Maharashtra, Mumbai, Pune Coronavirus Live Updates: The dry fish market in Nehru chowk, Shukrawar Peth in Pune, reopened for business.
Maharashtra, Mumbai, Pune Coronavirus Live Updates:
To break the chain of transmission amid an “alarming” rate of spread of Covid-19 cases, the Pune district administration has announced a 10-day lockdown in the municipal limits of Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and some adjoining areas from July 14 to July 23. With Covid-19 cases also continuing to rise in Thane despite it being under lockdown, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) too extended the restrictions till July 19. TMC had earlier announced a lockdown from July 2 to July 12.
Meanwhile, Tocilizumab and Remdesivir, two drugs that are still undergoing trials as possible treatment for Covid-19, are in huge demand even as scientific evidence on their efficacy is awaited.
Unlike Delhi, the new infections in Maharashtra still far outnumber the daily recoveries, and that is what has been happening at the national level too. The total number of infections in the country has now crossed 7.67 lakh, out of which more than 4.76 lakh, or about 62 per cent, have already recovered from the disease. More than 21,000 people, or about 2.75 per cent of those infected, have so far died.
Even as the state continues to remain the worst-affected in terms of Covid tally in the country, Dharavi, the densely populated slum in Mumbai, reported nine new cases, taking the tally to 2,347 on Thursday. Mumbai accounted for only 31 per cent of fresh deaths on Wednesday, as opposed to 58.7 per cent a month ago on June 8.
More than 300 incidents of attack on police personnel have been reported in Maharashtra during the imposition of the coronavirus-induced lockdown and subsequent relaxation of norms, PTI reported. At least 86 police personnel were injured while enforcing prohibitory orders and 863 persons have been detained in connection with over 300 attacks reported till date, the official said.
In the latest incident, an assistant police inspector sustained injuries after he was manhandled by some men at Ambi village of Paranda tehsil in Osmanabad district, he said. Meanwhile, at least 72 police personnel, including
five officers, have died of coronavirus infection so far, the official said.
After nearly over a month, the Union Health Ministry Thursday held a press briefing to address the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) situation in the country. While the ministry categorically denied India reaching the stage of community transmission, it admitted that there have been some localised outbreaks of the virus.
The Centre’s assertion came on a day India registered a record single-day surge of 24,879 Covid cases, taking the caseload to 7,67,296. The death toll climbed to 21,129 with 487 new fatalities. The ministry maintained that the pandemic situation is still better in the country on the basis of cases per million population in the world.
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Healthcare staff conduct screening at a housing society in Dharavi on Thursday. (Express Photo: Nirmal Harindran)
BJP vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe on Saturday criticised the Maharashtra government's decision to impose lockdown in certain areas to curb COVID-19 spread, saying this will impact people's livelihood and advised him to stick to reopening of the economy with adequate caution and discipline. In a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, he said people are expressing their "anguish and frustration" at the "lockdown again" policy being strictly implemented in cities like Thane and other cities around Mumbai and Pune. (PTI)
Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar appeals to recovered Covid patients to come forward and donate plasma.
BMC's Assistant Municipal Commissioner of H-east ward (Bandra east) Ashok Khairnar succumbed to COVID-19 on Saturday.
After WHO praised the Covid management efforts taken in Mumbai’s Dharavi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Saturday said the slum, which is one of the world’s largest, has emerged as a global role model for arresting the spread of coronavirus.World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had during a virtual press conference in Geneva on Friday said that there were various examples from across the world that have shown that even if intense outbreak can be brought back under control. “And some of these examples are Italy, Spain and South Korea, and even in Dharavi – a densely packed area in the megacity of Mumbai,” he had said.
