Covid-19: Cases in TN cross 15,500; aviation minister says international flights may start mid-June

9.15 pm: Here are the day’s top updates.

8.50 pm: Mumbai reports 1,566 new Covid-19 cases, taking the city’s total to 28,817. The toll is 949.

8.48 pm: Uttarakhand reports 72 new cases, taking the state’s total to 244.

8.45 pm: Maharashtra reported more than 2,000 new coronavirus cases for the seventh consecutive day on Saturday. With 2,608 new cases, the state’s tally rises to 47,190 and the toll rises to 1,577.

8.30 pm: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy says Covid-19 cannot be eliminated and people must accept the reality that they must live with it by taking adequate precautions.

7 pm: A total of 36 new Covid-19 cases reported in Nepal, PTI reports. This takes the number of coronavirus patients in the country to 584. So far, 70 people have recovered and three have died.

6.50 pm: Punjab reports 16 new cases, taking the total to 2,045. This includes 1,870 people who have recovered and 39 deaths.

6.45 pm: The Maharashtra Police have reported a total of 1,671 positive cases in the force and 18 deaths, ANI reports.

6.40 pm: Six new cases of the coronavirus reported in the Central Reserve Police Force today, ANI reports. There are now 350 cases and two deaths in the Force.

6.38 pm: Himachal Pradesh Cabinet decides to let schools charge only tuition fees from students.

6.35 pm: Tamil Nadu records 710 new cases today, taking the total to 15,512. Of this, 7,915 are active cases and 103 people have died.

6.30 pm: New cases reported today

Kerala: 62 new cases, active cases rises to 275, as many as 515 recovered,

Jharkhand: three new cases, total rises to 333.

5.40 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says the intent of those who are criticising the Centre’s Rs 20-lakh-crore economic relief package, is not to understand but to pick holes, The Hindustan Times reports.

5.34 pm: At least 18 police officers have died of Covid-19 in Maharashtra so far, PTI reports. A total of 1,671 of them have been infected.

5.29 pm: The Gautam Buddha Nagar district reports 17 new cases today, ANI reports. The total number of cases in the district is now 323.

5.27 pm: Mauritius receives the second consignment of essential medical supplies from India at Port Louis, ANI reports.

4.45 pm: Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav says 17 railway hospitals have been turned into Covid-19 care hospitals.

4.30 pm: Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav says the ministry will run trains even within states if state governments ask for it, ANI reports.

4.26 pm: The railways has maintained uninterrupted freight movement operations, Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman of Indian Railways, says. The railways have ensured “delivery of 9.7 million tonnes of foodgrain between April 1 and May 22”, he says, adding that 3,255 new parcel special trains have been run since March 22.

4.21 pm: The Railways will run 200 trains from June. There will be no unreserved coaches in these trains and waiting list-passengers will not be allowed to board.

4.19 pm: The Centre shares a chart showing the status of coronavirus cases in India as of 8 am on Saturday.

4.18 pm: The Indian Railways shares a list of stations that trains will run from and to in the next ten days.

4.15 pm: Here is a day-wise breakup of the shramik special trains

4.13 pm: More than 2,600 special trains have run till now, the Ministry of Home Affairs says. Over 35 lakh migrant workers have travelled by these trains.

3.52 pm: As many as 13.54 lakh people have returned to UP from other states in over 1,018 shramik special trains.

3.50 pm: Active cases in Uttar Pradesh rise to 2,332, ANI reports. So far, 3,335 people have recovered from the disease, while 152 have died.

3.45 pm: The administrations of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir announced that all passengers arriving by domestic flights will have to undergo either home or institutional quarantine. The announcement came after Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that there would be no 14-day quarantine for passengers on domestic flights.

Read more here:

Covid-19: Five states, J&K to quarantine passengers arriving on domestic flights

3.33 pm: The Border Security Force records 21 new positive cases of the coronavirus in 24 hours. “All of them are under treatment in designated Covid-19 health care hospitals,” a statement says. “Till date 286 recovered and discharged from hospitals. Active cases as on today 120.”

3.30 pm: Serpentine queues were seen at the Palace Grounds in Bengaluru as migrant workers lined up to register themselves to return to Odisha.

2.55 pm: People returning to Manipur and refusing to undergo quarantine will be arrested, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said on Friday, PTI reports. “This is a very serious issue. Returnees flouting the protocol will be arrested and put in jail,” Singh said. “Our primary task is to prevent community spread of the disease.”

Manipur was declared coronavirus free on April 19 but cases began to emerge in May after migrants returned the state. It now has 27 active cases.

2.48 pm: Modi also speaks to Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth.

