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Railway coaches to be turned into isolation wards for COVID-19 patients

New Delhi (NVI): As the number of coronavirus cases in India is rising, Indian Railways is proposing to convert train coaches into isolation wards.

North Central Railway (NCR) General Manager Rajiv Chaudhary said the Railways are trying to convert a coach at the coaching depot in New Delhi into isolation wards after consulting medical professionals.

“A sleeper coach of a train is being converted and improvised into isolation wards for patients suffering from COVID- 19. Such a plan can help us be well-prepared to meet any emergency,” he added.

Apart from this, all Railway divisions are engaged to follow the move and have identified a ward or building for setting up isolation beds for COVID-19 patients.

The Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of NCR Ajeet Kumar Singh said, “NCR has taken necessary steps to ensure operational safety to mitigate any possibility of disruption in goods trains.”

Similarly, the North Indian Railway is considering an extension of the mandatory Paramedical Medical Examination (PME) of safety category and running staff to boost its medical facilities.

NCR is also giving training to its paramedical staff on for COVID-19 related procedures, especially ventilators.

Meanwhile, Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is working-class out a plan to serve meals in different parts of the country and hospitals, if the need arises.

The proposal to offer the empty coaches and cabins to be used as isolation wards were discussed in a meeting of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal with Chairman Railway Board V.K Yadav, General Managers of all zones and Divisional Railway Managers over video conferencing on March 25.

The idea was discussed after PM Narendra Modi in the cabinet meeting on Wednesday asked all the ministers to think for ways to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

As per the WHO, India has only 0.7 beds per 1,000 people. While it has targeted to increase this to two beds, WHO mandates for at least 3 beds per 1,000 people in every country.

However, Indian Railways runs 13,523 trains daily and has now suspended all passenger services till April 14 in view of the nationwide lockdown.

157 govt and private labs to conduct tests for coronavirus

Representational Image

New Delhi (NVI): Government and private laboratories across the country are gearing up to conduct tests for COVID-19, according to Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) official website.

A total of 157 labs – 121 government and 35 private laboratories – will be conducting the tests.

Out of the 121 government laboratoires that are approved by ICMR, 109 labs are operational while 12 laboratories are in the process of being operationalized.

In addition to this, the 35 private labs for conducting these tests are present various parts of the country including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stressed upon testing during the novel coronavirus outbreak across the world. The Indian government claims to raise the capacity of testing for COVID-19 on a regular basis.

Earlier while addressing a press conference, Joint Secretary, Health, Lav Agarwal said, “There are 29 private laboratory chains, accredited by the Indian Council of Medical Research for conducting tests for novel coronavirus. These labs have 16,000 collection centers across the country, where at least 12,000 tests can be conducted per day.”

Agarwal also added ICMR norms will have to be followed by the private labs while testing for COVID-19. However, people who need to be tested have to fit in the criteria prescribed by the ICMR.

According to ICMR, the criteria include symptoms like fever, sore throat, runny nose, dyspnea, etc or individuals returned from affected countries like China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Iran, Italy or have had close contact with confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 infection, all individuals evacuated and quarantined from Wuhan, China and Diamond Princess ship, Japan and other coronavirus affected countries.

“The National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune functions as the resource center for the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDL) network and is responsible for providing technical training for performing molecular and serological assays for virological diagnosis. NIV, Pune also performs the important task of standardizing assay procedures for the network as well as quality control and quality assurance activities,” the ICMR said.

Bangladesh to get $3,00,000 grant from ADB to fight COVID-19

Bangladesh lockdown

New Delhi (NVI): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today approved $3,00,000 emergency grant to support the Bangladesh government’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The grant will be used for procurement of health safety materials including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), masks, safety goggles aprons, thermometers etc, United News of Bangladesh reported.

The list has been prioritised by the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh.

These materials will enable the country to strengthen its fight against the unprecedented contagion.

The grant assistance is sourced from the Asian Development Bank Regional Technical Assistance entitled “Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases”.

So far, the total of 44 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported whereas the death toll has reached 5 in the country.

WATCH| Indian students in Ukraine want to return home

Srinagar (NVI): Hundreds of Indian students in Ukraine are feeling unsafe there in view of the coronavirus pandemic and want to return home.

According to an estimate, there are over 10,000 Indian students, including 200 from Kashmir, in different parts of Ukraine and they are living in constant fear of getting infected by the virus there because of the conditions they are in.

The students have made a video appeal asking the government to take up necessary measures in order evacuate Indian students from Ukraine.

1,400 COVID-19 cases in Pakistan; death toll at 11

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus cases rose to 1,400 today in Pakistan, where 11 people have already died because of the pandemic, according to the country’s Health Ministry.

The infected cases in the country increased as Punjab became the new epicentre of the disease.

Punjab recorded a total of 448 coronavirus cases today, up from 419 yesterday, according to Dawn news.

Sindh province has 440 cases.

Most of the infected people in Pakistan had returned from Iran, which has more than 30,000 confirmed cases with more than 2,300 deaths.

Coronavirus: Modi sets up ‘PM CARES Fund’ for donations

(Pic courtesy: DD News)

New Delhi (NVI): As India struggles with coronovirus outbreak, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today set up Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund and urged citizens to donate for the war against COVID-19.

“It is my appeal to my fellow Indians, Kindly contribute to the PM-CARES Fund. This Fund will also cater to similar distressing situations, if they occur in the times ahead. This link has all important details about the fund,” he tweeted.

“Respecting that spirit, the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund has been constituted. This will go a long way in creating a healthier India,” he said.