Two persons were arrested in Mira Road township of Maharashtra's Thane district for allegedly selling medicines used in coronavirus treatment at high prices, the police said on Saturday. Acting on a tip-off, the district rural police on Friday nabbed Sonu Darshi (25) and Rodrigues Raul (31) from Saibaba Nagar locality for allegedly selling vials of remdesivir injections at exorbitant prices, an official said. The police seized four vials of the injection from the accused, who were selling each vial for Rs 20,000 as against the original price of Rs 5,400, he said. (PTI)
A total of 774 COVID-19 cases have been reported from 14 jails in Maharashtra so far, comprising 600 inmates and 174 staff, most of whom have recovered while four have died, an official said on Saturday. Nagpur Central Jail is the worst-affected with 219 cases, followed by Mumbai Central Jail which has 181, while Akola and Solapur prisons have 72 and 62 cases respectively, the prisons department official said. "Of the 596 inmates, 351 have recovered. Of the 174 jail staff who were infected, 93 have now recovered. Four inmates have died of the infection so far," he added. (PTI)
With the World Health Organisation (WHO) lauding the efforts taken to arrest the spread of the COVID-19 in Mumbai's Dharavi, one of the world's largest slums, the local civic body said "proactive screening with the assistance of private doctors and community support helped it in the fight against the disease". WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had said during a virtual press conference in Geneva on Friday that there were many examples from around the world that have shown that even if the outbreak is very intense, it can still be brought back under control.
Talking to PTI on Saturday, Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Commissioner of the G North ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the civic body had to change its traditional approach of waiting for patients, contact tracing, isolation and home quarantine to begin proactive screening instead.
After Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Taapsee Pannu and a few others, Arjun Kapoor too, has resumed shooting after a long hiatus due to the nationwide lockdown. Arjun Kapoor recently got back to work and advocated for others to do the same while following all safety precautions. In a statement, Arjun said, “I think every one of us will have to adjust to the new normal and slowly start resetting our lives. Things have changed forever but we will all have to work, we will all have to support our families. So, everyone concerned will make their environment as safe as possible so that all are protected and we resume some sort of normalcy on our work front. I shot for the first time after 4 months.”
Soon after the Pune district administration declared a 10-day strict lockdown from July 14, the city witnessed panic buying in stores, leading to the violation of social distancing norms recommended to check the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The district administration has said that milk supply and medicine stores will remain unaffected during the ten days. However, it did not give confirmed clarification on services that will be affected for the period. Residents queued up at grocery stores to get necessary supplies for the coming days. “I have to stock groceries to meet needs for the next few days,” said Suresh Jadhav, who had rushed to buy groceries in Hingne Khurd. “Though the lockdown has been announced for ten days, considering the situation, no one knows the time it can be extended till.”
A rise of 25 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday took the total count in Amravati district of Maharashtra to 820, a health official said. The new cases were reported from various areas in the city and villages. The case count in the district stood at 700 as on July 6.
Supply of fresh fruits, vegetables and food grains is likely to be affected during the 10-day lockdown scheduled from July 14 as Pune’s wholesale market will remain closed. The onus might once again fall on Farmers Producers Companies (FPCs), which had kept the supplies running during the first few phases of the lockdown. Unlike the previous nationwide lockdown, this time the wholesale market of Pune will remain shut. Both Popatlal Ostwal, president of Pune Merchants Chambers, and Rohan Ursal, secretary of Traders and Commission Agents Association of the fruits and vegetables wings of the market, confirmed that the markets will remain closed. B J Deshmukh, administrator of the market, has sent out a video message urging farmers, traders and commission agents not to come to the market for the duration of the upcoming lockdown.
The announcement of a 10-day lockdown in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad has taken industrial belts, which have just started reporting some traction in their business, by surprise. Industrial associations have urged the state administration to keep their operations out of the lockdown. The announcement of the lockdown has caused great constrain in the industrial heartland, which has just started reporting some business after the prolonged lockdown of almost three months. Many, especially in the micro, small and medium (MSME) sector, have pointed out that another lockdown will end all prospects of their recovery this fiscal. “If we are not allowed to do business, the government should not expect us to be punctual about paying salaries or retaining our staff,” said some unit owners.
