India coronavirus updates, 07 June: Coronavirus situation under control but can’t allow violation of safety measures, says Punjab CM

Meanwhile, India has gone past Spain to become the fifth worst-hit nation by the Covid-19 pandemic, with 2,46,628 cases. Now, only the US, Brazil, Russia and the UK are ahead of it. As many as 6,929 people have died so far, according to latest data released by the Ministry of Health Affairs. While the number of active cases stood at 1,20,406, 1,19,292 people have recovered and one has migrated till date.

A look at the top developments today:

Coronavirus situation under control but can’t allow violation of safety protocols, says Punjab CM

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh Sunday said the coronavirus situation in the state was stable but people cannot be allowed to violate safety protocols. He credited the strict lockdown imposed by the state for making the coronavirus situation in Punjab manageable. 

Responding to questions during the latest Facebook live edition of #AskCaptain, he termed the large number of violations reported as “unfortunate” and requested people to adhere to the safety measures.

He further said it had become essential now to ease some of the restrictions, but that did not mean that people could be allowed to violate the safety protocols. 

Delhi govt to lift ‘corona fee’ on liquor from Jun 10

The Delhi government Sunday decided to withdraw the the 70 percent “corona fee” on the sale of liquor in the national capital. While liquor will become cheaper in Delhi, the government however increased the Value Added Tax(VAT) on all categories of liquor from 20% to 25% from the said date, PTI reported.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. On May 5, the government imposed the “special corona fee” on liquor after the liquor stores reopened in the third phase of India lockdown.

Amit Shah lauds coronavirus warriors

Addressing the ‘Bihar Jansamvad Rally” through video conferencing, Union Minister Amit Shah Sunday lauded the efforts of front-line workers “who are fighting against the virus by risking their lives”. “Health workers, police personnel and others, I want to acknowledge their contribution” he added.

Amit Shah addressing Bihar Jan Samvad rally. (Twitter/BJP)

Also, highlighting the work done by the centre in helping migrants reach back home safely Shah said “Around 1.25 crore migrants have been safely brought to their places by BJP’s Modi govt”.

Rajasthan clocking over 73 percent recovery rate from COVID, says Health minister

Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma Sunday said out of 10,385 COVID-19 patients in the state, 7,606 have been cured, registering a 73.24 percent recovery rate. Sharma said if the number of infected patients is increasing in the state, the cases of recovery are also increasing in the same proportion.

So far, about 5 lakh people have been tested for virus infection and more than 1.25 lakh tests have been done at the state’s largest Sawai Man Singh Hospital here alone. The health minister said the number of corona patients in the state is doubling in 21 days, while their death rate is 2.25 per cent.

Religious places in Gujarat to hold prayers in shifts, start token system 

From tomorrow, religious places outside coronavirus containment zones in Gujarat are planning to open after almost two months albeit taking coronavirus precautionary measures. 

Some religious places have decided to organise prayers in shifts and start a token system specifying time slots to devotees. Maintaining social distancing and over crowding will be a priority. 

Elderly people and children below the age of 10 are exempted to enter the temples. Others will have to wear a face mask and get sanitised before entering the premises.

No decision yet on opening religious places in Maharashtra: Official

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena government is yet to take a decision on opening religious places for devotees from Monday, an official told news agency PTI on Sunday.

“A decision is yet to be taken on opening temples, mosques, churches and other religious establishments for people. There has been no decision so far on allowing people to gather at such places, Maharashtra’s law and judiciary department secretary Rajendra Bhagwat said.

The Maharashtra government is yet to decide on the opening of religious places from Monday. (Express photo/Vishal Srivastava)

Goa churches, mosques to remain shut

Churches and mosques in Goa have decided to remain closed for some more time despite the state government’s nod to reopen religious places from Monday as part of the lockdown relaxations.

Temple committees, however, are yet to take a call on opening their shrines for devotees in the coastal state, PTI reported.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said religious places in the state can open from Monday but no mass activities will be allowed there in the wake of the virus outbreak in the country.

“We would like to inform our priests and faithful that we are critically assessing the novel coronavirus-related fluid situation that has come upon our state. Therefore, we are not in a position to declare our places of worship open from tomorrow,” Father Barry Cardozo, director of the Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media, said in a statement.

Mosques in Goa have decided to remain shut for a while till the number of coronavirus cases are contained. (Express photo/Kamleshwar Singh)

Hospitals only for Delhi residents; borders to open from tomorrow

The Delhi Cabinet decided Sunday that beds in hospitals run by the state government shall be reserved for residents of the national capital till the pandemic subsides, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday. However, the decision will not cover hospitals like AIIMS and Safdarjung that come under the Union government, he added.

