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Thiruvananthapuram, Even though the Kerala government has issued a direction to all beauty parlours in the state that they can now start to clean up their outlets that have been closed for two months, but not many appear to be in good spirits. When downing their shutters on March 21, none imagined that their shops would be shut for two months. "We have lost a good amount of our beauty products as they have either gone hard or the expiry date is over. Since the COVID-19 lockdown came all of a sudden, many were not able to return to our parlours. This is going to be a huge loss," said Milsy Jaimy who owns a parlour in the commercial capital of the state - Kochi. A state of the art unisex beauty parlour in the state capital which opened in March after investing almost a crore, had to close in a week's time. "It was after a lot of planning that I decided to quit my job and open this. I have taken heavy loans for this and after two months, even though there is a moratorium for three months, the interest and penal interest is all going to take a hefty toll on me. I just do not know what the way forward is going to be, as parlours will not be crowded like before," said a worried owner. While the owners are keeping their fingers crossed on what's the future, equally worried are the thousands of people who work in these parlours. The only solace that came from the Kerala government was all those registered with the Welfare Fund got a Rs 1000 dole and that was it. "We are all waiting to get back to work but none is sure, whether we will be able to work like before, as social distancing norms have to be maintained, besides there is a reduction of 50 per cent staff. We are just waiting to get back," lamented a staff at a parlour. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/uber-ride-in-gurgaon-of-driver-seat-in-plastic-goes-viral-on-tiktok-and-instagram/articleshow/75771489.cms">Video of an Uber ride is all the rage on TikTok and Instagram ⁠— the driver got himself a cockpit covered in plastic</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/at-least-24-migrant-workers-killed-and-36-injured-on-their-way-home-from-rajasthan/articleshow/75770823.cms">At least 24 migrant workers killed and 36 injured on their way home from Rajasthan</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/indian-women-dont-like-being-gig-workers/articleshow/75757460.cms">Indian women don’t like being gig workers ⁠— the potentially $455 billion industry has to woo them with fair pay to start with</a>

Kerala salons uncertain of their fate as products expire and loans build up during the coronavirus lockdown

By Achinta Borah New Delhi, May 15 () Greater relaxations and flexibility will be seen in the lockdown 4.0, which will begin on Monday, with gradual reopening of the railways and domestic airlines while powers will be given to States and UTs to define their hotspots, officials said on Friday. Schools, colleges, malls and cinema halls will not be allowed to open anywhere in the country but salons, barber shops and optical shops may be allowed in red zones, barring COVID-19 containment areas. There will be lots of relaxations and flexibility in the lockdown 4.0 with complete reopening of the green zones, very limited curb in orange zones and strict restrictions only in the containment areas of red zones, said an official privy to the deliberations in the central government. However, the final guidelines will be issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs only after going through the suggestions of state governments. The state governments and union territory administrations have been asked to submit their recommendations by Friday. According to officials, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam and Telangana wanted the lockdown to be continued, some of them wanted the powers to decide the zoning of districts -- green, orange and red -- as per the COVID-19 situation. This request of the state governments may be accepted so that they can restrict or allow movement of people or economic activities in a particular place depending on the ground situation, the official told . Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Monday, had said that the lockdown 4.0 will have a "completely different form", with new rules. "No state wants complete withdrawal of lockdown but all want gradual resumption of economic activities," the official said. Gradual and need-based operations of the railways and domestic airlines are likely to be allowed from next week but full-fledged opening of the two sectors is unlikely to take place immediately. Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka were among some states which were not in favour of complete resumption of train and air services, at least till May-end, the official said. The railways have already started special trains to 15 destinations from Delhi and have been running several hundred 'Shramik Special' trains from different parts of the country to various places for transportation of migrant workers stranded due to the lockdown. The Air India is also engaged in evacuation of thousands of Indians stranded abroad during the lockdown under the 'Vande Bharat Mission'. Local trains, buses and metro services may start running with limited capacity in non-containment areas of red zones. Autos and taxis are also expected to be allowed in red zones with restrictions on the number of passengers. Most of these services will be allowed within the districts in non-containment areas and state governments may be authorised to take a call on their reopening, another official said. Powers to open markets in orange and red zones may be given to state governments, which may follow the odd-even policy while allowing shops of non-essential goods to open. E-commerce platforms may be allowed to deliver non-essential items even in red zones, barring the containment areas. Sale of non-essential items by e-commerce companies have already allowed in green and orange zones. Maharashtra, which the has highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths from the virus, wants a strict lockdown measures in Mumbai, its suburbs and Pune, and complete stop of inter-state and inter-district transport of any kind. Whereas, Gujarat with second highest number of positive cases wants resumption of economic activities in major urban centres. States which are in favour of opening up of economic activities include Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, the official said. Kerala is believed to have suggested reopening of restaurants and hotels to revive the tourism sector. Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, which have seen spike in the COVID-19 cases after arrival of migrant workers, want continuation of lockdown with strict curbs on movement of people. Lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 for 21 days in a bid to combat the coronavirus pandemic. It was first extended till May 3 and again till May 17. ACB SMNSMN

