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Covid-19 a wake-up call for us to be self-reliant: PM

(Updating earlier copy)

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that the Covid-19 crisis is a big lesson for the country to be self-reliant self-sufficient in dealing with such situations.

The PM was interacting with sarpanchs (village heads) across the country through video-conferencing on Panchayati Raj Divas.

With the country under a lockdown for a month now and the total number of cases crossing over 23,000, the Prime Minister said that the need of the hour is to be self-reliant at the level of a village, a district as well as a country.

The PM further said that despite the overwhelming effects of the pandemic, people in the country are facing the hardships with limited resources, instead of feeling helpless.

While addressing the village heads, PM lauded them for setting an example for the world in social distancing through “do gaj ki doori” or “do gaj deh ki doori” (a distance of two steps).

He said that there was a time when not even 100 panchayats in the country were connected with broadband. “Today, the service has reached more than 1.25 lakh panchayats,” he said while adding that there are over three lakh common service centers in villages now.

The PM told the village heads that tireless efforts are needed for sanitisation in villages, setting up quarantine centers for people arriving from cities in less time, arranging for food of each and every individual, awareness among the general public.

Prime Minister Modi also said that the government is making the best possible efforts to provide better healthcare facilities to the poor people from the villages. “Ayushman Bharat scheme has also proved to be a big relief to the poor in villages. Under the scheme, more than one crore poor patients have availed free treatment at hospitals,” he said.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister also launched a unified e-Gram Swaraj website and mobile app to support gram panchayats across the country. The portal will provide the panchayats single interface to prepare and implement their development plans.

April 24 is observed as Panchayati Raj Day. The Panchayati Raj had come into force on April 24, 1993 marking a defining moment in the history of decentralisation of power to the grassroots in the country, through the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act-1992.

J&K: PIL filed in HC after Covid suspect doc allowed to treat patients

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Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Three days after a junior doctor was tested positive for Covid-19 at a hospital in north Kashmir’s Baramulla, a Public Interest Litigation has been filed against the hospital incharge, for allegedly allowing the same doctor to treat patients.

The PIL, filed before the J&K High Court, seeks reply from the Medical Superintendent, Government Medical College Hospital, Baramulla over how he allowed a Covid suspect doctor to treat patients till April 21, even as his samples were taken on April 19.

The petitioner has sought judicial action against the Medical Superintendent, accusing him of playing with the lives of hundreds of patients, who came in direct contact with the Covid-suspect doctor. A junior doctor at GMC Baramulla was tested positive for the Covid-19 on April 21.

The petitioner, Suhail Ahmad Lone, from Kanispora, Baramulla told NVI that the young doctor, who tested positive for novel coronavirus on April 21, was allowed to attend the patients even after showing symptoms related to coronavirus. “The samples of doctor were taken on April 19,” Lone said. He said that the doctor was allowed to attend the patients even before his final report was received on Tuesday (April 21), the results of which came positive.

The petition, a copy of which is with the NVI, reads that there is no clue how many persons/patients were examined by the doctor from April 19 to April 21.”For risking the lives of all those who came in contact with the doctor, the blame lies on the Medical Superintendent,” it reads.

“My question in the first place is that how the doctor was allowed to work at Hospital despite being the prime suspect of the virus,” the petitioner writes.

He said that preliminary reports suggest that the doctor in question has treated or attended to at least 200 patients from April 19 to April 21. “Who knows fate of these 200 people? How can they be traced,” he said. “In J&K, 80 per cent Covid patients are asymptomatic.”

However, Chief Medical Officer Baramulla has urged all the people in the district who were treated by the doctor and tested positive, to report to the hospital or else be ready for punitive action for concealing the contact history.

It may be recalled that the junior doctor posted at Government Medical College Baramulla became the first doctor to test positive in the Kashmir Valley where Covid-19 cases have reached 435 with five deaths so far.

26 million Americans filed for jobless benefits over 5 weeks

New Delhi (NVI): More than 26 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits over the past 5 weeks, a result of the devastating effect of coronavirus pandemic on the US economy, according to media reports.

About 4.4 million people filed for unemployment in the last week alone, lower than the roughly 5.2 million people who filed the applications week before and down from the an all time high of 6 million applications in late March.

