Coronavirus Cases, India: More than 2,200 deaths have been reported.
India recorded the biggest single-day jump in the number of coronavirus cases with 4,213 new patients in the last 24 hours, which takes the total to 67,152 cases so far, Union Health Ministry said this morning. The total number of deaths in India linked to one of the most contagious illnesses the world has seen in the recent decades has soared to 2,206; 97 people died in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate stood at 31.14 per cent this morning, a significant improvement over 26.59 per cent registered last Sunday. Taking another step towards easing the coronavirus lockdown, India is set to restart limited passenger train service from tomorrow; online bookings start today. The move comes days before the third phase of nationwide lockdown ends on May 17. Passenger services, suspended since the lockdown began March 25, will start with 15 "special" trains (total of 30 journeys) departing from Delhi and connecting cities in Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Tripura, Railways said last night.
Here are the top 10 developments on coronavirus cases in India:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with chief ministers this afternoon to discuss the shutdown. The meeting will be the fifth since the lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus started on March 25. States are likely to discuss the economy hit hard by the pandemic.
Vande Bharat Mission - a mammoth operation by the government that involves sending commercial passenger jets and Indian Navy warships to over a dozen countries to bring back stranded Indians - enters the fifth day today. Thousands have been repatriated over the last week. Five of them have tested positive for coronavirus after landing in Kerala.
No new coronavirus cases were reported in 10 states and union territories in 24 hours as the recovery rate increased to over 30 per cent, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday, news agency PTI reported. "It is heartening to note that in 10 states and Union Territories, no new case has emerged in the last 24 hours. These are the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Manipur, Odisha, Mizoram and Puducherry," the minister said.
In Maharashtra, 1,278 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Sunday, taking the state's tally to 22,000; over 800 have died to the illness in the worst-hit state. Mumbai, one of the worst hit cities in the country, has recorded over 13,500 cases, nearly 500 deaths.
Tamil Nadu on Sunday recorded a huge surge in the COVID-19 count with 669 new cases and three deaths. The southern state- one of the worst hit in the country due to the pandemic - has so far reported over 7,200 patients. A large number of cases are from a Chennai vegetable and fruit wholesale market that has emerged as a hotspot.
The southern state has announced huge relaxations from today in non-containment zones, including extension of working hours of standalone and neighbourhood shops and allowing private establishments to function with a reduced number of employees on the premises. Petrol pumps on state and central highways can function 24x7, while those in towns and cities outside Chennai have been allowed between 6 am and 8 pm.
Meghalaya has also allowed shops to re-open from today; both private and public vehicles can run across the state with 50 per cent occupancy, except in the state capital of Shillong. The northeastern state recorded another case on Saturday taking the state's tally to 13. While one patient has died, 10 others have recovered and two are under treatment.
Assam has collected samples from people with fever, influenza, and respiratory problems from 25,000 villages as part of efforts to contain the community-level spread of coronavirus. The programme plans to find unreported cases of SARI (Severe Acute Respiratory Infections) and ILI (Influenza-Like Illness) from every village of Assam and will further treat the symptomatic minor flu cases at their homes.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that nearly 75 per cent of the patients in the national capital have no or mild symptoms as he reminded that the city "has to learn to live with coronavirus".
Worldwide, the coronavirus cases have crossed the four-million mark. The United States -- hardest hit by the pandemic in terms of the number of fatalities -- has now confirmed a total of 1,329,072 cases. On Sunday, it reported 776 deaths, the lowest single-day death count since March.