Greater relaxations in lockdown 4.0; States, UTs to be empowered to take decisions on curbs

(Eds: Combining related stories) New Delhi, May 15 () The nationwide tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases crossed 85,000 on Friday with more people testing positive for the deadly virus infection from Kashmir to Kerala and from Karnataka to Bihar, even as indications emerged about greater relaxations in the fourth phase of the lockdown beginning Monday to contain economic costs of the pandemic. Going by the numbers declared by different states and union territories, India has now surpassed China's official tally of 82,933 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Though some new cases have emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan -- the epicentre of the deadly virus -- less than 100 people are now undergoing treatment across China, which recorded 4,633 deaths due to COVID-19 but more than 78,000 have been discharged after recovery, as per their official data. Globally, more than 3 lakh people have died and nearly 45 lakh have tested positive for the deadly virus since its emergence in Wuhan last December. While China and several other countries have begun reopening their economies, fresh concerns have begun mounting about a possible re-emergence of the virus. India is now the 11th most affected nation in the world, but each one of the top-ten have one lakh or more cases. The US tops the charts with more than 14 lakh cases, followed by Russia, UK, Spain, Italy and Brazil with over 2 lakh cases each; and France, Germany, Turkey and Iran having over 1 lakh cases each. In its morning 8 AM update, the Union Health Ministry said the death toll due to COVID-19 across India has risen to 2,649 and the number of cases has climbed to 81,970, registering an increase of 100 deaths and 3,967 cases in the last 24 hours since Thursday morning. There are more than 51,000 active cases, while nearly 28,000 have recovered, giving a recovery rate of over 34 per cent. However, a tally of numbers reported by states and UTs, as of 9 PM, put the total number of confirmed cases across the country much higher at 85,538. This also showed at least 2,679 deaths and nearly 30,000 recoveries. Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Bihar and Karnataka breached the 1,000-mark in terms of the number of people having tested positive, while testing and containment measures were ramped up in places like, Kerala, Goa and Manipur that were being seen as being mostly virus-free till a few days back. Even a quarantine centre had to be sealed in Manipur. On the other hand, large numbers of cases continued to get detected in big urban clusters. Maharashtra, the most-affected state, reported 1,576 new cases to take its tally to 29,100, while its death toll rose to 1,068. Tamil Nadu crossed the 10,000 mark with 434 new cases, while Gujarat saw 340 more people testing positive to push its tally to 9,932. According to the Union Health Ministry, 30 municipal areas account for 79 per cent of India's coronavirus infection caseload. At a meeting of a group of ministers chaired by Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, it was stressed that the focus of COVID-19 management strategy needs to be on the states with the highest number of confirmed cases and fatalities. Also, focus is needed on treatment and case fatality management, for which timely detection and contact tracing were the best way forward. The Finance Ministry in the meantime unveiled the third booster dose, mainly consisting of measures aimed at helping farmers and for reforms in agriculture and allied sectors, of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Rs 20 lakh crore 'special package' for making India self-reliant in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Modi said the third tranche will help the rural economy and boost farmers' income. India has been under a lockdown since March 25, which was initially