According to the International Monetary Fund, the economy is expected to contract 5.9 per cent this year in US. In just 5 weeks, the surge in unemployment claims has exceeded the number of jobs created in the near-decade of expansion that ended in February.

A record 16 million Americans received the benefits in the week ended on April 11, the US Department of Labour said. But many people have had trouble getting through with the state offices for processing of the applications.

As per the US media report, economists have warned that the unemployment rate by summer will be within the range of 25 per cent peak recorded in 1933 during the Great Depression.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, has pushed to loosen restrictions on activity, despite fears that testing and other safety measures remain insufficient.

In addition to this, some states have already started to relax rules, while protests against lockdown orders have arisen elsewhere.

Even if jobless claims continue to fall away as reopening gets underway, the scars on America’s consumer-driven economy will linger for a long time.

At present, COVID-19 has claimed more than 50,000 lives in United States, with as many as 8,69,000 people infected due to the virus, which led to a large number of people filing for unemployment.

Pakistan violates ceasefire along LoC in J&K’s Rajouri

Ceasefire
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Jammu (NVI): Pakistani troops today violated ceasefire along the Line of Control in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, defence sources said.

“At about 1130 hours, Pak initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with Small Arms & shelling with Mortars along LoC in Nowshera Sector, District Rajouri(J&K),” they said, adding that the Indian Army is retaliating befittingly.

On Wednesday, four unidentified militants were killed in an encounter at Mehloora area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district.

(More details awaited)

Covid-19: State-wise count of cases and deaths in India

New Delhi (NVI): As the country enters the tenth day of the extended lockdown, coronavirus cases keep on increasing, with total confirmed cases at 23,077 with 718 fatalities so far, according to the Union Health Ministry.

After the first confirmed case in India, which was reported on January 30 in Kerala, the virus has tightened its grip over the entire nation.

Total positive cases in different states/UTs:

Andhra Pradesh- 895
Andaman and Nicobar Islands- 22
Arunachal Pradesh- 1
Assam- 36
Bihar- 153
Chandigarh- 27
Chhattisgarh- 36
Delhi- 2,376
Gujarat- 2,624
Goa- 7
Haryana- 272
Himachal Pradesh- 40
Jammu and Kashmir- 427
Jharkhand- 53
Karnataka- 445
Kerala- 447
Ladakh- 18
Madhya Pradesh- 1,699
Maharashtra- 6,430
Manipur- 2
Meghalaya- 12
Mizoram- 1
Odisha- 83
Puducherry- 7
Punjab- 277
Rajasthan- 1,964
Tamil Nadu- 1,683
Telangana- 960
Tripura- 2
Uttarakhand- 47
Uttar Pradesh- 1,510
West Bengal- 514

State/UT wise total death toll in the country:

Andhra Pradesh- 27
Assam- 1
Bihar- 2
Delhi- 50
Gujarat- 112
Haryana- 3
Himachal Pradesh- 1
Jammu and Kashmir- 5
Jharkhand- 3
Karnataka- 17
Kerala- 3
Madhya Pradesh- 83
Maharashtra- 283
Meghalaya- 1
Odisha- 1
Punjab- 16
Rajasthan- 27
Tamil Nadu- 20
Telangana- 24
Uttar Pradesh- 24
West Bengal- 15

A total of 4,749 people have been cured or discharged from hospitals in India. There are around 17,610 active cases currently.

Coronavirus cases cross 2.7 mn globally; death toll tops 1,90,000

Coronavirus cases

New Delhi (NVI): The total number of coronavirus cases has exceeded 2.7 million around the globe, with more than 1,90,000 fatalities being reported due to the pandemic, according to John Hopkins University tally.

Around 26 million people have sought US jobless aid in the past 5 weeks since the coronavirus hit.

On an average, about one in six American workers have lost their jobs, by far the worst string of layoffs on record since the Great Depression of the 1930s, according to media reports.

In the US alone, coronavirus has claimed more than 50,000 lives, with as many as 8,69,000 people being infected by it.

In addition to this, Thailand reported a total of 15 new coronavirus cases and no new deaths, bringing the overall number of cases since its outbreak in January to 2,854 cases and 50 deaths.

