Coronavirus Updates: India Adds 6,767 Cases In 24 Hours, Total Tally Nears 1.32 Lakh
Track all the news updates on the coronavirus situation in India here.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in India neared the 1.32 lakh mark even as the country scrambles to contain the spread while opening up a battered economy.
India added 6,767 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in 24 hours, according to the health ministry's 8 a.m. update. 147 people died while 2,657 recovered over the same period.
The total tally now stands at 1,31,868. This includes 5,444 who have recovered and 3,867 deaths. The number of active cases, which is now rising faster than before, stood at 73,560.
On Friday, a government official heading the panel charged with formulating India's Covid-19 response said that the country cannot remain in a perpetual state of lockdown and will have to move on while taking all necessary precautions.
“Lockdown cannot go for an unlimited time. It was meant for a purpose and it has broadly achieved that purposes,” said VK Paul, Chairman of the empowered group of officials to tackle Covid-19. “Now it is very important that we continue in a manner which is creating headwinds for the virus. We need to maintain the balance between resuming livelihood and containing the virus.”
India has continued to assert that the lockdown has been effective in saving lakhs of lives which would've been lost had it not shut down the economy.
Globally, cases crossed 52 lakh, leaving over 3.4 lakh dead as of Sunday morning.
Japan is set to lift the state of emergency in Tokyo and surrounding regions on Monday as new virus cases tail off, while restrictions are being eased further in Australia.
The increase in new U.S. cases trailed the daily average of the past week, and remained below 2% for the eighth day. Brazil’s new infections climbed 5%.
Track all the news updates on the coronavirus situation in India here:
More Than 50,000 Covid-19 Cases In Maharashtra
Number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra has crossed 50,000, according to the state government’s health ministry. 33,988 of these cases are live right now. Mumbai alone accounts for three-fifth of the cases, a count of over 30,000.
Uddhav Thackeray Wants Minimal Flights From Maharashtra
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asked Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to keep domestic flights in Maharashtra to a minimum.
“He communicated his views that till such time Mumbai International Airport Ltd. plans and fine tunes airport operations, they should initiate minimum possible domestic flights from Maharashtra from May 25, which are purely emergent in nature like for international transfer passengers from these cities, medical emergencies, students, and cases on Compassionate grounds only,” the Chief Minister’s office said in a statement.
It Was Wrong To Impose Lockdown Suddenly: Thackeray
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said it was wrong to impose the lockdown suddenly, and now it cannot be lifted all at once.
Amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, Thackeray also said there was a need to be extra cautious during the upcoming monsoon.
“It was wrong to impose the lockdown suddenly. It will be equally wrong to lift it in one go. It will be a double whammy for our own people,” he said in a televised message.
Thackeray, whose party Shiv Sena parted ways with long-term ally BJP last year, said though the Union government has been of little help, he would not indulge in any political mudslinging.
"The Maharashtra government has not yet received its due GST amount. The Centre’s share of train ticket cost (for facilitating transportation of migrant labourers to their native places) is yet to be received. There is still shortage of some medicines. Earlier, we did face shortage of PPE kits and other equipment," he said.
India Must Play Key Role In Mass Production Of Vaccine: France
India will have an important role to play in the mass production of medicines and vaccines for coronavirus infection once the treatment for the deadly disease is found, French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain has said.
"It is very important for states to coordinate if we want the Covid-19 vaccine and/or medicines to be produced and distributed equitably worldwide. India will have an important role to play as a producer of medicines and vaccines," French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain told PTI in an interview.
India is a leading manufacturer of vaccines and generic drugs globally. Several research institutes in India are also working on separate programmes to find a vaccine for the coronavirus.
The French Ambassador's comments also came in the backdrop of efforts by a large number of countries as well as the 27-nation European Union to ensure equitable access to any vaccine or medicine for treatment of coronavirus infection through their mass production under voluntary patenting.
The issue figured prominently at the recent two-day conference of the World Health Organisation where many countries pressed for making the vaccine available to all countries and not only to those who have deep pockets.
"France and India have supported the European resolution (at the WHO) for universal, timely and equitable access to all necessary products for countering the pandemic, and underscored the role of extensive immunisation against Covid-19 as a global public good," he said.
