Coronavirus: Narendra Modi meets senior ministers, officials to review situation

9.06 pm: Read today’s top updates here.

8.59 pm: Goa reports 60 more cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, ANI reports, quoting the state health department. The state now has 523 infections. Of these, 70 have recovered.

8.42 pm: Mumbai reports 1,383 cases of the coronavirus and 69 more deaths on Saturday, ANI reports, quoting the figures by the Municipal Corporation Greater Mumbai. The city now has 56,750 infections and the toll from the disease is 2,111.

8.31 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi cites a media report about the plight of retrenched workers of a private company and says that if the Centre doesn’t infuse cash into the economy, “the poor will be decimated, the middle class will be the new poor and crony capitalists will own the country”.

8.28 pm: Gujarat reports 517 new cases of the coronavirus and 33 deaths on Saturday, PTI reports. The state now has 23,079 infections, including 1,449 deaths.

8.21 pm: As many as 415 new cases of the coronavirus were reported in Haryana on Saturday, ANI reports, quoting the state health department’s figures. With this the number of infections in the state rises to 6,749, including 78 deaths.

8.19 pm: Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal will lead a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on June 16 at the Raj Niwas, to discuss the prevailing coronavirus situation in the Capital, ANI reports.

8.16 pm: The number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district rises to 2,626 after 91 people tested positive for the virus on Saturday, PTI reports.

8.12 pm: The number of coronavirus cases in Punjab rises to 3,063 after the state reports 77 more infections on Saturday, ANI reports, quoting the state health department. The toll rises by two and is now 65.

8.10 pm: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan says the coronavirus situation in his state is under control “to a great extent”, ANI reports. “If 200 cases [of Covid-19] are reported daily, then almost same number of patients are [getting] cured every day,” he claims.

7.30 pm: Maharashtra reports 3,427 new cases of the coronavirus and 113 deaths, taking the total number of cases in the state to 1,04,568. The total toll is 3,830.

7 pm: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis alleges that the state government is trying to keep the number of tests low by testing fewer people.

6.33 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met senior ministers and officials to review the coronavirus situation, The Times of India reports.

6.25 pm: Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will meet Delhi mayors at 5 pm on Sunday to review Covid-19 preparedness, ANI reports. Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria and other senior officials will also be present at the meeting.

6.10 pm: Five new cases of the coronavirus were reported in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police force in the past 24 hours. There are now 29 active cases and 195 people have recovered.

6 pm: New cases reported today:

Tamil Nadu: 1,989 new cases, 30 deaths; total rises to 42,687, toll now 397,

Karnataka: 308 new cases, three deaths; total rises to 6,824, toll now 84,

Dharavi, Mumbai: 17 new cases, total rises to 2,030; toll stands at 77

5.50 pm: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani tests positive for the coronavirus, ANI reports.

5.15 pm: Four police personnel have died of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours in Maharashtra, ANI reports.

4.50 pm: Assam reports 25 new cases of the coronavirus, taking the state’s count to 3,718, including 1,584 people who have recovered and eight who have died. The state now has 2,123 active cases.

4.17 pm: The Goa government orders random testing for the coronavirus at slum areas located near the ESI Hospital in Margao, after few employees test positive, PTI reports. The hospital is a designated Covid-19 facility.

4.16 pm: At least 951 persons from 462 villages in Madhya Pradesh have tested positive for the coronavirus, PTI reports.

4.13 pm: The government of Sri Lanka announces relaxations of the curfew imposed as part of a lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the country, PTI reports. The country has recorded 1,880 cases of the coronavirus so far. The toll from the disease is eleven.

4.09 pm: China closes Xinfadi market, the country’s largest wholesale market for vegetables and meat in Beijing amid fears of a resurgence of coronavirus cases, the Hindustan Times reported. This came after at least 45 of the 517 samples collected from traders and employees of the market tested positive. Eleven residential communities in the vicinity were also locked down.

4.05 pm: The health ministry’s Clinical Management Protocol for Covid-19 adds that a loss of smell or taste could be symptoms of the coronavirus. “Loss of smell (anosmia) or loss of taste (ageusia) preceding the onset of respiratory symptoms has also been reported,” the Centre says.

3.55 pm: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat holds a meeting to discuss the virus situation in the state. The state recorded 35 new cases today, taking the total number of cases to 1,759. Twenty-one people have died so far.