Reiterating his apprehension that city hospitals may get swamped by people from other states in the absence of restrictions, the chief minister, while addressing the citizens via video conferencing, said: “A five-member committee assessed the situation and found that by the end of June, we will be needing around 15,000 beds to treat infected patients. There are around 10,000 beds each in Delhi government and Centre-run hospitals. The Cabinet has decided that beds in Delhi government hospitals should be reserved only for people of Delhi.”

Delhi’s health infrastructure is needed to tackle Corona crisis at the moment https://t.co/GnTaCTDVkx

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 7, 2020

Coal import dropped by 20 per cent to 19 MT in May

The country’s coal import dropped by 20 per cent to 18.93 million tonnes (MT) last month, industry data showed. The Centre is planning to bring the country’s ‘avoidable coal imports’ to zero by 2023-24.

The demand for coal import is expected to remain subdued in the short-term given the high coal stock levels in pithead and power plants, according to mjunction. The coal import in May last year stood at 23.57 MT, it said. mjunction — a joint venture between Tata Steel and SAIL — is a B2B e-commerce company that also publishes research reports on coal and steel verticals.

“The slight uptick in May imports over the previous month might have resulted from the partial re-start of operations in some sectors as well as the continued softness in coal prices in the international markets. However, given the high coal stock levels in pithead and power plants, we expect import demand to remain subdued in the short-term,” mjunction MD and CEO Vinaya Varma was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Bengal govt allows family members to see deceased

The Mamata Banerjee government will now allow family members of a person who died due to Covid-19 to see the body and pay their respects. The relatives of coronavirus fatalities were not allowed to see the deceased so far.

“The dead body should be kept at a suitable place for 30 minutes during which the family members shall be allowed to pay their last respects,” a state government notification said on Saturday. “In case of death of a patient, the hospital shall inform the family members within one hour of death. A body cover with transparent face area shall be used,” it added.

However, the last rites will be performed by civic authorities.

A priest cleans the temple bells on Sunday. (Express photo/Vishal Srivastava)

Akhilesh hits out at UP govt over death of pregnant woman in ambulance

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav asked the Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday how many beds had been arranged for the “future generation” after a pregnant woman died in Greater Noida as she was allegedly denied admission by eight hospitals within a span of 12 hours.

“The death of a pregnant woman while searching a hospital is extremely sad,” Yadav tweeted, attaching a PTI news tweet of the incident. “The (UP) government should tell that if it has arranged 1 lakh beds for corona (patients), then why it has not reserved some beds for the future generation?” he asked.

“The BJP government should also tell that till now, how many hospitals have been made,” Yadav added.

उप्र में प्रसव के लिए अस्पताल खोजते-खोजते एक गर्भवती महिला की मृत्यु अति दुखद है. सरकार यह बताए कि अगर वो कोरोना के लिए 1 लाख बेड के इंतज़ाम का दावा करती है तो आनेवाली पीढ़ियों के लिए कुछ बेड आरक्षित क्यों नहीं रखे. भाजपा सरकार ये भी बताए कि उसने अब तक कितने अस्पताल बनाए हैं. pic.twitter.com/ENNGL6Lyx6

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) June 7, 2020

Huge job losses imminent if demand remains weak: ACMA

The auto component sector may see huge job losses if the automotive sector continues to face headwinds due to lack of demand amid coronavirus pandemic, industry body ACMA has said.

With muted demand and excess capacities already in place, the auto component makers would have to cut down on their workforce in order to keep their businesses afloat, the industry body added.

“Till demand is back, there will be concerns about financial stress, job losses and liquidity management. These concerns will remain and only go away when we are back to normal,” Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) President Deepak Jain told PTI.

Even if the companies resume work fully they will not require that much of workforce due to muted demand in the market, he said. “So, in such a scenario, even if we don’t like, there would be job losses. It is temporary workforce right now but if demand doesn’t pick up it could be others as well,” Jain noted.

Preparations underway to resume business at GIP Mall, Noida, from Monday. (Express photo/Gajendra Yadav)

Strict adherence to lockdown keep Daman, Diu coronavirus-free

The Daman and Diu districts of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli have not reported any coronavirus cases so far, and the administration has attributed this to strict implementation of the lockdown orders and commitment of ‘corona warriors’.

There are nearly 2.5 lakh industrial workers in Daman and Diu, which are also quite popular among tourists, the Union Territory’s administrator Praful Patel said on Sunday, PTI reported.

Despite bordering Gujarat and being close to Maharashtra, two of the badly-hit states, Daman and Diu managed to keep away from the virus because the public followed the lockdown guidelines, he said.

While Dadra and Nagar Haveli has reported 19 cases, there has been no case so far in Daman and Diu.

“We have managed to achieve this success because our ‘corona warriors’ worked with full commitment. We succeeded in making people adhere to the lockdown for 75 days. We managed to have zero cases in Daman and Diu because people followed the lockdown with full commitment,” Patel said.