Covid-19: Narendra Modi to meet CMs next week; Delhi records 2,137 new cases in biggest one-day rise

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

10.50 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will conduct a meeting with chief ministers of states on June 16 and June 17, tweets the official account of PMO India.

10.20 pm: Telangana records 164 more Covid-19 cases and nine more deaths today. The state’s tally is 4,484, including 2,278 recovered, 2,032 active cases and 174 deaths, reports ANI, citing the Telangana health department.

10.15 pm: 164 more #COVID19 & 9 deaths reported in Telangana today. Total number of cases in the state is now at 4484, including 2278 discharged, 2032 active cases & 174 deaths: State Health Department

10 pm: Delhi records the highest single-day increase in Covid-19 cases, with 2,137 new infections. The tally rises to 36,824. The Capital also reports 71 new deaths, taking the overall toll to 1,214, according to the government health bulletin.

8.41 pm: New cases reported in more states on Friday:

Gujarat: 495 fresh cases, tally rises to 22,562; toll at 1,416.

West Bengal: 476 new cases, tally rises to 10,244; toll at 451.

8.38 pm: Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddha Nagar district reports 95 new cases on Friday. The district’s tally rises to 830 and the toll stands at 12.

8.33 pm: Himachal Pradesh makes institutional quarantine mandatory for people coming from Mumbai, Delhi and other hotspot areas, ANI reports.

8.28 pm: New cases reported on Friday

Goa: 46 new cases, tally rises to 463.

Jammu and Kashmir: 156 new cases, tally rises to 4,730; toll at 53.

Haryana: 366 new cases, tally rises to 6,334; toll at 70.

7.56 pm: Maharashtra’s overall count crosses 1 lakh.

7.44 pm: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat ask the Railways to provide 63 Shramik Special trains in total, PTI reports. Their demand came days after the Railways wrote to the chief secretaries of the states, asking them to submit their residual demands for the special trains.

7.42 pm: Chandigarh suspends interstate bus services till June 30, PTI reports. The administration claims that most of the new coronavirus cases in the union territory have come from outside.

7.38 pm: All India Institute of Medical Sciences Director Randeep Guleria says the hospital is testing nearly 1.5 lakh people for the coronavirus every day, ANI reports.

7.32 pm: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar responds to a row over a video showing decomposed bodies being dragged into a van in Kolkata.

7.05 pm: Nagaland reports 26 new coronavirus cases on Friday, according to PTI. This the state’s biggest single-day increase in cases. The overall count rises to 156.

7.00 pm: Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska tests positive for the coronavirus, AFP reports.

6.47 pm: The Union health ministry releases safety guidelines for malls, restaurants and religious places.

6.42 pm: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation says 126 cancer patients, undergoing treatment for the coronavirus at a health facility situated in the city’s National Sport Complex of India, have recovered, PTI reports.

6.40 pm: Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal forms a new expert committee to help manage the Capital’s coronavirus crisis, ANI reports.

6.37 pm: The Punjab government launches a new application to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.

6.23 pm: The coronavirus recovery rate in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city rises to 67.3%, PTI reports, quoting an unidentified health official. The city has reported 3,972 coronavirus cases and 164 deaths so far.

6.19 pm: Tamil Nadu reports its highest single-day increase of 1,982 cases on Friday. The state’s overall count rises to 40,698, ANI reports. The toll rises to 367 with 18 more deaths.

6.11 pm: The Ministry of Home Affairs issues an order prohibiting movement of people between 9 pm to 5 am across the country, except for essential activities.

6.00 pm: The Goa Health Department sets up a coronavirus testing facility at Chimbel village, a suburban area near Panaji, after six positive cases were reported in the area over the last two days, PTI reports.

5.51 pm: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accuses the Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government of keeping the people in the dark by not carrying out enough coronavirus tests. She tweets a news report claiming that a first information report was filed against a former bureaucrat who accused the state’s chief secretary of scolding district magistrates for carrying out a large number of coronavirus tests.