The World Health Organisation has praised the efforts taken to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Dharavi, one of the world’s largest slums, underscoring the need for community engagement along with national unity and global solidarity to turn the pandemic around. Addressing a virtual press conference here on Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there were many examples from around the world that have shown that even if the outbreak is very intense, it can still be brought back under control. “And some of these examples are Italy, Spain and South Korea, and even in Dharavi – a densely packed area in the megacity of Mumbai,” Ghebreyesus said.
While for most hospitals, a second lockdown may temporarily offer respite and help bring down Covid-19 infections, several experts have termed the decision as ‘unfortunate’. Prof L S Shashidhara, professor at IISER, Pune, who recently moved to Ashoka University, said the lockdown is unfortunate and is not going to stop the infection. “This will just give some breathing time for augmenting Covid care centres to provide better care and in making contact tracing more effective. Self-distancing, wearing masks and self-isolation, if a person is found symptomatic, is crucial. Those who have symptoms and do not report will continue to spread the infection. If these people come early and isolate themselves it will help reduce the spread of the infection and save lives,” Prof Shashidhara said. He urged people to cooperate, as lockdowns are not a solution to deal with this crisis. “It has its own impact on the livelihood of poor people, which will only aggravate the problem,” he said.
Among those who expressed reservations about the need to bring back lockdown were heads of municipal corporations in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad. Pune Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad told The Indian Express he had opposed the move in the meeting. “I said at the meeting that the lockdown will not benefit the citizens. Cases will rise as we are in the process of conducting more tests. If we reduce the number of tests we are carrying out, then the cases will come down, but that would be against the government norms,” Gaikwad said. Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar said he too was opposed to the idea of another lockdown. “But the latest decision has been taken in view of the demand from peoples’ representatives. It has been taken to break the chain of transmission. Also, it is important to remove the fear from the public mind. Asymptomatic people are afraid of getting isolated at home. They want admission in hospitals. We cannot accommodate so many people at the facilities available,” he said.
As the death toll from coronavirus in Maharashtra inches closer towards the 10,000 mark, an increase has been reported in the number of dengue cases. The state health department has registered 1,279 confirmed cases of dengue till June this year. The mosquito-based infection has claimed two lives in Nagpur. Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer, said Kolhapur district has reported 100 cases and Kolhapur municipal corporation areas 137 positive cases of dengue. Satara district has reported 69 cases while Pune district has reported 58 cases. Solapur district has also reported 58 cases of dengue while Nashik has reported 74 cases and Thane 70. Mumbai has reported 41 cases of dengue and Nagpur 15.
With a record single-day increase of 27,114 cases, India's Covid-19 tally zoomed past the eight-lakh mark on Saturday, just four days after crossing the seven-lakh post, according to health ministry data. Of the 519 new deaths reported on Saturday, 226 are from Maharashtra.
While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is spending crores of rupees on setting up healthcare facilities to fight Covid-19, its three-storey building reserved for health facilities in Goregaon is being used as a ‘guesthouse’. Although there is a board outside the building calling it ‘maternity home and dispensary’, it was being used till recently by the staff of LLMH which has another hospital a few metres away from the building. Local BJP corporator Priti Satam had visited the maternity home last week and made a video highlighting the misuse of the health facility at the time of the pandemic. “We are spending crores on setting up Covid care centres. This is shameful and serious negligence by civic staff. We have a three-storey ready building. It could have been used for Covid care or else for non-Covid treatment," he said.
As many as 300 additional beds were made available in Covid-19 hospitals and treatment facilities in rural areas of Maharashtra's Thane district, an official said on Saturday, PTI reported. At least 500 more beds will soon be made available for COVID-19 patients and this will take the bed capacity to 2,000 in Thane rural, district health officer Manish Renge said. Sufficient beds were available at the district civil hospital and IGM Hospital in Bhiwandi, apart from other government-run hospitals in the district, he said.
