Top 10 Covid-19 updates: Centre asks states to make lists on migrants, coordinate to ply more trains
Here are the biggest developments of the day.
- The total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 1,01,139 on Tuesday, and the toll to 3,163. As many as 4,970 new patients were added in the last 24 hours and 134 people died. Maharashtra reported 2,100 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, taking the overall tally to 37,158, while Tamil Nadu’s count rose to 12,448.
- The Indian railways will run 200 non-AC trains from June 1, besides the shramik special trains.
- The Ministry of Home Affairs asked states and Union Territories to proactively coordinate on the operation of more trains to take migrant workers back to their hometowns, 56 days after a nationwide lockdown began. The ministry also suggested that states make arrangements for rest places, food and shelter for migrants who are on their way back to their villages on foot. At least 18 migrant labourers were killed in four separate road accidents late on Monday and early Tuesday.
- Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Ajay Kumar Lallu was detained on Tuesday for staging a protest, demanding that the buses offered by his party to take migrant workers home be allowed to reach Noida and Ghaziabad. The Adityanath-led government and the Congress have been locked in an escalating fight over transportation arrangements for stranded migrant workers, beginning with party leader Priyanka Gandhi’s Vadra’s offer to provide 1,000 buses to the state government.
- The Maharashtra government on Tuesday released guidelines for the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown to control the coronavirus, retaining most restrictions in red zones and containment areas. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Monday, meanwhile, revised its protocol for sealing buildings where coronavirus cases are detected and said that the entire building need not be sealed.
- The Tis Hazari courts in New Delhi have prohibited lawyers, litigants, police officers and other individuals from using saliva while affixing court fee stamps on petitions and on envelopes containing summons or notices. The circular was issued as a measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus in Delhi district courts.
- United States President Donald Trump once again threatened to cut funding to the World Health Organization, accusing it of being a “puppet” of China. Trump said the United States pays around $450 million (over Rs 3,400 crore) annually to the global health organisation. He said his government was making plans to slash this amount because “we’re not treated right”.
- Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary said that 28 employees of the organisation have tested positive for the coronavirus. On May 15, one of its employees tested positive. Following this, the company started testing employees who may have come in contact with the employee. Twenty-seven more were found to be infected.
- Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday expressed concern over the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s decision to conduct the pending Central Board of Secondary Education exams in the Capital amid the coronavirus outbreak.
- Globally, the coronavirus has infected over 48 lakh people, and killed more than 3.18 lakh as of Tuesday morning, according to a tracker by the Johns Hopkins University.