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With 4,08,323 new COVID-19 cases recorded until 11 p.m. on April 30, India became the first country in the world to register over 4 lakh infections in a single day. As many as 3,464 new deaths were also reported on the day.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are the latest updates:
Punjab
Rajindra hospital sees 37 COVID deaths in past 24 hours
As many as 37 patients have died in the past 24 hours at COVID isolation facility at Punjab’s Rajindra hospital in Patiala, according to official data released on Saturday.
The Rajindra hospital is working as tertiary care for the care of COVID patients, and it caters patients not only from Punjab but from other states including the National Capital Region as well. – Vikas Vasudeva
Sri Lanka
Lanka looking at sources outside India to purchase AstraZeneca vaccine due to supply delay
Sri Lanka is looking at sources other than India to purchase the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in view of delay in securing the vaccines from the Serum Institute of India, health authorities said on Saturday.
“The supply is being delayed from India. We have to understand that India has to look after their own country before supplying to us. It is not that they have told no to us,” Gen Shavendra Silva, the chief of the COVID prevention operations told reporters.
Silva said that presidential advisor Lalith Weeratunga was looking at other country sources to buy the coronavirus vaccines.
Sri Lanka was left with only 300,000 jabs of India-manufactured Covishield when it started rolling out the second jab. – PTI
Uttar Pradesh
UP begins vaccinating 18-44 age group in 7 districts
The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday started the first phase of vaccination for the 18-44 age group in seven districts that have more than 9,000 active COVID-19 cases with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launching the programme from Avantibai Hospital here.
An Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson said Adityanath had sent his state aircraft to Hyderabad to get the batch of vaccines for the inoculation programme for people in the 18-plus category.
The districts where the vaccination started on Saturday are Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Meerut and Bareilly. – PTI
Gujarat
Gujarat CM urges sarpanchs to rid villages of COVID-19 in 15 days
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday urged sarpanchs in the state to take steps for making their villages coronavirus-free in the next 15 days.
He made the appeal during a virtual meeting with the village heads on the occasion of Gujarat’s Foundation Day.
The foundation day was celebrated in a low-key manner in view of the coronavirus situation and death of 18 COVID-19 patients in a hospital fire in Bharuch earlier in the day. – PTI
Karnataka
Unoccupied houses can be turned into COVID-19 Care Centres; BBMP issues guidelines
You don’t have to live in an apartment complex to set up COVID-19 Care Centres. They can also be established in independent unoccupied houses in neighbourhoods if residents are willing to adhere to the rules.
In the wake of Residents’ Welfare Associations, apartments and gated complexes expressing interest in setting up care centres on their premises, the BBMP on Friday issued a list of dos and don’ts that need to be followed.
While people who are asymptomatic or experiencing mild symptoms can shift to community-managed centres, the notification stated that exceptions include infected patients over the age of 60 and below 10 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers, and those suffering from comorbidities. They cannot take in people with tuberculosis and HIV as well as those who are immune-compromised or are on steroids and immune-suppressants.
Beds should be at a distance of six feet from each other with temporary partitions or screens as dividers.
Tamil Nadu
As the COVID-19 battle rages on, fever surveillance workers return to Chennai neighbourhoods
Last year, when the pandemic began, around 12,000 surveillance workers were engaged across all divisions in Chennai to conduct door-to-door survey for COVID-19 symptoms.
They worked until the end of January 2021 and are now employed once again for this work, due to galloping Coronavirus cases. Recently, Meghanath Reddy, Deputy Commissioner, GCC, tweeted, “Fever surveillance workers and FOCUS volunteers are Chennai Corporation’s foot soldiers. These men and women with their selfless service have become our backbone in stemming the spread of COVID. The city is proud of them.”
In some zones, fever surveillance workers start their work as early as 7 a.m., when they are briefed by the sanitary inspector and zonal level officials, following which they head into their areas. Some are assigned a new locality every month.
Last year, GCC paid each worker ₹500 a day, and set an average target of 150 to 200 houses a day.
New Delhi
Sitar maestro Pandit Debu Chaudhuri dies of Covid-related complications
Sitar maestro Pandit Devbrata Chaudhuri died of Covid-related complications at a Delhi hospital on Saturday. He was 85.
His son Prateek Chaudhuri announced the death of his father, more popularly known as Debu Chaudhuri, on his official Facebook page.
“My Father, The Legend of Sitar, Pandit Debu Chaudhuri… is no more. He was admitted with Covid along with dementia complications and was put in ICU on ventilator around midnight today.( 1st May 2021)..after which he suffered a heart attack and could not be revived ….. In spite of all efforts and prayers he could not be saved,” Mr. Prateek wrote.
Serum Institute plans to start vaccine production outside India: The Times
The Serum Institute of India, which manufactures the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, is planning to start vaccine production in other countries as it struggles to meet supply commitments, its chief executive officer told The Times.
“There’s going to be an announcement in the next few days,”Adar Poonawalla was quoted as saying by the newspaper in an interview published on Friday.
Mr. Poonawalla said last week that the Serum Institute would be able to raise its monthly output to 100 million doses by July, later than a previous timeline of end-May. Several states have run out of vaccines against COVID-19.