scheduled to end on April 14 but has got extended twice -- first till May 3 and then till May 17 with some relaxations. A final decision on the fourth phase is expected soon, but officials said there could be greater relaxations and more flexibility for states and union territories while measures being explored include gradual reopening of the railways and domestic airlines. Schools, colleges, malls and cinema halls may not be allowed to open anywhere in the country, but salons, barber shops and optical shops may be allowed everywhere barring COVID-19 containment areas. E-retailers may be allowed to deliver non-essential items too. Final guidelines will be issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs after going through the suggestions of various state governments. During his last interaction with chief ministers, Modi had asked them to submit their suggestions by May 15. According to officials, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam and Telangana want the lockdown to continue, while some states have sought powers to decide the zoning of districts -- green, orange and red -- as per the COVID-19 situation. This request of the state governments may be accepted so that they can restrict or allow movement of people or economic activities in a particular place depending on the ground situation, an official told . Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Monday, had said that the lockdown 4.0 will have a "completely different form", with new rules. "No state wants complete withdrawal of lockdown but all want gradual resumption of economic activities," the official said. Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka are among some states which are not in favour of complete resumption of train and air services, at least till May-end. The railways have already started special trains to 15 destinations from Delhi and have been running several hundred 'Shramik Special' trains from different parts of the country to various places for transportation of migrant workers stranded due to the lockdown. Air India is also engaged in evacuation of thousands of Indians stranded abroad during the lockdown under the 'Vande Bharat Mission'. However, there have been cases of people testing positive after reaching their native places using these trains and flights. Officials said local trains, buses and metro services may start running with limited capacity in non-containment areas of red zones. Autos and taxis are also expected to be allowed in all zones with restrictions on the number of passengers, barring areas identified as 'containment zones'. Maharashtra has favoured strict lockdown measures in Mumbai, its suburbs and Pune, and a complete ban on inter-state and inter-district transport. However, Gujarat wants resumption of economic activities in major urban centres. Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have also favoured opening up of economic activities. Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, which have seen a spike in the COVID-19 cases after arrival of migrant workers, want the lockdown to continue with strict curbs on movement of people. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has urged Modi not to open state boundaries for the next few months, except for migrants or essential services. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the state has written to the Centre urging extension of the lockdown by two more weeks. Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said the Centre may announce many relaxations in the lockdown after May 17. The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to resume state transport bus service to various destinations from May 18, while the Haryana Roadways has already resumed bus services on select routes within the state. PLB PM ACB SKC DP MJH ANZ TR KSU UPL SUN VSD ENM NAB BJBJBJ

COVID-19: India surpasses China tally with 85,000 confirmed cases; Bihar, K'taka, J&K cross 1k mark

