Coronavirus updates, May 18: India took all necessary steps well in time, says Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

Even as it announced relaxations in the lockdown, Karnataka has decided not to allow people from four states — Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat – inside its borders till May 31. After holding a meeting with ministers and senior officials regarding the central government’s guidelines on the extension of the Covid-19 lockdown, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday announced various relaxations.

“Karnataka will not allow entry of people from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Gujarat in the state until May 31, except under inevitable circumstances,” Yediyurappa said.

Meanwhile, the lockdown restrictions were extended till May 31, but with considerable relaxations in non-containment zones. While all markets, offices, industries, and businesses will be allowed to open, inter-state and intra-state movement of “passenger vehicles and buses” will be permitted with the consent of the states involved. The restrictions on air travel (domestic and international) and Metro rail services will continue, and schools, colleges, and other educational institutes will remain closed.

Read | From today, India’s Covid-19 response will shift to states

Here are the top developments of coronavirus in India:

Explained: What changes for you in the latest phase of lockdown

The Centre on Sunday (May 17) extended the lockdown for two more weeks till May 31, but gave some major relaxations, permitting almost all economic activities and significant public movement. What does the new phase of lockdown mean for the common public, the economy, and the state governments struggling for revenue?

Most things. From public transport to markets, everything has been opened in non-containment zones. (Express photo: Abhinav Saha)

What changes for the common man?

Most things. From public transport to markets, everything has been opened in non-containment zones. All factories, manufacturing units, supply lines and offices can now function without any restrictions. Buses and private vehicles can now move about freely without any special conditions.

The government has basically obliterated the idea of zones (unless you are in a containment zone) for common people. Earlier there were graded relaxations in Red, Green, and Orange zones, with the maximum restrictions applying in the Red zones.

Aarogya Setu remains inaccessible for disabled despite push from activists

Aarogya Setu remains out of bounds for the disabled, particularly the visually impaired, even as the government insists on its usage and several activists and NGOs have already flagged that the Covid-19 contact-tracing app is inaccessible to people with disabilities.

The government launched the Aarogya Setu application more than six weeks ago.

Vice-President, National Blind Association, Dipendra Manocha said: “If you exclude the disabled population from something as critical as this, you are putting not only them but the entire population at risk. It can have a huge impact on your Covid response.”

“My skepticism about its utility aside, even if I want to use Aarogya Setu, I cannot. I have installed it in my phone but it is lying unused because I can barely navigate it. The government, as it happens all the time, did not bother to add accessibility features in the application,” said disability rights activist Ketan Kothari, who is visually impaired.

Delhi Lockdown 4.0 guidelines: Here’s a list of what is open and what’s closed

With the Centre extending the nationwide lockdown for two more weeks until May 31 to stop the spread of Covid-19, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Monday announced a detailed plan for the national capital based on the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs. While addressing the media, Kejriwal said that bus service in the capital will resume but only 20 passengers will be allowed at a time. “Screening of passengers will be done before entering. Social distancing will be maintained on each depot,” he said. However, there will be no relaxation in containment zones.

“Barbershops, spas and salons to remain closed for now. People will be allowed to step out of their out of homes between 7 pm to 7 am, except for essential services.,” he added.

No official night curfew in West Bengal, says Mamata Banerjee

No official night curfew in West Bengal, but people are requested not to venture out after 7 pm, says CM Mamata Banerjee. Hawkers will be allowed to reopen shops in non-containment zones in the state from May 27.

‘Provide details of 1,000 buses’: UP govt accepts Priyanka Vadra’s proposal

The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday accepted the proposal of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to deploy 1000 buses for migrants. In a letter to Vadra, Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary (Home) said the government has accepted her proposal and asked her to provide the details of 1000 buses and drivers without delay.

This comes hours after the Congress leader tweeted a video of thousands of migrants assembled at Ram Leela Maidan in Ghaziabad wanting to return home. “A crowd of migrant workers have assembled at the Ram Leela Maidan in Ghaziabad. The UP government cannot manage anything. If they would have made proper arrangements before a month, the migrants would not have had to face the hardship. Yesterday we proposed to deploy 1000 buses and brought them at the UP border. But we were not allowed. Neither the government is helping the migrants nor is it allowing others to help them,” tweeted Vadra.

Masks, no pool trips; here’s how Uber is preparing to restart services

A lot is going to change for Uber customers in the coming days as India slowly eases out of the lockdown. Uber’s new safety features for riders and drivers announced today, makes regular disinfection of the cabs and masks mandatory.

