Coronavirus Live News Updates: Daily COVID-19 positivity rate under 10% for seventh straight day, says Centre

10:45 (IST)

Coronavirus Latest Updates

Delhi HC refuses to stay Central Vista project amid COVID-19

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking a stay on the construction work of the Central Vista Redevelopment project in Delhi. The petitioner had stated that the construction work must be halted in view of the second COVID-19 wave.

"The DDMA order in question nowhere prohibits construction work. The legality of the project has been upheld previously by the Supreme Court itself. They are supposed to complete the work by November, 2021. Time is of essence in the contract. The work has to be completed.

"This is a motivated petition preferred by the petitioner and not a genuine petition. The petition is dismissed with a cost of Rs.1,00,000," the court's order said.

10:30 (IST)

Coronavirus Latest Updates

South Africa tightens restrictions to curb COVID-19 spread

South Africa on Sunday announced that it would strengthen the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions up a level to curb the exponential growth in the deadly viral infection, but a leading expert said the action is not enough to stop the third wave of the pandemic from hitting the country.

The total coronavirus cases in South Africa jumped to 1,659,070 with the detection of 4,515 new infections in the last 24 hours, while 70 more fatalities due to the disease pushed the toll to 56,363. In an address to the nation, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in the country will move up a level from Monday.

Citing gatherings as the biggest spreader of the virus, he said all gatherings, including religious, social, political and cultural will be restricted to a maximum of 100 people indoors and 250 outdoors.

10:21 (IST)

Coronavirus Latest Updates

Recovery rate rises to 91.60%, says Centre

India's COVID-19 recovery rate rose to 91.60 percent with 2,38,022 discharges in the span of 24 hours, the Union health ministry said on Monday.

The weekly positivity rate is currently at 9.04 percent and daily positivity rate at 9.07 percent. The daily positivity rate has been less than 10 percent for seven consecutive days.

10:13 (IST)

Coronavirus Latest Updates

16.83 lakh COVID-19 tests conducted on Sunday

The ICMR said that a total of 34,48,66,883 samples were tested up to 30 May. Of which, 16,83,135 samples were tested on Sunday.

10:01 (IST)

Coronavirus Latest Updates

Trend of declining number of new COVID-19 cases continues; 1.52 lakh cases today

India reported 1,52,734 new COVID-19 cases, 2,38,022 discharges and 3,128 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday morning. The country has been registering a gradual decline in the number of new cases this week. On Sunday, 1.6 lakh new cases were reported.

Total cases: 2,80,47,534
Total discharges: 2,56,92,342 
Death toll: 3,29,100    
Active cases: 20,26,092 

09:51 (IST)

Coronavirus Latest Updates

Odisha extends lockdown till 17 June; weekend curfew relaxed in 3 districts

The Odisha government on Sunday extended the lockdown by 16 more days till 17 June to further stem the spread of coronavirus. The second phase of the lockdown was to end at 5 am on 1 June. It will now continue till 5 am of 17 June.

"The lockdown is primarily aimed at restricting movement of people and not goods. All restrictions and exemptions of the previous lockdowns will be implemented in the third phase, too," Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra said.

The weekend shutdown will also continue, he said. "However, for three districts  Nuapada, Gajapati and Sundergarh  the relaxation period will be from 7 am till 1 pm, instead of 8 am to 11 am, from Monday to Friday, keeping in view the decline in COVID-19 cases in these places. This relaxation may be withdrawn if there is any sign of rise in infections," Mohapatra said.

09:39 (IST)

Coronavirus Latest Updates

Maharashtra extends COVID-19 lockdown till 15 June

The Maharashtra government on Sunday extended the lockdown-like curbs till 15 June and also announcedthat relaxations will be granted depending upon the COVID-19 positivity rate and availability of oxygen beds.

In municipal corporations or regions of districts with less than 10 percent COVID-19 positivity rate and where the availability of occupied oxygen beds will be less than 40 percent, all the establishments/shops engaged in essential commodities and services that are presently opened from 7 am to 11 am can now remain open from 7 am to 2 pm, the government said in an order.

Coronavirus Live News Updates: India's COVID-19 recovery rate rose to 91.60 percent with 2,38,022 discharges in the span of 24 hours, the Union health ministry said on Monday.

The weekly positivity rate is currently at 9.04 percent and daily positivity rate at 9.07 percent. The daily positivity rate has been less than 10 percent for seven consecutive days.

India reported 1,52,734 new COVID-19 cases, 2,38,022 discharges and 3,128 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday morning. The country has been registering a gradual decline in the number of new cases this week. On Sunday, 1.6 lakh new cases were reported.

Total cases: 2,80,47,534
Total discharges: 2,56,92,342
Death toll: 3,29,100
Active cases: 20,26,092

The Maharashtra government on Sunday extended the lockdown-like curbs till 15 June and also announced that relaxations will be granted depending upon the COVID-19 positivity rate and availability of oxygen beds.

