More than 21 lakh migrant labourers have returned to Uttar Pradesh from different parts of the country on over 1,500 special trains so far, a senior state government official said on Saturday.
"So far, over 21 lakh migrant labourers have come back to the state on as many as 1,550 trains. The maximum number of trains -- 257 -- has arrived in Gorakhpur on which 3.31 lakh migrant labourers returned," Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Information) Awanish Awasthi said.
He said 109 trains arrived in Lucknow, 125 in Jaunpur, 111 in Varanasi and 99 in Deoria.
At least 28% of the 40,184 people who had tested positive for Covid-19 between till April 30 in India were asymptomatic, a study found, raising concerns about the novel coronavirus being spread by those who show mild to no symptoms.
A large proportion of both those tested and those positive were asymptomatic contacts, according to the study by the Indian Council of Medical Research scientists along with other collaborators
According to the study, of the 28.1% asymptomatic patients, 25.3% were direct and high-risk contacts of the cases, while 2.8% were healthcare workers in contact with confirmed the case without adequate protection.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday that his government was “several steps ahead” of the novel coronavirus and was more than prepared to deal with the situation.
Kejriwal underlined that the aim of the government was to ensure that the number of deaths from the Covid-19 should not rise even if the count of patients were rising.
“I want to assure Delhi residents that your government is several steps ahead of the coronavirus,” the chief minister said at an online press conference. “We are making of plenty arrangements that are much more than the requirements. We are more than prepared to tackle it.”
Kejriwal added that the government was also developing an app to give people information about the availability of beds in hospitals.
The Karnataka government on Saturday eased the norm of curfew on Sundays while retaining the order of lockdown from 7 pm to 7 am in view of coronavirus.
In the beginning of the fourth phase of lockdown from May 19, the state government had ordered that total lockdown would be enforced throughout the day on Sundays to contain Covid-19 in the state. Last Sunday, a day prior to Eid-ul-Fitr, it was implemented across the state. In the state capital, the curfew was imposed from Saturday evening itself.
In his order, Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar said there would not be complete lockdown on Sundays from 7 am to 7 pm following public request. However, the lockdown during nights will continue, he said in the order.
West Bengal reported seven more Covid-19 fatalities on Friday, pushing the death toll due to the disease in the state beyond the 300-mark, while 277 new cases were registered during the day, according to a health department bulletin. Of the total 302 deaths, 72 were due to comorbidities and the novel coronavirus was "incidental" in these cases, it said.
West Bengal has a total of 4,813 confirmed Covid-19 cases so far, of which 2,736 are active.
Globally, cases crossed 5.9 million while deaths crossed 3,65,000.
Brazil overtook Spain to rank fifth in the world in coronavirus deaths, with no sign of easing in Latin America’s biggest economy. The U.S. will quit the World Health Organization after President Donald Trump faulted its actions with China and the virus.
Track all the news updates on the coronavirus situation in India here.
