Maharashtra, with more than 70,000 coronavirus cases, is prepping for cyclone Nisarga.
India today logged 2 lakh cases of coronavirus -- roughly 15 days after it crossed the one lakh mark. For the last three days, the country has been reporting more than 8,000 infections a day. This morning it reported 8,171 cases -- a total of the last 24 hours -- leaving it a whisker short of 2 lakh cases. Besides, 204 deaths were reported, taking the number of fatalities to 5,598. The country is currently the seventh among the 10 nations hit worst by the virus. Italy, with 2.33 lakh cases is in the sixth slot. The US with more than 18 lakh cases, is the nation worst hit by the virus, followed by Brazil, with more than 5.2 lakh. Among the states, Maharashtra remains the nation's coronavirus hotspot with more than 70,000 cases.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi told industry leaders that the economy will shake off the lag imposed by the lockdown to curb coronavirus. Addressing a gathering of corporates and economists on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said, "Yes, we will get the growth back... Trust me, it is not all that difficult".
Maharashtra, the country's coronavirus hotspot with more than 70,000 cases, is prepping for cyclone Nisarga, which is expected to hit the state tomorrow afternoon. For Mumbai -- which has a chunk of the state's coronavirus cases -- it would be the first cyclone in around a century. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured Central help to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
"There is a dual challenge, virus and cyclone, and we will have to face it," Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said. More than 10,000 people, including some coronavirus patients, were moved to safer locations on Tuesday as a precautionery measure.
Hundreds of office-goers, those with valid e-passes and many with medical appointments were stuck for hours on the busy entry points to Delhi as its borders were sealed on Tuesday in view of the coronavirus outbreak. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal declared yesterday that the city borders will be sealed for a week. The move came after Uttar Pradesh sealed tehb Ghaziabad-Delhi border, pointing to a sudden rise in cases.
The Indian Council of Medical Research, nodal body in the battle against coronavirus, said the virus is far from reaching the peak in India. Talking about the transmission of the virus, ICMR scientist Nivedita Gupta said: "Instead of the use of "community transmission", we need to understand the extent of the spread of the disease. We are far from the peak. Our measures to curtail the disease are effective. India has been very good in the reduction in mortality.".
Arvind Kejriwal has launched a mobile application to help COVID-19 patients in Delhi track hospital beds and ventilators. The app - "Delhi Corona" - comes amid a worrying spike in coronavirus cases in the national capital, which has logged over 20,000 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
National capital Delhi is third on the list of worst-affected states after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, crossing the 20,000-mark on Monday night. The total number of the containment zones jumped to 147 on Monday with 25 new zones formed in the last 48 hours.
Tamil Nadu has reported over 1,000 coronavirus cases for the third day in a row. A chunk of the 806 cases were reported from state capital Chennai. The state has so far reported a total of 24,586 cases and 197 deaths.
Mizoram, which was so far the only state without an active COVID-19 case, has reported a cluster of 12 infections. Chief Minister Zoramthanga tweeted: "12 new COVID-19 positive cases confirmed at Zoram Medical College. All are under professional care". The northeastern state has already extended the lockdown to June 30 amid the return of a large number of people stranded in other states.
The Chinese city of Wuhan -- where the novel coronavirus first surfaced in December -- has found no fresh cases after testing most of its 11 million residents. The city currently has 300 asymptomatic carriers. The authorities had launched the city-wide testing campaign on May 14 and covered 9.9 million people, after a cluster of new cases raised fears of a second wave of infections, officials said.
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