Coronavirus India lockdown Day 96 updates | Lockdown in Maharashtra will not be lifted completely after June 30: Uddhav Tackeray

Over five lakh COVID-19 positive cases, and more than 15,600 deaths — India’s coronavirus numbers continue to climb nearly five months after the first case was detected in the country.

Read more: Community spread is on, says Karnataka official

Here is a list of State Helpline numbers. You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here.

Here are the latest updates:

1:40 p.m. | Mumbai

Lockdown will not be lifted completely after June 30: Uddhav Tackeray

“Lockdown will not be lifted completely after June 30. However there will be relaxations,” stated Uddhav Thackeray in his address to the state today.

“Come out of the illusion that relaxations mean corona threat is over…we are opening services only to revive the economic cycle” he added

Speaking on festivals, the Maharashtra Chief Minister said: “Dahi handi festival was voluntarily canceled. I held the meeting of all public Ganesh mandals. I have appealed to restrict the idol height at 4 feet only. There will be no procession on arrival of Ganpati neither on visarjan.”

Treatment and medicine

Mr. Thackeray went on to stress on the need for Plasma Therapy for COVID-19 treatment due to its success rate. “We will be largest state in the country to use Plasma Therapy,” he said.

The Chief Minister appealed to the recovered patients to come forward and get in contact with the government medical colleges and doctors to donate Plasma.

He promised that there would be no shortage of medicine. “We are also using all available medicines, including Ramdesivir. We will making available these medicines for free at government hospitals. Soon stocks will be full and we will be using it,” he said.

Need for doctors

Mr. Thackeray said that the state was in dire need of senior doctors with experience. “We know the threat to you. But we assure you that we will provide every possible safety kit to you. But we want you in field with your experience,” he urged.

“It is time to take more caution,” said Mr. Thackeray

“We have not lifted lockdown. Do not come out in large crowd even if relaxations are offered.”

— Mumbai Bureau

1:30 p.m. | New Delhi

Amit Shah praises govt’s efforts to tackle COVID-19

“The Indian government has effectively fought against Coronavirus,” said Home Minister Amit Shah. “Government of India, state governments and 130 crore countrymen have all fought from Corona in India under the leadership of Narendra Modi.”

In the context of the world, our country’s statistics are very good, he added.

Spekaing about Delhi, the Home Minister claimed that a total of 9,937 beds were available in the city on 14th June. Around 30,000 beds have been provided today.

— BJP’s official Twitter account (@BJP4India)

1:10 p.m. | Odisha

Odisha’s COVID-19 death toll mounts to 21 with 3 fresh fatalities

The COVID-19 death toll in Odisha mounted to 21 on Sunday with three more patients succumbing to the disease, while the count of cases rose to 6,614 after 264 more people tested positive for the infection, a health official said.

The fresh fatalities were reported from Bhubaneswar, Ganjam and Cuttack districts, the Health and Family Welfare Department said in a statement.

— PTI

1:00 p.m.| Maharashtra

COVID-19: Pune, Aurangabad report massive overnight spikes of more than 200 cases

With a massive surge of 240 new Covid-19 cases over a 12-hour span, Pune district recorded its highest overnight spike till now on Sunday as the district’s total case tally rose to 20,263, said authorities.

However, of the case tally, the number of active positive cases are 7,628 with as many as 11, 942 recoveries thus far.

Aurangabad district in the State’s Marathwada region, too, recorded its biggest overnight rise, reporting 208 fresh cases since Saturday evening as its total case tally inched towards the 5,000 mark to reach 4,974. Of these, 2,290 are active cases with 2,446 recoveries in the district thus far.

— Shoumojit Banerjee

12:50 p.m. | Mumbai

Mission Begin Again: Salons reopen in Mumbai after three months

With the further easing of coronavirus-induced curbs in Maharashtra, some salons opened in Mumbai on Sunday after a gap of three months while many remained closed due to lack of manpower.

The parlours and salons falling under the COVID-19 containment zones did not open.

Salon owners, who opened their shops for restarting business, said they were adhering to the government’s guidelines like checking temperatures of their customers, asking them to use hand sanitisers before entering the premises, and serving customers in small batches.

— PTI

12:40 p.m. | Pakistan

Pakistan’s COVID-19 tally crosses 200,000

Pakistan’s number of coronavirus cases on Sunday crossed 200,000 after 4,072 new infections were detected in the last 24 hours, while 83 people died of the disease, taking the death toll to 4,118, the health ministry said.

Out of the total 202,955 cases, 78,267 were identified in Sindh, 74,202 in Punjab, 25,380 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 12,395 in Islamabad, 10,261 in Balochistan, 1,423 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 1,027 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, according to the Ministry of National Health Services.

— PTI

12:30 p.m. | Jammu and Kashmir

Another coronavirus-related fatality in J-K

A 76-year-old man from Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, who had tested positive for coronavirus, died at a hospital, taking the number of virus-related fatalities in the union territory to 94, officials said on Sunday.

The patient from Kulgam died at the Chest Diseases hospital here late on Saturday evening, the officials said.

— PTI

12.30 pm | Kerala

2 lakh Indians in Saudi Arabia seek repatriation

Expatriates in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, who are desperately awaiting a return to India have demanded repatriation flights in the fourth phase of Vande Bharat Mission beginning Wednesday.

