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Coronavirus outbreak LATEST updates: The Home Office allowed on Friday the reopening of all stores in residential and market complexes outside municipal limits and all neighborhood stores within municipal limits of non-containment zones to open during closure.
However, this concession has not been extended to single and multi-brand shopping centers outside the municipal limits and single-brand and multi-brand shopping centers, as well as to market complexes within the municipal limits.
As the country completed a month of confinement, the Ministry of Health said today that without it, India would have had at least a lakh of cases by now. The ministry also stated that in the last 28 days, up to 15 districts have had no new cases, while there are 80 districts in the country that have not reported any new cases of coronavirus in the last 14 days.
Representative image. PTI
However, these claims were coupled with the fact that India reported its highest peak in a single day in cases on Friday. The death toll from the new coronavirus rose to 723 with 37 deaths reported since Thursday night, while the number of cases recorded a record jump of 1,752, bringing confirmed cases in the country to 23,452 cases, according to data. of the Ministry of Health. The highest previous increase in a single day was on April 20 when 1,540 cases were reported.
In a nightly order, in what appears to be the beginning of the end of the lockout, the Home Office on Friday ordered the exemption of all stores under the State / UT Stores and Establishments Act, including stores in residential complexes and market complexes, except stores in multi-brand and single-brand shopping malls, outside the limits of municipal corporations, based on the revised consolidated closing restrictions.
One month after closing, concerns about economic impact grow
After 30 days of closure, a high-level group of high-level bureaucrats, comprised of the Union Secretary of the Interior and his counterpart in the Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, reviewed measures to accelerate activities economic and industrial and held a video conference with representatives of industrial associations.
The joint secretary of the Interior Ministry, Punya Salila Srivastava, said that comments are being received from the industrial units and that their problems are being addressed. She said that certain sectors of the industry and exporters have expressed concern about some new guidelines, saying that it was difficult for them to implement them for the partial resumption of their factory operations.
Srivastava said progress in economic activities is being observed, especially in rural areas, adding that work has also started on road construction, brick kilns and cement manufacturing.
Later in the night, the Home Office also clarified that some closure guidelines have been misinterpreted and that no legal action will be taken against the CEO of the company, nor will a factory be sealed, in the event an employee tests positive for COVID. -19.
In another major decision, the government froze the inflation-linked allocation for its employees and pensioners of Rs 1.1 million, a measure that states are likely to repeat, in order to save a combined crore of Rs 1.2 lakh.
The IIC industry body said India’s GDP, in the baseline scenario, is expected to grow to just 0.6 percent on an annual basis, as economic activity is expected to remain limited due to continued restrictions on free movement of goods and people beyond the closing period.
In the most optimistic scenario, which anticipates a faster rebound after the blockade, GDP is expected to register growth of 1.5 percent.
In the event of a longer outbreak, where restrictions in existing hotspot regions are extended, while new regions are identified as “hotspots” leading to intermittent arrest and start of economic activity, it is likely that GDP decreases by 0.9 percent, he added.
Separately, Fitch Ratings also lowered India’s growth forecast to 0.8 percent for 2020-21, saying an unparalleled global recession was underway due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting blockages.
India reports highest peak in a single day, but recovery rate improves
According to a PTI According to figures announced by various states and Union territories, the number of confirmed cases has reached 23,577 with at least 743 deaths, while almost 5,000 patients have recovered and have been discharged.
Maharashtra alone has reported more than 6,400 cases and at least 283 deaths, while Gujarat has seen more than 2,600 confirmed infections with more than 100 deaths and Delhi has more than 2,300 cases with 50 deaths. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have also reported large numbers of cases.
However, the joint secretary of the Ministry of Health, Lav Agarwal, said the recovery rate has improved to 19.89 percent, from 9.99 percent ten days ago on April 14, while 12 districts have reported no cases in the last 28 days. The number of caseless districts in the past 14 days also increased to 78.
Government officials said it has been able to “reduce coronavirus transmission”, minimize its spread and increase the doubling time of COVID-19 cases in the country during the 30-day period of national closure.
While he says that the growth of coronavirus cases in the country has been more or less linear and not exponential, he also said that the tests have been constantly increasing.