5.47 pm: Uttar Pradesh records 528 new coronavirus cases and 20 deaths on Friday, PTI reports. This is the state’s biggest single-day increase in numbers. The state’s overall count rises to 12,616 and the toll reaches 365.

5.42 pm: The health ministry says coronavirus cases in India are now doubling every 17.4 days, compared to 3.4 days at the beginning of the lockdown in March.

5.37 pm: An employee at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams trust in Andhra Pradesh tests positive for the coronavirus, PTI reports. The authorities close the temple to devotees for two days.

5.32 pm: The Union health ministry says India’s coronavirus recovery rate is now 49.47%.

5.28 pm: The police in Odisha have so far collected Rs 1.25 crore as fines from people caught without masks in public, Director General of Police Abhay tells PTI.

5.24 pm: The residents of a village in Karnataka attend a fair, observing little physical distancing.

5.07 pm: The Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority releases a set of guidelines for the conduct of elections to the Council of States and the Karnataka Legislative Council on June 19 and 29, respectively.

5.05 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says that no late fees will be levied on entities, which have zero Goods and Services Tax liability but have not filed their returns between July 2017 and January 2020.

Read here: No late fee for zero-GST liability entities that have not filed returns till January: FM

4.36 pm: Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde tests positive for coronavirus, Health Minister Rajesh Tope says, according to PTI. However, Munde’s health condition is stable, he adds.

The Nationalist Congress Party leader is the third minister in Maharashtra to contract the virus. His party member Jitendra Awhad and Congress’ Ashok Chavan had tested positive earlier. Both have them have recovered.

4.24 pm: The number of Covid-19 cases in Nepal rises to 5,062 after the country reported 448 new infections in a day, ANI reports. The toll from the disease is 16.

4.11 pm: Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal says ramping up bed capacity and medical resources should be the topmost priority to ensure that a surge in coronavirus cases does not overwhelm the Capital’s healthcare system, PTI reports.

3.55 pm: Bharatiya Janata Party Spokesperson Sambit Patra says that the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi has been a failure in tackling the coronavirus situation in the Capital. This came after the Supreme Court pulled up the state government over the low testing numbers, adding that the treatment accorded to dead bodies is “deplorable”.

“The truth is out,” Patra tweets. “Kejriwal is a failure.”

3.53 pm: The Delhi High Court observes that the Centre’s decision of a phased reopening of the lockdown was not taken in haste and was done to ensure a “proper balance between containing the spread of Covid-19 and making it certain that people are not forced to starvation,” PTI reports.

3.33 pm: Uttarakhand reports 37 new cases of the coronavirus, ANI reports, quoting the state health department. With this, the number of infections in the state rises to 1,692.

2.32 pm: The transmission curve of the coronavirus is unlikely to flatten anytime soon, Dr SP Borya, vice chairperson of Sri Ganga Ram Hospital, tells ANI. “We might see a peak in early or mid-July, or possibly in August,” he adds. “Moreover, I do not anticipate a vaccine [for the virus] until the first quarter of next year.”

2.31 pm: The number of Covid-19 infections in Andhra Pradesh rises to 4,402 after 141 new cases were reported in the past day, ANI reports, quoting health department’s figures.

2.29 pm: Himachal Pradesh reports five more cases of the coronavirus today, taking the tally of infections in the state to 475, ANI reports, quoting health department figures.

1.56 pm: The Supreme Court allows Tamil Nadu government to find out the ways and means to sell liquor, whether online or at physical outlets, reports ANI.

1.52 pm: A case has been filed against a retired IAS officer in Uttar Pradesh by the police for a tweet, where he questioned the state’s coronavirus testing policy, reports NDTV. Surya Pratap Singh claimed that a top state government official was asking field officials in districts to go slow on testing samples.

1.47 pm: Japanese automaker Nissan will not extend the contracts of 248 temporary workers in its UK plant due to the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, reports Reuters.

1.40 pm: The coronavirus pandemic was an opportunity for G-20 countries to work together on developing vaccines, but world leaders proved to be disappointing, says former US diplomat Nicholas Burns in conversation with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, reports The Hindu.