2.45 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa about the coronavirus situation. “Sri Lanka is fighting COVID-19 effectively under his leadership. India will continue to support our close maritime neighbour in dealing with the pandemic and its economic impact,” Modi says. “We agreed to accelerate Indian-assisted development projects in Sri Lanka, and also strengthen investment links.”

2.40 pm: Delhi International Airport Limited CEO Videh Jaipuriar says resuming flight operations is very important as we must learn to live with the coronavirus. “Flying according to me is the safest mode of travel in any case,” he tells ANI. “People shouldn’t be worried rather be careful. We have made all the arrangements to ensure that there is touchless boarding of passengers. So, please come in with boarding pass printed at home or use scan-and-fly kiosks. If there is any confusion then passengers can contact the airport staff.”

2.35 pm: Delhi reports 591 new cases in 24 hours. The total number of cases in the national Capital is now 12,910, including 6,412 active cases and 231 deaths.

2.30 pm: Assam reports 53 new cases, taking the state’s total to 319. Four people have died so far.

1.54 pm: Singapore reports 642 more coronavirus cases, taking its tally of infections to 31,068, according to Reuters. The health ministry says the vast majority of the newly infected people are migrant workers living in dormitories.

1.45 pm: Three employees of Cadila Pharmaceuticals’ Ahmedabad plant have succumbed to the coronavirus. As many as 35 employees working at the plant had tested positive earlier this month.

Also read: Three employees working at Cadila Pharmaceuticals’ Ahmedabad plant die of coronavirus: Reports

1.43 pm: Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri says the Centre will try to restart a “good percentage” of international flights by August, PTI reports. “We will be able to bring around 50,000 citizens back through special flights during first 25 days of Vande Bharat Mission,” he adds. Puri says he does not understand the need to quarantine flyers who have a green status on the Aarogya Setu app.

1.41 pm: The Chhattisgarh government has classified four development blocks in the state as red zones and 80 as orange zones, PTI reports. It has also designated 44 areas from where Covid-19 cases were recently discovered, as containment zones.

1.34 pm: Russia registers 9,434 new cases in the last 24 hours. The country’s tally rises to 335,882, reports Reuters. The toll is 3,388.

1.31 pm: Karnataka heath department says the state reported 196 new cases from 5 pm on Friday till today noon. The total number of positive cases in the state is now 1,939.

1.20 pm: Hundreds of migrant labourers who thought they were travelling from Mumbai to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh instead landed up in Odisha’s Rourkela city on Friday, after the “Shramik Special” train they were travelling in took a different route. The special train had left from Bhayander in Mumbai on Thursday.

Also read

Train ferrying migrants from Mumbai to UP reaches Odisha, Railways says planned diversion

1.01 pm: Delhi International Airport Limited announces that all the domestic flights that will resume from Monday will be operating from Terminal 3, reports ANI.

12.43 pm: In the last 24 hours, 47 fresh cases have been reported in Andhra Pradesh. With this, the total number of infections in the state climbs to 2,561, including 56 deaths.

12.28 pm: A South Delhi Municipal Corporation worker on Friday sprayed migrant labourers in Lajpat Nagar with disinfectant meant for cleaning roads. The municipal corporation called the incident a mistake, claiming that the worker could not handle the pressure of the jetting machine.

Also read

Delhi: Migrant labourers sprayed with disinfectant, municipal corporation calls it ‘a mistake’

12.23 pm: Uttarakhand reports 20 new cases, taking the state’s tally to 173.

12.17 pm: With 61 new cases, Bihar’s total count rises to 2,166, reports PTI.

12.01 pm: Indore’s tally rises to 2,933 as 83 more people tested positive in the last 24 hours, reports PTI.

11.58 am: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says the state won’t be able to receive special trains for next few days as district administration officials are involved in relief works for Cyclone Amphan, reports PTI.

11.57 am: A 56-year-old doctor dies at Sassoon General Hospital in Pune, reports ANI.

11.56 am: Assam’s total count rises to 266 with seven new cases.

11.01 am: Odisha’s tally rises to 1,269 cases after 80 more people tested positive, says the state health department.

10.23 am: The Gautam Buddh Nagar Police say those with a confirmed rail or plane ticket will be allowed to cross the Delhi-Noida border for their travel purpose. Such people will not need a movement pass to travel to the national Capital, reports Hindustan Times.

10.08 am: NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant says India could have “done much better” in handling the migrant crisis that has arisen due to a nationwide lockdown imposed to fight the coronavirus outbreak. But he blames the states, not the Centre, for the crisis.

Also read

Covid-19: NITI Aayog CEO says migrant crisis could have been handled much better, but blames states

10.03 am: In the last 24 hours, as many as 1,15,364 samples were tested, says the Indian Council of Medical Research. The total number of samples tested so far is 28,34,798.

