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No notification issued by WHO on lockdown schedule: Govt

New Delhi (NVI): A WHO circular containing a detailed schedule on coronavirus lockdown schedule has been doing rounds on social media.

The government has clarified that WHO has not issued any such circular and this is a rumour which is being spread on the internet.

A circular titled – ‘Protocol & procedure of lockdown periods for controlling on most dangerous virus’ was being shared on social media including Facebook, Twitter as well as Whatsapp. The circular also mentioned four steps of the lockdown that will continue till June 10.

769 foreign tourists register on ‘Stranded in India’ portal

New Delhi (NVI): In the first five days of its operation, ‘Stranded in India’ portal launched by the Ministry of Tourism has helped foreign tourists stuck in the country due to the lockdown situation.

The portal was launched on March 31 and since then, 769 foreign tourists from all over the country have registered on the portal that is aimed at identifying, assisting and facilitating them.

Such tourists would need to log on to the portal, provide some basic contact information and narrate the nature of issues being faced by them if any.

Every State Government and Union Territory Administration has identified a Nodal Officer for assisting such foreign tourists, the Ministry of Tourism said in a statement today.

The 5 Regional Offices of the Ministry of Tourism are constantly coordinating with the Nodal Officers regarding the Support Requests logged on the portal, for facilitating ground support to the foreigners, if so required.

The Tourism Ministry Regional Offices are also coordinating with the Bureau of Immigration and FRROs regarding Visa issues being faced by stranded foreigners. Requests for movement within the country/state and for transfer to the home country of such tourists are also being coordinated with the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs and with the respective Embassy/High Commission/Consulate.

The Ministry further stated that the utility and efficacy of the portal has led to stranded foreign tourists being contacted over e-mails, telephones and also in person depending on the nature of support required by them.

“They have been connected with the relevant foreign office of their home country in India and provided various information updates on flights out of India to their home countries. Wherever required, they have been provided medical assistance, food and accommodation,” it said.

The Tourism Ministry also mentioned some cases where foreigners or foreign tourists received helped through the portal amid lockdown.

A lady, who is an American citizen, was stranded in Supaul district of Bihar amidst the COVID19 lockdown, while her son was undergoing a surgery at Delhi. The portal facilitated the required inter-ministerial, inter-departmental and State-Centre coordination and secured her a special transit-permit to travel to Delhi. She has safely reached her destination and expressed her gratitude for the efforts put in by all the concerned agencies, the ministry said.

In another case, two Costa Rican citizens, who had come to Chennai for a surgery (medical tourism), were stranded at Chennai after the surgery. “Close coordination with the State Government, the Costa Rican Embassy and the hotel in which the tourists were staying helped in soothing the frayed and panicked nerves of the tourists. They are now safe and well,” the ministry said in a statement.

An Australian tourist with his family was stranded in Ahmedabad. The tourist has epilepsy and ran out of medication prescribed by Australian doctors due to the lockdown. The portal led to the tourist being reached through the office of the District Collector. He was provided with sufficient medication and was also offered food and local transportation. Now, they are comfortable and safe, according to an official statement by the ministry.

 

USAID provides $2.9 mn to help India combat COVID-19

New Delhi (NVI): The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced a $2.9 million package to help India amid the COVID-19 outbreak, in providing care for the affected, and support local communities with the tools needed to contain the disease.

The Agency had announced the financial assistance to India on March 28. “This builds on a foundation of more than $1.4 billion in health assistance, and nearly $3 billion in total assistance, that the United States has provided to India over the last 20 years,” the US embassy said in a statement here today.

“The new funds will support two organizations:  $2.4 million for USAID’s health strengthening project, implemented by Jhpiego, an international non-profit health organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, and $500,000 for the World Health Organization (WHO),” read a statement by the embassy.

US Ambassador to India, Kenneth I Juster praised India’s efforts to contain the disease and said that the USAID assistance will further support India’s response to COVID-19.

“COVID-19 is a global public health threat that can be addressed best by close collaboration among governments and international organizations.  The US Government, through USAID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other US Department of Health and Human Services agencies, is working closely with the Government of India and multilateral agencies to support India’s response to this global pandemic,” he said.

Amid lockdown, CRPF helps Rajouri man to meet ailing father

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has come forward to help Mohammad Arif from Rajouri district of Jammu, who took off on a bicycle from Mumbai to see his ailing father back home.

The 29-year-old man was traced on the Gujarat-Rajasthan border near Sirohi by a CRPF team who arranged for his further travel in a vehicle.

Special DG CRPF Zulfikar Hasan told NVI: “with the help of local administration, a vehicle was arranged for Arif and we hope, he will soon meet his father.”

Back in Rajouri, a team of CRPF Madadgaar came to the rescue of Arif’s father Wazir Hussain and airlifted him to a hospital in Jammu for better treatment Saturday. Hussain, a resident of Panjgrain village in Rajouri, had suffered a stroke recently, after which Arif, who works as a watchman in Mumbai Central, was informed.

