Top 10 Covid-19 updates: Centre allows states to bring back stranded migrants; toll mounts to 1,008
A look at the biggest developments of the day.
- The number of coronavirus cases in India has gone up to 31,787, according to data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Covid-19 has killed 1,008 people in India.
- The Centre on issued guidelines to allow states, with conditions, to bring back migrant workers, tourists and students stranded in other states because of the nationwide lockdown. The stranded people can be allowed to move only after states consult with each other, the government said.
- The home ministry said new guidelines that will come into effect from May 4 will give “considerable relaxations” to many districts. The details about this will be announced in the “days to come”, the ministry said.
- Punjab extended its curfew by two more weeks after May 3. Lockdown guidelines in the state will be relaxed from 7 am to 11 am everyday. The state has reported 322 cases of Covid-19 and 19 deaths, according to the Union health ministry.
- The University Grants Commission told universities and colleges that they could start the academic session for new college students in September and for already enrolled students from August due to the disruption in the academic calendar due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Central Board of Secondary Educationreiterated its decision to hold Class 10 and Class 12 examinations only for the 29 subjects which it had enumerated in an April 1 release.
- The Supreme Court directed the Centre to provide personal protective equipment to healthcare workers and others even in the “non-Covid treatment areas”.
- The Serum Institute of India on Tuesday said it plans to produce up to six crore doses of a coronavirus vaccine this year. The potential vaccine is under trial at the University of Oxford in Britain, with whom Serum is working.
- Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram urged the Centre to provide two funds of Rs 1 lakh crore each for wage protection assistance and credit guarantee fund to help Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to tide over the coronavirus crisis.
- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwalsaid only three of 529 media personnel have tested positive for the coronavirus.
- The number of Covid-19 cases in the United States surpassed 10 lakh on Tuesday – the first country to cross the figure. Covid-19 has infected 31.57 lakh and caused 2.2 lakh deaths across 185 countries or regions, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.