9.45 am: The Delhi Excise Department allows 66 private liquor shops to open in the national capital from 9 am to 6.30 pm, on an odd-even basis, from today, reports ANI.

9.28 am: Himachal Pradesh’s tally rises to 173 after four more people who returned from Mumbai tested positive, reports PTI.

9.27 am: Rajasthan reports 48 fresh cases and 2 deaths till 9 am. The total number of positive cases rise to 6,542.

9.22 am: Incoming domestic flight passengers from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh will undergo seven-day institutional quarantine followed by home isolation, says Karnataka Director General of Police Praveen Sood.

9.10 am: In the last 24 hours, India reported 6,654 cases and 137 deaths.

9.09 am: India’s total count of cases rises to 1,25,101 with 3,720 deaths, according to the Union health ministry.

8.43 am: Nepal reports 32 new cases, taking the total number of infections in the country to 548.

8.42 am: The Jammu and Kashmir government decides to keep all passengers coming by air/rail at quarantine centres for 14 days and will be tested, reports ANI.

8.24 am: South Korea reports 23 new coronavirus cases.

8.11 am: With more than 3,30,000 confirmed cases, Brazil surpasses Russia to become the nation with the second-highest number of infections.

7.47 am: China reports no new infections for the first time since it started reporting data in January, according to AFP.

7.40 am: The Ghaziabad administration in Uttar Pradesh says markets in the district will open from Monday on alternate days from 10 am to 5 pm, reports PTI.

7.26 am: US records 1,260 deaths, taking the country’s toll to 95,921.

7.22 am: The Karnataka government announces that it would fund travel on all Shramik trains until May 31.

7.17 am: The Bihar government decides to quarantine only those migrants who come from 11 high and moderate risk cities of Surat, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Noida and Bengaluru. “Migrants of 11 listed cities, who would be discharged after 14 days quarantine, would live seven days in home quarantine,” Disaster Management Principal Secretary Pratyaya Amrit says in a letter, according to The Indian Express.

7.08 am: The nationwide lockdown from March 25 to May 3 helped avert 14-29 lakh cases and 37,000-71,000 deaths, The Indian Express reports citing government data. “This data is based on the impact of lockdown and other measures taken between lockdown 1 and 2,” said Niti Aayog member Vinod Paul, according to Hindustan Times. “The situation would have been much worse, as the data suggests. We have about 95% confidence level on the data generated out of all this analysis, which is proof enough to say that the country is on the right track.”

7 am: Here are the top updates from Friday

• The Union health ministry on Friday said that 80% of the active cases in the country were in five states. Five major cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Thane – account for 60% of the active cases, the ministry added. India recorded 6,088 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours – the biggest single-day jump in figures so far. With this, the total number of cases reached 1.18 lakh and the toll rose to 3,583 after 148 new fatalities.
• Japan included India and 11 other countries on its travel advisory list.
• Maharashtra’s coronavirus tally came close to 45,000 with a record 2,940 new cases in a day. The Maharashtra government announced that it will take over 80% of the beds in private hospitals and nursing homes across the state for the treatment of coronavirus patients. The government also capped charges for treatment for Covid-19 and other illnesses at the facilities. Mumbai reported 1,751 coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 27,068. The toll stood at 909. The city’s civic body permitted the home delivery of liquor in non containment areas.
• The Centre revised the advisory on the use of hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus, allowing asymptomatic healthcare and frontline workers to take the medicine.
• The Tamil Nadu government asked the Centre not to restart domestic flights till May 31, when the nationwide lockdown imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus is scheduled to end. The Ministry of Civil Aviation had announced on Wednesday that some domestic flights will begin to operate from May 25. National carrier Air India, meanwhile, began accepting online booking of tickets for domestic journeys from today. Private carriers, including IndiGo, GoAir and Vistara, have also reopened their bookings.
• Opposition parties, led by the Congress, placed 11 demands before the Centre after their meeting on the coronavirus situation. The demands included free travel for migrant workers, direct cash transfers to families outside the Income Tax bracket and restoration of parliament sessions. Congress President Sonia Gandhi referred to the Centre’s economic package as a “cruel joke on the country”.
• The Reserve Bank of India reduced the repo rate by 40 basis points to 4% to counter the economic fallout from the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The reverse repo rate was also reduced by 40 basis points to 3.35%. The central bank refrained from giving a projection for the economic growth for the current financial year, but said GDP growth for 2020-’21 will remain in the negative territory.
• Globally, the total number of cases is now over five million, according to a tracker by the Johns Hopkins University. The toll is 3,35,418. The United States alone accounts for nearly 1 lakh of these deaths.