Latest updates and important links about COVID-19 coronavirus

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Live statistics and tracking of news related to COVID-19 coronavirus with focus on India (as of 5 April 2020, 9:00 AM).

India data compiled from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare website. World data is compiled from worldometers. The helpline number for coronavirus is +91-11-23978046. 1075 is the toll-free number. Helpline mail id is ncov19[at]gov[dot]in. The government has advised social distancing and avoiding mass gatherings to contain the infection.

Latest news on coronavirus

As factories stay shut and vehicles stay off the roads amidst coronavirus lockdown, the water quality of the rivers have improved. Ganga is much cleaner in Kanpur and Varanasi and mountain ranges like Dhauladhar in Himachal Pradesh are visible from Jalandhar, Punjab. Over 22,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their contacts have been traced and quarantined. Despite Jamaat disaster, India has managed to flatten the curve to certain extent.

Nizamuddin in New Delhi has emerged as the latest hotspot for the coronavirus in India. The Islamic evangelical event took place in the national capital on 21 March 2020 even as the administration had announced bans on huge public gatherings. Dozens of cases across India were traced back to the Tablighi Jamaat. The Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed that 22,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their contacts have been traced and put into quarantine. 295 persons out of the total 485 confirmed new positive cases of Wuhan Coronavirus were detected within a single day had attended the Tablighi Jamaat held at the Nizamuddin Markaz

The Chief Medical Officer of the District MMG  Hospital in Ghaziabad had written a letter to the Ghaziabad police informing about the criminal behaviour of the Jamaatis. The CMO had written that the members of the Tablighi Jamaat who as kept at the isolation ward of the hospital have been roaming in their wards naked with their pants. The letter states that obscene comments and songs are being heard from the ward, and inmates are asking for beedi-cigarette from the staff of the hospital. The CMO also writes that those people are also making lewd gestures towards female employees of the hospital.

An FIR was filed against 6 Tablighi Jamaat members for their lewd behaviour in Ghaziabad.

Interestingly, despite the massive jump in cases due to Tablighi Jamaat, India managed to flatten the curve. It remains to be seen if the trend can be continued.

A shrimp seller woman in Wuhan is reportedly identified at patient zero of the coronavirus outbreak. People of 24 villages home quarantined in Punjab as ‘super spreader‘ Sikh preacher Baldev Singh infects 28 people.

As Chinese coronavirus pandemic engulfs India, Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government indulges in blame game. As per reports, midnight announcements were made in colonies where UP-Bihar migrant workers lived informing them that they will be taken to Anand Vihar bus terminal from where they could board buses to their villages. This, despite the fact that state governments have sealed borders in a bid to contain the pandemic. AAP leader Raghav Chadha indulged in spreading fake news that UP government got migrant workers returning to UP beaten up. An FIR has been registered against him.

Saudi-return woman in Delhi, who had infected her anti-CAA protestor brother at Jahangirpuri, has also infected the Mohalla Clinic doctor she visited. The doctor, his wife and daughter have also tested positive for COVID-19. Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has told the state governments that 15 lakh international travellers came to India over the last two month but there appears to be a discrepancy between the actual monitoring for COVID-19 and the total arrivals. In Maharashtra, 12 people were tested positive for COVID-19, 4 of whom had returned from Haj and Rajasthan registered its first death. An analysis also revealed that half of India’s imported cases were from the Middle East.

In his address to the nation, Prime Minister Modi announced complete lockdown of the entire country for 21 days starting midnight. Essential services like milk, groceries, medicines will be available. Fake news about possible corruption and favouritism on the part of the government in choosing a Gujarat based company to manufacture Covid-19 testing kits became viral, which was debunked comprehensively. Interestingly, while crying racism, China refused to allow discussion in the UNSC regarding the Wuhan Coronavirus and blocked a bill that called for full trasnparency of the outbreak.

The state administration is instructed to ensure the lockdown is implemented strictly. Delhi hasn’t registered a single new case in past 40 hours. AltNews founder and Shekhar Gupta amongst others indulged in sharing fake and unverified news made by a fake Twitter account.

Millions of N95 masks go ‘missing’ in Rajasthan even as Wayanad MP accuses the centre of not having enough masks. Palestine confirms two positive cases, both imported from Pakistan. Unverified reports were making rounds that a pastor in Kenya made congregants drink Dettol to ‘cure coronavirus’. While the reports cannot be independently verified, he does have a history of making congregants in church drink disinfectants.

As India observed a Janta Curfew on Sunday as called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the union government and several governments announced major moves to curtail the spread of Wuhan Coronavirus. The Indian Railways announced the cancellation of all passenger train still 31st March. All metro trains in the country have also been cancelled. All 75 coronavirus affected districts were put under complete lockdown. Apart from that, as many as 15 states have enforced lockdown, ordering that all public transport, non-essential shops and offices will remain shut.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi had addressed the nation and urged citizens to practice self-isolation “Janta Curfew” on Sunday between 7 AM to 9 PM and not step out of the house. He has also urged citizens to come out to the balconies and clap and appreciate the healthcare workers who are fighting this pandemic from the frontline.

The union govt on 21st March allowed NABL accredited laboratories to conduct tests for Novel Coronavirus. ICMR has issued detailed guidelines to be followed by private laboratories in this case. ICMR has also stipulated that the maximum cost of the test can’t exceed Rs 4,500, while appealing the laboratories to offer the test at free of cost or at subsidised rates. The test at govt labs remains free. Earlier, 18 international and Indian companies were issued licenses to conduct the test.

On 21st March ICMR had issued revised guidelines for Covid-19 tests, saying that all asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of confirmed cases should get themselves tested once between day 5 and day 14 of coming in his/her contact.

Ministry has informed N95 masks are available in sufficient quantity in India. However, this is not the same across the rest of the world where hospitals and healthcare providers have to find alternative means to get N95 masks so that they can protect themselves and their patients. There are N95 mask for sale through a variety of different companies and should help to reduce the shortages and dangers created by the lack of these masks in healthcare facilities, at this particular moment in time. Ministry has urged people not to panic or pay heed to rumours. Ministry has reiterated that there is no community transfer of the virus in India and we are sufficiently equipped to handle the crisis. The government has announced that no international commercial scheduled passenger flight will be allowed to land in India from 22nd March onward for a period of 1 week.

Important links and resources

1. Government advisory on social distancing [pdf]
2. Latest testing guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Research [pdf]
3. Travel Advisory (consolidated) [pdf], Additional 1 [pdf], Additional 2 [pdf], Additional 3 [pdf]

How to quarantine at home

When should you quarantine at home