1.33 pm: The West Bengal government says it will provide students of state-run schools with masks and soaps along with other items as part of the midday meal scheme from July to protect them for the coronavirus outbreak, reports PTI.

1.26 pm: The Delhi High Court refuses to pass any direction to the Delhi government to ensure no private hospital, which has been designated for the coronavirus treatment, charges exorbitant money from patients, reports PTI.

1.20 pm: Andhra Pradesh reports 207 new coronavirus cases, taking the state’s total to 5,636.

1.11 pm: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami says there is no plan to enforce stringent lockdown in the state, reports The Hindu. “False news is being spread under my name on social media about the government planning stricter lockdown measures,” he adds. “The government has no such plans. Stern legal action will be taken against those who spread such rumours. The government has not issued any such order.”

1.06 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray says lockdown will not be re-announced in the state. However, he urges people to not gather anywhere and follow the instructions given by the government.

1 pm: The court tells the counsel for Delhi government to do more than just accepting notice, reports Bar and Bench. The matter will heard next on June 17.

12.59 pm: The Supreme Court orders chief secretaries of states and the Centre to take note of state of patient care in hospitals and formulate a detailed status report in this connection, reports LiveLaw.

12.52 pm: The top court says media has also shown “deplorable condition” in which dead bodies are being handled, reports Bar and Bench. “Solicitor general has shown govt directives issued on March 15 tackles the handling of dead bodies,” the court adds. “But no one is following the directives. Relatives are not being informed of the death.”

12.49 pm: The top court rules that test requests cannot be denied on technical grounds. “Government may consider simplifying the procedure so that more and more tests are done,” it adds. “Apart from Delhi, there is a grim situation in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.”

12.47 pm: The Supreme Court questions the low testing numbers when coronavirus cases are increasing everyday in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad, reports Bar and Bench. “Increase is now 10,000 per day,” says the court. “Then how can tests go down? Non testing is not the solution. Increase of tests is a duty of the state so that people can know their status.”

12.44 pm: The top court says large number of beds in government hospitals are lying vacant. “Media reports have shown pathetic condition of patients which has pained this court,” it adds.

12.42 pm: The Supreme Court refers to a India TV report showing “horrific scenes” from Delhi, according to LiveLaw. “The reports indicate that patients who are suffering from coronavirus are running pillar to post to get admission in hospital whereas various beds in government,” says the top court.

12.38 pm: Justice MR Shah says the condition is deplorable, reports LiveLaw. He says there should be propers infrastructure and beds for patients.

12.37 pm: “Mumbai is testing 16,0000 to 17,000 whereas in Delhi its falling below 7,000,” says the Supreme Court. “Media has highlighted this issue. There are states where bodies were found in garbage bins. They are being treated worse than animals.”

12.36 pm: “Please see the deplorable conditions of people in hospitals, dead bodies are lying the ward – we are concerned about the living too,” says Justice Kaul, according to LiveLaw. He also questions Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on why the coronavirus testing numbers have reduced in Delhi. “Things have gone bad in Delhi,” says Kaul.

12.30 pm: A three-judge bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul and MR Shah is hearing its suo motu cases alleged mishandling of dead bodies amid the escalating health crisis, reports LiveLaw.

12.23 pm: Pakistan reports 6,397 new coronavirus cases, the highest single day spike, according to PTI. The country now has 1,25,933 total infections.

12.20 pm: “There is scientific backing to the fact that alcohol must not be consumed with coronavirus and it aggravates symptoms,” says Advocate Colin Gonsalves. However, the court says the state government should take a call on sale of liquor and managing it accordingly.

12.16 pm: The Supreme Court is hearing a petition seeking directions to not open Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation, or TASMAC, shops in Madras, reports LiveLaw. On May 15, the top court had stayed the Madras High Court order of May 8 to close all state-run liquor shops in Tamil Nadu, with immediate effect, to enforce physical distancing amid the nationwide lockdown to rein in the coronavirus outbreak.

12.12 pm: The Delhi High Court dismisses public interest petitions seeking lockdown till June 30, reports ANI.