To start with, Uber has made it mandatory for all drivers and riders to wear a face mask at all times. Starting today, all Uber drivers will first need to clear an “online checklists” to be able to take pick a trip. Drivers will be required to confirm that they have taken all the COVID-19 safety measures and are wearing a face mask. Riders will also need to go through a similar checklist before booking a ride the next time.

From today, before drivers are able to start accepting trips, they will be asked to take a selfie with a mask on and the photo will be verified by a new technology developed by Uber especial for the COVID-19 pandemic, said Sachin Kansal, Global Senior Director of Product Manager at Uber. Any selfie uploaded without a mask will not be accepted, hence, drivers will be unable to accept any trip. For all selfies uploaded without a mask, Uber app will show a warning message that states “We’re unable to confirm your face cover or mask. Place it over your nose and mouth and try again.”

Economic package ‘hopelessly inadequate’, amounts to only Rs 1.86 crore, says Chidambaram

Leading the charge against the government over the economic package announced to overcome the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday called it “hopelessly inadequate” while seeking a revised and comprehensive package of 10 per cent of the GDP.

“The fiscal stimulus package is hopelessly inadequate given the gravity of the economic crisis as it amounts to only Rs 1.86 crore, which is 0.91 per cent of the GDP,” the former finance minister said.

The Centre has unveiled a Rs 20 lakh crore economic relief package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign while pushing new reforms in sectors such as agriculture, public sector enterprises, and defence production.

Explained: How Covid-19 affects different parts of the body

Some cases of the so-called “Covid toe” were reported from Spain and the US earlier this month.

While fever, cough and difficulty in breathing are some of the most common symptoms of COVID-19, the disease has been known to affect different parts of the body. There have been reports that the disease may overstimulate the immune system and lead to a cytokine storm, and in some other patients, doctors noticed a swelling on their patients’ toes.

Further, it is still not clear why some individuals infected with the disease remain asymptomatic, while there are others who develop mild or moderate symptoms and some who get critically ill and succumb to the disease.

Last week, the President of the Public Health Foundation of India, K Srinath Reddy, said one of the reasons the pandemic was unpredictable was due to the virus affecting different parts of the body as a result of which different clinical manifestations were being noticed. “Other viral epidemics have not had this speed of transmission, or this level of body involvement of multiple body parts…” he said.

On the long journey back home, some welcome relief for migrants in MP

For the thousands of migrants going from Maharashtra to their homes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the bypass checkpoint at Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha-Raisen border comes as a relief. No one walks past this point, or goes ahead empty stomach. Maybe because it is set up just below the hill that houses Emperor Ashoka’s Sanchi Stupas, but this checkpost seems to practice the ancient king’s preachings.

“Daily, we see about 10,000-15,000 people pass by, mostly from Maharashtra. We are making sure not a single person passes by on foot, or even bicycle. We accommodate them in empty buses and trucks,” says Ishwar Baghel, Sub Inspector, Vidisha. “If the need arises, the collector arranges for a bus. But no one is passing on foot.” Baghel, who has been deployed at the state border since March 28, says the number of walkers have reduced in the past few days. “But whoever comes walking is provided with transportation.”

Other checkpoints in MP are also advised to help passing migrants. “For over eight days now, we have been distributing free food items like khichdi, dal-chawal and poori-sabji. We provided food to 5,000 people daily when this migration was at its peak,” explains Dinesh Saxena, an employee of Vidisha’s Municipal Committee. Now, he says, they offer tea and biscuits, “as passersby have decreased in the last couple of days”.

Karnataka Covid-19 data shows unique spreaders infecting 7 on average

The Covid 19 ‘spread analysis’ has revealed that on an average a root patient infected with the coronavirus in Karnataka spreads the infection to 6.87 persons or seven persons in rounded off terms. (ANI)

The Covid-19 has spread in Karnataka mostly through patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and Influenza Like Illness (ILI) — with as many 9.68 persons persons being infected on an average by every root patient with SARI/ILI compared to 6.16 persons infected by domestic travellers and 2.26 by international travellers, according to early analysis of infection data carried out by the state Covid -9 war room. Follow coronavirus pandemic LIVE updates

The Covid 19 ‘spread analysis’ has revealed that on an average a root patient infected with the coronavirus in Karnataka spreads the infection to 6.87 persons or seven persons in rounded off terms.

