Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Mumbai Reports 8,217 Fresh Covid Cases, City's Overall Caseload Surges Past 5.53 Lakh

Coronavirus HIGHIGHTS, Thursday, April 15, 2021: A total of 1,000 Covid-19 deaths has been recorded for the first time in 178 days. The worst affected states continue to be Maharashtra with 60,000 new cases, UP with 17.96k cases, 15,000 cases in Chhattisgarh.

Background

Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS, Thursday, April 15, 2021: Maharashtra is undergoing 15 days long Coronavirus lockdown like a curfew. Amid a steep rise in cases and speculations of a lockdown in Maharashtra, several migrant workers had once again started leaving for their home states, with crowded queues being witnessed outside Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) station in Mumbai’s Kurla.At Delhi's biggest crematorium, Nigambodh Ghat, the number of cremations have gone up from 15 per day to over 30 as COVID-19-related deaths in the national capital continue to rise.Delhi recorded 104 deaths due to coronavirus on Wednesday, the highest since November 20. The same day, India recorded 1,027 Covid-19 deaths, the highest daily count since October 18 when 1,033 deaths were recorded.Even as Covid cases continue to surge in Haridwar, the Uttarakhand health secretary has pleaded before the High Court to curtail 50,000 RT-PCR Covid test limit per day in the Kumbh city. This comes after the officials repeatedly claimed that they were conducting 50,000 tests per day as directed by the High Court in its March 31order.

15/04/2021 22:59:29

Uttarakhand Covid-19 Restrictions

Amid Covid-1919 surge, only 200 people allowed in religious & social gatherings. Public transport such as bus, auto-rickshaw, etc. to ply with not more than 50% capacity. Gym to operate with 50% capacity. Coaching centers, swimming pools, spas will be closed: Uttarakhand Chief Secretary

Movement of people restricted during night curfew from 10:30 pm to 5 am. Persons over 65 years of age and pregnant women and children below 10 years of age are advised not to leave the house. 

15/04/2021 22:58:17

Hospitals In Ahmedabad Run Short Of Oxygen Cylinders

"Oxygen demand has increased by 20-25%. Earlier we were producing 100 cylinders, now it's 1000-1200 cylinders per day. Govt has directed us to sell 100% oxygen to healthcare," an oxygen manufacturer told news agency ANI.

Due to oxygen shortage, manufacturers are charging 2-3 times more, government should take steps against them for black marketing: Mona Desai, former president, Ahmedabad Medical Association

"Despite the increase in beds, there's shortage. There's oxygen shortage too, its requirement at COVID hospitals has gone up by 2-3 times. We've written to the CM to  direct oxygen manufacturers to sell 100% oxygen to health care," Desai said.

15/04/2021 22:56:22

Pune Reports 9,956 Fresh Covid Cases

Maharashtra's Pune district has reported as many as 9,956 new cases, 8,175 recoveries, and 114 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Active cases: 98,859
Total cases: 6,85,970
Total recoveries: 5,76,177
Death toll: 11,103

15/04/2021 21:19:04

Punjab Reports 4,333 New Covid Cases, Haryana Single-Day Tally Above 5,800

Punjab reports 4,333 new Covid-19 cases, 2,478 recoveries, and 51 deaths, taking the total number of cases to 2,86,816.

Haryana reports 5,858 new Coronavirus positive cases, 2,743 recoveries & 18 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total number of cases stands at 3,35,800

15/04/2021 19:14:03

Maha Nirvani Akhara Chief Swami Kapil Dev Passes Away Due To Coronavirus

The head of the Maha Nirvani Akhara from Madhya Pradesh Swami Kapil Dev who was under treatment for COVID-19 at a private hospital has died, an official said on Thursday.

The akhara's Mahamandaleshwar, who had come to attend the ongoing Kumbh Mela in Haridwar from Madhya Pradesh, was admitted to the Kailash Hospital in Dehradun after his RT-PCR test result, Haridwar's Chief Medical Officer S K Jha said.

Swami Kapil Dev passed away at the hospital on April 13, Superintendent of Police (City) Sarita Dobhal said.

15/04/2021 17:58:41

Persons Returning To Karnataka From Kumbh Mela Should Have RT-PCR Report

Persons returning to Karnataka after taking part in the Kumbh Mela at Haridwar should get their RT-PCR test done immediately on return: Commissioner, Health and Family Services, Karnataka

15/04/2021 17:30:52

Andhra Pradesh Vaccinates 6.17 Lakh For Covid On Wednesday

Andhra Pradesh inoculated a record number of 6.17 lakh people with Coronavirus vaccine by 11 p.m. on Wednesday.

The state managed to achieve this feat as it rushed the 6.4 lakh vaccine doses it received within 24 hours to all the districts on Tuesday and started inoculating people in large numbers on Wednesday.

15/04/2021 16:23:23

Delhi HC Permits 50 Persons To Perform Namaz Daily At Bangley Wali Masjid In Nizamuddin

Delhi HC allows 50 people to offer namaz, 5 times a day at the 1st floor of the Markaz building, citing that the DDMA notification restraining all types of gatherings/ congregation does not shut down the religious places/ places of worship. 

The court said that if all religious places are open, then even this should not close.

 It, however, remarked that the situation in the city is serious as it turned down the request of the Delhi Waqf Board to allow 50 people each on 3 more floors of Markaz building, besides the 1st floor.

