Coronavirus cases in India reach 918, Maharashtra tops list with 180; chaos prevails in UP-Delhi border as migrant workers scramble to rush home

The total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 918 on Saturday as the country recorded 194 new cases, the highest jump the country ever recorded in a day.

And even as the government ramped up efforts to implement the lockdown and enforce social distancing among citizens,  a stampede-like situation prevailed at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border as hundreds of migrant workers thronged the bus station to get seats on the limited number of buses the Uttar Pradesh administration operated to ferry them back home.

In fact, reports through out the day highlighted the distress of daily waged workers from across the country, who found themselves stuck in the midst of a curfew, and their livelihood destroyed.

Taking cognizance of the situation, the Centre also asked the state governments and Union Territory administrations to utilise Rs 29,000 crore in their respective State Disaster Response Funds (SDRF) for providing food and shelter to migrant workers.

Resources were also being mobilised from private medical establishments, and armed forces to extend relief to the needy.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a special contributory fund against the virus to gather financial resources, needed to deal with the pandemic.

Indian Railways manufactured a prototype of an isolation ward for treating coronavirus patients by converting non-air-conditioned train coaches into quarantine wards. The armed forces are keeping ready 28 service hospitals to provide treatment to COVID-19 patients apart from five hospitals that are carrying laboratory tests for the infection.

Cases rise past 900, 21 reported dead

According to the health ministry's data (last updated at 5.45 pm on Saturday), the total tally in India was 918, which included 819 active cases, 79 cured or discharged, 19 deaths and one migrated patient.

Deaths have so far been reported from Maharashtra (5), Gujarat (3), Karnataka (2), Madhya Pradesh (2) and one each from Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

However, later in the day, Telangana reported its first death, while one more person died in Delhi, PTI reported, which takes the nationwide tally to 21.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases so far at 180 (including three foreign nationals), followed by Kerala at 176, including eight foreign nationals, according to the ministry data.

In Telangana, the number of cases has gone up to 56, including 10 foreigners while Karnataka has reported 55 cases till now.

The number of cases in Rajasthan has climbed to 54, including two foreigners.

Uttar Pradesh has reported 55 cases, including a foreigner while in Gujarat, it has gone up to 45, including one foreign national.

In Tamil Nadu, 40 people, including six foreigners, have tested positive, while the number of positive cases in Delhi has gone up to 39, including a foreigner.

Punjab has reported 38 cases, while 33 COVID-19 cases have so far been detected in Haryana, including 14 foreigners.

Madhya Pradesh has recorded 30 cases, Jammu and Kashmir 20, West Bengal 15, Andhra Pradesh 14 and Ladakh has reported 13 COVID-19 cases.

Bihar has nine cases, Chandigarh eight and Chhattisgarh has reported six cases so far.

Uttarakhand has five cases, including a foreigner. Himachal Pradesh and Odisha have reported three cases each. Six cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Goa has reported three coronavirus cases.

Puducherry, Mizoram, and Manipur have reported one case each.

 

Meanwhile, 13 people tested positive for coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 33. Of these, 24 cases have been reported from Valley while nine are from the Jammu region.

This is the highest number of positive cases reported in Jammu and Kashmir on a single day.

No community transmission yet, maintains health ministry

Even as the number of confirmed cases crossed 900 on Saturday, health officials rejected the suggestions that there may be a possibility of community transmission.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that the rise in cases is not significant to indicate that the virus is spreading rapidly.

"Till the time we see a significant number of cases to indicate community transmission, let us not over-interpret things," said Raman R Gangakhedkar, head of the Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at ICMR.

Raman has been maintaining that there is "no solid evidence" of community transmission so far.

At a press briefing on the current coronavirus situation in India, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Lav Agarwal said the government is working with states on health infrastructure preparedness and the focus is having dedicated COVID-19 hospitals and blocks in every states and arrangements are being made to ramp up isolation and ICU beds and other required logistics.

Seventeen states have so far started work on this, he said, adding doctors and nurses are being provided online training from AIIMS, New Delhi on the management of COVID-19 patients.

A 24x7 national teleconsultation Centre at AIIMS has also been launched through which doctors in other hospitals and medical colleges will be provided clinical guidance.

Officials said 111 government laboratories are currently functional across the country and with the private sector being roped in, it has been increased.

"As of now, we are utilising only 30 percent of our capacity. More than 5 lakh probes that were imported from the USA have arrived, which means we can test an additional 5 lakh people. More so, labs still have reagents to test more than one lakh patients," Gangakhedkar said.

States were also ramping up facilities and ordering more equipment especially ventilators. Government, government-aided and private medical colleges have been asked to reserve beds in all districts.

Adequate stocks of masks and personal protective equipment were being maintained, officials said.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said aircraft are crisscrossing the Indian airspace to ensure that the COVID-19 testing kits of the ICMR reach their destinations on time. The Indian Navy too deployed its aircraft to help the Goa government transport 60 samples to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) for testing, an official said on Saturday.

Private hospitals like Apollo and Max were forming teams and dedicated wards to deal with any possible surge in cases.

Hundreds of migrant workers scramble for few buses

However, the scene was not so reassuring in the National Capital Region as hundreds of migrant workers from Delhi, Haryana and even Punjab reached Anand Vihar, Ghazipur and Ghaziabad's Lal Kuan area after taking arduous treks of many kilometres on foot to take buses to their respective native places.

The people, in hordes, far outnumbered the seats on the buses, resulting in many of them travelling on rooftops after every inch inside was crammed with passengers and their luggage.

Social distancing norms seemed to have been discarded as they squeezed into the buses. Some wore face masks but most had handkerchiefs tied over their nose and mouths to protect them from the infection.

The imposition of a nationwide coronavirus lockdown has left migrant workers with no means to earn a living, forcing them to undertake long journeys on foot to their far-flung homes in the absence of any means of transport.

Delhi, as well as industrial towns in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab, employ thousands of workers from states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal.

The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) is plying 200 special buses to provide transport facilities to people stuck at various places in the border areas with Delhi.

"On the directions of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, the UPSRTC is deploying buses to provide transport facilities to people stuck at various points at border districts of Delhi. The buses have started reaching Noida and Ghaziabad. Around 200 buses will depart every 2 hours from 8 am onwards," read a letter written by the Managing Director (MD) UPSRTC, Raj Shekhar, to the administration.

The letter stated that the task of ferrying passengers to their destinations in UP will continue till 29 March.

Modi announces PM-CARES Fund for COVID-19

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the creation of the "Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund" where people can contribute and help in the government's fight against coronavirus.

Asserting that the fund will go a long way in creating a healthier India, Modi on Twitter said, "people from all walks of life expressed their desire to donate to India's war against COVID-19" and has been constituted respecting that spirit.

"It is my appeal to my fellow Indians, kindly contribute to the PM-CARES Fund. This Fund will also cater to similar distressing situations, if they occur in the times ahead," he said.

A statement posted on his official website said while the prime minister is the chairman of the new public charitable trust, its members include Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman.

The Union Health Ministry on Saturday also said 22.12 lakh public healthcare providers, including community health workers, will get Rs 50 lakh insurance cover under a national scheme for them.

They will be covered under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19, which was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 26 March.

With inputs from agencies

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FP Staff