As per the latest schedule announced by the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), no flights out of the 136 would be operating from these three Gulf Cooperation Council nations. Saudi Arabia is home to the second-largest Indian expatriate community after the United Arab Emirates (UAE). About 2 lakh Indians stranded in Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh are seeking repatriation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

12:15 p.m. | Bihar

Bihar’s Garibnath temple to be shut for devotees during Shravan month

Devotees, this year, will have to give their visit to Bihar’s Garibnath temple a miss during the holy month of Shravan, as the century-old shrine, which reopened on June 1, has decided to shut its doors again from July, amid the spurt in COVID-19 cases.

“The decision was taken in the larger interest of common people. COVID-19 cases have surfaced around the temple area, too,” chief priest Vinay Pathak said.

— PTI

12:00 p.m.

China virus cases stabilise as Italy sees drop in deaths

China has extended COVID-19 tests to newly reopened salons amid a drop in cases, while South Korea continues to face new infections after it eased social distancing rules to lift the economy.

Also read: Coronavirus cases surge in U.S., but slow in China, South Korea

In the U.S., Vice President Mike Pence called off off a planned campaign bus tour in Florida following a surge in confirmed cases there.

Hard-hit Italy, meanwhile, registered the lowest day-to-day tally of COVID-19 deaths Saturday in almost three months.

No positive cases were found in Beijing’s beauty and barber shops in a further sign that the city’s recent outbreak has been largely brought under control.

— AP

11.30 am

Nearly 2.45 lakh people screened so far in New Delhi

The number of COVID-19 containment zones in Delhi has risen to 417 after re-mapping of such areas, while around 2.45 lakh people have been screened in a mammoth exercise to check the spread of COVID-19 in the national capital, officials said on Sunday.

11.00 am | Karnataka

Two more COVID-19 deaths in Dakshina Kannada

Dakshina Kannada reported two more COVID-19 deaths on Sunday taking the total death toll to 10. Of them a patient died in a private hospital and another one died in the Government Wenlock Hospital.

10.30 am | Madhya Pradesh

Door-to-door survey under ‘Kill Corona’ drive from July 1

Health workers collect swab sample for COVID-19 test in a park in Bhopal. File photo.
 
| Photo Credit:
A.M. Faruqui

The Madhya Pradesh government will launch a ‘Kill Corona’ campaign from July 1 to control the spread of coronavirus in the State. Under the campaign, door-to-door survey will be conducted and tests would also be done on citizens for other diseases, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said during a virtual review meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic on Saturday.

10.00 am

Science: Novel coronavirus infection might trigger type-1 diabetes

Diabetes poses one of the key risk factors for developing severe COVID-19, and chances of dying are elevated in people with diabetes. Now, there is growing evidence that novel coronavirus might actually be triggering diabetes in some people who have so far remained free of it. These patients typically develop type-1 diabetes. The virus seems to be causing diabetes spontaneously in people.

9.30 am

IRDAI frames COVID-19 health cover norms

A standard, indemnity-based health insurance cover for COVID-19 or a policy reimbursing the cost of the treatment, up to the sum insured, including on homecare and AYUSH treatment, will be offered by all health insurers on or before July 10.

This follows insurance regulator IRDAI firming up guidelines for such a standard COVID-19 specific product and making it mandatory for all general and health insurers to launch the same within the deadline. The product, to be called Corona Kavach Policy, followed by the name of the insurance company, will be an individual health policy, with an option to cover the family members.

The Hindu Explains | Why is there a stress on randomised controlled trials?

9.00 am | Andhra Pradesh

Over 600 fined for not wearing mask in the last 48 hours

Despite strict instructions, a number of people have not been wearing face masks in the city, which has been made mandatory by the police. After Police Commissioner R.K. Meena passed orders to collect ₹100 as fine on people moving without masks, the city police teams slapped fine on over 600 persons in the last 48 hours.

8.30 am | Tamil Nadu

Positivity rate highest in Chennai

Tamil Nadu’s positivity rate, or the number of samples that test positive among the total figure, is between below 1% and 20%, with the higher percentile in high-incidence centres such as Chennai, at 23.2%. Data analysed by scientists at the National Institute of Epidemiology (a unit of the Indian Council of Medical Research), shared on Twitter on Saturday, showed that the highest positivity rate went just over 20% in the State.

Police on duty during the complete lock down at Adyar on June 28, 2020
 
| Photo Credit: M. Karunakaran

There will be a complete lockdown on Sunday with all grocery shops and vegetable outlets closed in Chennai. Milk supply and medical services will not be interrupted.

The Hindu Explains | Institutions may save money and time with pool testing protocols

8.00 am | Kerala

Cellphone data helps in contact tracing

Cellphone location data is aiding Health officials and the police fill the blanks while tracing contacts of COVID-19 patients in Ernakulam. The source of infection of the dubbing artist at Nayarambalam who tested positive on June 21 was traced after the police verified his call data records and tower locations.

7.30 am | Maharashtra

Central team stresses on reducing mortality rate

Volunteers prepare meals for the homeless and daily wagers at a shelter in Thane on Thursday amid the nationwide lockdown.  

A Central team on Saturday visited Thane district to review the COVID-19 situation and told local authorities to concentrate on reducing the mortality rate. As on Friday night, the district had a total 27,479 cases, with Thane city, Kalyan-Dombivali and Bhiwandi numbers being particularly worrisome, while 911 people have succumbed to the infection.

7.00 am

Rural Gurugram stays ahead of the curve in virus crisis

Two days before the nationwide ‘janata curfew’ on March 22 — a precursor to a series of lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19 — the Wazirpur panchayat, on the outskirts of Gurugram, held a camp near the district’s AYUSH department and distributed ayurvedic medicine to villagers to boost their immunity.