China has reported 6 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, down from 10 reported the previous day, putting the total number of COVID-19 infections at 82,804.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) says there are “worrying upward trends” in early epidemics in parts of Africa and Central and South America, warning that the “virus will be with us for a long time”.

COVID-19 cases rise to 23,077 in India; death toll at 718

New Delhi (NVI): The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India has increased to 23,077 while 718 people have died due to it across the country, the Union Health Ministry said this morning.

In the past 24 hours, 1,684 fresh COVID-19 infections were reported, it said.

The total confirmed cases of coronavirus include 23,000 Indians and 77 foreign nationals.

Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 6,430 cases and 283 casualties. The state has become the epicenter of coronavirus cases in the country with Mumbai alone having over 4,000 cases.

The other worst affected states are, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, in Delhi the total number of coronavirus cases rose to 2,376 with 50 deaths, as per data of Health Ministry.

At least 4,749 patients have been cured or the virus or discharged.

UK to operate 14 more flights to fly back citizens stranded in India

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New Delhi (NVI): The United Kingdom today announced that it will operate 14 new charter flights next week to bring back its 3,600 more nationals stranded in India amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Once completed, these additional flights will bring the total number of people flown to the UK from India on Government charter flights to over 13,000,” the British High Commission said in a statement.

The 14 additional flights, all London bound, will airlift nationals from Amritsar, Ahmedabad and Delhi.

The additional flights will depart for London from Amritsar on April 28, 29, 30, May 1, 2 (two flights will be operated), 3 and 4 May.

Five flights will operate from Ahmedabad on April 28, 29, May 1, 3 and 4.

One flight will operate from Delhi on April 30.

The UK has now chartered 52 flights from India to bring stranded British travellers home, the High Commission said.

There has been a huge demand for these flights, with seats now being allocated to those already registered via the government’s online booking portal – CTM, it said.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:  “Travel to and from India is severely restricted and so we have organised a series of charter flights.  Through these 52 UK charter flights, we will have brought back 13,000 people and our staff in India will continue to support all those UK nationals who need our help.”

Tariq Ahmad, British Foreign Office Minister of State said:  “We have already helped over 6,500 people return from India since we began our charter flight programme, with a further 7,000 due to return in the coming weeks. The 14 new flights announced today bring the total number of UK government charter flights from India to 52.  We are continuing to work around the clock to ensure all British travellers in India are supported to come back to the UK if they wish.”

Jan Thompson, Acting High Commissioner to India, said:  “We are extremely grateful for the close and continuing support of the Indian government and airport authorities in facilitating this unprecedented repatriation exercise. We are continuing to work around the clock to get as many British nationals home as possible.”

Stigma over Covid-19 increasing mortality, morbidity: AIIMS Director

AIIMS chief

New Delhi (NVI): Due to the stigma over Covid-19, there has been an increase in morbidity and mortality rate as patients are not coming forward on time, but only after they have developed symptoms or their condition has worsened, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria said today.

“Due to the stigma we have attached, patients are not coming forward, they are coming very late when they have severe breathlessness issues, thereby increasing morbidity and mortality,” Guleria said during the daily briefing held by Union Health Ministry.

The AIIMS Director said that many of these patients can be saved by just giving them oxygen. “If they do not get oxygen, it can trigger various other problems, our strategy of expanding oxygen support is based on this,” he said.

The Union Health Ministry, during its press briefing, said that the growth of COVID-19 cases in the country has been more or less linear, not exponential. “This indicates that the strategies we have adopted have succeeded in containing the infection to a particular level,” said CK Mishra- Union Environment Secretary and the Chairman of Empowered Group 2 set up by the Centre.

The Chairman further stated that the number of dedicated COVID Hospitals has increased by 3.5 times and the number of isolation beds by 3.6 times during the last one-month lockdown period.

“There are more than 3,773 dedicated Covid facilities as on date, more are being added by the day,” he added.

Meanwhile, total coronavirus cases in India have spiked to 21,700 with 686 deaths so far. A total of 4,325 people have been cured or discharged from hospitals. There are around 16,689 active cases currently.