Australia
Australians to face five-year jail or hefty fine if they return home from India
Threatening a five-year jail term or hefty fine, the Australian government temporarily barred its citizens from entering the country if they happened to be in India within 14 days of their intended arrival.
The decision was announced after a meeting of the National Cabinet on Friday and will come into force from Monday.
The move aims at keeping the coronavirus spread in check in Australia as India is facing a surge in infections cases.
The decision was based on the proportion of overseas travellers in quarantine in Australia, who have contracted the infection in India, according to Health Minister Greg hunt.
New Delhi
Centre releases SDRF instalment in advance due to COVID-19 surge
The Centre has released the first instalment of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to States, in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19 that has claimed thousands of lives since April.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a statement, said ₹8,873.6 crore had been released to the States, an annual exercise that is usually done in June.
“As a special dispensation, the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, at the recommendation of Ministry of Home Affairs, has released in advance of the normal schedule the first instalment of the Central share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for the year 2021-22 to all the States,” the MHA said.
Uttar Pradesh
Inquiry ordered after Agra man pleads before policemen for oxygen cylinder
Police have ordered an inquiry after a video emerged of man purportedly pleading before some police personnel as oxygen cylinders were being taken from a private hospital in Agra.
The man prostrated before the police personnel and also knelt with folded handed as he begged for an oxygen cylinder.
After the video went viral on social media, Superintendent of Police (City) Botre Rohan Pramod denied allegations that police were taking away the oxygen cylinder from him.
Jammu and Kashmir
J&K to begin vaccination for people in 18-44 age group on May 1
Jammu and Kashmir will roll out vaccination for people in the age group of 18-44 from May 1.
An official said Covaxin doses will be administered in Srinagar and Jammu districts in the first phase.
“Covaxin is being launched in capital cities of J&K for people who are 18 years and above and have pre-registered,” an official said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci suggests a few weeks’ lockdown in India to break chain of coronavirus transmission
Top U.S. epidemiologist Anthony Fauci has suggested a lockdown for a few weeks in India as an immediate step to contain the spread of the coronavirus as its deadly second wave shows no signs of ebbing.
Dr. Fauci, in an interview to an Indian newspaper, said another most important thing in the immediate is to get supplies of oxygen, medication, PPEs.
He said looking at the magnitude of the crisis, India should look at putting together a crisis group that would meet and start getting things organised.
Without naming any government, he said one of the things that should have been recognised that “victory was declared maybe too prematurely”.
New Delhi
Editors Guild demands priority vaccination for journalists
The Editors Guild of India on Friday condoled the death of journalists due to COVID-19 in the past year and again called on the government to give them priority in vaccination along with frontline workers.
“In April 2021 itself, more than 52 journalists died because of the virus. Further, according to the Delhi-based Institute of Perception Studies, more than 100 journalists have died since the lockdown was first declared from April 1, 2020. Many of these were brave journalists who had been reporting on the worsening pandemic and bringing to fore stories on the great human tragedy that has been unfolding before us,” the EGI said in a statement.
The Guild said it was distressed that the Centre had not done anything to speed up the vaccination of journalists over the past few months.
USA
U.S. to restrict travel from India starting May 4
Due to the very high numbers of COVID-19 cases and multiple strains of the virus in India, the United States will restrict travel of non-citizens from the country, starting Tuesday, Eastern U.S. time.
U.S. President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on Friday afternoon prohibiting the entry of non-citizens (the administration has done away with the term ‘alien’) who have been physically present in India for 14 days prior to their entry or attempted entry into the U.S.
The entry restrictions does not apply to lawful permanent residents’ (LPRs or green card holders); non-citizens married to Americans or green card holders; non-citizen parents or legal guardians of minors (under 21) who are U.S. citizens or green card holders ; siblings of unmarried citizens or LPRs, provided they are both under 21 and unmarried and other categories of travelers. The exemption list is longer than similar lists under the Trump administration’s pandemic-related restrictions.
Gujarat
16 dead in fire at COVID-19 hospital in Gujarat
A massive fire at a COVID-19 hospital in Bharuch killed 16 people, including two staff members of the hospital, early on Saturday.
The fire occurred at the Welfare Hospital, a four-storey building, and was brought under control in an hour. The cause is yet to be ascertained.
“16 people died in the incident,” Bharuch District Collector M.D. Modia told The Hindu. The deceased include 14 patients and two staff members who were attending to them. The patients died of burns and asphyxiation as the building was engulfed by the fire.
Bihar
Mohd. Shahbuddin, former RJD MP serving life term, dies due to COVID-19
Four time former Rashtriya Janata Dal MP from Siwan in Bihar Mohd. Shahabuddin dies due to COVID-19. He was serving life imprisonment in double murder case and was shifted to Tihar Jail in New Delhi in 2018 by an order of Supreme Court. After being infected with COVID-19 Shahabuddin was shifted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital for treatment where he died on Saturday morning.
RJD spokesman Mrityunjaj Tiwari has mourned death of the party leader.
– Amarnath Tewary
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