(Eds: Combining related stories) New Delhi, May 18 () The nationwide tally of COVID-19 cases crossed one lakh on Monday with more people testing positive for the deadly virus in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and other states, even as a much-relaxed fourth phase of the lockdown began with restarting of market complexes, autos, taxis and inter-state buses in various parts of the country. The death toll due to COVID-19 crossed the 3,000-mark too. With an aim to reboot numerous locked down economic activities, authorities across the country ordered reopening of markets, intra-state transport services and even of barber shops and salons in some states, barring in containment zones. However, schools, colleges, theatres, malls and religious gatherings are among those that would remain shut down, at least till May 31. India has been under a lockdown since March 25, which was first supposed to be for 21 days or toll April 14, but was later extended till May 3, then further till May 17 and now for another two weeks till May 31. However, a number of relaxations have been given in the current fourth phase, while states and union territories have also been granted significant flexibility for deciding the red, orange or green zones in terms of the quantum and severity of the virus spread. In its morning 8 AM update, the Union Health Ministry put the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases 96,169 and the death toll at 3,029. It also said that 36,824 people have so far recovered from the infection. However, a tally of figures announced by different states and UTs as of 9.40 PM put the number of those having tested positive for the infection at 1,00,096, with a death toll of 3,078 and recoveries at 38,596 across the country. Maharashtra topped the nationwide tally with over 35,000 confirmed cases and 1,249 deaths, followed by Tamil Nadu with 11,760 confirmed cases and 81 deaths. Gujarat has also reported 11,746 confirmed cases, while its death toll is higher than that of Tamil Nadu at 694. Delhi has also crossed the 10,000 mark in terms of the number of confirmed cases, while its death toll has now reached 160. Gujarat, during the day, recorded 366 new COVID-19 cases and 35 deaths, including 31 from the worst-hit Ahmedabad, taking the state's case count to 11,746 and the number of fatalities to 694, a health department official said. Maharashtra reported 2,033 new cases, taking the tally to 35,058. This was the second consecutive day when the state has reported more than 2,000 COVID-19 cases. Mumbai alone reported 1,185 fresh cases and 23 more deaths, taking the total count of the city to 21,152 and the fatalities to 757. Of the 1,185 new cases, 300 samples were tested positive in private laboratories between May 12 and 16. Kerala also saw 29 new cases -- all but one being returnees from overseas and other states -- raising concerns about the state witnessing a possible third wave of the dreaded virus infection. The state was first to report the virus infection, but at least twice it has already been seen as having flattened the curve of the infection. The nationwide count of confirmed infections incidentally crossed the crucial one-lakh mark on a day when the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown kicked in with several relaxations for economic and public activities, barring in containment zones or areas identified as serious hotspots of the virus infection. Revising its strategy for COVID-19 testing, ICMR also said on Monday that returnees and migrants who show symptoms for influenza-like illness will be tested for coronavirus infection within seven days of ailment and stressed that no emergency clinical procedure, including deliveries, should be delayed for lack of testing. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in its revised strategy for coronavirus testing in India also added that all hospitalised patients who develop symptoms for influenza-like illness (ILI) and frontline workers involved in containment and mitigation of COVID-19 having such signs will also be tested for coronavirus infection through RT-PCR test. Besides, asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case are to be tested once between day five and day 10 of coming in contact, the new document stated. Asymptomatic contacts of a confirmed case were being tested once between day five and day 14. The Health Ministry also said that for every one lakh population, there are 7.1 coronavirus cases in India so far as against 60 globally. It also said the recovery rate of coronavirus cases in India stood at 38.39 per cent. Besides, India also joined nearly 120 countries at a crucial conference of the World Health Organisation in pushing for an impartial and comprehensive evaluation of the global response into the coronavirus crisis as well as to examine the origin of the deadly infection. Since the first case of the deadly coronavirus was reported in China last December, more than 47 lakh people have tested for this virus across the world and over 3 lakh have lost their lives. India is the 11th most affected country, while the US tops the chart with over 14.9 lakh confirmed cases so far. China's official tally of confirmed infections is less than 84,000, while it has reported more than 4,600 deaths. PM PLB MPB KA PD ND ACB BJBJ

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Kerala salons uncertain of their fate as products expire and loans build up during the coronavirus lockdown

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Greater relaxations in lockdown 4.0; States, UTs to be empowered to take decisions on curbs

PTI

COVID-19: India surpasses China tally with 85,000 confirmed cases; Bihar, K'taka, J&K cross 1k mark

PTI

India's COVID-19 tally crosses 1-lakh mark; Lockdown 4.0 brings in several relaxations

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