Meanwhile, the doctors at Jammu have referred Arif’s father to PGI Chandigarh as his condition was not good. Arif is expected to reach Jammu by tomorrow.

Special DG CRPF, Zulfikar Hasan told NVI that a team went to Arif’s home in Rajouri and airlifted his father.

“A team of doctors was sent to his Rajouri home and his father who suffered a stroke recently, were shifted to district hospital under its Madagaar Scheme,” Hasan said.

He said his father’s condition is serious. “Some tests and procedures were carried and he was shifted to GMCH Jammu from Chopper.

“Today he will be shifted to PGI Chandigarh,” Hasan said.

NVI had earlier reported on Arif’s journey— around 2100 km– back home from Mumbai amid the nationwide lockdown.

Mohammad Arif

Arif had immediately left for home on a bicycle after getting a distress call from home regarding his father’s health.

COVID-19: UT, state-wise total number of cases and fatalities

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus pandemic has created a situation of panic in the country, with a total of 4,067 confirmed cases of the disease and 109 fatalities, according to the Health Ministry data.

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

Following is a list of the total number of cases and fatalities across the nation:

Death in States and UT’s

Maharashtra: 45
Gujarat: 11
Madhya Pradesh: 9
Karnataka: 4
Delhi: 7
Punjab: 6
Bihar: 1
Telangana: 7
West Bengal: 3
Tamil Nadu: 5
Jammu and Kashmir: 2
Kerala: 2
Himachal Pradesh- 1
Haryana-1
Uttar Pradesh -2
Andhra Pradesh- 3

Number of positive cases UT and state-wise

Andhra Pradesh- 226
Andaman and Nicobar Islands- 10
Arunachal Pradesh- 1
Bihar- 30
Chandigarh- 18
Chhattisgarh- 9
Delhi- 503
Goa- 7
Gujarat- 112
Haryana- 84
Himachal Pradesh- 13
Jammu and Kashmir- 106
Jharkhand- 3
Karnataka- 151
Kerala- 314
Ladakh- 14
Madhya Pradesh- 165
Maharashtra- 690
Manipur- 2
Mizoram- 1
Odisha- 21
Puducherry- 5
Punjab- 68
Rajasthan- 253
Tamil Nadu- 571
Telangana- 321
Uttarakhand- 26
Uttar Pradesh- 227
West Bengal- 80

A total of 291 people have been cured and discharged from hospitals in India. There are around 3,666 active cases currently.

COVID-19: ‘Hardest week’ ahead for US; positive cases top 12,74,000 globally

Coronavirus cases
(Representational/file photo)

New Delhi (NVI): The United States has entered one of the most critical weeks so far in the coronavirus crisis with government officials warning the death toll in states such as New York, Michigan and Louisiana was a sign of trouble to come in other states.

There are more than 3,37,000 recorded cases and more than 9,400 deaths in the US, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests after showing persistent symptoms of coronavirus 10 days after testing positive for the virus.

Italy and France have reported the lowest increase in deaths in the last 24 hours.

The total number of deaths in Italy have reached 15,887, the highest death toll in the world, deaths in Spain have reached 12,641, France has reported 8,078, UK’s death toll reached 4, 934 and Iran has reported 3,603 deaths so far.

Globally, the death toll surpassed 69,400, according to the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and the number of positive infections reached 12,74,923, with the coronavirus contagion now being spread to a total of 183 countries.

Rains, thunderstorm expected in parts of Karnataka, Kerala

Light rains in Delhi
Representational Image

New Delhi (NVI): Karnataka and interior Kerala are likely to witness scattered rains and thunderstorm for the next few days, according to weather forecaster.

In addition to this, light rains are also expected over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh from tomorrow.

At present, a Western Disturbance is forming over Afghanistan and adjoining areas and is moving eastward. The Western Disturbance brings isolated precipitation over Northern India.

Apart from this, the air quality is from poor to very poor over Northern India, Western India, Central India, Eastern India and North- Eastern India.

Meanwhile, in Delhi, the maximum temperature was recorded at 34 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 18 degrees Celsius.

According to IMD, the maximum and minimum temperature is expected to shift over the next few days.

‘Lights-off’ event went smoothly, no impact on grid: Power Minister

New Delhi (NVI): Minutes after people voluntarily switched off lights at 9 pm tonight, in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to show solidarity in the fight against COVID-19, Union Power Minister RK Singh said the nine-minute ‘lights-out’ event went smoothly and there was no impact on electricity grid functioning, contrary to apprehensions.

PM Modi had on Friday asked citizens to stand in their balconies for 9 minutes with candles and lamps, or mobile flashlights to mark the march from darkness to light while maintaining social distancing.

Earlier, there were apprehensions that switching off lights simultaneously for nine minutes could lead the grid to collapse.