15/04/2021 16:11:14

Odisha: Class 10, 12 Board Exams Suspended

CM Naveen Patnaik orders suspension of all 10th & 12th board exams in the state in view of COVID situation. All students of Class 9 and 11 in academic year 2020-21 will be prompted to the 10th and 12th standards respectively. They do not have to take any tests for this: Odisha CMO

15/04/2021 16:11:14

Odisha: Class 10, 12 Board Exams Suspended

CM Naveen Patnaik orders suspension of all 10th & 12th board exams in the state in view of COVID situation. All students of Class 9 and 11 in academic year 2020-21 will be prompted to the 10th and 12th standards respectively. They do not have to take any tests for this: Odisha CMO

15/04/2021 15:16:15

UP Board postponed till 20th May

Uttar Pradesh govt has postponed the 10th and 12th board exams till 20th May. The state government has said that it will decide about cancellation during the 1st week of May. Also, exams for students of UP colleges and universities have been postponed till 15th May

15/04/2021 14:56:02

Haryana Govt cancels board exams for class 10th, class 12th board postponed

On the lines of the CBSE Board, we have decided to cancel Class 10th board exams and postpone Class 12th exams. Class 10th students will be evaluated based on internal assessment: Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar

 

15/04/2021 14:19:26

Yogi govt changes night curfew timings in districts with over 2k active cases

UP government has changed the night curfew timings for those districts which have reported more than 2000 active Covid cases. The new night curfew timings have been imposed in Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Kanpur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Gorakhpur.

15/04/2021 13:46:06

UP Night Curfew timings changed

Uttar Pradesh government has increased the night curfew timings amid the rise in cases. Now, the night curfew will be effective from 8 PM to 7AM.  Covid cases in UP are on huge rise .Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He is in self-isolation.

15/04/2021 12:56:40

UP Board exams postponed

According to the latest information, the Uttar Pradesh government has postponed board exams of class 10th and 12th students. UP board has not declared the new schedule of Exams. CBSE has already cancelled the 10th board exams and the 12th boards have been postponed for a month. After CBSE's decision, students of state boards have been demanding cancellation of exams.

15/04/2021 12:13:08

BJP Leader Muraleedharan calls Kerala CM a 'Covidiot'

'Covidiot' you know what it means. There's no other word that can be used for a CM who continuously violates COVID protocol. As per doctors of Calicut Medical College,Kerala CM tested positive on Apr 4 & on Apr 6 voted w/o following protocols: MoS MEA & BJP leader V Muraleedharan

15/04/2021 10:23:21

UP issues guidelines for migrant workers returning from different states

UP Addl Chief Secy (Health) issues directions on quarantine of migrant workers returning to the state. Workers to be screened by dist admn. Those showing symptoms, but are not infected, will be sent to 14-day home quarantine, 7-day home quarantine for the asymptomatic ones.

15/04/2021 09:45:33

33 Lakh Vaccination in 24 Hours, Tally Reaches 11.45 Crore

The total vaccinations in the country have reached 11.45 crore. In the last 24 hours, 33.14 lakh doses against Covid-19 were administered while the number of vaccination on the previous day is 26.46 lakh.

15/04/2021 09:38:08

India Reports More Than 2 Lakh Cases In A Single Day

India reports 2,00,739 new COVID 19 cases, 93,528 discharges and 1,038 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry.

Total cases: 1,40,74,564

Total recoveries: 1,24,29,564

Active cases: 14,71,877

Death toll: 1,73,123

Total vaccination: 11,44,93,238

15/04/2021 09:16:01

Denmark Becomes 1st European Country to Cut AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine Completely

Denmark on Wednesday announced it would stop using the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine altogether, becoming the first European country to do so over suspected rare but serious side effects.

“Denmark’s vaccination campaign will go ahead without the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Danish Health Authority director Soren Brostrom told journalists, despite recommendations from the World Health Organization and Europe’s medicines watchdog to keep using it.

“There is a potential cross-reaction between the vaccine and a low platelet count. We also know that there is a temporal connection. It occurs one week to ten days after the vaccination with AstraZeneca,” Brostrom said.

15/04/2021 08:41:37

Declare Covid Pandemic As Natural Calamity: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has written to Prime Minister Modi requesting that the pandemic be treated as a natural calamity and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) be used to provide individual benefits to the affected.

Thackeray while addressing the state on Tuesday, had said that for earthquake, heavy rainfall and flood, natural calamity is announced and individual benefits are given to the people affected. “We all have accepted this (pandemic) as a natural calamity. So, we are requesting the PM to give individual benefits that are given in natural calamities to the people whose livelihood has been impacted by the pandemic

15/04/2021 07:42:38

Delhi Private Hospitals to keep some beds for non-covid patients

 Days after declaring 14 private hospitals in the city as "full COVID-19" facilities, the Delhi government on Wednesday revised its decision to allow certain beds to be used for non-COVID patients as well. These included Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Sarita Vihar, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Holy Family Hospital, Max SS Hospital, and Fortis Hospital in Shalimar Bagh.

15/04/2021 07:36:56

Delhi's Nigambodh Ghat struggle to keep up as dead bodies pile up

Covid cases have risen unabated in the last few weeks in India, with the country seeing the highest number of cases ever on Wednesday. India recorded its biggest-ever single-day spike with 184,372 fresh cases with its total covid tally shooting up to 13,873,825 cases.

Reports said that the Nigambodh Ghat, one of the crematoriums in Delhi, was struggling to keep up with the rising Covid-19 deaths.