Coronavirus India Updates, May 23: Sikkim reports first Covid-19 case; Karnataka sees biggest spike in infections with 196 new cases

Maharashtra remained the worst-hit state with over 44,500 cases, accounting for about a third of all cases in the country and two out of every five deaths. For several days now, Bihar has been showing signs of a big surge in its coronavirus cases. With over 2,000 cases now, more than half of which has been discovered in just last one week, Bihar is fast developing into the next trouble state. Punjab, incidentally, has slowed down significantly in the last one week. The country has been recording a daily rise of over 5,000 cases everyday since Sunday and saw a daily spike of over 6,000 cases in the past two days.

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Sikkim reports first Covid-19 case

A 25-year-old student in Sikkim has been tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the first case in the state, a senior official told PTI. The student’s sample was sent to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri for testing. The report came back positive, Health Department Director General-cum-Secretary Pempa Tshering Bhutia said.

A resident of Rabangla in South Sikkim district, the student was in Delhi preparing for competetive examinations. He is undergoing a treatment at Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial (STNM) Hospital in Gangtok.

36 lakh migrants to travel in next 10 days: Railways

About 35 lakh migrant workers have been ferried to their native homes onboard 2,600 Shramik Special trains since May 1 and another 36 lakh are scheduled to travel in the next 10 days, the Indian Railways said. In a press brieifng, Chairman of the Railway Board V K Yadav said 1,000 ticket counters have been opened across India and more will be opened soon. “We have operated 260 Shramik Special trains every day on an average for the last four days, carrying three lakh passengers daily,” Yadav said.

Responding to a question over diversion of few trains, the chairman said about 80 per cent of the special trains are travelling to Uttar Pradesh and Bihr and so a decision was taken to divert some trains on clear routes. Earlier in the day, the Vasai Road-Gorakhpur Sharmik Special train to Uttar Pradesh, which left the city on May 21, was diverted to a different route via Odisha. The Uttar Pradesh-bound train was diverted from its original route through Kalyan, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Khandwa, Itarsi, Jabalpur and Manikpur stations, due to heavy traffic congestion, Western Railway PRO Ravindra Bhakar told PTI.

A special train boards passengers at Lucknow’s Charbagh Railway station.

196 new infections reported in Karnataka, biggest spike so far

Karnataka on Saturday reported fresh 196 coronavirus cases, its biggest spike, nearing 2,000 cases in total. The total infections in the state now stands at 1,939 with 42 dead, the health department said. Of the new Covid-19 cases, about 172 were returnees from Maharashtra, who were kept in institutional quarantine for seven days upon their return, as per the state directive.

The state health department confirmed the death of a 32-year-old man from Bengaluru Urban. He was admitted to a designated hospital on May 19 with complaints of breathing difficulty and comorbid conditions, the bulletin said, adding that he died today due to cardiac arrest.

WATCH: #COVID19 Karnataka update:

Saturday (12pm)

New cases: 196
Total cases: 1939
Discharges: 598
Deaths: 42
Active cases: 1297@IndianExpress | @DarshanDevaiahB pic.twitter.com/zUV9xjH34E

— Express Bengaluru (@IEBengaluru) May 23, 2020

Delhi’s Covid-19 toll rises to 231, 591 new cases

The death toll in Delhi due to the coronavirus rose to 231 on Saturday, while the number of cases touched 12,910 with 591 new cases, the health department said. The national capital had registered the highest spike on Friday with 660 fresh virus cases.

A bulletin issued by the health department stated that the cumulative death figures referred to fatalities where the primary cause of death was found to be COVID-19, as per the report of the Death Audit Committee on the basis of case sheets received from various hospitals.

Medics attend to a suspected COVID-19 patient at a government hospital in Delhi. (Representational)

Will try to resume some international flights before August, says Puri

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today said the ministry “will try to start good percentage of international passenger flights before August”, adding that there’s no contradiction between domestic flights beginning from May 25 and lockdown in India being imposed till May 31.

Advocating the use of the Aarogya Setu app by all, Puri said: “I don’t understand the need for quarantine of passenger who has green status on Aarogya Setu app. I would recommend Aarogya Setu app to everyone. It’s an excellent contact-tracing device.”

When asked about the issue of evacuation of Indians stranded abroad, he said: “We will be able to bring around 50,000 citizens back through special flights during the first 25 days of Vande Bharat Mission. We are also planning to bring back Indian citizens from Sri Lanka either by ship or flights. Discussions are at an advanced stage.”

Lockdown averted 14-29 lakh infections, 37-71,000 deaths: Govt

The government claimed Friday that the nationwide lockdown had averted 14-29 lakh cases and 37,000-71,000 deaths, based on modelling projections by various independent agencies and individuals. Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, said the lockdown decision “by the Prime Minister was early and timely”, and “the way the country effectively implemented it, is an international example”. The lockdown has “made it difficult for the virus to travel”, Dr Paul said. However, he stressed the need to stay cautious, as a measure like the lockdown could not “go on forever”.

