NEW DELHI: With lockdown relaxations expanding, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday cautioned people against showing any laxity in the fight against Covid-19 and asked them to be “extra alert and careful”, while acknowledging that the poor and labourers have been hit the hardest by the crisis. The PM’s note of caution came on a day India registered its highest single-day spike of Covid-19 cases with 8,380 new infections, taking the country’s tally to 1,82,143, while the death toll rose to 5,164.
Here are the top developments:
1
India
- In his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ broadcast, PM Modi said the pain that the poor, working class and labourers suffered cannot be described in words, he said, stating that the current scenario is an “eye opener to happenings in the past” in the country and offers opportunity for scrutiny and lessons for the future.
- Modi noted that a big part of the economy has opened and train and flight services have begun operating partially with more relaxations on the anvil, but warned people against letting their guards down.
- With the Union home ministry initiating more relaxations in the nationwide lockdown from June 8, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu urged people to exercise utmost caution as the society seeks to rebound from the disruption caused by the virus. In a Facebook post titled “Unlock-1 : Handle With Care”, he said this rebound should be handled with care and responsibly by all stakeholders.
- The recovery rate of coronavirus patients has increased to 47.76 per cent, said the Union ministry of health. The ministry said the number of cases under active medical supervision as of now is 89,995.
- Air India has made it mandatory for its pilots and cabin crew members to check and confirm that their pre-flight Covid-19 test results are negative before they operate an aircraft, according to an official communication issued hours after the Delhi-Moscow flight incident involving a pilot on Saturday.
- The Railways said it will begin operations of 200 special trains from June 1 and more than 1.45 lakh passengers will travel on the first day. It also said around 26 lakh passengers have booked for Advance Reservation Period from June 1 to June 30.
- In view of the fresh guidelines issued by the Union home ministry on nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus, the National Green Tribunal said that the entire staff will physically attend the office from June 1.
2
States
- Maharashtra: The Maharashtra government extended till June 30 the lockdown in the entire state, and announced easing of restrictions and phase-wise resumption of activities under the “Mission Begin Again”.
- Delhi: Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal directed authorities to continue with strict measures in containment zones in order to arrest the spread of Covid-19 in the national capital. Delhi recorded its highest single-day spike of 1,295 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 19,844, as the death toll due to the disease mounted to 473.
- Assam: The state reported 56 new Covid-19 cases, taking the total in the state to 1,272.
- J&K: The Jammu and Kashmir administration extended the coronavirus lockdown until June 8 and said the Centre’s new guidelines on some relaxations require a fresh assessment of the spread of Covid-19 in the Union territory.
- Manipur: Nine more people tested positive for Covid-19 in Manipur, taking the total number of such cases in the state to 71.
- UP: The UP government allowed interstate travel but left it to the district administrations of Ghaziabad and Noida to take a call on the movement of people from adjoining New Delhi.
- Goa: Trains and flights are expected to arrive in Goa in large numbers from June 1 as the fifth phase of the coronavirus-induced lockdown brings with it a greater rolling back of restrictions.
- Nagaland: Seven returnees from Chennai tested positive for Covid-19 in Nagaland, taking the total number of cases in the state to 43.
- Uttarakhand: The number of coronavirus cases in Uttarakhand rose to 802 after 53 more people tested positive for the disease.
- Andhra Pradesh: Coronavirus cases saw a biggest spurt in a single day so far in Andhra Pradesh as 110 were added, taking the overall tally to 3,571 while two more deaths were reported, taking the toll to 62.
- Rajasthan: The Rajasthan government issued guidelines for “unlocking” the lockdown for the period from June 1 to June 30. The new guidelines have given relaxations to some activities but said “there will be no relaxation in the areas under containment zones of hotspots and clusters/curfew areas.”
- Tamil Nadu: The Tamil Nadu government announced extension of the ongoing lockdown till June 30, albeit with more relaxations that included partial opening up of public transport and allowing more employees at workplaces.
- Arunachal: Arunachal Pradesh reported its fourth Covid-19 case after a 12-year-old student, who recently returned to the state from Delhi in a bus, tested positive for the disease.
- Odisha: Odisha reported its highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases, with 129 more people testing positive for the infection. The total number of coronavirus cases in the state rose to 1,948.
- Telangana: The Telangana government extended the lockdown in containment zones till June 30 even as it lifted the restrictions on inter-state movement of people.
- Bihar: A migrant worker who died last week on board a Shramik Special train by which he was returning home from Haryana has tested positive for Covid-19, raising Bihar’s death toll to 21.
- Chandigarh: Two more Covid-19 cases have been reported from Chandigarh’s Bapu Dham Colony. The total number of positive Covid-19 cases in Chandigarh now stands at 291.
- Kerala: A family of three, a 24-year-old man and his parents, tested positive for Covid-19 in Munnar on Sunday, alarming the health workers of the densely populated town in Idukki district of Kerala.
- HP: Four more Covid-19 cases have been reported from Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district. The total number of Covid-19 positive cases in the state has reached 317, including 201 active cases.
- West Bengal: The state registered the highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases, with 371 more testing positive for the disease. The total number of coronavirus cases in the state currently stood at 5,501 in the state.
3
World
- The novel coronavirus has killed at least 369,086 people since the outbreak first emerged in China last December. At least 6,075,070 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 196 countries and territories.
- The United States is the worst-hit country with 103,781 deaths from 1,770,384 cases. At least 416,461 people have been declared recovered.
- Russia reported 9,268 new cases of the coronavirus, the first time in a week that the daily tally exceeded 9,000. Overall, Russia has recorded 405,843 cases and 4,693 deaths from Covid-19.
- Traffic jams returned on Dhaka streets as Bangladesh reopened offices and transport services in a restricted manner after two months even as the country recorded 40 more coronavirus deaths, the highest number of fatalities in a single day.
- China has reported five new coronavirus cases, including three asymptomatic infections. There was no new domestically transmitted Covid-19 case reported in the country.
- The Nepal government has extended the nationwide lockdown until June 14 amid a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases and decided to deploy the Army in the worst-hit areas. Nepal reported 166 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of infections in the country to 1,567.
- The total coronavirus cases in Pakistan has increased to 69,474, while the death toll reached 1,483. In the past 24 hours, 88 more fatalities and 3,039 new coronavirus cases were registered.
- Singapore is gearing up to lift its circuit breaker measures imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic after two months, even as the city-state reported 518 new Covid-19 cases, taking the total number of infections to 34,884.
- South Korea reported 27 new cases of the coronavirus, including 21 from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where officials are scrambling to stem transmissions linked to clubgoers and warehouse workers. The figures brought the national totals to 11,468 cases and 270 deaths.
- A 100-year-old Indonesian woman has recovered from coronavirus, making her the country’s oldest survivor of the deadly respiratory illness. Indonesia has confirmed more than 26,000 cases of coronavirus and 1,613 deaths.
- Iran said its caseload of novel coronavirus infections passed the grim milestone of 150,000, as the country struggles to contain a recent upward trend. The government has largely lifted the restrictions it imposed in order to halt a Covid-19 outbreak.