In municipal corporations or regions of districts with less than 10 percent COVID-19 positivity rate and where the availability of occupied oxygen beds will be less than 40 percent, all the establishments/shops engaged in essential commodities and services that are presently opened from 7 am to 11 am can now remain open from 7 am to 2 pm, the government said in an order.

For districts and corporations having more than a 20 percent positivity rate and where over 75 percent of oxygen beds are occupied, the borders of such districts will be closed and no person will be allowed to enter or exit in such districts.

The exceptions will be death from a family, medical reason and emergency services or services related to such situations.

Instead of implementing the 'Break the chain' order uniformly in the state, the restrictions will now be relaxed or made more stringent till 7 am of 15 June by taking into account the positivity rate in the municipality jurisdiction and areas of districts, and the availability of oxygen beds at various places, the government said.

As per the census of 2011, the municipal corporations that are having a population of more than 10 lakh will be considered as the independent administrative unit for curbing the spread of COVID-19.

Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivali, Vasai Virar, Pune, PimpriChinchwad, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Nashik corporations will be treated as the administrative units.

Barring the jurisdiction of these corporations, the rest of the part of the district will be counted as a separate administrative unit, it said.

The decision for keeping open all the shops and establishments that do not fall in the essential category will be taken by the local disaster management authority (LDMA) but their timings will be at uniformity with those shops and establishment falling in the essential group, as per the order.

Similarly, the shops will remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

In such regions, along with the essential commodities, the non-essential goods and services can also be distributed through the e-commerce system.

However after 3 pm, except for medical services and medical-related emergency, there will be restrictions on commuting and traffic, it said.

Besides the offices that are working for the pandemic-related services, all other government offices can function with the attendance of 25 percent of employees.

If the chief of any of these departments needs the attendance of more than 25 per cent, they can take permission from the disaster management authority, the order said.

All the agricultural work and equipment-related shops will be open on the working days till 2 pm. Considering the monsoon and sowing period, the local disaster management authority can give the permission to increase the timings of such agriculture-related goods and
service providers or can also give a nod to remain open on Saturdays and Sundays, the order said.

Addressing the people of the state through social media, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the daily coronavirus case count in the state is on the decline, but these numbers are close to the last year's peak levels.

Thackeray announced that the lockdown-like restrictions currently in force in the state since mid-April, have been extended by a fortnight till June 15.

He said he was taking a district-wise review of the coronavirus situation and curbs will be made stricter where the numbers are on the rise, while some relaxations will be given where the case count is on the decline.

As of Sunday, Maharashtra's tally of COVID-19 cases stood at 57,31,815 and the overall death toll is 94,844. The state has 2,71,801 active cases, as per the state health department.

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Sensex drops over 185 points in early trade; Infosys, TCS, Reliance track losses

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex dropped over 185 points in early trade on Monday, tracking losses in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, Infosys, TCS and Reliance amid a weak trend in the Asian markets.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 189.52 points or 0.37 percent lower at 51,233.36 in initial deals, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 43.20 points or 0.28 percent to 15,392.45.

M&M was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding more than 5 percent, followed by Infosys, HDFC, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, L&T, NTPC and HCL Tech.

On the other hand, ITC, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank were among the gainers.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 307.66 points or 0.60 percent higher at 51,422.88, and Nifty rose 97.80 points or 0.64 percent to 15,435.65.

"There are two conflicting pieces of news for the market now. The steadily declining COVID fresh cases continue to be positive. Progressive unlocking has started in many states paving the way for a pick up in economic activity.

"But the negative news is rising fresh cases in countries like China & Vietnam. This might impact sentiments for Asian markets in general," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Usually, when markets touch new highs, some consolidation with minor corrections happen even in bull markets. This can happen since Nifty touched new highs last Friday, Vijayakumar said.

Auto numbers of May will be very dismal and some market reaction can be expected in this segment. Banking appears to be on a strong wicket in the light of new reliefs announced for the MSME segment, he noted.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they bought shares worth 913.59 crore on Friday, as per provisional exchange data.

Equities on Wall Street closed higher in the overnight session.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading in negative territory in mid-session deals.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.41 percent higher at $69 per barrel.

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Odisha extends lockdown till 17 June; check what’s allowed and restricted in the state

The COVID-19 lockdown in Odisha has been extended till 17 June. Previously, the lockdown was supposed to end on 1 June. As reported by Mint, Odisha chief secretary SC Mohapatra said that like the previous two phases, the third phase of the lockdown is aimed at restricting the movement of people, not goods.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, Mohapatra said that the state had to face the dual crisis of COVID-19 and Cyclone Yaas last week. The chief secretary added that the positivity rate in the state has dropped, however, it faces the risk of infection from neighbouring states and thus, the lockdown has been extended.

He also urged citizens of the state to not venture out for shopping ahead of the Savitri and Raja festivals which are going to be celebrated in the month of June.   

Here is the list of permissible activities during the COVID-19 lockdown in Odisha:

People in the state can shop for essential items at nearby markets between 6 am and 11 am. The time has been reduced from six hours to five hours in this phase of the lockdown.

A maximum of 20 people is allowed to attend funeral, last rites and thread ceremony.