3.40 pm: AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria and other senior officers would also be present at the meeting.

3.35 pm: Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will meet Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at 11 am on Sunday, amid the rising number of cases in the national Capital.

3.25 pm: An AIADMK MLA has tested positive for the coronavirus virus in Chennai, ANI reports.

2.50 pm: Former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi has tested positive for the coronavirus ANI reports.

Read more here:

Former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi says he has tested positive for coronavirus

1.58 pm: Kerala Principal Secretary Vishwas Mehta says that from June 20, all private chartered flights arriving in the state from West Asian countries will only carry people who test negative for the virus, ANI reports. He says passengers will have to carry their test certificates.

1.52 pm: The central government on Friday told the Karnataka High Court that having the Aarogya Setu mobile phone application was not mandatory for those travelling on trains or flights, LiveLaw reports. The court was hearing a petition filed by cyber security activist Anivar A Aravind.

“A person can travel by air without having downloaded the Aarogya Setu app and the same thing applies for travel by railways,” Additional Solicitor General MB Nargund told the court. “A self declaration though will have to be given by the passenger. It is advisable to download the Aarogya Setu application if they want to have it. If they don’t want to have don’t have it.”

The Centre had earlier made it mandatory for all those travelling by air and on trains to have the contact tracing app. Some police had also made it compulsory for residents in area such as Noida to have it at one point.

1.43 pm: Andhra Pradesh’s total number of cases goes up to 4,588 after 186 more people test positive for the coronavirus there in the last 24 hours, says ANI.

1.15 pm: Rajasthan has 118 more Covid-19 cases today, reports ANI. The total number of cases in the state is now 12,186.

12.31 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shares graphs purportedly depicting the rise in cases during each phase of the lockdown, saying, ”Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

12.25 pm: The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry advises states to revive non-motorised modes of travelling during the pandemic, such as cycling. Public transport has been suspended across the country since March 25. While in some places a limited number of buses are running again, none of the metro rail systems are functioning yet.

“As most urban trips are clocked in under five kilometres, non-motorised transport offers perfect opportunity to implement in this COVID-19 crisis as it requires low cost, less human resource, is easy and quick to implement, scalable and environment-friendly,” the ministry advisory said, according to PTI.

12.21 pm: Maharashtra has reduced the price of coronavirus testing at private labs, reports PTI. State Health Minister Rajesh Tope says the tests will now cost Rs 2,200, when it was Rs 4,500 previously.

“Rs 2,200 will be charged for collecting the swabs through viral transport media from hospitals, while it would cost Rs 2,800 for collection of swab from home. Earlier, the charges were Rs 4,500 and Rs 5,200 respectively, ” he tells PTI. “If the private labs charge more than the prescribed upper limit, legal action would be taken against them.”

Read more here:

Covid-19: Maharashtra lowers testing prices in private labs from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,200

11.56 am: Local authorities have enforced “wartime-like control measures” in Beijing’s Fengtai district after multiple people have tested positive for the virus, China Global Television Network reports. Forty-five throat swabs and forty samples collected have come back positive, officials said at a press conference. It is unclear exactly how many fresh cases of the virus there are in the area.

11.17 am: A 74-year-old retired doctor has died at a hospital in Srinagar, taking the toll in Jammu and Kashmir up to 54, PTI reports.

11.02 am: Sir Ganga Ram Hospital has approached the Delhi High Court seeking quashing of an FIR the Delhi Police filed against it at the behest of the state government, for allegedly violating coronavirus regulations, ANI reports.

10.57 am: As many as 241 Buddhist monks from Mongolia, who were stranded in Karnataka due to the lockdown, have been flown home in a special flight from Goa, Airport Director Gagan Malik tells PTI. The monks, stranded in Karnataka’s Hubbali, were brought to Goa on Friday by road.

10.49 pm: The Bombay High Court has said that the pandemic has shown that despite Constitutional guarantees, the dream of establishing a society with equality of opportunity remains distant, PTI reports. A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice AA Sayed have said that given the correct economic and medical situation, “one can hardly think of a fair society in the near future”.

10.22 am: King George’s Medical University in Lucknow says that of the 2,220 samples tested on Friday, 71 are positive for Covid-19, ANI reports.

10.04 am: Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar has said that according to medical experts, there will be a surge in Covid-19 cases after August 15, The Indian Express reports. “About 97% of over 3,000 active cases in the state are asymptomatic,” he says. “Experts after studying the developments in other countries and states have said that there will be a surge in infections after August 15. The government is taking all precautionary measures in that direction.”