12 pm: The Supreme Court asks the counsel for Uttar Pradesh to check whether there is an inconsistency in the national guideline and the order issued by Noida administration. The court will hear the matter on June 17, according to LiveLaw.

11.57 am: Justice Kaul refers to an order issued by the Noida district magistrate which was contrary to the national guidelines for quarantine.

11.55 am: Garima Prasad, counsel for Uttar Pradesh, says it is imperative that movement is restricted. She says that Delhi has more coronavirus cases and the health parameters of states differ, reports LiveLaw. “Essential services are allowed, lawyers are also being given access,” she continues. “We have an e-pass system. We still have institutional quarantine, Delhi does not necessarily.”

11.52 am: Mehta informs the court that Haryana and Delhi have no problem on inter-state movement, but Uttar Pradesh feels that only essential movement should be allowed.

11.46 am: The Supreme Court is now hearing a petition on inter-state movement in the National Capital Region during the lockdown, reports LiveLaw. Last week, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre to meet Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana officials to devise a common, uniform pass system for inter-state movement.

11.44 am: Mehta tells Supreme Court that doctors treating coronavirus patients are being accommodated in five-star hotels. The court says the matter will be heard next week, adding that concerns and suggestion in the case should be handed over to the health ministry.

11.42 am: Justice MR Shah asks Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on why doctors are not being paid, reports LiveLaw. “What is this,” he says. “I don’t think what is happening should be happening! You must do more for them. Their concerns must be addressed.”

11.37 am: The Supreme Court is now hearing a petition seeking accomodation and quarantine facilities for frontline workers involved in treating coronavirus patients. “This country cannot have dissatisfied soldiers [referring to doctors],” say Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.

11.33 am: The Supreme Court also records Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s submission that he will have a meeting with the finance ministry during the weekend on Reserve Bank of India’s regulatory package charging interest rate on loans even during the three-month moratorium period declared amid the coronavirus pandemic and the extended lockdown, reports LiveLaw. The matter will be heard on July 17.

11.28 am: The Supreme Court suggests that credit should be operational for upto 1.5 to 2 years in a petition seeking refund of cost of airline tickets booked during the lockdown.

11.26 am: The Supreme Court asks Ministry of Civil Aviation to meet with airlines and work out a credit pattern on air tickets cancelled during the lockdown, reports LiveLaw. The Centre and the airlines have been given three weeks to file a reply. A petition has sought refund of cost of airline tickets booked during the lockdown period.

11.22 am: Odisha reports 112 new coronavirus cases, taking the state’s total count to 3,498, according to ANI.

11.19 am: J Radhakrishnan replaces Beela Rajesh as Tamil Nadu’s principal health secretary.

11.15 am: On the controversy about Delhi municipal count putting coronavirus-linked funerals at double the official toll, Health Minister Satyendar Jain says: “Why don’t they send those details to us? Names, age and reports...all details are needed. Ask them for a list of these numbers along with the [Covid-19] positive reports of those people”.

11.06 pm: “No industry can survive without labourers, workers,” says Supreme Court. It also asks Centre to file affidavit within four weeks on legality of March 29 circular that mandated payment of full wages during lockdown, reports PTI.

11 am: The Supreme Court has issued an order on Centre’s notification on full payment of wages to their workers during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, reports LiveLaw. The previous order of no coercive action against companies and employers who fail to comply with the Centre’s March 29 order will continue.

• Efforts should me made to settle disputes between workers and employers   
• State governments to facilitate such settlements.
• States to initiate process of settlement.
• States to submit reports before the labour commissioners.
• Workers who are willing to work should be allowed to work notwithstanding disputes regarding wages.
• Centre, states to circulate court order through labour departments to facilitate settlements.
• No coercive action against employers till July last week.

10.55 am: Rajasthan reports 92 new coronavirus cases and four deaths, according to ANI. The state now has 11,930 infections and 269 deaths.

10.52 am: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain says the lockdown will not be extended in the national Capital, reports ANI. His comments come a day after the city witnessed the biggest single-day spike in the number of cases.