The doubling time of the epidemic is now 13.3 days against the 3.5 days before the lockdown, and the outbreak has been limited, he said.

The Kerala government Friday said the passengers would have to stay in home or institutional quarantine for 14 days. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

Five states say incoming fliers to stay in quarantine

With domestic flight operations set to resume on Monday, at least five states including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Assam and the UT of Jammu and Kashmir have decided that incoming passengers would have to stay in home or institutional quarantine.

The Kerala government Friday said the passengers would have to stay at home or institutional quarantine for 14 days.

In Karnataka, domestic passengers from high-risk states — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh — will have to stay in institutional quarantine for seven days, followed by 7 days of home quarantine. Those returning from other states will have to stay in home quarantine for 14 days.

The governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have decided to quarantine people arriving on flights as well as other modes of transport.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that people arriving by any mode would have to stay in quarantine for 14 days.

Rahul Gandhi interacts with migrants, helps them reach home

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Saturday shared a video of his recent interaction with migrant workers in Delhi’s Sukhdev Vihar. The group – of about 20 persons – was walking hundreds of kilometres from their work-site in Haryana to their village near Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.

In the video, Gandhi says, “Coronavirus has brought pain to a large number of people, but it has seriously affected our migrant brothers and sisters. They walked thousands of kilometres and without food. They were stopped, threatened, but they kept walking towards their home. I will show you what they are thinking, what they expect and how scared they are.”

Calamity cess on GST: plan on Govt table to tide over Covid crisis

The central government is considering a calamity cess on Goods and Services Tax (GST) to tide over the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, The Indian Express has learnt. Sources said that a proposal to raise additional revenue from GST, excluding goods and services in the five per cent slab, is with the Finance Ministry.

Kerala is the only state to have levied such a cess using the Constitutional provision, Section (4) (F) of Article 279 A, which refers to “any special rate or rates for a specified period to raise additional resources during any natural calamity or disaster”

600 affected in Assam floods; new guidelines for relief camps on account of pandemic

Over 600 in Assam have been affected in the first floods of the season following continuous rainfall and the release of dam water. According to a bulletin issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Friday evening, 630 people in two villages of the Kalgachia revenue circle in Barpeta district were affected.

In view of the Covid-19 outbreak, the ASDMA has also issued fresh guidelines for the management of relief camps during the flood season. Earlier while people from entire villages would be mass evacuated and put in schools, preparations are being made to identify the capacity of different relief camps. Inside the relief camps too, there are a number of new directives to be followed. As per the new guidelines, instead of the earlier 3.5 square metres earmarked per person in the camp, the space will double to 7 square metres.

Nagaland receives migrants on first Sharamik Special train

The first Shramik Special train from Chennai with 1,477 stranded people reached the Dimapur railway station in Nagaland on Saturday. The migrants walked through two disinfectant tunnels at the station.

“The passengers were taken to the Agri Expo Site at 4th Mile by buses arranged by the state government for medical screening,” an official told PTI.

The people were reportedly from three districts — Dimapur, Mon and Peren — and have been quarantined at various centres while others were sent to quarantine facilities in Kohima.

2.02 lakh migrants were brought back from Gujarat, 1.12 lakh from Maharashtra and 1.10 lakh from Rajasthan. (Express Photo By Ganesh Shirsekar)

5 lakh migrant workers have returned to Madhya Pradesh

As of Friday, over 5 lakh Madhya Pradesh migrant workers stranded in different parts of the country due to coronavirus lockdown, have been brought back to their home state, mostly by buses, a government official said on Saturday.

At least 3.52 lakh migrants have returned to MP by buses while 1.46 lakh others returned on 119 special trains, said Additional Chief Secretary ICP Keshari.

Keshari said 2.02 lakh migrants were brought back from Gujarat, 1.12 lakh from Maharashtra and 1.10 lakh from Rajasthan. Apart from these, stranded migrants were also brought back from Goa, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, he said.

This move was to save up to Rs 7,300 crore. (Express File)

Tamil Nadu’s austerity measures to save up to Rs 1,000 crore

As the economic crisis triggered by the lockdown has had far-reaching implications on the state economy, the Tamil Nadu government has been forced to take drastic steps, including banning the creation of new government posts, purchase of vehicles, foreign travel of officials and presentation of gift articles. Even official seminars, conferences and dinners have been banned.

While the government expects to save Rs 1,000 crore from these austerity measures, the state had suspended encashment of earned leave for one year period and also frozen the Dearness Allowance (DA) of state employees till July 2021 last month. This move was to save up to Rs 7,300 crore. There are 12 lakh employees and 7.4 lakh service pensioners.