90 Health Workers Infected With COVID-19, Total Cases Over 8,000 In India

The coronavirus pandemic will hit India and other South Asian countries very hard and the significant gains made in poverty alleviation in the region are likely to be wiped out due to the outbreak, the World Bank warned today, adding that the countries in the region will record their worst growth performance in four decades this year. 

Half of India's 718 districts are affected by the coronavirus pandemic. From nearly 3,500 cases last Sunday, the number of cases have doubled to more than 8,300 in a week's time. 

The centre is planning a colour code to distinguish virus-hit districts from those that have not reported any cases. Red, orange and green are the colours that will be used to highlight the areas with most number of cases, areas with lesser number of cases and districts with no cases, respectively. 

Aviation sector lockdown is likely to be eased with severe restrictions, sources have said.  Even though the lockdown is likely to be extended for another two weeks, a recommendation has been made to ease it from the aviation sector, according to sources.

As a part of the shift in the government's strategy to tackle the pandemic, the Council of Ministers, headed by PM Modi and including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman, will resume work at their ministries from Monday, a day before the nationwide shutdown ends, sources have said.

Four states - Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra and Telangana - have already announced an extension of the lockdown till the end of this month. The Bihar government in a letter to the centre raised no objection to extending the lockdown; however, it wants an exception for rural construction and flood relief work to continue, sources have told NDTV. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also supported the PM's decision to extend the lockdown.

The number of coronavirus cases in India would have shot up to 8.2 lakh by April 15, the government said on Saturday, if a countrywide shutdown was not enforced. "According to a statistical analysis by us, India would have registered a 41 per cent cumulative rise in the number of cases, taking the total to 2.08 lakh on April 11 and 8.2 lakh by April 15 had there been no lockdown or other containment measures," Health Ministry official Lav Agarwal said in his daily briefing.

In Mumbai, a COVID-19 hotpot, 15 fresh coronavirus cases have been reported  from Dharavi, one of Asia's largest slums, taking the total to 43, including four deaths. At least a million people live here in 5 square kilometres and five to six people share a single room.

Delhi has identified three new coronavirus hotspots, it was announced late Saturday night. This takes the total number up to 33. Strict containment measures are being taken in these hotspots, which includes a complete ban on people leaving their homes. The national capital has recorded the second highest number of cases in the country (1,069) after Maharashtra with 1,761 cases including 127 deaths.

Globally, the United States has reported a record 20,000 deaths linked to COVID-19, the highest in the world. Italy, the hardest-hit country in Europe with a population a fifth the size of the US, has recorded 19,468 deaths More than 40 Indian-Americans and citizens of India have reportedly lost their lives in US, now the epicentre of the pandemic, due to the deadly coronavirus.