Weddings can happen only in the presence of 25 people, including the bride, groom and priest. Previously, 50 people were allowed at weddings.

Guests at these functions will not be allowed to feast together. However, takeaway food packets can be given to them after the function.

There will be a complete weekend shutdown in the state during which only medical facilities and outlets along with hospitals will be allowed to operate.

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Odisha extends COVID-19 lockdown by two weeks till 17 June; restrictions to be relaxed in 3 districts

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Sunday extended the lockdown by 16 more days till 17 June to further stem the spread of coronavirus.

The second phase of the lockdown was to end at 5 am on 1 June. It will now continue till 5 am of 17 June.

Follow LIVE updates on COVID-19 here

"The lockdown is primarily aimed at restricting movement of people and not goods. All restrictions and exemptions of the previous lockdowns will be implemented in the third phase, too," Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra said.

The weekend shutdown will also continue, he said.

"However, for three districts Nuapada, Gajapati and Sundergarh the relaxation period will be from 7 am till 1 pm, instead of 8 am to 11 am, from Monday to Friday, keeping in view the decline in COVID-19 cases in these places. This relaxation may be withdrawn if there is any sign of rise in infections," Mohapatra said.

He said all businesses except saloons, parlours and malls are allowed to operate with strict Covid guidelines in the three districts.

Restrictions like a cap of 25 people at marriage functions and 20 people at funerals will continue, along with prohibition on mass feasts during such events.

Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department, P K Mohapatra said the second wave's peak period is over in Odisha, and hoped that the situation will improve further in the next 10 days.

Mohapatra said nine of the state's 30 districts, including Khurda, Cuttack, Balasore and Puri contribute 60 percent of the total active cases.

He said there has been significant decline in positive cases in western Odisha districts bordering Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

On the vaccination front, Mohapatra said 98 percent of healthcare workers and close to 100 percent of frontline workers have so far been inoculated.

Nearly 30 percent of people who are aged 45 and above have been vaccinated in the state. "We have procured 3.82 crore doses of vaccines through global tender," the senior state government official said.

Mohapatra added that the state has decided to set up one RT-PCR testing machine in hospitals in every district headquarter.

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Coronavirus Live News Updates: Maharashtra extends curbs till 15 June; relaxations subject to positivity rate

09:51 (IST)

Coronavirus Latest Updates

Odisha extends lockdown till 17 June; weekend curfew relaxed in 3 districts

The Odisha government on Sunday extended the lockdown by 16 more days till 17 June to further stem the spread of coronavirus. The second phase of the lockdown was to end at 5 am on 1 June. It will now continue till 5 am of 17 June.

"The lockdown is primarily aimed at restricting movement of people and not goods. All restrictions and exemptions of the previous lockdowns will be implemented in the third phase, too," Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra said.

The weekend shutdown will also continue, he said. "However, for three districts  Nuapada, Gajapati and Sundergarh  the relaxation period will be from 7 am till 1 pm, instead of 8 am to 11 am, from Monday to Friday, keeping in view the decline in COVID-19 cases in these places. This relaxation may be withdrawn if there is any sign of rise in infections," Mohapatra said.

09:39 (IST)

Coronavirus Latest Updates

Maharashtra extends COVID-19 lockdown till 15 June

The Maharashtra government on Sunday extended the lockdown-like curbs till 15 June and also announcedthat relaxations will be granted depending upon the COVID-19 positivity rate and availability of oxygen beds.

In municipal corporations or regions of districts with less than 10 percent COVID-19 positivity rate and where the availability of occupied oxygen beds will be less than 40 percent, all the establishments/shops engaged in essential commodities and services that are presently opened from 7 am to 11 am can now remain open from 7 am to 2 pm, the government said in an order.

Coronavirus Live News Updates: The Maharashtra government on Sunday extended the lockdown-like curbs till 15 June and also announced that relaxations will be granted depending upon the COVID-19 positivity rate and availability of oxygen beds.

In municipal corporations or regions of districts with less than 10 percent COVID-19 positivity rate and where the availability of occupied oxygen beds will be less than 40 percent, all the establishments/shops engaged in essential commodities and services that are presently opened from 7 am to 11 am can now remain open from 7 am to 2 pm, the government said in an order.

For districts and corporations having more than a 20 percent positivity rate and where over 75 percent of oxygen beds are occupied, the borders of such districts will be closed and no person will be allowed to enter or exit in such districts.

The exceptions will be death from a family, medical reason and emergency services or services related to such situations.

Instead of implementing the 'Break the chain' order uniformly in the state, the restrictions will now be relaxed or made more stringent till 7 am of 15 June by taking into account the positivity rate in the municipality jurisdiction and areas of districts, and the availability of oxygen beds at various places, the government said.

As per the census of 2011, the municipal corporations that are having a population of more than 10 lakh will be considered as the independent administrative unit for curbing the spread of COVID-19.

Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivali, Vasai Virar, Pune, PimpriChinchwad, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Nashik corporations will be treated as the administrative units.