10.42 am: Dr Ankit Bharat, an Indian-origin doctor in the United States has performed double lung transplant for a coronavirus survivor, reports AP. The patient is in her twenties and was on a ventilator and heart-lung machine for almost two months before her operation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

10.35 am: “We’re supposed [India and US] to be open but surprisingly that open DNA is disappearing,” Gandhi tells former US diplomat Nicholas Burns. “I say this with sadness that I don’t see the level of tolerance that I used to see. I don’t see it in the United States and I don’t see it in India.”

10.33 am: Rahul Gandhi says the India and US partnership works because both have tolerant systems. “You mentioned you are an immigrant nation,” he adds. “We are a very tolerant nation. Our DNA is supposed to be tolerant.”

10.30 am: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi discusses the coronavirus situation with former US diplomat Nicholas Burns.

10.26 am: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan attacks Opposition for criticising reopening of religious places in the state, reports NDTV. “Imagine what would have happened if Kerala had not allowed religious places to open,” he asks. “They would have said that the state government is not taking into consideration the feelings of believers. Our decisions were based on discussions with representatives from all religions.”

10.22 am: The British Council, which promotes UK cultural and language relations overseas, is seeking a 60-million-pound government bailout, because of the coronavirus impact, reports AFP. “The British Council’s commercial income has been heavily hit by Covid-19, leading to significant losses and the risk of insolvency,” Junior Foreign Minister Nigel Adams says in a statement.

10.18 am: The Delhi Medical Association seeks the intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the non-payment of salaries of resident doctors at various health facilities under North Delhi Municipal Corporation, including Kasturba Hospital and Hindu Rao Hospital, reports PTI.

10.12 am: BJP leader Utpal Parrikar demands serological testing of people in Goa to remove “mass hysteria” about the coronavirus spread. The son of former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar says such testing will help in assessing the situation in the state, which has recorded more than 400 cases so far.

“We need serological testing in Goa to understand real picture and remove this mass hysteria prevalent in Goa due to ever-fleeting state SOPs [Standard Operating Procedure] and arbitrary decisions by local bodies,” he tweets.

10.10 am: The Delhi High Court has initiated a public interest litigation on non-payment of salaries to doctors in two hospitals, run by North Delhi Municipal Corporation, reports PTI. The court will hear the matter later in the day.

10.02 am: Three policemen and four municipal employees have been suspended in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur district after the body of a man, who collapsed and died outside a government office, was removed in a garbage collection van, reports News18.

10 am: Sikkim reports 14 new coronavirus cases, taking the state’s tally to 27, reports PTI.

9.59 am: China records seven new coronavirus cases and one asymptomatic case, according to Reuters. With this, China now has 83,064 cases, while the toll remains unchanged at 4,634.

9.55 am: According to a research, global poverty is set to rise above 1 billion people due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports AP. The research by King’s College London and the Australian National University points to poverty increasing dramatically in middle-income developing countries. Of these, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are considered to be particularly vulnerable to the economic fallout of the lockdowns to rein in the outbreak.

9.52 am: VK Paul, the head of the national task force on coronavirus management, has predicted an increase in the number of cases in the coming days and has said Indians would continue to be susceptible.

Read more here: Coronavirus cases will rise in coming days, Indians are still susceptible, says head of task force

9.49 am: India has responded to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s offer to share the country’s cash transfer programme with India, saying New Delhi’s size of economic stimulus package to deal with the coronavirus pandemic is as large as Pakistan’s gross domestic product, reports PTI.

“Pakistan is better known for making cash transfers to bank accounts outside the country rather than giving to its own people,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava has said. “Clearly, Imran Khan needs a new set of advisers and better information. “We all know about their debt problem [almost 90% of GDP] and how much they have pressed for debt restructuring. It would also be better for them to remember that India has a stimulus package, which is as large as Pakistan’s annual GDP.”

9.34 am: India is now the fourth most-affected country in the world as it has overtaken the United Kingdom, which has 2.92 lakh cases. The number of recoveries remained more than the active cases for the third consecutive day.