Over the last two months, Kirit Somaiya, the former BJP MP who represented Mumbai North-East, has led a noisy campaign to make the Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak in Mumbai look bad. From circulating videos of bodies lying in hospital corridors to a crusade against the BMC’s makeshift Covid centre at Bandra Kurla Complex, Somaiya has been going at the government relentlessly. But in the recent restructuring of the BJP state unit announced by its president Chandrakant Patil, Somaiya, a former BJP national general secretary, was unceremoniously removed as a vice-president, and left out in the cold, just as he was for the 2019 parliamentary elections. Somaiya was replaced by Manoj Kotak for Mumbai North-East Lok Sabha constituency in the 2019 elections. Kotak won the seat.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday asked Shiv Sena MLAs and party vibhag pramukhs from Mumbai to work with the administration to set up committees comprising representatives of NGOs and local residents to increase their involvement in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic. The move is being seen as an attempt to involve the MLAs and cadre at the ground level to fight the crisis. This was the first such meeting Uddhav held with MLAs and functionaries at Varsha. On Thursday, he had met Sena ministers to discuss the Covid-19 crisis. “He asked us to work with the ward officers to form committees of NGOs and local people and to create more awareness among people about the use of sanitisers and masks,” said a Sena functionary.
Since June 8, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking has dismissed over 50 of its employees and issued “chargesheets” to another 4,000 as disciplinary action against them for not reporting to work. The dismissals were described as a move towards privatisation by Shashank Rao, general secretary of BEST Sanyunkt Kaamgar Kruti Samiti (BSKKS). Officials said the BEST management is first issuing chargesheets to the employees. Even after that if they failed to report to work, they are being sent dismissal notices, asking them to appear for an internal inquiry. “Only those who fail to appear for the inquiry are being dismissed,” said a senior official from BEST.
Tocilizumab and Remdesivir, two drugs that are still undergoing trials as possible treatment for Covid-19, are in huge demand as cases surge and doctors increasingly prescribe it for moderately to severely ill patients even as scientific evidence on their efficacy is awaited. Dr Pradeep Vyas, Health Secretary of Maharashtra, said they are soon going to release a treatment protocol so that the “drug is not unnecessarily prescribed and administered to Covid-19 patients”. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the state government will be purchasing Remdesivir and Tocilizumab soon. After a meeting with FDA Minister Ravindra Shingne, Deshmukh said, “There is high demand for these two drugs across the state. We have started making purchases and soon they will be available across Maharashtra.”
Maharashtra reported record single-day spike of 7,862 new cases on Friday, pushing the state's tally of Covid positive patients to 2,38,461, the health department said. With 226 more patients succumbing to the disease, the death count in the state reached 9,893, it said. As many as 5,366 patients recovered and were discharged from the hospitals on Friday, which pushed the number of recovered patients in the state to 1,32,625, it said, adding that 12,53,978 people have been tested so far. There are 95,943 active cases in the state at present.
A curfew will be imposed in Nanded district of Maharashtra from the next week to check the rise in coronavirus cases, PTI reported on Friday. With 34 people testing positive for the virus Friday morning, total number of cases in the district surged to 558. The curfew will start on the midnight of July 12 and continue till the July 20 midnight, said an official release.
he Bombay High Court on Friday sought information from the NIA and Maharashtra government about social distancing and other safeguards implemented to prevent coronavirus spread at the Byculla women's jail here. Activist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, is lodged in the prison. The court was hearing a plea filed by Bharadwaj, who has been in jail since September 2018, challenging a special court's order rejecting her bail application. A bench led by Justice S S Shinde directed the authorities to file reply on jail conditions and health safeguards by July 17, the next date of hearing. Bharadwaj approached the HC after the special court for National Investigation Agency (NIA) denied her bail on May 29 this year. (PTI)
A lockdown with very few exemptions that is in force in Thane city of Maharashtra till July 12 has now been extended till July 19. The order was issued by Thane Municipal Corporation Additional Commissioner Ganesh Deshmukh. This "total" lockdown, as part of which most shops were closed and essential items ordered to be home delivered, was enforced on July 2 for a period of ten days. It has been extended for 7 more days.
