Day 64 of coronavirus lockdown: Ground report from Indian cities

Demonstration of a smart kiosk in Bangalore. (Credits: AFP)
NEW DELHI: With 6,387 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, India's count of Covid-19 rose to 1,51,767 on Wednesday, said the Union ministry of health and family welfare. As many as 170 people have died in the last 24 hours due to the infection, taking the national toll to 4,337 deaths. Around 64,425 Covid-19 positive patients have been cured.

Here is a look at the latest developments —

1

LUCKNOW

• 1,337 trains have arrived in UP carrying migrants from various states. Gorakhpur is the first district in the country where more than 200 trains have arrived and it has received 2,00,077 passengers so far. 89 trains have reached Lucknow, as per state authorities

• The jewellery shops in Lucknow reopened after being closed for about two months.

• Around 26 people were arrested by police on Monday for violating coronavirus lockdown restrictions after they assembled to offer prayers at a local mosque under Ajitmal Kotwali police station of Auraiya district on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr festival.

• Farmers across Agra district are staring at huge losses as the lockdown has disrupted the supply chain. With no way to sell, most farmers have now left fruits and vegetables to rot in the fields.

• Out of the 1,210 samples tested on Tuesday for Covid-19, results of 34 have come out positive, King George's Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow informed on Wednesday.

2

CHANDIGARH

• Those without masks will be fined Rs 500 and those spitting in public will also be fined Rs 500, says Haryana health minister Anil Vij.

• Some districts of Haryana, including Sirsa, Hisar, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri and Rewari are bracing for an invasion by locust swarms.

• To boost on-campus placements, Punjab Engineering College (Deemed to be University) has opened its doors for all companies and given away the strategy of categorization this time.

• Providing major relief to city residents, the UT administration has extended the solar installation deadline till March 31, 2021. The recent deadline had ended on March 31 and as the lockdown was in force, the UT had decided not to impose any penalty on residents till the situation improved.

3

MUMBAI

• Give allowance to contract workers on Covid-19 duty: Bombay HC directed Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation

• Tyre maker Ceat on Wednesday said it has partially resumed operations at its Mumbai-based manufacturing facility.

• Passengers onboard the first flight to Mumbai from Lucknow on Monday faced a delay in the opening of the aircraft door after landing as apparently officials were awaiting certain approvals from local authorities.

• A rumour about the deployment of the army in coronavirus hotspots of Mumbai and Pune is being "deliberately" spread on social media, Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday and added that strict action was being taken against rumour-mongers.

• The protest by staff of the civic-run King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital over the death of a health worker reflects how Mumbai's health system is over-stretched, and the challenges being faced by the country's capital in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. In view of the rising number of deaths of Covid-19 patients, slots in the KEM Hospital's mortuary are full and bodies of several victims keep lying in the corridor of the medical facility, a union leader of the hospital staff said.

• The Mumbai Police on Wednesday clarified that flight travellers moving to or from the Mumbai airport can do so without an e-pass.

• As many as 93 Shramik Special trains carrying over 1.35 lakh migrant labourers left from Maharashtra to ferry them to their native states, an official said on Wednesday.

• A man was arrested for allegedly molesting a 23-year-old woman at a Covid-19 quarantine facility at a village in Brahmapuri tehsil of Maharashtra's Chandrapur district, police said on Wednesday.

4

DELHI

• Coronavirus death toll in Delhi climbs to 303; a highest single-day spike of 792 fresh cases takes tally to over 15,000.

• Pani puri and paapdi chaat are being sold as take away in Chawri Bazar area, following the relaxations in the 4th phase of the lockdown. "Not many buyers are coming, only a few are coming as of now," said Sachin, a street food vendor.

• Ten migrant workers are flying to Bihar thanks to their employer, a Delhi farmer, who bought their plane tickets. Their flight to the Bihar capital Patna is at 6 am on Thursday and the men, who planned to go home in April, can't believe they are going to their villages in Samastipur not walking or cycling thousands of kilometres, or scrambling for a seat on a bus or train, but on a plane.

• Delhi-Ghaziabad border continued to witness traffic congestion near Ghazipur.

5

HYDERABAD

• Andhra Pradesh reports 134 new coronavirus cases, one death; the number of infections rises to 3,117, toll climbs to 58.

• 250 Andhra Pradesh secretariat employees who were stuck in Hyderabad for 65 days since the lockdown began, have returned to Amaravati today.

• Noted Urdu writer Mujtaba Hussain passed away in Hyderabad on Wednesday after suffering a cardiac arrest.

• A majority of the Covid-19 positive cases reported on Tuesday relate to people contracting the virus after attending social gatherings being conducted in secrecy in the Greater Hyderabad limits and Rangareddy district.

6

AHMEDABAD

• For the first time in India, clinical trial of ayurvedic medicine derived from panchgavya — cow’s milk, butter, ghee, dung and urine — to begin in Rajkot, followed by Ahmedabad and Surat; trials to be based on modern medicine protocols.

• Railway ticket bookings from Ahmedabad indicate that Howrah and Varanasi along with Patna are the most sought-after destinations currently for passengers from Ahmedabad.

• Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Tuesday launched a massive enforcement drive against shops and business establishments who were not following social distancing and other Covid protocols in the city.

7

KOLKATA

• Buses run by West Bengal government undertakings were out in large number across the state on Wednesday, as more offices and establishments started functioning amid the coronavirus lockdown, an official said.

• The yawning gap between demand and supply owing to severe destruction caused by Cyclone Amphan has led to the scarcity of vegetables in some city markets and almost doubled prices.

• Private hospitals that have Covid-19 testing facilities, will now be allowed to test at OPDs. The health department came up with a circular on Tuesday, allowing private hospitals to collect samples and test on a walk-in basis.

8

BENGALURU

• Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday hit out at chief minister BS Yediyurappa-led Karnataka government for allegedly "betraying" the people by not fulfilling its Rs 1,610 crore Covid-19 package promise.

• The new normal post the Covid-19 outbreak has hit commercial sex workers in Bengaluru, with most clients preferring to stay away from them fearing physical contact. But some tech-savvy sex workers have taken their trade online via videotelephony platforms and are accepting payments through e-wallets.

• Karnataka reports 122 new Covid-19 cases, one fatality in the last 19 hours till 12 noon. Total infections stand at 2,405, active cases- 1,596 while toll at 45.

• Shut since March with no new admissions, summer camps and day-care — which are among their major sources of income — many preschools are now up for sale.

9

CHENNAI

• 1,600 migrant workers leave Mumbai for Tamil Nadu in a special train.

• Five prisoners in Madurai Central Prison, who returned from Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai recently, were tested for Covid-19 on Wednesday. According to an official from the prison department, the tests were conducted as a precautionary measure.

• Tamil Nadu is the only state in the country to have extended free ration to cardholders for the third month.

• Another Tamil Nadu Covid-19 patient commits suicide in Omandurar Government Hospital.

• Employees’ union at Chennai Port have complained that the port trust hospital, which was prepared to handle Covid-19 cases, was not accepting patients.

• The Tamil Nadu government is likely to consider allowing more people on the shooting floors of television serials. The government had earlier capped the number of staff to 20.