A DTC bus marshal seen checking the temperature of a passenger with thermal screening before boarding the bus during the nationwide lockdown at Seemapuri bus depot in New Delhi on May 24, 2020. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
Morning Digest: India records highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases; many States follow Centre’s flight rules, and more
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India on Sunday reported the highest single-day spike so far of 7,097 COVID-19 cases, taking the overall tally to 1,38,526, according to reports from the State Health Departments. The number of active cases stood at 76,902, while 57,605 people have recovered. The death toll crossed 4,000, with 150 new fatalities.
Many States are simply following the Union Health Ministry’s guidelines for arriving air passengers, but Karnataka will require travellers boarding from such “high-risk States” as Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to undergo seven days of institutional quarantine on arrival in Bengaluru.
A day after the Gujarat High Court passed a strong order against the State government over poor medical facilities to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the Congress on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah “if they are aware of what is happening in their home State or has Gujarat become COVID-19 immune”.
Maharashtra’s cumulative COVID-19 case tally breached the 50,000 mark on Sunday, with the State reporting a massive surge of 3,041 cases — its highest till date — to touch 50,231, while 58 more deaths saw the total death toll surge to 1,635. Of the cumulative cases, 33, 988 are currently active.
Four out of the 14 COVID-19 vaccine candidates from India may enter the clinical trial stage in the next three-five months, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday. In an online interaction with BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao, Dr. Vardhan said the entire world was working on developing a vaccine to halt the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The High Court has directed that the LG Polymers plant in Visakhapatnam should be seized and no one, including the company directors, be allowed to enter its premises. However, the court permitted the committees formed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Central and State governments to probe the incident, to make a note of their visits in registers maintained at the factory gate.
The rising number of COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu has resulted in containment zones exceeding the 1,100-mark, according to an extraordinary government gazette issued on Saturday. As of May 22, there were a total of 1,143 COVID-19 containment zones across the State, with Chennai topping the list with 635 such zones.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams decision to dispose of non-remunerative properties has kicked up a controversy with the entire Opposition taking objection to it.
The United States is pushing relations with China to “the brink of a new Cold War,” China’s Foreign Minister said on Sunday, rejecting Washington’s “lies” over the coronavirus while saying Beijing was open to an international effort to find its source.
Sanjeev Gupta, a life member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, has challenged Sourav Ganguly’s continuation as Board of Control for Cricket in India president. In an email to Ganguly and other officials on Sunday, Gupta has said that the BCCI rulebook disbars anyone from functioning as president once he has been nominated to the International Cricket Council (ICC) Board.