India Coronavirus Updates, 29 June: Delhi govt to set up plasma bank; UP CM directs officers to increase testing facilities

India reported 19,459 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, marking the 6th consecutive day of crossing the 15,000 daily spike in new cases. Although the number of recoveries exceed the active cases by over a lakh, the death toll has climbed to 16,475 with 380 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data. As the case count continues to rise after the country started the “unlockdown”,  several states have reimposed full or partial lockdowns including Manipur, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam while states like Telangana are mulling over a decision to impose new restrictions. Follow Coronavirus LIVE UPDATES

Maharashtra government on Monday said the lockdown in the state is being extended till July 31. The current lockdown was to end on June 30. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had on Sunday ruled out lifting the lockdown from that date. An order issued by Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta on Monday said wearing face covers or masks, maintaining social distancing, restricted gatherings, and other measures shall continue to prevail. After Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu govt also extended lockdown till July 31.

The maximum number of cases have been reported from Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Telangana. Delhi which became the worst affected city in the country surpassed the 83,000 mark on Sunday.

Here are the top COVID-19 developments from across the country

Meghalaya orders lockdown in areas bordering Guwahati

In the light of the surge in COVID-19 cases in Assam and especially Guwahati, Meghalaya government has ordered a lockdown in areas bordering Guwahati. “Government has decided that the locations in Meghalaya bordering Guwahati i.e Byrnihat, Jorabat till Khanapara will be under #lockdown due to the surge in #Covid_19 cases in #Assam. Inter-state movement continues to be restricted” said Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma in a tweet.

As per an order from the DC of Ri Bhoi District, a total lockdown in some areas of the district has been enforced from 6am, June 30 to 6am, July 13. These include Byrnihat, Khanapara, Jorabat-Baridua, Ampatama, Umshry Sukhoinijira, Iwwmawroh, Bakhlapara, Hawla, Jimbrigaon, Lyngkhung, Patgaon, Umsen, Jyrmang, Bernongsai Nongkhlaw, Bernongsai Nongspung, Umsaliang, Gunapati, Mairapur, Nongkyllanf, Rani Jirang, Umshalani, Ranibari, Balakhawa, New Balakhawa, Bilpara, Halher, Akhoinijira, Garobhanga and Ulubari.

Nagaland extends lockdown to July 15

The Nagaland Cabinet Monday decided to extend the state’s existing lockdown to July 15 to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. As per an order signed by Chief Secretary Temjen Toy, the state’s existing lockdown guidelines “shall continue to remain operative in Nagaland till the 15th July 2020” in line with the the order issued on 04.05.2020. However, the earlier order is subject to relaxations regarding opening of religious places and plying of local taxis and auto rickshaw in border sub-divisions. Of the 451 COVID-19 cases, 283 are active while 168 have recovered. No deaths have been reported so far.

Delhi’s plasma bank: What’s the aim, how effective has the therapy been so far?

The chief minister said the state government will issue dedicated helplines for those willing to donate plasma.(Representational)

The Delhi government will set up a plasma bank within the next two days for coronavirus patients at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Monday. The chief minister said that the creation of the repository is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the entire country and appealed to recovered patients to donate their plasma.

The chief minister said the state government will issue dedicated helplines for those willing to donate plasma.

What is a plasma bank, why is it required?

Like in blood banks, where blood is extracted and stored for those who might be in need, the idea is to extract and store plasma from people who have recovered from Covid-19 and give it to someone suffering from the disease. The CM said it will become operational within two days and is likely one of its kind in the country so far.

Maharashtra lockdown extended: Here are the fresh guidelines

In Municipal Corporations of Region including Municipal Corporations of Pune, Solapur, Aurangabad, Malegaon, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon. Akola, Amravati and Nagpur following activities are permitted with restrictions as specified in the Orders issued from time to time:-

What is allowed

*All essential shops which are allowed to remain open before this order. shall continue
to do so.

*All non-essential shops will be allowed to continue as per relaxations and guidelines issued vide Order 31st May 2020 and 4th June 2020. and are in operation as per the policy Of respective Municipal Corporation. All non-essential markets. market areas & shops except malls and market complexes will remain open from 9 am to 5 pm. Liquor shops will continue to operate if permitted. home delivery or otherwise.
E-commerce activity for essential as well as non-essential items & material.

*All the industrial units which are presently open will continue to operate.

*All construction sites (Public/Private) which are allowed to remain open and
operational. All such pre-monsoon works (Public and Private) which are allowed.

*Home delivery restaurants / Kitchen.

*Online/ distance learning and related activities.

*All Government offices (excluding Emergency, health & Medical, treasuries. disaster management. police. NIC. food & Civil Supply, FCI. N.Y.K..

*Municipal Services to function with strength or 15 persons whichever is higher.

*All private offices can operate up to strength or 10 people, whichever is more. Activities related to self-employed people like plumbers, electricians, pest-control and technicians

*Garages to mend vehicles with prior appointment.

Increase Covid-19 testing facilities in UP: CM to officers

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday directed officers to increase COVID-19 testing facilities in the state and operate available TrueNat machines at full capacity.

Use of TrueNat machines should be promoted in private hospitals, he said addressing an unlock review meeting with senior officers and ministers.

“The testing capacity for COVID-19 should be increased. Available TrueNat and rapid antigen machines should be operated at full capacity for doing maximum tests in the state,” an official release said quoting the chief minister. (PTI)

Maharashtra CM launches world’s largest convalescent plasma project

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday launched convalescent plasma therapy-cum- trial project for treatment of critical COVID-19 patients with a state medical education department official calling it the largest initiative of its kind in the world.