Barring the jurisdiction of these corporations, the rest of the part of the district will be counted as a separate administrative unit, it said.

The decision for keeping open all the shops and establishments that do not fall in the essential category will be taken by the local disaster management authority (LDMA) but their timings will be at uniformity with those shops and establishment falling in the essential group, as per the order.

Similarly, the shops will remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

In such regions, along with the essential commodities, the non-essential goods and services can also be distributed through the e-commerce system.

However after 3 pm, except for medical services and medical-related emergency, there will be restrictions on commuting and traffic, it said.

Besides the offices that are working for the pandemic-related services, all other government offices can function with the attendance of 25 percent of employees.

If the chief of any of these departments needs the attendance of more than 25 per cent, they can take permission from the disaster management authority, the order said.

All the agricultural work and equipment-related shops will be open on the working days till 2 pm. Considering the monsoon and sowing period, the local disaster management authority can give the permission to increase the timings of such agriculture-related goods and
service providers or can also give a nod to remain open on Saturdays and Sundays, the order said.

Addressing the people of the state through social media, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the daily coronavirus case count in the state is on the decline, but these numbers are close to the last year's peak levels.

Thackeray announced that the lockdown-like restrictions currently in force in the state since mid-April, have been extended by a fortnight till June 15.

He said he was taking a district-wise review of the coronavirus situation and curbs will be made stricter where the numbers are on the rise, while some relaxations will be given where the case count is on the decline.

As of Sunday, Maharashtra's tally of COVID-19 cases stood at 57,31,815 and the overall death toll is 94,844. The state has 2,71,801 active cases, as per the state health department.

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Nehru’s Nazi friend: How Adolf Hitler’s star pilot came to play a cameo role in making of modern India

Illuminated by tracer and exploding artillery, the small training plane hurtled through Berlin’s bombed-out Tiergarten, lurching into the air with the last, desperate hopes of the Third Reich. Flight-Captain Hanna Reitsch had spent the evening begging to stay inside the Führerbunker and die with her leader, Adolf Hitler. Instead, she had been ordered to carry Field Marshal Robert von Greim—appointed head of the Nazi Luftwaffe after the betrayal of HermannGöring—to rally its remaining aircraft to Berlin’s defence.

Later, the young Flight-Captain would tell a United States military intelligence officer: “It was the blackest day when we could not die at our Führer’s side”.

In the summer of 1959, Flight-Captain Reitch had her next moment in history: this one, inside the home of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, along with his daughter, and future prime  minister, Indira Gandhi, and his grandchildren, Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi. Reitch had flown the prime minister over New Delhi in her glider. He was delighted, and an invitation to lunch followed. For last several days of her visit to India, she lived at the Nehrus’ home as their guest.

“Nehru was particularly curious about the rumour that Hanna had been Hitler’s mistress”, Reitch’s biographer, Sophie Jackson, records. “Hanna did not mind recounting her time in the bunker. At least with this audience, she could speak openly and would not be automatically condemned”.

The grandchildren—one of whom was later to become an airline pilot, and then Prime Minister; the other, to die in an aviation accident—“were enthusiastic, as only young boys can be, over all things to do with flying”. “They showed her their model aeroplanes and escorted her around Delhi”. Indira Gandhi and Reitch, according to her autobiography, continued to correspond.

In some senses, the brief friendship between Nehru and the Nazi tells us little—except perhaps about the exceptional privilege being White brought, and sometime still brings, in post-independence India. Yet, the story illuminates, how quickly the world—and even committed anti-fascists like Nehru—were to forgive those who participated in and enabled the most evil regime the world has ever known.

Emerging from prison late in 1945, Reitch found her world no longer existed. Fearing the prospect of being repatriated to Soviet Union-controlled Germany, her father Wilhelm Reitch had shot dead his wife Emy von Alpenheim, younger daughter Heidi Reitch, and her three children, before turning the gun on himself. These kinds of suicides, historian Jörg Freidrich has shown, were not uncommon: the downfall of Hitler had meant not just military defeat, but the implosion of society itself.

In 1932, Reitch had learned to fly gliders in the small town of Grunau, going on to set several altitude and endurance records. Following a brief stint as a movie stunt pilot, she went on join the Luftwaffe’s testing centre at Rechlin-Lärz Airfield—achieving iconic status in Nazi propaganda for flying the Focke-Achgelis Fa 61, the world’s first fully controllable helicopter, the Junkers Ju87 dive bomber, the Dornier D017 light bomber and the rocket-propelled Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet.

Following the war, though, Germans were barred from piloting powered aircraft. Reitch returned to her first love, gliding. From 1955 on, she set multiple new records. New Delhi, meanwhile, had lost its flying club’s fledgling fleet, after a jet aircraft crashed into the hangar. Hans Georg Steltzer, the Federal Republic of Germany’s ambassador in New Delhi from 1957 to 1960, thought a new glider would make a perfect present to the newly-independent country.