As a measure to arrest the spread of Covid-19, a 10-day lockdown will be imposed in Pune, neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad and a few other parts of the district from July 13, a senior official said Friday. The lockdown will come into force from midnight of July 13 and end on July 23, he said. The district reported a record spike of 1,803 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday that pushed the tally to 34,399, while the toll rose to 978.
The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and district guardian minister Ajit Pawar, the official said. "A lockdown will be imposed in Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and some other areas of the district considering the rise in COVID-19 cases," news agency PTI quoted divisional commissioner (Pune division) Deepak Mhaisekar as saying.
The Maharashtra government on Friday informed the Bombay High Court that the prohibitory order against spreading of incorrect or false information on social media amid the COVID-19 pandemic has ended and no extension has been given to it.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni told a division bench of Justices A A Sayed and M S Karnik that the order dated May 23 passed by the deputy commissioner of police (Operations) under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) had been in effect only till June 8. "The same has not been extended after June 8 and presently there is no prohibitory order in place," Kumbhakoni said. The court was hearing two public interest litigations challenging the legality of the prohibitory order. As per the order, action can be taken against any person who spreads incorrect or fake information on social media. (PTI)
Pune district in Maharashtra reported its highest single-day spike of 1,803 new coronavirus cases, which pushed its overall count to 34,399, a health official said on Friday. This single-day rise was reported on Thursday, he said. The death toll in the district reached 978 with 34 more people succumbing to the infection on Thursday, the official said. "Of the 1,803 cases, as many as 1,032 were reported from the areas located in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits, where the number of patients has reached 24,977," he said. (PTI)
Two days after writing to the University Grants Commission (UGC) over the infeasibility of conducting final year degree exams, state Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant said Thursday the government will wait for a few days for the commission’s response before taking further action in the matter.
Earlier this week, the UGC had announced that final year university examinations may be postponed until the end of September, but must be conducted in either online or offline mode.
“In case exams are to be conducted, how will the universities conduct exams for students from containment zones and those students who have returned to their villages? For students from containment zones, what will the quarantine facilities be?” Samant said Thursday, while urging the UGC to release detailed guidelines.
There seems to be no respite in sight for consumers, who are dealing with high power bills. The high interest rates, put out by power utility firms on the three-month EMI scheme enabling consumers to pay off their high electricity bills at ease, are set to burden them further.
The 50 lakh power consumers in Mumbai, who are supplied power by Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited and Tata Power will have to cough-up up to 14 per cent interest on their instalments. Only government-owned Mahavitran Ltd has waived off interest on EMIs for its 2.4 crore consumers, if paid on due dates. Read More
The wait for the 13 lakh students who appeared for the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Education (MSBSHSE) HSC exams keeps getting longer as there is no official confirmation on when the results will be announced. However, following some media reports, the HSC results are expected to release next week.
The exams which started on March 7 was supposed to conclude in April, however, it was postponed midway after a nationwide lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi keeping the rising coronavirus cases in mind. The exams were later cancelled as the state government pointed it was impossible to conduct the exams in such an environment.
On Thursday, the number of new Coronavirus cases from across the country crossed the 25,000 mark for the first time. More than 26,500 new cases were reported, that has taken India’s total infections to over 7.93 lakh. The number of people who have recovered from the disease has gone over 4.95 lakh. With 475 deaths reported on Tuesday, the number of Coronavirus positive people who have died has gone up to 21,604.
Pune city reported single-day highest spike of 1,006 new coronavirus cases since previous evening, taking case tally to 25,174, a health official said on Thursday. Death toll reached 786 with 16 COVID-19 patients succumbing to the infection during this period. On the other hand, 581 patients were discharged from the hospitals, he said.
