in private hospitals are almost full.
No school till vaccine is found?
A plea was moved in the Calcutta High Court on Thursday by a lawyer who sought that children below 12 years of age be exempted from school till a vaccine is found since they are susceptible to the infection. The bench will take up the matter next on June 19.
COVID in shelter homes
Tamil Nadu government has been directed by the SC to submit a report after the apex court took note of 35 children at a state-run shelter home testing positive for Covid-19. Juvenile Justice Committees of high courts will circulate a questionnaire among state governments and collect their responses about the protection of children housed in shelter homes, said a bench of justices L Nageswara Rao, Krishna Murari and S Ravindra Bhat.
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, K Palaniswami on the other hand, refuted claims that his administration is under-reporting Covid-19 deaths. The CM also maintained that there is no community transmission in Tamil Nadu, the second-most affected state by the pandemic.
Centre mulls use of Remdesivir, Tocilizumab
Going by reports, anti-viral drugs, or immunomodulator as they are known are being considered for restricted use on severely ill Covid-19 patients. These include Remdesivir and Tocilizumab. New guidelines in this regard are awaited. However, officials clarified that these will be used only on “emergency and compassionate grounds”.
Follow the government’s latest guidance on safeguarding yourself during the coronavirus pandemic, including travel advice within and outside the country. The World Health Organization has also busted some myths surrounding coronavirus. The Ministry of Health’s special helpline is available at +91-11-23978046, ncov2019@gmail.com and ncov2019@gov.in.
Courtesy/Source: India Today
