We go to Moscow for an update on the pandemic in Russia, where the coronavirus is spreading rapidly, with at least 10,000 new cases a day and the second-highest infection rate in the world, and more than 100 medical workers have died fighting the virus, and many have reported lack of personal protective equipment. Meanwhile, three Russian healthcare workers mysteriously fell from hospital windows over the past two weeks. Two died, and the one who is hospitalized had posted a video online to note the lack of medical equipment and said he had to keep working despite testing positive. We speak with Joshua Yaffa, Moscow correspondent for The New Yorker magazine.

Smart bands are some of the best accessories that one can buy. On this mother's day, you can also gift one for your mom which will help her monitor aspects like the number of steps walked, calories burned, and real-time heart rate.

Brazil, the country in Latin America that has been hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis, said Friday it had reached a new daily record for COVID-19 fatalities with 751 deaths.

France on Thursday recorded 178 Covid-19 deaths in 24 hours, a 0.7 percent rise from the previous day in the lowest rate of increase in four days, taking the total number of deaths to 25,987. 

Belarus leader holds parade prompting safety concerns as other nations curb WW2 events; Russia records 10,000 new Covid-19 cases; Spain’s daily death toll continues to fall. Follow the latest updates

• Global report: Trump says Covid-19 will ‘go away without vaccine’
• Mike Pence press secretary tests positive to Covid-19
• Brazil’s Bolsonaro must ‘drastically change course’, says The Lancet
• Coronavirus at a glance
• Australia – live news

3.54pm BST

A child was among sixteen migrants rescued four miles off the coast of France when their makeshift vessel bound for Britain ran into difficulties in the middle of the night, authorities said.

The group was picked up 3.8 miles off the French port of Calais after calling for help, French maritime authorities confirmed to AFP. A French maritime surveillance vessel rescued the migrants at around 5am and transported them to the Channel port of Dunkirk, where they were handed over to border police.

3.21pm BST

Vladimir Putin has told Russians they are invincible when they stand together, as he sought to send a message of unity after the country’s tally of Covid-19 cases reached the fifth highest in the world.

Addressing the nation in a speech as he presided over Victory Day celebrations, a sombre Putin invoked the memory of the country’s veterans who fought in the second world war.

We are united by our shared memory, hopes and aspirations, as well as a sense of shared responsibility for the present and the future. We know and strongly believe that when we stand together, we are invincible.”

Mike Pence’s press secretary tests positive to coronavirus; China reports one new case; Russia reports 10,000 new cases for sixth day in a row

• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

Donald Trump has said coronavirus will “go away without a vaccine” and is expecting 95,000 or more deaths in the US, as Mike Pence’s press secretary tested positive for coronavirus.

The president’s comments, at an event with Republican lawmakers, capped a horror week in the US, in which it was revealed unemployment had risen to 14.7%, up from 3.5% in February, with 20 million people losing their jobs in April.

The UK government has set a new target of recruiting an army of 18,000 coronavirus contact tracers by the middle of May, to be in place for the launch of the NHS contact tracing app

We’ve found a 200-metre cliff in Mars's Hellas basin, the first evidence of a river that flowed on the planet for more than 100,000 years

More than 90% of the families, children and single adults that Border Patrol encountered in April were swiftly expelled under a public health order.

Banks see stampede for bounce-back loans within hours of the new government scheme going live.

The UK records a further 649 deaths, taking the total number of coronavirus deaths to 30,076.

Mental health problems are growing and ship workers see "no end" to their ordeal, a union warns.

Actor Sonu Sood has decided to provide meal kits to over 25,000 migrants on a daily basis in Mumbai during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan, which begins from Thursday. "Times are so difficult today that it's very important for each one of us to stand for each other. Through this initiative, I would be helping all those who would be fasting during this period and we would provide special meal kits so they don't stay hungry after fasting all day," Sonu said.

The initiative will help these migrants who have come from faraway places like Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Before this, Sonu started a ration drive to help the needy during the ongoing lockdown.

Under an initiative called Shakti Annadanam launched in the name of his late father Shakti Sagar Sood, Sonu aims to feed more than 45,000 people on a daily basis in Mumbai. He also offered his hotel in Juhu for healthcare workers including doctors, nurses and para medical staff.

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The Lodhs of Ghatkopar loathe Tata Power, because they received a Rs 27,000 power bill from the company in May. This was shocking for the family because the only people who reside in the 1BHK flat in Amrut Nagar are Kalidas Lodh, 76, and his wife Gopa, both of whom make use of only basic electrical appliances.