At a daily press conference on the COVID-19 situation in the country, CK Mishra, president of Empowered Group Two, said the tests have been a “crucial weapon” during the 30-day blockade period, which began on 25 March 24, to determine whether one has contracted the disease or not.
Like on March 23, almost 15,000 tests were conducted across the country and by April 22 more than 5 lakh tests were performed, which is approximately “33 times in 30 days,” he said, adding: “But we are aware of the fact that this is not enough and we have to continually increase testing in the country and we will. “
Empowered Group Two is tasked with coordinating the availability of hospitals, facilities, one of the empowered groups was formed to suggest measures to increase healthcare, re-channel the economy, and reduce people’s misery once the closure is lifted. isolation and quarantine, disease surveillance, testing and critical care training.
“The growth of COVID-19 cases has been more or less linear, not exponential; this indicates that the strategies we adopted have managed to contain the infection at a particular level. After the imposition of the blockade, while the number of new positive cases has increased 16-fold, testing increased 24-fold, “added Mishra.
“Despite a 24-fold increase in testing, the percentage of positive cases does not increase. The percentage of positive cases as a proportion of tests is more or less the same as a month ago,” he said.
Mishra also stated that India has fared better than most developed countries in terms of the percentage of test cases that yield positive results. He said that South Korea is among the countries that have done better than India.
“We need to evolve our strategy based on the current position … It seems that so far we are doing well with our strategy, which focuses intensely on areas where we see a lot of positivity and action. Our test strategy has been focused, targeted and continues expanding, “he said.
Situation in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat ‘especially worrisome’
The COVID-19 situation is “especially serious” at important or emerging hot spots such as Ahmedabad, Surat, Hyderabad, Chennai and Thane, the Center said on Friday, as it hastened inter-ministerial central teams (IMCT) to monitor the situation in this cities. .
The MHA assessment came on a day that Ahmedabad City Commissioner Vijay Nehra said the number of COVID-19 patients in the Gujarat capital could rise to eight lakh in late May if the current period continues four-day duplication of cases. . So far, the city of Ahmedabad has reported 1,638 cases, the highest in Gujarat, accounting for more than 2,600 infections.
Four teams headed by additional secretary-level officers will visit Ahmedabad, Surat, Hyderabad and Chennai, MHA Joint Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said at a press conference. These teams will join the six previously established IMCTs, he said.
The teams have been formed for a timely assessment of the COVID-19 hotspot districts.
The six teams are in Mumbai, Pune (Maharashtra), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Jaipur (Rajasthan) and West Bengal (one team for Kolkata and contiguous districts and the other for North Bengal). The team in Mumbai will also visit Thane.
Political criticism of the crisis continues
Political criticism picked up on Friday when several non-BJP states ruled partisan behavior by the central government. Meanwhile, the West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, clashed with the state governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Congresswoman Sonia Gandhi accused the BJP of spreading the virus of prejudice and communal hatred in the country, claiming that “serious damage” is being done to the social harmony of India.
Rahul Gandhi said that the problems of migrant workers should be addressed as the first priority and the blockade after May 3 should only be continued in the critical points of COVID-19 and not in the green areas, while his sister and the secretary general Congress, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, demanded that migrant workers be trapped at various state borders because of the closure they will be allowed to return to their places of origin after due tests and precautions.
The main ministers of the states ruled by Congress, on the other hand, criticized the Central Government for not providing them with financial assistance, asking how the country will win the battle against COVID-19 at this time of crisis.
West Bengal Governor Dhankhar launched a new assault on West Bengal’s prime minister after his letter on Thursday, accusing him of “repeatedly interfering” in the running of his government and reminding him that she is the elected chief minister of a proud state and that he is a nominated governor.
Dhankhar said the prime minister’s “outbreak” is an alibi to cover up “monumental failures” in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in the state. Urging the TMC supreme to “avoid politics and a confrontational approach,” Dhankhar said his conduct only exacerbates the miseries of the people.
He also accused her of “explicitly appeasing” the minority community, referring to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi, which is often blamed for the outbreak in new coronavirus cases.
There have been allegations from various quarters that the state government is hiding coronavirus cases and deaths. Banerjee had criticized the Center for sending teams to investigate states’ readiness to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, and alleged that faulty test kits were shipped to the state.
With PTI tickets
Update date: April 25, 2020 08:20:21 IST
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