Convalescent plasma therapy, also called passive antibody therapy, seeks to obtain plasma from the blood of people who have recovered from the infection to inject into patients undergoing treatment.

“The project, titled ‘Platina’, is the largest convalescent plasma therapy-cum-trial project in the world.

With it, we intend to save lives of some 500 critical COVID-19 patients. The trial will be held in 17 medical colleges under
the department of medical education and drugs, and four BMC- run colleges in Mumbai,” the official said.

50 inmates in Maharashtra’s prison test positive

At least 50 inmates of Akola District Prison have tested positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of positive cases among prison inmates in Maharashtra to 360. At least 11 prisons across the state have registered coronavirus cases till now.

On 24 June, 18 inmates were discovered to have coronavirus in the Akola District prison, following which more tests revealed at least 50 cases. Meanwhile, over the last four days, Thane Central and Mumbai Central prisons have reported 11 and three positive cases among staff members, respectively.

Rajasthan’s religious places in rural areas will reopen from 1 July

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Deputy CM Sachin Pilot at a press conference.

Rajasthan will allow the reopening of religious places in rural areas with a limited number of devotees from July 1, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, ensuring that all precautionary measures to curb the spread of coronavirus will be in place. Only those religious sites in rural areas have been given permission to reopen where 50 or less people visit per day on normal days. During this, social distancing, sanitisation and wearing masks etc and other standard operating procedures need to be ensured, the CM said.

Govt allows export of PPE coveralls, caps at 50 lakh units per month

Capping the monthly quota at 50 Lakh units, the Government on Monday permitted shipments of Covid-19 Personal Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) medical coveralls. 

The government partially relaxed export norms after banning this product for export earlier.

The product was banned for export earlier, but it has now been moved to the restricted category

“A monthly quota of 50 lakh PPE medical coverall for COVID-19 units has been fixed for issuance of export licence to the eligible applicants to export PPE medical coveralls for COVID-19 as per the criteria to be separately issued in a trade notice”, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said:

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal taking to Twitter said “Boosting Make in India exports, PPE medical coveralls for COVID-19 have been allowed with a monthly export quota of 50 lakh.” 

Delhi coronavirus cases surpass 83,000

As the number of containment zones in the national capital climbed to 417, it reported 2,889 new coronavirus cases Monday taking its total case tally over the 83,000 mark with 2,623 fatalities.

Emergency Covid-19 Care Centre, Lok Nayak Hospital, New Delhi.

Delhi that overtook Mumbai as the worst affected city reported its worst single day spike of 3,947 on June 23. Over 4,98,400 people have been tested in the capital.

According to the health bulletin, 52,607 patients have recovered, been discharged or migrated so far.

Telangana mulls total lockdown in Hyderabad; home minister tests positive

Amid a surge in cases in Hyderabad, the state government is considering a total lockdown under Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation areas of the city.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday chaired a high-level review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan to deliberate on strategies for Covid containment.

If lockdown is imposed, it should be implemented strictly and totally, the CM said.( Express)

“If lockdown is imposed, it should be implemented strictly and totally. There should be a day-long curfew with a one- or two-hour relaxation to buy the essentials. Flights and train services have to be stopped. All arrangements should be made from the government’s side. Hence, the government will examine all the issues in depth and take the necessary decision,” the Chief Minister said.

Meanwhile, Telangana’s Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali tested positive for Covid-19 after having symptoms for the last 4 days. Ali is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

Meghalaya CM tests negative for Covid-19

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has tested negative for COVID-19 after he had been in home quarantine due to his visits in Delhi and Manipur last week.

An NPP delegation led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Sangma Conrad and Dy Chief Minister of Manipur Sri Y Joy Kumar Singh met J P Nadda in New Delhi. (File Photo)

The National People’s Party president underwent a first covid testing on 22 June and a second one yesterday. Sangma will be under home quarantine for four more days before he resumes office.

A CMO official said the team of officials and police, who accompanied the Chief Minister to Guwahati were also tested negative and they are also under home quarantine.

Manipur extends Covid lockdown till July 15

The state has so far recorded 1,094 COVID-19 cases, including 432 recoveries and no fatalities. The recovery rate is 39.56%. (File)

The Manipur government Sunday decided to extend lockdown restrictions by another 15 days, from July 1 to 15, in the wake of a surge in the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) cases.

The state has, however, decided to allow inter-district bus services from July 1, provided standard operating procedures and guidelines issued by the government are followed. No other public transport system will be allowed during this period, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said.

Punjab has contained coronavirus to a considerable extent says health minister

Punjab Health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said that they have managed to contain the spread of Covid-19 to a considerable extent with the efforts of the state government. The minister added that the state health department has collected more than 2.80 lakh samples.

The minister said that the sincere efforts being made by the state government have resulted in the containment of coronavirus to a considerable extent. He added that to further ensure that people don’t face any problem in meeting their daily needs, essential items such as medicines, fruits, vegetables, milk were supplied to their doorsteps.

Karnataka aims to launch app to book hospital beds for covid-19 in Bengaluru

The Karnataka Covid-19 War Room has been tasked with the work of developing an application to help covid positive patients get a hospital bed as Benguluru faces a bed crunch.

“The app will verify the list with the ICMR database of persons who test positive for the Covid 19 each day and the bed allocations will happen only for those who test positive,” the head of the Covid war room said.