Robust measures in place to combat Covid in Kashmir: J-K LG

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, GC Murmu today reviewed preparedness and arrangements for dealing with coronavirus outbreak in the Union Territory while directing the administration to reach out to masses, identify vulnerable age groups, and augment a robust healthcare facility on priority.

An official spokesman said that while speaking at a high-level meeting at Raj Bhavan here, the LG said that COVID-19 was a “novel virus” and it demanded “novel interventions”. He urged the administration to work in close coordination and bring the mortality rate to its minimum.

“Fighting COVID-19 is a long-drawn-out battle. We all must gear up and fight it scientifically,” the LG said. “There shouldn’t be any lapse from the administration whatsoever, besides the concerned Deputy Commissioners should do profiling of the vulnerable areas and try to reach out to the affected people on priority,” he added.

Lauding Srinagar administration for putting a robust mechanism in place for fighting COVID-19 outbreak, Murmu directed all the districts to ensure safety and security for the people while urging the concerned District Magistrates to lend all necessary and possible support to the needy people in their areas.

He urged people to cooperate and follow the health advisories in letter and spirit to minimise the spread of the virus. He urged them to take special care of vulnerable age groups like elderly, children and people with existing illnesses. He also assured them that there would be no shortage of essential commodities or any service and asked them to maintain social distance as a precautionary measure to stop the spread of the virus.

Reviewing the arrangements for Kashmir division, the LG lauded the efforts of frontline health workers, security forces and the staff of essential services and appealed to the general public to complement the efforts of the government and cooperate in breaking the chain.

Apart from this, Murmu also urged the divisional administration to begin aggressive profiling of vulnerable age groups in the communities, saying that people above the age group of 60 should be profiled and their medical history should be tallied by a team of experts. He also assured the locals that all necessary measures are in place to prevent the spread of the infection. However they should cooperate and come forward for getting screened, he added.

“Testing capacity should be accelerated and people above the age group of 60 should be screened and if any healthcare issue is seen they should be immediately provided healthcare facilities,” he said. “There shouldn’t be any lapse from the health department on this,” he added.

Also present at the review meeting, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole gave an overall view of the COVID-19 preparedness, saying that divisional administration was building robust capacities for contact tracing & sampling. He said that 8,211 samples have been collected so far, besides 7,410 contacts traced and 351 positive cases recorded. He said that Pulwama is the least affected district while Bandipora has the highest number of cases.

The meeting was also informed that separate teams trained at 58 medical blocks for contact tracing and sampling have been constituted. 423 Lab technicians (LTs) and 80 paramedics have been trained for sampling purposes.

“Each district is having capacity for mobile sampling and besides that sampling kiosks have been established in all the district headquarters,” Pole said. “So far 3938 RNA extraction kits have been procured,” he added.

The meeting was further informed that there are 84 containment zones, including 37 (Red Zones), 45 (Orange zones), 02 (Green zones) across Kashmir division. The officials informed the chair that there is a nearly 10,000 bed capacity for the COVID-19 patients.

Till date, 64,089 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been enlisted for surveillance which includes 5806 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 252 in Hospital Quarantine, 310 in hospital isolation and 15376 under home surveillance. Besides, 42340 persons have completed their surveillance period, according to an official statement.

Apart from this, the Lieutenant Governor said that clear guidelines and SOP should be adopted to deal with coronavirus-related biomedical waste. He directed concerned Deputy Commissioners to adopt guidelines for handling, treatment and safe disposal of biomedical waste generated during treatment, diagnosis and quarantine of patients confirmed or suspected to have the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

The LG also directed the administration, especially heads of the tertiary care healthcare institutions and Director Health Services, Kashmir, to protect the healthcare workers. He said that healthcare workers are at risk from handling Covid-19 patients and people in quarantine centres.

He said that medical experts and specialists should send out warnings to the masses on mishandling of biomedical waste. He added that discarded masks, gloves and tissues could be potential sources for the spread of this highly contagious virus.

Among others present at the meeting were Advisors to the LG- Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar and Baseer Ahmad Khan; Chief Secretary, BVR Subhramanyam; Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary and Director, SKIMS, Dr AG Ahnagar.

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