The analysis identified 62 root patients (index patients or unique spreaders) across the state from whom the disease spread to others and found that they infected a total of 426 others — with 29 SARI and ILI index patients infecting 281 persons (at an average of 9.68), while 18 patients with domestic travel history infecting 111 persons (at an average of 6.16). Among international travellers, the analysis has found that 15 index patients infected 35 others at an average of 2.26 persons.

Fighting from the bottom, India’s sanitation workers are also frontline workers battling Covid-19

The legacy of social exclusion is deeply entrenched in his conscience. As he begrudgingly hauls this stigma every day of his life, door-to-door, picking up waste from households in Southeast Delhi, 36-year-old Pawan stands at a crossroads yet again: as pots and pans rung out loud from balconies to boost morale of doctors, nurses and frontline workers fighting coronavirus, where’s the round of applause for him?

“We don’t get the same respect as doctors, other medical staff even when we put our health at risk everyday. Our work is still not considered as an essential service,” said Pawan (name changed), a migrant worker from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, who handles garbage of more than 100 houses.

Pawan is part of India’s indispensable 40 lakh waste pickers in the informal sector, and garbage collectors employed by states, the backbone of the waste management system. Yet, despite providing an essential public health service to residential colonies, hospitals, and commercial establishments, most work without safety gear, have no social security, face rampant discrimination, but still keep our cities clean. Now, they are also at risk of exposure to Covid-19 from handling unmarked medical and contaminated waste.

Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra Police reaches 1,273

As the number of COVID-19 positive cases in Maharashtra crossed 33,000 as of Monday morning, the number of positive cases in Maharashtra Police reached 1,273 with 11 having lost their lives to the viral disease.

As of Monday morning, the count in the SRPF personnel was 384. (Express photo: Pradip Das)

According to the numbers shared by officials from the Maharashtra Police headquarters, among the 1,273 cases, 131 are officers and 1142 are constables. Of these, a total of 291 — 34 officers and 257 constables — have recovered. A majority of these cases are local police personnel from Mumbai, Thane and Malegaon or personnel of the State Reserved Police Force (SRPF) who were deployed in these high-risk areas and later repatriated to their home units.

As of Monday morning, the count in the SRPF personnel was 384. Most of these cases are of the companies of the SRPF deployed in Mumbai and Malegaon have gone back to their unit’s headquarters in Hingoli, Aurangabad and Jalna district of Maharashtra.

Most Shramik trains from Red zones, isolating migrants is new challenge

As migrants pour into their villages from urban Covid hotspots, they pose a growing challenge to states fighting to keep the viral load down: how to quarantine them, in large numbers, for at least 14 days and how to maintain social distancing during that quarantine given that most of them are asymptomatic.

A Shramik Special train leaves Hubbali for Azamgarh on Sunday afternoon. (Photo: Twitter/ @SWRRLY)

Defining the challenge, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, member of the high-level Covid committee, said: “We must remember that these migrants can be asymptomatic but are carrying the infection. That is why isolation is most important. Only that will prevent the spread, rather than just testing symptomatic patients. Also, the number of migrants is huge. Testing will run into lakhs.”

The numbers are a challenge. An analysis of the train network opened for the migrants shows that of the 1000 Shramik Special trains that have run since May 1 to May 15, until over two-thirds of them, or 668, originated from Red zones and as many as 508 of them moved passengers to Green or Orange zones.

Karnataka to observe complete lockdown on Sunday

The Karnataka government on Monday barred people from Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu from entering the state till May 31. The state will also observe total lockdown on Sundays, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa told reporters.

Morning crowd at a market in Navi Mumbai on day one of Lockdown 4 on Monday, May 18, 2020. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

The state has allowed buses of all the four state transport corporations to operate, except in red and containment zones, from tomorrow. Private buses have also been permitted to run their services.

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Only 30 people would be allowed to travel in the buses and wearing of face masks and maintaining physical distancing are mandatory, he said. Bus fares would not be increased, he added. Inter-state transport would not be allowed, except in emergency cases. Auto and taxis were also given green signal to get on to roads, but there should be only three passengers, including the driver. In maxi-cabs, the maximum number should be four passengers, including driver. Trains can operate within the State but not inter- state services till May 31.

