india

Updated: Mar 28, 2020 22:49 IST

Delhi’s coronavirus death toll climbed to two on Friday after a Yemen national, admitted to a private hospital in the city, succumbed to Covid-19.

The man tested positive for the infection at the lab of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences on Thursday. His samples were further sent to All India Institute of Medical Sciences. “A third confirmatory test was done to establish that the person was indeed positive for the disease,” said a government official.

So far, 41 coronavirus cases – including the Yemeni man – have been reported from the city. The health ministry had reported another death in the city, but later discounted it as Covid-19 death as the confirmatory test result was negative.

As on Friday, there have been 878 cases and 18 deaths in the country, most of them in the month of March. In a little over two weeks, from 50 positive cases, India has seen a substantial increase in the number of positive patients. Authorities, however, maintain that the country has not entered the community transmissions phase.

Kerala and Maharashtra continue to be the worst affected with Kerala registering 39 fresh Sars-CoV-2 cases on Friday, the highest single day figure, to record a total of 176 cases, including twelve, who have been discharged. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan described the situation as “really serious” and said stringent measures were needed to contain the virus.

In Maharasthra, the total number of positive cases touched 153, a jump of 23 cases in a day. The state government asked for the Indian Army’s help for setting up of makeshift hospitals if situation worsens further. A one-and-a-half-year-old boy, whose father had tested positive two days ago, was among the new cases detected on Friday.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in his address to the people of Maharashtra, via live stream, said that the state was at a very crucial turn, when the virus can go on multiplying.

Among other affected states, Telangana and Delhi government said they were prepared to deal with a sudden exponential jump in the number of positive cases. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said a contingency plan to activate new hospitals and to add or divert hundreds of hospital beds for the treatment of coronavirus cases was ready and the national capital at present was prepared to tackle 100 new cases a day.

Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao said the state was ready to deal with any eventuality and while speaking hypothetically, added that even 60,000 positive cases will be dealt with by the state government. Telangana currently has around 60 positive cases.

The Central government, too, ramped up its preparation to tackle a surge in outbreak by ordering for 40,000 new ventilators. It also asked all states to track down the tens of thousands of people who have come back from abroad, as any gap in tracking was likely to spread the contagion and will be counterproductive to containment efforts.

The government also instructed authorities to ensure that tens of thousands of migrant workers, who began a march on the foot to their homes after the enforcement of nationwide lockdown three days ago, either reach their destinations or are provided with food and shelter. Several state governments including Punjab, Telangana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh said they will make arrangements for the stranded migrant labourers from other states.

Several reports of community kitchens and shelter homes started by NGOs, religious bodies and by the government agencies were received during the day. However, more needs to be done as the huge migrant mass continues to move along the national highways.

India also declared that it would participate in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ongoing trial aimed at developing vaccines for Covid-19, while a Bengaluru oncologist claimed that he along with other doctors was close to preparing an effective treatment for Covid-19 virus through discovery of ways to retrigger the immune system compromised by Sars-Cov-2.

The Reserve Bank of India too pitched in to alleviate the suffering on the third day of the national lockdown with a sharp cut in key policy rates, aimed to encourage economic growth, in the aftermath of the negative impact of the coronavirus. In a huge relief to the loan-dependent middle class, it also announced a moratorium on loan repayments for a period of three months. Governor Shaktikanta Das said the deferment will have no adverse impact on the credit history of the borrower.