In a series of tweets, the Power Minister said the exercise was a success and there was no adverse effect on the electricity grid across the country and it remained stable during the event.

“The demand went down from 117300 Megawatts at 2049 hrs to 85300 Megawatts till 2109 hrs; that is a reduction of 32000 Megawatts. Then it started increasing. Frequency was maintained within a band of 49.7 to 50. 26 Hz, which means the voltage was kept stable,” he tweeted.

“The national grid operator POSOCO and the national, regional and state load despatch centres did a great job with support from all generators; NHPC, NEEPCO, THDC, SJVNL, BBMB, NTPC, all state gencos and IPPs, Transcos and Distribution companies and their officers and staff,” he said in another tweet.

The power minister also shared a pic of his family lighting diyas while he was away with his officers monitoring the grid at the National Power Monitoring Centre, during the event.

The minister said that the drop in national demand (of electricity) by 32,000 megawatts showed a huge response of the nation to PM’s call.

“Demand in the grid came down by 32000 MW within a few minutes but the frequency and voltage was mantained within the normal range. The drop in national demand by 32000 megawatts shows a huge response of the nation to the call of the Prime Minister,” he said.


People across the country tonight switched off the lights in their homes, came out in balconies or in front of their doors, lighted lamps, candles at 9 pm and stood up in solidarity in the fight against coronavirus pandemic.

The Prime Minister also shared some pictures of him during the event, lighting lamps at his official residence in Delhi.

Defence PSUs, OFB join fight against COVID-19 outbreak

New Delhi (NVI): As the number of coronavirus cases in the country keeps on increasing day by day, now the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) of Ministry of Defence (MoD) have joined the national fight against COVID-19.

These DPSUs and the OFB have pitched in to provide medical facilities, sanitiser, protective equipment (coverall and masks) in the joint efforts against the pandemic.

Medical Facilities

The OFB has planned for 280 isolation beds across 10 hospitals spread over six states in the country. They are located at Vehicle Factory Jabalpur, Metal and Steel Factory Ishapore (West Bengal), Gun and Shell Factory Cossipore (West Bengal), Ammunition Factory Khadki (Maharashtra), Ordnance Factory Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Ordnance Factory Khamaria, Heavy Vehicle Factory Avadi (Tamil Nadu) and Ordnance Factory Medak (Telangana).

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Bengaluru has an isolation ward facility with three beds in the Intensive Care Unit and 30 beds in wards. In addition, a building having 30 rooms was readied. In all, 93 persons can be accommodated at the HAL facility.

The OFB has manufactured and dispatched 50 specialised tents for COVID-19 patients to the Government of Arunachal Pradesh at a short notice.

Sanitiser

Development and production of hand sanitiser as per WHO standards have been undertaken in the factories of OFB. They have received a requirement of 13,000 litres from HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL), the nodal agency appointed by Government of India for centralised procurement. First lot of 1,500 litres of sanitiser was sent on Mar 31, 2020 from Cordite Factory Aruvankadu (Tamil Nadu). Two more factories, namely Ordnance Factory (OF) Itarsi (Madhya Pradesh) and OF Bhandara (Maharashtra) are ready with bulk production. Together they have capacity to produce 3000 litres of sanitiser per day to meet the national requirement.

Protective Equipment: Coverall and Masks

Ordnance Equipment Factories located at Kanpur, Shahjahanpur, Hazratpur (Firozabad) and Chennai are engaged in developing coverall and masks. They have also arranged special heat sealing machines for manufacture of these garments at a very short notice.

Factories Board requested Defence Research & Development Establishment, Gwalior and was successful in getting the first of samples of coveralls tested at Gwalior. Testing of masks will continue to be done at South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) in Coimbatore. The OFB is commencing shortly bulk production of coveralls up to 5,000 to 6,000 pieces per week. Three machines have been developed which have been approved by SITRA for testing the efficacy of coveralls and masks. These will be used in production to maintain the standards.

Ventilators

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has stepped in at the request of Ministry Health and Family Welfare to manufacture and supply 30,000 ventilators for ICUs within the next two months. The design of these ventilators was originally developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation, which was improved upon by M/s Skanray, Mysore, with whom BEL has collaborated. Ordnance Factory, Medak has undertaken repair of ventilators in various hospitals in Hyderabad.

COVID-19 death toll in India rises to 83, total cases 3,577

New Delhi (NVI): The total number of coronavirus cases in India today rose to 3,577 while 83 people have died from the pandemic, the Union Health Ministry said this morning.

The number of cases has tripled in the last five days as compared to 1,251 on March 31.

As per the latest data available with the Ministry, there are 3219 active cases in the country and 274 cured or discharged.

Maharashtra remains the worst affected state in the country with 490 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (485) and Delhi (445).

Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has risen to 12,02,236, while the death toll has climbed to 64, 753.

2,46, 457 people across the world have recovered from the disease so far.

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