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NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday termed the coronavirus as “invisible enemy” and called India’s corona warriors as “invincible” asserting that they will win the battle against the virus. He said that violence against healthcare personnel and rude behaviour towards them are not acceptable, noting that such incidents are a result of “mob mentality”. India’s Covid-19 tally reached 1,90,535 as the country witnessed its highest-ever spike of 8,392 cases, while the death toll climbed to 5.394.
Here are the top developments:
1
India
- The world must unite and focus on “humanity-centric” aspects of development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, noting that advancements nations make in the health sector will matter more than ever as countries battle the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The government on Monday limited its export ban on alcohol-based hand sanitisers only to those in containers with dispenser pumps. The directorate general of foreign trade said alcohol-based hand sanitisers in any other form or packaging are free for exports with immediate effect.
- Tourists and others hiring cabs and motorcycles for self-driving will not be required to carry badges if they are holding a domestic driving licence or an international driving permit, the government said.
- Aviation regulator DGCA asked airlines to keep middle seats vacant to the extent possible in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. However, if a flyer has been allotted the middle seat due to a high passenger load “then additional protective equipment like wrap-around gown must be provided to him or her in addition to a three-layered face mask and face shield, said the DGCA order.
- After almost two months of lying unutilised, the railways’ first Covid-19 care centre consisting of 10 modified coaches with 160 beds has been deployed in Delhi, officials said.
- Guidelines allowing opening of religious places from June 8 has earned a thumbs down from public health expert and epidemiologist Giridhara R Babu, who said it would risk higher number of infections in view of greater density in such places, particularly elderly.
2
States
- Delhi: After being shut for over two months, barbershops and salons will reopen in Delhi, but spas will remain closed, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said while announcing the next-phase of relaxations, even as lockdown in containment zones was extended till June 30.
- Gujarat: Life returned to near normal in many parts of Gujarat, notably in Ahmedabad, the state’s worst coronavirus-hit district, as several restrictions were eased in the fifth phase of the lockdown.
- UP: Uttar Pradesh reported 116 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the total number of Covid-19 cases in the state to 8,191.
- Haryana: Home minister Anil Vij indicated that if the situation demanded curbs could be reimposed on the state’s borders, reopened in line with Centre’s fresh guidelines on exiting coronavirus lockdown. Vij said that the situation at the borders will be assessed daily.
- Manipur: Three Delhi returnees have tested positive for Covid-19 in Manipur, taking the total number of novel coronavirus cases in the state to 81.
- Kerala: The state reported 57 fresh positive cases,55 of whom had come from abroad and other states, taking the infection tally to 1,326 in the state while over 1.39 lakh people are under observation.
- HP: The number of coronavirus cases in Himachal Pradesh rose to 339 as seven more people tested positive for the disease.
- MP: The Madhya Pradesh government has readied 60,000 beds in various hospitals to deal with spike in Covid-19 cases, if any, after easing of the lockdown curbs.
- J&K: The civil secretariat in Jammu was sanitised and 80 government officials and their contacts were put to quarantine after a top bureaucrat tested positive for coronavirus.
- Punjab: Liquor is going to cost more in Punjab as the state government imposed Covid cess on the sale of alcohol. The Punjab government has raised additional excise duty and additional assessed fee on liquor in the range of Rs 2 to Rs 50 depending upon the type of liquor.
- Arunachal Pradesh: The state reported its fifth Covid-19 case after a 26-year-old student who had returned to the state from Chennai tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
- Odisha: Amid a spike in Covid-19 cases and reports suggesting that outbreak might peak in June, Odisha announced weekend shutdown for the month in 11 districts of the state, anticipating that people might venture out in large numbers as the Centre has eased lockdown curbs.
- Uttarakhand: Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and three cabinet colleagues were in self-quarantine following a meeting last week with tourism minister Satpal Maharaj, who has tested positive for coronavirus. A coronavirus patient died as the number of people testing positive for the infection rose to 929 with 23 fresh cases in Uttarakhand.
- Goa: All relaxations given by the Centre in the fifth phase of lockdown will be implemented in Goa and further easing of norms would be decided upon gradually, CM Pramod Sawant said.
- Assam: Forty-five more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Assam, taking the number of cases to 1,384.
- Andhra Pradesh: Coronavirus hit the Andhra Pradesh secretariat with two government staff testing positive, even as 105 fresh cases were added in the state, taking the overall count to 3,674.
- Puducherry: Four fresh coronavirus cases were reported in Puducherry taking the number of infections in the Union territory to 49.
- Chandigarh: The Chandigarh administration issued guidelines under which barbershops and hair salons have been allowed to be opened from June 2.
- Karnataka: The state in the last 24 hours reported 187 new cases of coronavirus, with which the state’s total Covid-19 count has surged to 3,408.
3
World
- The World Health Organisation said that about half of countries surveyed in a new analysis have had partial or complete disruption of services for people with high blood pressure and diabetes treatment during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In a survey of 155 countries last month, the UN health agency found worrying problems in the provision of health care for people with non-communicable diseases, many of whom are at higher risk of severe complications from Covid-19.
- The novel coronavirus has killed at least 372,047 people since the outbreak first emerged in China last December. At least 6,182,860 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 196 countries and territories.
- The United States is the worst-hit country with 104,383 deaths from 1,790,191 cases.
- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who turned 45 on Monday, said he and his family had tested positive for the new coronavirus and that he would be working from home.
- Iran has registered nearly 3,000 new cases of coronavirus and 81 deaths in the last 24 hours. While a total of 1,21,004 people out of 1,54,445 Covid-19 patients have recovered, the toll has reached 7,878 after 81 deaths were reported.
- The UK began what the government has termed “very cautious” first steps towards unlocking the coronavirus lockdown, with primary schools welcoming back pupils within socially distanced norms. However, many families are expected to keep children home amid fears of a second wave of the deadly virus, which has claimed over 38,000 lives in the country.
- Japan’s health ministry started blood tests in three areas including Tokyo in an effort to check what percentage of its people have developed antibodies, a sign of their coronavirus infections in recent past.
- Turkish airlines resumed limited domestic flights, restaurants welcomed sit-in customers and beaches and museums reopened as Turkey’s broadest easing of coronavirus restrictions came into effect. The easing of restrictions follows a slowdown in confirmed Covid-19 infections and deaths in the country.
- Pakistan’s coronavirus cases crossed 72,00-mark with 2,964 new patients while the death toll climbed to 1,543 after 60 people lost their lives in the last 24 hours,
- Singapore reported 408 new coronavirus cases, a day before virus restrictions are to be eased, taking the total number of Covid-19 infections in the country to 35,292 with 23 deaths.
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