The fact that Steltzer chose an apparently unrepentant Nazi icon to fly that glider is illuminating. In fact, key figures in Nazi Germany were being rehabilitated across the world. Reitch’s one-time lover Wernher von Braun—the architect of the Nazi missile programme, and now widely known to have been responsible for war crimes involving the use of slave labour—had become a respected figure in the United States’ space programme.

Large numbers other Nazi scientists were rehabilitated in both the United States and Soviet Union; the new Federal Republic’s political leadership and intelligence services, too, were awash with former Nazis.

Elsewhere in the world, too, figures close to the Nazi establishment found themselves rehabilitated. Kurt Tank, the legendary Focke-Wulf aircraft designer, went on to design combat jets for Argentina, Egypt and India. Indeed, Tank was in India when Reitch made her visit, although there’s nothing to suggest the two met.

For Reitch, the India visit appears to have coincided with an effort to build a new inner world. Reitch, Sophie Jackson tells us, became drawn to“various forms of Eastern religion, particularly meditation. It seemed to Hanna that this might help combat her anxiety and emptiness”. She went on what her biographer describes as a “pilgrimage” to Pondicherry, meeting with the French spiritualist Mira Alfassa. The one-time Nazi test pilot, by her own account, even practiced yoga with Nehru.

The journey to India was to mark Reitch’s rebranding as a feminist aviation icon. Meetings with President John F Kennedy, and other world leaders, followed. Then, she moved to Ghana in 1962, setting up a flight school for the newly-independent country. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s iconic freedom movement leader, became a close friend.

Berhard Rieger, in a signal 2008 essay, observed that Ghana provided an ideal stage for Reitch’s effort at “moral self-reinvention: it allowed her to parade herself as a racially unprejudiced humanitarian, thereby sidestepping the very political questions of responsibility and guilt that marred her biography”. For the country she served, too, German technology could be marketed as a benevolent philanthropic tool, thus freeing it of the burden it carried for abetting industrialised slaughter.

In interviews given in her last years, though, Reitch took off the veil she had donned. “And what do we have now in Germany”, she asked the American photojournalist Ron Laytner? “A land of bankers and car-makers. Even our great army has gone soft. Soldiers wear beards and question orders. I am not ashamed to say I believed in National Socialism. I still wear the Iron Cross with Diamonds Hitler gave me”.

“Today in all Germany”, she concluded, “you can’t find a single person who voted Adolf Hitler into power”. “Many Germans feel guilty about the war. But they don’t explain the real guilt we share—that we lost”.

Even at the very end, she expressed neither shame nor regret for the Holocaust, or her own role in Nazi Germany’s wars of aggression. Perhaps, in private, Nehru had asked her what she thought on these issues. Whether he did, and what she said, the archive does not tell us.

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Uttar Pradesh relaxes lockdown in all but 20 districts from 1 June onwards

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday relaxed the COVID-19 lockdown from 1 June allowing shops and markets outside containment zones to open for five days a week, but it would not be implemented for now in 20 districts where active cases are over 600.

Once the tally of active COVID-19 cases in these districts falls below 600, relaxation will be implemented there, said Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary RK Tiwari.

The 20 districts where there would be no relaxation yet are Meerut, Lucknow, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bareilly, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Jhansi, Prayagraj, Lakhimpur-Khiri, Sonbhadra, Jaunpur, Baghpat, Moradabad, Ghazipur, Bijnor and Deoria.

For the rest of the 55 districts, shops and markets outside containment zones will be allowed to remain open 7 am to 7 pm from Mondays to Fridays from 1 June, Tiwari said in a government statement.

Eateries on highways and vendors will be allowed to operate, according to the statement.

It also said night curfew will remain in place from 7 pm to 7 am and weekend restrictions or "corona curfew" will be there on Saturdays and Sundays.

Instructions were issued that during weekend restrictions, cleanliness, sanitisation and fogging campaigns will be carried out.

Shopkeepers and their employees will have to wear masks, maintain a two-yard distance and ensure the arrangement of sanitiser. This rule will also be applicable for the customers, it said.

While there would be full attendance for frontline workers, for the rest of the government officers, there would be 50 percent attendance with employees being called in a rotational manner. COVID helpdesk must be established at all the offices.

The private sector has been asked to encourage the employees to work from home.

According to the statement, industrial units will stay open while vegetable markets in the densely populated areas will function in open areas.

At railway stations, airport and bus stand all the COVID protocols have to be followed, screening of passengers and antigen tests have to be conducted and then sent to hospitals. Buses of the UP Roadways have been allowed to operate within the state with passengers according to seating capacity, it said.

Schools, colleges and educational institutes will remain closed while teachers and other staff have been allowed to come to the school for administrative work.

Barring the containment zones, not more than five devotees will be allowed inside the religious places at a time. Coaching centres, cinema halls, gyms, swimming pools, clubs and shopping malls will remain completely closed, the statement said.

A maximum of 20 persons will be allowed in a funeral procession, it said.

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Two children from rural Karnataka contract black fungus; both critical

Bengaluru: Mucormycosis, commonly known as black fungus, which was till now affecting only adults, has been detected among children as two cases were reported in rural Karnataka.

