Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Maharashtra Records 34,848 New Cases, UP Daily Caseload Down To 12,547
Welcome to the ABP News Blog for Friday, May 15, 2021: West Bengal on Friday registered its highest single-day spike of 20,846 fresh COVID-19 cases. Karnataka which is the worst Covid-affected state has reported 3,500 Covid-19 related deaths between May 7 and 13. Amid the cyclone alert, BMC said that there will be no Covid vaccination in govt centres on 15 and 16 May in Mumbai.
Assam government issues fresh lockdown guidelines for urban and adjoining areas to come into effect from 5 am tomorrow. All shops and commercial establishments shall shut down by 11 am on all days.
Maharashtra reports 34,848 new Covid-19 cases, 59,073 discharges and 960 deaths in the last 24 hours
Total cases 53,44,063
Death toll 80,512
Total discharges 47,67,053
Active cases 4,94,032
Taiwan had so far remained mostly COVID free. Now we are facing community transmission for the first time. But we will keep working together and caring for each other. We will get through this: Taiwan VP
Senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday slammed the central government over the issuance of 1.23 lakh death certificates between March 1 to May 10 this year in Gujarat and said that government, in conjunction with some state governments, is suppressing the actual numbers of new infections and Covid-related deaths.
"The thrust of the story was that during the period March 1 to May 10 of this year (2021), Gujarat issued about 1,23,000 death certificates as against about 58,000 death certificates issued during the same period last year (2020)," Congress senior leader P Chidambaram said in a press conference.
He also spoke about empowering ASHA & Anganwadi workers with all necessary tools. PM asked for guidelines to be made available in easy language along with illustrations for home isolation and treatment in rural areas: PMO
PM Modi also instructed for door to door Covid testing in villages.
PM said that localised containment strategies are the need of the hour specially for states where test positivity rate in dists is high. PM instructed that testing needs to be scaled up, with use of RT-PCR & Rapid Tests, especially in areas with high test positivity rates: PMO
New Delhi: Officials briefed PM Modi on the current Covid related situation in the country. PM was briefed that testing has gone up rapidly in the country, from around 50 lakh tests per week in early March to around 1.3 crore tests per week now": Prime Minister's Office (PMO) stated.
They also informed the PM about the gradually decreasing test positivity rate and increasing recovery rate. It was discussed that cases that had gone over 4 lakh cases per day are now coming down as a result of the efforts by healthcare workers, state governments, and central govt.
PM Modi said that localised containment strategies are the need of the hour especially for states where the test positivity rate in districts is high. He instructed that testing needs to be scaled up, with the use of RT-PCR and Rapid Tests, especially in areas with high test positivity rates.
PM Modi said that states should be encouraged to report their numbers transparently without any pressure of high numbers showing adversely on their efforts. PM asked for augmentation of healthcare resources in rural areas to focus on door-to-door testing and surveillance.
He also spoke about empowering ASHA and Anganwadi workers with all necessary tools. PM asked for guidelines to be made available in easy language along with illustrations for home isolation and treatment in rural areas.
All offices including govt & private to remain closed except emergency services from tomorrow. Intra state bus services, metro, ferry service, gyms, cinema halls, salons, swimming pools to remain closed. Retail shops to be open from 7-10 am: West Bengal Chief Secretary
Delhi recorded 6,500 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours and the positivity rate has declined to 11 per cent, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday and also announced the launch of oxygen concentrator banks for patients in home isolation. He also said that though daily cases have dipped, the Delhi government will not let its guard down and keep fighting the coronavirus pandemic
Black Fungus declared Notified Disease in Haryana. Now Doctors will report to CMOs of the Dist, of any black fungus case detected. Post Graduate Institute Rohtak Senior Doctors will conduct a video conference with all Doctors, dealing with corona, about its treatment: Haryana HM
After several decomposed bodies were found floating in the river Ganga in several cities of Uttar Pradesh, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday indirectly took a potshot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the one who said that Mother Ganga has called him, has made it cry.
In a tweet in Hindi, Rahul Gandhi said, "The one who said Ganga has called him, has made the Mother Ganga cry."