In the following tweets, he said, “PM-CARES Fund accepts micro-donations too. “It will strengthen disaster management capacities and encourage research on protecting citizens.”

He added, “Let us leave no stone unturned to make India healthier and more prosperous for our future generations.”

The objective of the fund is to deal with any kind of emergency or distress situation, posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rlys to give refund for cancelled trains

New Delhi (NVI): Railways today decided to give full refund to passengers who had booked tickets for journey during the period from March 21 to April 14.

The order states if a train is cancelled by Railways for the journey period from March 21 to April 14, passengers need to file Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) with journey details up to June 21 to get back refund.
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The railways shall provide a utility through which the passenger can avail refund of balance amount deducted during cancellation of such tickets

The tickets cancelled after March 27, full refund shall be payable in respect of all such cancellation.

However, In case of e-tickets, balance refund amount shall be credited to the account of the passenger from which tickets was booked for tickets cancelled prior to March 27.

PM interacts to J&K student evacuated from Wuhan

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held a telephonic conversation with a Jammu and Kashmir youth, who was evacuated from China’s Wuhan city, the epicentre of coronavirus, and asked him to share his experience there.

PM spoke to Nizamur Rehman, a resident of Kaskoot Banihal in Jammu and Kashmir, who is pursuing MBBS in Wuhan. Rehman, along with 60 Kashmiri students, was evacuated after the coronavirus pandemic broke out.

While speaking with Reham, Modi asked him to share his experience in Wuhan.

“Sir, I study MBBS in Wuhan. When we heard about the virus, we were very tense but thanks to the Indian government for helping us and bringing us back to the country,” said Rehman.

PM also asked Rehman how they were treated here, when they reached back. “We were provided with every facility including indoor games, food and other things during quarantine. We are thankful to you for evacuating us from coronavirus epicenter,” Rehman added.

He along with other 60 students have reached their homes in Jammu and Kashmir after completing quarantine period.

PM Modi also asked the student to spread awareness about the COVID-19 in the region.

The student further thanked Prime Minister Modi for extending timely support to all students.

“If anyone is quarantined, it’s for the safety of every Indian. So that everyone remains safe,” Rehman told PM Modi.

Later, the Prime Minister spoke to nurse Chaya, who works at the Naidu Hospital in Pune and expressed gratitude to health workers for working selflessly towards the well-being of the nation amid the crisis.

26 quarantined people flee Srinagar hospital, traced & re-admitted

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): Many people under watch for coronavirus in Kashmir continue to play hide and seek with authorities, with the latest such incident being 26 quarantined persons fleeing from Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Hospital (JLNM) in Srinagar today.

They were later traced with the help of police and re-admitted.

According to the hospital authorities, 14 female and 12 male patients from Srinagar were placed under quarantine in the hospital after their close relative was tested positive for coronavirus yesterday.

However, they claimed that facilities in the hospital were not appropriate and created ruckus this morning. “They broke the doors and windows and fled from the hospital,” an official said.

All these people are family members and close relatives of a positive case of Chattabal area of Srinagar.

When contacted by NVI, Zakir Ahmed, Medical Superintendent of JLNM hospital, refused to speak on the matter, saying he was busy and would talk later.

Earlier, on March 25, a girl, who had returned from Hungary, fled Chest Diseases Hospital (CDH) in Srinagar and the authorities had to make efforts to trace her.

“Tracked. Admitted again. Legal action to follow,” tweeted Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar Dr Shahid Choudhary on that day about the girl.

“The girl was suffering from fever and flu and samples were collected and sent to laboratory. But without informing anyone, she fled from the hospital,” officials said.

Last week, a youth was detained by police after he ran away from the same hospital.

On March 24, Choudhary said that around 100 people with travel history have been traced and put into quarantine.

“Team lead by colleague Mr Masarat Hashim KAS and involving brilliant professionals tracked more than 65 people who returned from affected countries skipping screening & changing routes. Amazing job. Srinagar thankful to all for inputs,” he tweeted a day earlier.

“Medical, IT & Surveillance teams today were able to track 29 people coming from Bangkok, UK, Dubai, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan etc who skipped medical teams by changing routes or avoiding travel history…,” the DC said in another tweet on that day.

The authorities also traced a Kashmiri man who came from Italy, landed in New Delhi, travelled to Jammu by train and took a cab from there to reach his home in Srinagar.

A Kashmiri, who came from Bangladesh but dodged medical screening in New Delhi, was also traced after he reached his home in Srinagar, thanks to the tip-off provided by his neighbours, officials said.

Exasperated over people hiding their travel history and trying to dodge testing or quarantine, the Srinagar Deputy Commissioner Srinagar in one of the tweets, said, “Flood of messages about travelers who concealed travel history; and about contacts. I wish such people acted responsibly. Those appeals weren’t without reason. Control room & teams having tough time.”

Till now, 27 people have been tested positive for COVID-19 in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the officials.

Afghanistan reports 14 new COVID-19 cases, total rises to 110 

New Delhi (NVI): Afghanistan has reported 110 cases of coronavirus, including 4 US and NATO-LED coalition soldiers and two foreign diplomats in Kabul.

The number rose after 14 more tested positive for the pandemic disease.

With the number of cases rising, the authorities imposed a 21-day lockdown in Kabul, effective from today, to contain the spread of the disease.

 

According to Afghan officials, 11 new cases were reported in western Herat, three in neighbouring Farah and one in eastern Ghazni province, the local media reported.

 

The ministry said three people had died because of coronavirus while three infected people were discharged from the hospitals after treatment.

Earlier on Wednesday, curfew was implemented in Herat and Nimruz province which has an open border with Iran where the pandemic has hit very hard.

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