A 11-year-old girl from Ballari district and 14-year-old boy from Chitradurga district have been infected with the fungal disease. Both are undergoing treatment at government hospitals here and their condition is said to be serious.

They had contracted COVID-19 but were not aware of it, a health official said adding they were admitted to the hospital after they developed complications. "Two children are undergoing treatment for the black fungus infection at Government Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospitals. They are suffering from Acute Juvenile Diabetes (AJD)," a senior health official told PTI.

The official added that they are in a critical state.

According to the state health department, 1,250 cases of black fungus have been reported so far in the state. As many as 1,193 are currently under treatment and 18 are cured while 39 have lost their lives.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar told reporters that the state has so far received around 10,000 vials of amphotericin-B drug used for the treatment of the fungal infection, from the Centre.

In government hospitals, we are providing the treatment and medicine free of cost, he noted.

Black Fungus has emerged as a post COVID-19 complication, especially among the diabetes patients with high sugar levels.

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Uttar Pradesh announces Rs 10 lakh aid for families of journalists who died due to COVID-19

Lucknow: In a bid to encourage and honour the tireless and unparalleled contribution of journalists, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced Rs 10 lakh financial aid for family members of scribes who died due to COVID-19.

On the occasion of ''Hindi Journalism Day'', Adityanath said, "From the freedom movement to the present times, Hindi journalism has had an unprecedented contribution in social awakening and nation-building. My heartfelt greetings to all journalists on Hindi Journalism Day."

The chief minister said that the government is committed to provide all support to journalists and will continue to encourage them.

Praising the efforts of journalists, he said, "During such challenging and testing times, all journalists and media workers have risked their lives to bring to us relevant and authentic information. They have worked 24x7 which is commendable."

During the second wave of the pandemic, many journalists across the country got infected on duty and lost their lives, leaving their families helpless, the UP government said.

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World No Tobacco Day 2021 Awards: Madhya Pradesh Voluntary Health Association wins prestigious WHO prize

Amid the lockdown and surge in COVID-19 cases, Madhya Pradesh Voluntary Health Association (MPHVA) was given the prestigious World No Tobacco Day Award by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

This big announcement was made on Monday, 24 May.

According to a press release from WHO, MPVHA won the award in the South East Asia Region category for its efforts in tobacco prevention and control.

WHO annually organises this event to acknowledge individuals or organisations in each of the six selected regions for their activities in the area of tobacco control.

Sharing light on the association’s work, the executive director of MPVHA Mukesh Kumar Sinha said that they are working towards the national tobacco control program for the last two decades in Madhya Pradesh.

“Global Adult Tobacco Survey data of the state says that the overall consumption of tobacco reduced from 40 percent in 2009 to 34 percent in 2016 and smoking at public places reduced from 40 percent in 2009 to 24 percent in 2016,” Sinha said.

Further giving an update on the various health projects, he asserted that they are currently working with the State Tobacco Control Cell for the implementation of the National Tobacco Control Programme in the state. Few measures have been introduced in the state to protect the teens, women, and poor section of people from the tobacco menace, he explained.

MPVHA is the first civil society organisation in India that has received this prestigious award.

Finally talking about the award, Sinha informed that WHO director-general's special award had been conferred on Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare. Uttar Pradesh’s State Tobacco Control Cell, also won the World No Tobacco Day Award this year.

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As rural Maharashtra reels under COVID-19 second wave, health experts blame govt's 'reactive' approach, unpreparedness

Maharashtra, one of the worst-affected states by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been hit by a double-whammy of shortages over the past month.

After running short of resources such as ventilator beds, liquid oxygen, and drugs like remdesivir in April, the state is currently battling a shortage of the anti-fungal drug liposomal amphotericin B (Ampho-B).

Ampho-B is crucial in the treatment of mucormycosis or the ‘black fungus’ infection which has been declared as a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 by at least 20 states since 22 May. The disease is largely being detected in COVID-19 patients.

Maharashtra is one of the worst-affected states by mucormycosis, having reported 2,200 of the national tally of 11,717 cases as of 26 May.

Announcing that all black fungus patients will be treated under the state government’s health insurance scheme, state health minister Rajesh Tope has said that the shortage of ampho-B in Maharashtra is a cause for worry.

Appealing to the Centre for more doses Tope said, “The state needs 1.50 lakh vials of the drug but has only received 16,000 vials from the Centre.”

The requirement of the medicine has risen sharply across the state in the past two weeks.

Rohit Karpe, treasurer of the Association of Chemists in the Pune district, was quoted by Indian Express as saying, “Usually, in any hospital, there would be a requirement of up to 100 vials per month prior to COVID-19. Now the consumption per patient is up to 120 vials. Presently, the demand has shot up to 1,000 to 1,500 vials from hospitals to various distributors in Pune district.”

Ravi Chavan, a resident doctor in a government hospital in Pune district’s Baramati, spoke about the black fungus situation at the taluka-level. He said that the taluka-level healthcare infrastructure faces limitations in treating black fungus cases and that the patients are almost always referred directly to the district hospitals.

