Coronavirus cases in India climb to 19,984— 1,383 new cases in the last 24 hours

• The Health Ministry said that of the total cases,15,474 are active with 640 casualties.
  
• Maharashtra continued to be the worst hit with 5,218 total cases, followed by Gujarat with 2,178 cases and 90 fatalities.
  
• Till now, 41 people have been found positive for the coronavirus in Gurugram. Of them, 26 have also been discharged.

India added 1,383 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 19,984 on Wednesday (April 22) morning, the Ministry of Health and Family welfare said.

The Health Ministry said that of the total cases,15,474 are active with 640 casualties. At least 3,869 people have been cured and discharged from the hospital while one person has migrated.

The total number of confirmed cases also include 77 foreign nationals, affected with the disease.

Maharashtra continued to be the worst hit with 5,218 total cases, followed by Gujarat with 2,178 cases and 90 fatalities. Delhi has witnessed 2,156 cases and 47 deaths, while Rajasthan has seen 1,659 cases and 25 deaths so far.

Doctor detected with Covid-19 in Eastern Railway hospital in Kolkata

A doctor of Eastern Railway's B.R. Singh Hospital here has tested positive for the coronavirus infection, triggering panic and prompting the authorities to undertake emergency measures for preventing any spread of the virus.

The doctor, attached to the emergency unit, was tested after she felt unwell. The test results received on Tuesday night detected the presence of the virus, an Eastern Railway spokesman told IANS.

"Our medical directors and other officials are there assessing the situation. They will do everything as per the relevant guideline," he said.

TN raises compensation for those who die during corona duty

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Wednesday announced a ₹50 lakh compensation to the families of -- police, sanitary workers, officials of the Revenue Department and government healthcare officials -- deployed on the COVID-19 duty.

In a statement issued here, Palaniswami said he has increased the compensation amount to ₹50 lakh from the earlier announced sum of ₹ 10 lakh.

He also said a government job will be provided to a family member of the dead person.

Palaniswami said the body of the dead person who rendered the selfless service will be buried with due respects and the government will take necessary action for that.

Through Aarogya Setu app, 3 report as corona suspects in UP

Three Corona suspects reported themselves to the government through the Aarogya app and their samples have now been sent for testing.

The three persons had downloaded the Aarogya Setu app and filled the questionnaire for self-assessment which tells users the risk level of catching infection.

Since their risk level was high, the app provided them options to contact helpline for testing or pass the information to the health ministry. They chose to inform the health ministry which then informed the state government.

"After getting names, addresses and phone numbers of three persons from the government, we sent our staff to collect the samples which have been sent for testing," said chief medical officer Dr Narendra Agarwal.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar offers ₹1,000 assistance to families without rations cards

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said that ₹1,000 would be provided to all families that do not have ration cards. They were identified by the self-help group 'Jeevika' in the state.

The state government has earlier decided to provide ₹1,000 to each ration card-holding family in the state following the enforcement of lockdown.

Kumar directed Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar to inform all the district magistrates and sub-divisional magistrates to assist each family which does not have ration card but has been identified by the Jeevika groups, according to an official release.

"There should be no confusion about it. After providing ₹1,000 to these families, ration cards should be issued to them (families identified by Jeevika) after completing verification of documents," Kumar said in a meeting here.

A complete ban on movement between Delhi and Noida

The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration banned the movement of people between Noida and Delhi, except for those involved in COVID-19-related services and goods transportation, from Tuesday night.

Media personnel will be exempted, it said, adding that the process for issuing passes to them is being worked out.

The decision was taken on the basis of a report by the health department here, which stated that several people who tested positive for coronavirus had links to Delhi, an official order stated.

"It is clear from the report of the Health Department that there is a possibility of infection from people travelling between Delhi and Gautam Buddh Nagar. Hence, in the larger public interest, movement between Delhi and Gautam Buddh Nagar is completely banned until further orders," District Magistrate (DM) Suhas L Y said in an order.

Coronavirus cases in Delhi mount to 2,156; no fresh fatalities

The total number of coronavirus cases in the national capital rose to 2,156 on Tuesday, with 75 new cases being reported, according to the Delhi government.

It was the first time since April 8 that no fresh death was reported in the city, caused by the disease.

Of the 47 fatalities reported till date, 25 were aged 60 years and above, making over 53 per cent of the total, they said.

Twelve of them were in the age group of 50-59 and 10 were aged less than 50 years, officials said.

By Monday night, the number of cases of the deadly virus in the city stood at 2,081.

As many as 611 patients have recovered so far, and the number of active cases is 1,498, according to the Delhi Health Department bulletin issued on Tuesday.

Andhra Pradesh to focus on four districts emerging as COVID-19 hotspots

Even as it battles the spread of COVID-19 in the state, the Andhra Pradesh government is turning its attention to the four districts of Kurnool, Guntur, Krishna and Nellore, which reported a lion's share of cases.

On Wednesday morning, the state's tally touched 757, and as the days pass, there is no sign of respite for the state from the growing numbers of coronavirus cases.

Till Tuesday, Kurnool district reported 180 cases, followed by Guntur (156 cases), Krishna (83 cases) and Nellore (67 cases).

At the review meeting on Tuesday, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy called for increasing the number of COVID-19 tests as part of the offensive against the pandemic.

The government has decided to convert the GGH in Kurnool into a COVID-19 hospital. The non-COVID-19 patients in the hospital would be shifted to other hospitals.

Gujarat takes over Delhi— now second after Maharashtra with 2,178 cases

Tuesday proved to be a bad day for Gujarat, as the state not only crossed the 2,000 mark for coronavirus patients but reached the second spot in the country, after Maharashtra, with 2,178.

The day saw the maximum number of deaths due to coronavirus with 19 patients succumbing to the virus, the most so far. The state's toll has now reached 90.

The deaths included four women - two aged 40, one aged 52 and one 70, two males, aged 65, and 70, admitted in SVP Hospital, Ahmedabad and a female, 65, in Civil Hospital Surat. All of them had co-morbidity.

Out of the total 90 deaths, 53 people have died in Ahmedabad alone, followed by 12 in Surat, 7 in Vadodara and 5 in Bhavnagar.

DRDO lab develops 10,000 face shields for PGI, Chandigarh

The Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) here is developing 10,000 full-face protective shields for examining infected COVID-19 patients for the PGI Hospital, an official said on Wednesday.

"TBRL is producing 10,000 full-face protective shields for the PGI. A total 2,000 face protective shields have been handed over to the PGI and 5,000 will be provided in next 5-6 days," TBRL Director Manjit Singh said in a statement.

TBRL is a lab of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Director-General of Police Sanjay Beniwal lauded the TBRL for providing PPE, sanitizers and face shield to the police. He said the face shields are much useful and able to provide full-face protection to the police personnel on duty.

Four more test positive for Coronavirus in Gurugram

Four more persons have tested positive for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Gurugram on Tuesday. The dreaded virus has claimed over 600 lives in India so far.

JS Punia, a civil surgeon in Gurugram, said two fresh cases were reported from Jharsa village near Sector 31, one from Sector 18 and another from an upscale condominium in Badshahpur.

Samples of those individuals were collected three days ago, and their reports came positive following the lab test. The district administration has declared the areas as containment zones and their families have been directed to be under home quarantine.

Till now, 41 people have been found positive for the coronavirus in Gurugram. Of them, 26 have also been discharged.

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