CBSE announces schedule for pending board exams

Crowd at NIBM Kausar Baug road in Pune’s Kondhwa market on Monday, May 18, 2020. (Express Photo By Pavan Khengre)

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Monday announced the date sheet for the pending class 10 and 12 board exams, which will now be held from July 1-15. The exams were postponed due to the nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25 to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Read | At WHO, India joins 61 nations to seek source of coronavirus

The class 10 board exams are pending only in the North East Delhi. “The class 10 exams will be staggered on four dates, starting July 1. The first paper will be of Social Sciences, while the next day students will be required to appear for Science exam, Sanyam Bhardwaj, the Controller of Examination, CBSE said. On July 10, exams will be conducted for both courses of Hindi and on July 15 for both courses of English,” he said.

Coronavirus numbers explained: Surge is around the corner

More than 5,000 new cases of Coronavirus infections were reported on Sunday, the maximum till now, in an indication that an expected surge due to relaxation in the lockdown might finally be around the corner.

Courier service boys at work in Navi Mumbai on Monday, May 18, 2020. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Even on Saturday, more than 4,800 cases were discovered, but that was mainly because Gujarat had decided to include over 700 positive cases detected during a weeklong special drive conducted in Ahmedabad. Otherwise, for almost a week, the daily increase in cases was hovering between 3,600 and 3,800, and before that between 3,000 and 3,500.

Read | CBSE Class 10, 12 exam dates out: Check here

Maharashtra now has more than 33,000 confirmed cases, while the number in the entire country stood at 95,865. Migrant workers continued to swell up the numbers in states like Bihar and Odisha, which are among the fastest-growing right now, even though they have a relatively modest caseload compared to the top five states.

Delhi: AIIMS to resume OPD services from this week

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is finalising its plan to restore services at the hospital from this week. The plan involves equally redistributing personnel from Covid-19 centres in all departments to reallocating beds for indoor patients. “The services are likely to start this week. Discussions on whether the services should be partially opened or in one go are going on with all the heads. Suggestions regarding limited registrations have also poured in. We are working on the plan,” said Dr DK Sharma, medical superintendent of the hospital.

Daily wage construction worker, Md Subhan adjusts mask on her daughter Nazim Khatun, 8 and younger daughter Chandni, 3, on Sunday, May 17, 2020. Subhan, along with his wife wants to go to Purnia, their village in Bihar, but were later taken away to a shelter home in Dadri from Noida Extension, by the police, as they were stuck because of the Lockdown across country. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)

On March 18, AIIMS sent an advisory to the OPD patients on their registered phone numbers, requesting them to postpone their appointments. From March 20, the hospital curtailed elective surgeries and a screening area was opened for patients having symptoms of respiratory tract infections. To ensure smooth treatment of Covid-19 patients, the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center (JPNATC) was converted into a dedicated Covid-19 hospital and the patients were shifted to the main campus. The hospital is now working on the redistribution of the beds for patients in the coming days.

709 ‘super-spreaders’ test positive in a week, Gujarat crosses 11,000 cases

Gujarat crossed 11,000 coronavirus cases with 348 new cases on Saturday. The state health department announced that 709 persons tested positive in Ahmedabad in the past week, owing to a targeted drive to detect positive cases among “super-spreaders”. With 20 more Covid-19 casualties, the death toll in the state rose to 626 on Saturday. Close to 46 persons continue to be on ventilatory support. State-wide, Saturday saw the maximum samples taken this week in a 24-hour cycle, at 3,961 samples.

A police man outside the station On Tuesday at Howrah Station. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)

According to state government officials, when Ahmedabad city was under a rigorous lockdown last week with all services stopped — except for milk shops and drugstores — 33,500 super-spreaders were medically screened. Of those surveyed, 6,587 samples were taken, of whom 709 persons tested positive. “This was a special drive that was undertaken in Ahmedabad to ensure containment of the spread of infection. To see to that data remains transparent and accurate, this was declared today (after completion of the drive),” said Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi.

SAT to remain closed till May 31 amid COVID-19 pandemic

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has said it will remain closed till May 31 in view of the nationwide lockdown announced by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Earlier, the tribunal had said it will remain closed till May 15. In view of the extension of nationwide lockdown, till May 31, declared by the government on May 17.

Migrants from UP and Bihar walk home from Mumbai. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)

The judicial work of the tribunal will remain suspended till June 5, the SAT said in a notification on Sunday. Besides, the office of the tribunal will function from June 1 from 11 am to 4:30 pm. Also, the matters fixed for hearing on May 18 to May 22 will now stand adjourned till June 23, 24, 26, 30 and July 1, respectively.