“The treatment of black fungus cases needs a combined effort. A specialist team comprising a neurosurgeon, ophthalmologist, ENT surgeon, and an MD is required to correctly treat a patient. But in the Baramati taluka, there are only two hospitals equipped with all these specialists. Such is the case in largely all talukas in Maharashtra,” Chavan told Firstpost.

Doctors and healthcare experts based in Palghar, Amravati, and Gadchiroli districts also said that local infrastructure was ill-equipped.

A regulatory policy to boost the availability of ampho-B is yet to be implemented in the state.

However, Dr Subhash Salunkhe, the technical adviser on COVID-19 to the Maharashtra government, stated that the administration is working to bolster its stocks and streamline the process in the next two weeks.

“The state government will follow the same protocol for ampho-B as was followed for remdesivir. Patients and hospitals will be able to procure the medicine from the respective district collectors’ offices,” Salunkhe said.

‘Had to pick and choose whom to help’

The shortage of the anti-fungal drug comes on the heels of an unprecedented overburdening of hospitals battling the second wave of COVID-19. For almost a month since 22 April, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have been inundated with requests for oxygen cylinders and beds, ventilator and ICU beds, plasma, and remdesivir.

Countless citizens have stepped up with efforts to finds and verify leads for resources.

Among the ‘COVID-19 volunteers’ is a group of 20 second-year MBBS students from the Dr VM Government Medical College in Solapur, who formed a network in 21 of Maharashtra’s districts: Washim, Nanded, Satara, Solapur, Parbhani, Dhule, Nandurbar, Raigad, Ahmednagar, Kolhapur, Pune, Hingoli, Nashik, Amravati, Yavatmal, Akola, Buldhana, Jalna, Pimpri Chinchwad, Jalgaon, and Aurangabad.

The students, who are now flagging the deepening shortage of the Ampho-B drug, were unanimous in sounding the alarm about the shortcomings of rural healthcare infrastructure in 13 districts.

Firstpost spoke to them about the situation they faced, as citizen volunteers, in helping COVID-19 patients secure life-saving resources at the peak of the crisis in April.

“The shortage of COVID-19 resources like oxygen and ventilator beds or remdesivir and plasma was so bad that we had to pick and choose whom to help,” said Girish Kothale, the volunteer group in-charge of Maharashtra’s Akola district.

In the 13 districts, the common refrain is that the hospitals – both government and private – in the headquarter cities were massively overburdened. Additionally, the most challenging resources to get leads on were ventilator beds and remdesivir.

While the number of active cases has reduced across Maharashtra this week, the student volunteers were wary of stating that the situation has stabilised in hospitals in the districts and talukas that they have been handling.

 

'Availability of ventilator beds boosted in Akola, but situation far from stable'

The biggest obstacle is to find ventilator beds, the students said.

Districts such as Solapur, Pune, Nanded, Satara, Nashik, Yavatmal, and Amravati are seeing comparatively better availability of ventilator beds since the second week of May.

Kothale, the student handling patient requests in Akola, said that the load of COVID-19 patients under treatment in the district’s hospitals had not decreased as of 29 May.

“The hospitals in Akola are still dealing with the same number of COVID-19 patients, many of whom are severe. The availability of ventilator beds has been boosted slightly but the situation is far from stable,” he said.

Rushikesh Kholghadge, the student responsible for the Washim district, summarised the general challenges faced by the students in all districts.

“When we started our initiative, we were venturing into a ‘zero’ situation. There were zero ventilator beds and zero oxygen beds available because of the sudden spike in cases. All hospital facilities were completely overburdened in the last week of April. It was simply impossible to find a ventilator. Now the situation is manageable but not better,” Kholghadge said.

Resident doctor Chavan, in the Baramati taluka, echoed Kholghadge’s statement and illustrated the severity of the shortage.

“It was simply impossible to get a ventilator bed anywhere in the taluka or the district. In April, despite getting 10 to 12 additional ventilators, our hospital was overburdened. In some cases, the delay in procuring a ventilator resulted in the patient’s death,” he said.

Chavan also said that the hospital was hard-pressed to provide beds and accommodate all the patients seeking admission. “There was absolute chaos. Our hospital has a capacity of 92 but there were 200 patients admitted. The management had set up cots in the verandah, in the corridors, in every available space. Somehow, we tried to admit every patient possible,” he said.

The lack of awareness about COVID-19 testing and treatment in rural areas compounded the problem because families delayed treatment and hospitalisation till the patient’s condition was severe, Chavan added.

“In such a situation, the patient directly needs a ventilator because his or her oxygen saturation is rapidly falling. With few ventilator beds to start with, a high number of severe patients made the situation worse,” he explained.

In Nandurbar, student Vishal Pawara shared an unusual insight. He said that contrary to the situation in almost all other districts, the hospitals in Nandurbar were not at full capacity because people were refusing to get tested and/or admitted “out of fear”.

The COVID-19 adviser to the Maharashtra government, Salunkhe, also admitted that the state machinery’s communication strategy fell short in its purpose of raising awareness about the benefits of timely reporting, and alleviating the fear and mistrust.