He also attached a news report which claimed that on the 1,140 km long banks of river Ganga about 2,000 dead bodies have been found.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal held a press conference and informed that the govt will be establishing oxygen concentrators bank containing 200 devices which will be provided to those who are in dire need of regulating the oxygen levels. Kejriwal also said that a technician will also visit the person to guide on how to use the device. The Delhi CM said that national capital has also arranged more than 1000 ICU beds in just 15 days.
Kejriwal futher said, "In the last 24 hours, 6500 cases have been reported in Delhi, the positivity rate has further gone down to 11%. So Corona's impact is going down in Delhi."
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's younger brother Ashim Banerjee passed away today at the hospital. He had tested positive for #COVID19 and was undergoing treatment: Dr Alok Roy, Chairman, Medica Superspecialty Hospital, Kolkata
The second Oxygen Express to Karnataka with 120 MT liquid medical oxygen (LMO) from Kalinganagar in Odisha's Jajpur district reached Bengaluru on Saturday morning.
The third such train to the State with 120 MT LMO from Tatanagar in Jharkhand will reach here on Saturday evening, the South Western Railway said.
The total tonnage of LMO from both the trains is 240 MT, SWR added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a high-level meeting at 11 am today to review the Covid situation in the country. Sources suggest that apart from Home Minister Amit Shah, Health Minister, PMO officials, Cabinet secretaries, and ICMR scientists will be a part of the meet to focus on states registering huge surge in Cases and the ongoing vaccination drive.
The Delhi Cabinet on Friday approved Rs 5,000 financial assistance to all individuals holding public service badge (drivers) of para-transit vehicles and others in the wake of the lockdown here amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.
The city transport department in a statement, also said, beneficiaries of the 2020 scheme need not reapply but will get the Rs 5,000 directly transferred to their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts subject to verification of deaths from local bodies.
"The Delhi Cabinet today approved Rs 5,000 financial assistance to all individuals holding public service badge (drivers) of para-transit vehicles and permit holders of para-transit vehicles in the wake of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and further curfew announced by the Delhi government that has left the owners of these vehicles in financial hardships," it said.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal discussed the proposed waiver to provisions of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for COVID-19-specific items and raising vaccine production with United States Trade Representative (USTR), Katherine Tai, in a virtual meeting on Friday.
During the meeting, Tai conveyed her deep sympathy for the people of India as the country battles a deadly wave of COVID-19 and reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to help India, the USTR said in a readout of the call.
India is in the midst of a deadly wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with 3,43,144 people testing positive for the virus on Friday, taking the country's caseload to 2,40,46,809. The death toll stands at 2,62,317.
BMC has said that amid the cyclone alert, govt inoculation centres in Mumbai will be shut on 15th and 16th May and people are advised not to queue up as they will be informed once the process resumes.
Karnataka which is the worst Covid-affected state has reported 3,500 Covid-19 related deaths between May 7 and 13, higher than the toll reported in any month since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. The highest deaths were seen in August last year, when Karnataka registered 3,388 deaths.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said India’s Covid-19 situation remains hugely concerning, with several states continuing to see a worrying number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths, warning that the pandemic’s second year will be “far more deadly” than the first for the world. Ghebreyesus added that the WHO is responding to the Covid-19 surge in India and has shipped thousands of oxygen concentrators, tents for mobile field hospitals, masks and other medical supplies.
West Bengal registered its highest single-day spike of 20,846 fresh cases, taking the tally to 10,94,802. The toll rose to 12,993 after 136 more people, including five eminent doctors, succumbed to the infection. Senior BJP leader Mukul Roy and his wife Krishna are among those who contracted the disease.
Background
Welcome to the ABP News Blog for Friday, May 15, 2021: World health experts issued a grim warning Friday that the second year of Covid-19 was set to be "far more deadly", as Japan extended a state of emergency amid growing calls for the Olympics to be scrapped.
"We're on track for the second year of this pandemic to be far more deadly than the first," said the World Health Organization's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Even as hospitals in Goa see a surge in COVID-19 cases, the scenes at crematoriums in the coastal state are equally grim, as bodies continue to line up for last rites.
One of the oldest crematoriums in Goa located in Margao city had to construct four additional platforms and dedicate three of its existing ones to cater to people who died of COVID-19.
The century-old crematorium, managed by Mathagramasth Hindu Sabha, opened its doors to COVID-19 casualties after it was found that they were not being entertained by other facilities.
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