Delhi government announces weekend curfew, shuts malls, gyms, spas, etc; domestic traders’ body calls for 10-day lockdown in the national capital
COVID-19 victims being cremated at at Nigam Bodh Crematorium in New Delhi, on Wednesday. Pic/PTI
India has registered a record spike in daily tally with over 2 lakh new COVID-19 infections, according to the Union Health Ministry Thursday morning data. A total of 2,00,739 new COVID-19 cases and 1,038 new fatalities were registered in a span of 24 hours. The country has 14,71,877 active cases, comprising 10.46 per cent of the total tally, and the recovery rate has dropped to 88.31 per cent.
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Battling the fourth wave of the pandemic, Delhi recorded 17,282 cases on Wednesday, the highest single-day surge since the pandemic began. With continuous, unprecedented surge over the past few days, Delhi has now become the worst-affected city in the country, leaving Mumbai far behind in the daily cases. Delhi had recorded 10,774 cases on April 11, and since then its daily tally has been on the rise. It registered 13,468 cases on Tuesday. Delhi reported 104 fatalities on Wednesday.
Mumbai’s single day peak so far is 11,163, registered on April 4, according to official figures, and on Wednesday, it recorded 9,931 fresh cases.
Weekend curfew
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced sweeping curbs, including a weekend curfew and the closure of malls, gymnasiums, spas and auditoriums in Delhi. There will be no in-house dining in restaurants and cinema halls will be allowed to operate with only 30 per cent capacity, he added. Essential services will be allowed. And weddings guests and people going to hospitals, railway stations and airports will be issued curfew passes, he said.
But the Confederation of All India Traders on Thursday asked the Delhi government to impose a complete lockdown for at least 10 days to control the spread, but at the same time ensure movement of vehicles carrying essential goods for the people.
‘Empty middle seats on flights safer’
Leaving middle seats vacant could provide airline passengers more protection from COVID-19, a laboratory modelling study has found. The researchers, including those from USCDC, noted that aircraft can hold large number of people in close proximity for long periods, which are conditions that can increase the risk for transmitting the disease. Exposures when the middle seat was vacant were reduced by 23 per cent to 57 per cent, compared with full occupancy, the researchers found.
NEET-PG deferred; applications for vaccines to be processed in 3 days
. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, headed by the Drug Controller General of India, will process applications for registration certificate (registration of overseas manufacturing site and product) for foreign-produced vaccines and import licence within three working days from the date of submission, the Centre said on Thursday.
. About 18,000 employees of the Airport Authority Employees Union (AAEU) across India, including 12,000 aged above 45, are hesitant to take the COVID-19 vaccine. “Most of the employees are in fear and confusion, if they get the jab, they will have some side effects and many reports have suggested that after vaccines people get infected again,” AAEU General Secretary Balraj Singh Ahlawat told ANI.
. Congress candidate Rezaul Haque, who tested positive for COVID-19 two days ago, died at a hospital in Kolkata early on Thursday. Haque, 46, was contesting from Samsherganj constituency.
. Justice M R Shah on Thursday said all the staff members at his official residence have tested positive for Coronavirus.
. The National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (post-graduate), which was scheduled to be held on April 18, has been postponed in view of the raid spread of the virus, health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Thursday.
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