He added, “It has to be a joint effort between various state agencies, citizens, youth groups, NGOs to disseminate information so that people are less fearful of entering the healthcare system.”

Student volunteers in all the 13 districts reported that they received at least 25 to 30 calls daily from families of COVID-19 patients requiring ventilators on an urgent basis.

Unfortunately, they said, their success rate was abysmal.

“Of the around 30 calls that I got every day for ventilators I was able to fulfil only 3 to 4 requests. The shortage was such that there was absolutely no gap between the discharges and admissions for ventilator beds. Both government and private hospitals had very limited beds,” said Shubhadeep Turkane, the volunteer group in-charge of Yavatmal and Amravati districts.

Shriya Shah, the student handling requests in the Solapur district, spoke of an instance when she received a call for a ventilator bed and managed to secure a bed relatively quickly.

But by then the patient had already passed away.

The few patients who received ventilators or oxygen beds had to face waiting periods from ten hours upto a whole day. This, at the risk of the patient’s deteriorating condition, said Gaju Nana, a bureaucrat posted in a government hospital in Washim.

In most districts, civil hospitals have a robust waiting system, the students said.

Some patients chose not to wait, but move to other towns or cities such as Mumbai and Pune.

Tejas Desai, the student entrusted with the Satara district, said that a COVID-19 positive senior citizen couple undertook a six-hour journey from Satara city to Mumbai.

“Both patients’ oxygen saturation was around 70 and needed ventilator beds at 11.30 pm. I called literally every private and government hospital in Pune, Kolhapur, and Karad but was unsuccessful. Eventually, they travelled 250 kilometres to Mumbai in an ambulance and were able to secure ventilator beds there,” Desai said, adding that such an option is only available to people who can afford inflated ambulance rates and expensive hospital bills.

Calling the situation “frustrating”, Chavan said that healthcare workers felt “helpless” at not being able to provide for patients.

Salunkhe added that the absence of skilled technicians to operate equipment like ventilators was just as alarming as the shortage of the resource itself. This gap was mentioned by all the doctors and health experts Firstpost spoke with.

A Palghar-based doctor who wished to remain anonymous said, “At the peak of shortages, the focus was on equipment but not on technical skill and manpower. This is majorly alarming.”

Gadchiroli-based public health expert Dr Yogesh Kalkonde also gave an idea of how overwhelmed the rural healthcare infrastructure was during the peak of the second wave.

“There was absolutely no preparation for the intensity of the second wave. The governments, both state and Centre, should have opted for a preventive approach rather than a reactive approach. Because the healthcare system on a whole is weak, the battle against COVID-19 ends up being fought in the ICU, which is a limited resource,” he said.

'Remdesivir hyped as treatment but efficacy conditional'

The drug remdesivir, used as an early treatment for moderate COVID-19 patients, was another resource that was challenging to procure, students across districts said.

“Remdesivir has been hyped as a treatment even though its efficacy is conditional and limited for the treatment of COVID-19. But because there was a lot of panic, patients were demanding that doctors prescribe it to them,” said Shriniwas Galshetwar, the volunteer group in-charge of Nanded district.

Health expert Kalkonde corroborated Galshetwar’s statement and said that remdesivir had become part of the “folklore” because people were considering it to be a “magic bullet”, which isv inaccurate.

On 22 May, reports emerged that remdesivir is likely to be dropped from the list of primary COVID-19 treatment protocols.

The Maharashtra government sought to clamp down on the rampant black marketing of the drug, as vials were being sold for over one lakh rupees. To counter the black market, the state government stipulated that remdesivir would only be available through the respective district collectors’ offices.

The strategy’s success or failure to curb black marketing is unclear but students said that it didn’t ease the process of procuring the drug.

Each patient who is prescribed remdesivir requires six vials to complete one course of the medicine.

The family of Piyush Patel, the volunteer group in-charge of Nashik district, runs its own hospital. Patel said that despite applying for remdesivir doses for 80 patients (which would be 480 vials), the DC’s office sent only five vials.

“Subsequently, when the patients visited the DC’s office individually to procure the medicine, officials said that doses were already given to the hospital. This was a major loophole in this system,” he said.

Government advisor Salunkhe stated that the system was bound to be flawed because of the sheer demand.

“When the demand is 5,000 vials and the supply is 500, it is natural to have some rationing and shortfalls in the process of procurement,” he said.

However, experts called the policy of routing the procurement of these drugs through the DC’s office as a “transparent and reasonable” strategy, which had its “pros and cons” in countering the black market.

'People largely dependent on facilities at govt hospitals'

Oxygen cylinders, which were in high demand in Delhi and other cities, were only an option for a few families who could afford the inflated rates on the black market, said Shubham Jadhav in Hingoli district.

People largely depended on the facilities available at government hospitals, Jadhav said

The students are now preparing for their second-year semester exams, set to be held in person in June. However, all the students are appealing to the college administration and the state government to promote them without the test, citing stress and the risk of COVID-19 in travelling to Solapur from their hometowns, Shah said.

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