Britain now has third highest number of Covid-19 deaths; India set for lockdown relaxations from May 4

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Inside an ICU in one of Britain’s worst hit regions. (Photo courtesy: CNN)

(TibetanReview.net, Apr30’20) – A total of 81,066 people had been infected and 10,403 killed in 185 countries and regions by the China-originated Covid-19 pandemic over the past 24 hours as of Apr 30 at 3:02:25 PM (GMT-4), according to the Dashboard maintained by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. The US has nearly a third of the global cases and more than a third of the deaths, while Great Britain has just become the country with the third highest number of deaths with a total of more than 26,100 fatalities. In India, the country with the 16th highest number of cases, the daily number of cases and deaths were relatively less compared to that in the previous 24-hour period.

US President Donald Trump has doubled down on holding China responsible for failing to tame the pandemic at its origin, saying it had led to 184 countries “going through hell.” Leaders of the US, the UK and Germany believe that the deaths and the destruction of the global economy could have been avoided had China shared information about the virus in its early phases, reported News18.com Apr 29.

The countries with the most number of reported cases thus far are US (1,040,488), Spain (236,899) Italy (203,591), France (166,543), UK (166,441), Germany (161,539), Turkey (117,589), Russia (106,498), Iran (93,657), and China (83,944). The tally of India, the country with the 16th most number of cases on the Johns Hopkins dashboard, stands at 33,062 cases.

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India country reported 1,718 new infections and 67 new deaths in the past 24 hours as of Apr 30 at 8AM (GMT+5:30), according to the tally of the country’s Ministry of Health. The total number of infections in the country stood at 33,050 and the deaths 1,074. A total of 8,325 had recovered, leaving a total of 23,651 cases active.

Maharashtra, the worst-hit state by a huge margin, had a total of 9,915 (+597) cases, followed by Gujarat with 4,082 (+338) cases, Delhi with 3,439 (+125) cases, Madhya Pradesh with 2,561 (+174) cases, Rajasthan with 2,438 (+74) cases, Tamil Nadu with 2,162 (+104) cases, Uttar Pradesh with 2,134 (+81) cases, Andhra Pradesh with 1,332 (+73) cases, Telangana with 1,012 (+8) cases, West Bengal with 758 (+33) cases, Jammu & Kashmir with 581 (+16) cases, Karnataka with 535 (+12) cases, Kerala with 495 (+10) cases, Bihar with 392 (+26) cases, Punjab with 357 (+35) cases, Haryana with 310 (+0) cases, Odisha, 125 (+7), and Jharkhand, 107 (+4).

Other badly hit states/Union Territories were Chandigarh, 56 (+0); Uttarakhand, 55 (+1); Himachal Pradesh, 40 (+0); Chattisgarh, 38 (+0), Assam, 38 (+0); Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 33 (+0); Ladakh, 22 (+0); and Meghalaya 12 (+0).

Besides, Puducherry (8), Goa (7), Manipur (2), Tripura (2), Mizoram (1), and Arunachal Pradesh (1) and had reported cases. One case in Nagaland was transferred to Assam.

Maharashtra also had the most number of deaths at 432 (+32), followed by Gujarat, 197 (+16); Madhya Pradesh, 129 (+9); Delhi, 56 (+2); Rajasthan, 51 (+0); Andhra Pradesh, 31 (+0); Uttar Pradesh, 39 (+5); Telangana, 26 (+0); Tamil Nadu 27 (+2); West Bengal, 22 (+0); Karnataka, 21 (+1); Punjab, 19 (+-); Jammu & Kashmir, 8 (+0); Kerala, 4 (+0); Haryana, 3 (+0), Jharkhand, 3 (+0); and Bihar 2 (+0). Besides Odisha, HP, Meghalaya, and Assam had 1 death each. (Source: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/)


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When the lockdown ends on May 3, there will be “considerable relaxations” in many districts, said the government of India on Apr 29.

“New guidelines to fight Covid-19 will come into effect from 4th May, which shall give considerable relaxations to many districts. Details regarding this shall be communicated in coming days,” Indianexpress.com Apr 30 quoted the Union Home Ministry as saying.

The Ministry has also issued guidelines for movement of stranded migrant labourers, students and tourists seeking to return home, including in other states. This will not apply to those in hotspots or containment zones.

India’s Health Ministry was reported to have identified 129 of the country’s 736 districts as hotspots.

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Himachal Pradesh became the first state to effectively undertake an Active Case Finding (ACF) campaign which had helped in screening the state’s entire population of seven million for any Influenza like symptoms, reported tribuneindia.com Apr 29.

The state had a total of 40 cases, of which only 10 now remain active.

“Had it not been for the over two dozen cases linked to the Tablighi Jamaatis, Himachal would not have had so many cases,” Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur was quoted as saying.

However, the return in the past three days of some 23,000 Himachal residents stranded in other states after the imposition of the nationwide lockdown on Mar 24 allowed by the state government remains a concern. Many were stated to have not adhered to the mandatory safety protocol, including the mandatory screening and reporting their arrival for purpose of home quarantine.

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