9.30 am: India records 10,956 new coronavirus cases and 396 deaths in 24 hours on Friday morning. This is the highest single-day increase so far. With this, the tally rose to 2,97,535 cases and the toll from the disease stood at 8,498.

9.05 am: Doctors in Telangana called off their strike on Friday and resumed duties, ANI reports. The Telangana Junior Doctors Association, however, said that if their demands were not met, they will again boycott duties in 15 days.

8.35 am: Bhopal will remain shut for two days in a week in an effort to curb coronavirus cases, says Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Narottam Mishra.

8.05 am: The National Humans Rights Commission on Thursday visited the Lok Nayak Hospital for an inspection following allegations of mismanagement amid the health crisis, PTI reports.

8 am: The Supreme Court is on Friday expected to hear a plea pertaining to the alleged harassment of coronavirus patients and the mishandling of dead bodies amid the health crisis, The Indian Express reports.

7.55 am: Agra District Magistrate Prabhu N Singh says the recovery of a 97-year-old man is a ray of hope for coronavirus patients, PTI reports. “Our team was keeping an eye on his condition daily, and the day his coronavirus test came negative after recovering, we felt so delighted,” Singh says. “We hear of people trying to take their lives sometimes when they contract COVID-19, but not this 97-year-old man. His recovery has come as a ray of hope.”

7.50 am: The Jama Masjid in Delhi is closed on Friday, ANI reports. There will be no congregational prayers till June 30.

7.40 am: The number of coronavirus deaths in Brazil cross 40,000.

7.35 am: Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 75 lakh people and claimed 4,20,933 lakh lives so far, according to the Johns Hopkins University. However, as many as 35,32,575 have recovered so far.

7.30 am: Here are the top updates from Thursday:

• India reported 9,996 cases of coronavirus and 357 deaths on Thursday, the highest single-day increase. With this, the tally rose to 2,86,579 cases and the toll from the disease stood at 8,102. India is now the fifth most-affected country in the world and may soon overtake the United Kingdom. The number of recoveries remained more than the active cases for the second consecutive day.
  
• The Centre claimed on Thursday that India is “definitely not” in the stage of community transmission of the novel coronavirus, despite a sharp increase in cases over the last few days. During the community transmission stage of a pandemic, new cases cannot be traced to any source of infection. As much as 0.73% of the population surveyed in 83 districts in the country has been previously exposed to the virus, the Indian Council of Medical Research said.
• Maharashtra reported 3,607 new coronavirus. This is the biggest single day-increase in numbers for the state. Maharashtra’s overall count rose to 97,648. The toll reached 3,590 with 152 new deaths. Delhi, meanwhile, recorded 1,877 new cases and 101 deaths. The Capital’s tally rose to 34,687 and the toll reached 1,085.
  
• The Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered all private hospitals in the city that have been ordered to reserve 20% beds for Covid-19 patients to conduct tests for the virus on both symptomatic and asymptomatic people who seek admission even for other health problems. The court said that the tests may be done in the private facilities that are equipped and sanctioned by the Indian Council of Medical Research.
  
• Tamil Nadu reported 1,857 coronavirus cases, taking the state’s overall count to 38,716. With 23 more deaths, Tamil Nadu’s toll rose to 349. The Madras High Court on Thursday asked the Tamil Nadu government why a complete lockdown cannot be reimposed in Chennai, given its high and rising number of coronavirus cases. Earlier in the day, the Tamil Nadu government said that a committee has been constituted to investigate the discrepancies in coronavirus deaths in Chennai as the Greater Chennai Corporation had recorded at least 236 more Covid-19 deaths in comparison to the state register till Monday.
• Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan offered to share the country’s cash transfer programme with India, basing his offer on a report which claimed that 84% of Indian households suffered a decline in monthly income following the nationwide lockdown imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
  
• Pakistan’s Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, meanwhile, said the country was following a “holistic strategy” in its fight against the novel coronavirus, and that the World Health Organization was only looking at the country’s situation through a “health lens”.
  
• India lifted the export ban on anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, said Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Sadananda Gowda. Manufacturers, except export-oriented units and those in special economic zones, would still have to supply 20% of their production to the domestic market.