With the Opposition questioning his visits to districts amid the Covid-19 pandemic, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that his visits to Jalgaon, Nashik and Aurangabad is part of an exercise to reach out to people “reeling under hardships”.
Speaking to mediapersons during his two-day visit to north Maharashtra and Marathwada, Fadnavis said: “If someone likes to sit at home it is their problem. But as Opposition leader (in the state Assembly), it is my duty to see the ground situation and lend support to the people.”
“My tour is not political. When people are in trouble, we are reaching out to help them,” he added.
With the addition of 1,793 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the tally in Thane district of Maharashtra rose to 48,856, a senior official said. As many as 50 more patients succumbed to the infection, taking the death toll to 1,454, said the official from the district collectorate.
With the addition of 1,793 cases in the district, the count has now reached 48,856, he said. A Thane city police spokesman said a constable attached to the Kasarwadavali police station died in the evening due to coronavirus. The official said Kalyan city added the maximum 580 cases, taking the total to 10,931, while 348 more persons tested positive in Thane city, pushing up the count to 12,053.
The Covid-19 tally in India on Friday inched closer towards the eight lakh mark after 26,507 fresh cases were reported within a span of 24 hours, taking the total to 7,93,802. The number of fatalities stood at 21,604, according to data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Nearly 15 students, one each per bench and all wearing masks, are being taught in their classrooms at Karmavir Vidyalaya in Chandrapur district’s Madheli village since July 6. The school is one of the many in Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts in Maharashtra that have physically reopened this month.
On June 15, the state school education department had released guidelines for physical reopening of schools, allowing the district administrations to open schools for classes 9, 10 and 12 from July in areas that have not witnessed Covid-19 cases for at least a month. According to the guidelines, school management committees, along with the local administration, are allowed to decide whether schools should be physically reopened.
Maharashtra Environment and Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday defended the state government’s stand on not holding final year or final semester college examinations and held that it is potentially hazardous given the high number of coronavirus cases in the state.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25 and urged him to instruct national-level apex authorities to endorse the state’s decision on cancellation of these examinations, and to issue necessary guidelines to universities.
Maharashtra will soon introduce a price cap for antibody tests in private laboratories. Health Secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas on Thursday said a committee will formulate and introduce the capping.
On June 23, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had issued a notification allowing health workers and those in living containment zones as well as working in offices and public sector units to undergo IgG antibody test.
India has approved two kits — enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or Chemilumine-scence Immunoassay (CLIA) — to detect antibodies generated against coronavirus in the body.
EVEN AS the number of daily Covid tests goes up from a few thousand in March to over 2 lakh in July, a glut of RT-PCR testing kits has both domestic manufacturers and multinational importers grumbling about government policies that one of them described as “baffling”. While India has reached the 10-million-test landmark, domestic manufacturers supply only 25-30% of RT-PCR kits used. Given that ICMR has validated over two dozen Indian manufacturers, that is a small improvement from the country’s 100% dependence on imported test kits in March.
A number of domestic players told The Indian Express that they could not compete with the MNCs with deep pockets unless the government reconsidered its decision on zero import duty, stipulated a domestic quota and price benefit in tender, and allowed export of surplus stock. Read More
With 6,875 new Covid-19 cases, Maharashtra touched 2.30 lakh-mark on Thursday. Mumbai recorded 1,268 fresh cases, taking the virus count to 89,124. At least 219 deaths were reported across the state on the day, of which 68 were from Mumbai. The total toll in the state now stands at 9,667, while in Mumbai it is 5,132. Read more here
Maharashtra will soon introduce a price cap for antibody tests in private laboratories. Health Secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas on Thursday said a committee will formulate and introduce the capping.
On June 23, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had issued a notification allowing health workers and those in living containment zones as well as working in offices and public sector units to undergo IgG antibody test. Read more here