Karnataka has reported 271 new cases on Friday, taking its count up to 6,516.

9.57 am: Fu Xuejie, the widow of Li Wenliang, a Chinese doctor who first raised the alarm about the novel coronavirus in his country, has given birth to a boy, BBC reports. Dr Li was arrested by Chinese authorities for “spreading rumours”, and died in February after contracting the virus.

9.55 am: An evangelical church in Argentina has reopened as a bar in protest against the ban on religious services, The Guardian reports. “We are standing here today dressed like this, carrying a tray, because it seems this is the only way we can serve the word of god,” Pastor Daniel Cattaneo says while opening the “Worship Bar” in San Lorenzo city. Cattaneo is dressed as a waiter.

9.50 am: China reports 11 new cases, of which six are domestic cases in Beijing, AFP reports. The authorities have locked down parts of the city due to the fresh cluster.

9.41 am: Madhya Pradesh has levied a “corona tax” on fuel, ANI reports. With the tax of Rs 1, price of petrol increases to Rs 82.64 per litre and diesel to Rs 73.14 per litre.

9.33 am: An association of medics has extended support to the resident doctors of Kasturba Hospital and Hindu Rao Hospital in Delhi, and threatened mass resignation if their demand for payment of salaries pending for three months is not met immediately, PTI reports. The Municipal Corporation Doctors’ Association has written to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, and marked the letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

9.15 am: Another highest single-day rise in cases is reported, with 11,458 new coronavirus cases. The total number of cases is now 3,08,993, and the toll is at 8,884, says the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

8.16 am: Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain says that if the Municipal Corporation of Delhi claims the number of Covid-19 deaths is over 2,000, more than double the state government’s number, they should send the details to the government, PTI reports.

“If that is their claim, then let them send us the details, like age, medical history, test reports,” Jain tells reporters. “Every death count must have corresponding documents to back the death, otherwise they are just figures.”

8.09 am: The Andhra Pradesh government will conduct random tests on asymptomatic devotees arriving at Tirumala temple in Chittoor district, as well as on employees of the shrine, on a daily basis, News18 reports.

8 am: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has approved fresh guidelines for restrictions imposed in the state, ANI reports. The new guidelines ban inter-district movement without an e-pass, and allow only shops dealing with essential commodities to operate seven days a week. Other shops can stay open on all days except Sunday.

7.55 am: Brazil now has the second-highest coronavirus toll worldwide behind the United States, AFP reports. Brazil’s health ministry has recorded 909 deaths on Friday, taking the overall toll to 41,828. Brazil has now surpassed Britain, where 41,566 people have died.

7.53 am: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has attacked the government for the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country. “India is firmly on it’s way to winning the wrong race,” he tweeted on Friday. “A horrific tragedy, resulting from a lethal blend of arrogance and incompetence.”

7.50 am: Here are the top updates from Friday:

•   India on Friday recorded 10,956 new coronavirus cases, its highest single-day increase so far. The country’s overall count rose to 2,97,535, according to the health ministry. The toll reached 8,498 after 396 new deaths were reported. The number of recoveries remained more than the active cases for the third consecutive day. India surpassed the United Kingdom to become the fourth worst-affected country in the world.
•   Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with the chief ministers of all the states on June 16 and 17, amid rising coronavirus cases in the country.
•   The central government further eased visa restrictions to allow entry to certain categories of foreigners, including Overseas Citizens of India card holders. On May 22, the Indian government had allowed entry to four categories of OCI cardholders.
•   Maharashtra’s case count crossed one lakh after the state reported 3,493 more infections, including 127 deaths. Tamil Nadu recorded its biggest-ever spike, registering an additional 1,982 cases, including 18 more fatalities. Meanwhile, Delhi also reported its highest one-day rise, with 2,137 new cases.
•   The Supreme Court observed that the Centre needs to do “much more” to address the concerns of medical professionals as the country cannot have “dissatisfied soldiers in this war against the coronavirus”.  
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Goods and Services Tax-related measures to provide relief to small businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Sitharaman said that no late fees will be levied on entities which have zero GST liability, but have not filed their returns from July 2017 to January 2020. The Centre also reduced the interest on late filing of GST returns by small taxpayers from 18% to 9%.