Kalidas, the owner of the flat, is a Navy veteran and has been following up the issue with the service provider since May with the help of his son Kaushik, who is visiting him from the USA. The family alleges their complaint of electricity theft has been ignored. They've switched to another service provider after the incident and were stunned to see their electricity bill for the month of June, which was only Rs 2,000.

Meter is fine
The Lodhs had been receiving odd electricity bills since June 2016. However, the May bill this year shocked the family, after which they finally complained to the service provider. "Their technical team visited our house to check the problem. But they kept saying that the meter is working fine and if there is any tampering done beyond the main meter, it is out of their control to check and verify it. They kept insisting that we should check it ourselves with help from another electrician.

Isn't it the responsibility of the electricity service providers to verify the theft?" asked Kaushik, who said their former electricity service provider completely shrugged off their responsibility.

Kaushik added, "In one of the visits, even their technician saw how the meter showed units being consumed even when the main electricity supply switch of the house was off. It only made our doubts of theft stronger. But shockingly, in their written report, there was no mention of this observation as they kept insisting the service provider has no control over tampering beyond the main supply point of the building." Kaushik also approached the police to complain about the theft, "But officers at the Parksite police station told me that the right platform for me to complain is the consumer forum and not the police." Vilas Jadhav, senior police inspector of Parksite police station remained unavailable for comment.

Tata Power says
Ranjit Ganguly, group head of customer relationship management, Tata Power said, "For the excess billing, we'd checked the functionality of the meter, which was intact. He'd installed a separate meter in his house; we checked that one as well and found it to be in sync with the main meter. The complainant suspected tampering through the wires going from the main meter to his house. Regulatory guidelines for service providers clearly state that any wiring beyond the point of supply, which is the main meter box, is in the purview of the consumer... So...Tata Power as a utility service provider is unable to help."

Also read: Mumbai: Inflated power bills continue to haunt 61-year-old widow

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A total of 583 new COVID-19 cases recorded across the state on Thursday, has taken Maharashtra's total count to 10,498. Meanwhile, the first patient who underwent plasma therapy in the city couldn't beat the infection and passed away late on Wednesday night.

A 53-year-old man, who was admitted to Lilavati Hospital after testing positive on April 20, was the first patient to receive the therapy. Hospital sources said that he was in a critical condition and had been kept on ventilator. The civic body had arranged for plasma therapy, which was given to the patient a couple of days ago, which unfortunately didn't help him in the fight against the infection.

Meanwhile, 26 staff members of Nanavati Hospital have tested positive so far. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya raised an objection and claimed that the hospital administration was being negligent. "I was informed that the hospital is not taking all precautions to ensure that the infection doesn't spread. I have written to the municipal commissioner and I have been told that an inspection will be conducted," said Somaiya.

A civic official from K West ward said that the BMC had visited the hospital earlier and would visit again on Friday. "We carry out inspections every time there is a positive case. Due to the high volume of patients, we cannot close the hospital and management has been asked to sanitise the premises thoroughly. We will inspect the hospital again to check if all the precautions are being followed," said Vishwas Mote, assistant municipal commissioner of K West ward. Hospital authorities, however, refuted the allegations of being negligent. A source from the hospital confirmed that while 26 staff members have tested positive, only four of them were working in the COVID isolation ward. "During contact-tracing, it was revealed that the remaining staff members live in red zones and had contracted the infection from their respective residential areas. They have been kept at the hospital itself and they are being treated free of cost. Most of them are class 3 or class 4 employees and no management employee, including doctors working in COVID wards, have contracted the infection," said an official from the hospital.

However, the cases in Dharavi continued to increase, and on Thursday, 25 new cases were reported. Two positive cases were reported from Mahim. Civic officials said 20 deaths in the city were confirmed on Thursday, of which 16 patients were suffering from other ailments. State health department officials said 180 COVID-19 patients were discharged on Thursday after full recovery. Apart from the 20 deaths in Mumbai, three deaths were reported in Pune, two in Thane and one each in Nagpur and Raigad. Mumbai currently has over 7,000 cases.

10,498
Active coronavirus cases in Maha as of today

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Even as the Central government extended the nationwide lockdown for two weeks, the city recorded the biggest jump in cases in a single day till now at 751, taking the total count for Maharashtra to 11,500.

However, Mumbai witnessed a dip in the number of deaths. State health department officials said that 26 COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state of which six were in Mumbai, including a resident of Uttar Pradesh. Eleven other deaths were reported in Pune, three in Jalgaon and one each in Sindhudurg, Bhiwandi, Thane, Nanded, Aurangabad and Parbhani. Among those who died, 14 were above the age of 60 years while 11 were between 40-59 years. Fifteen of the patients were suffering from other ailments like hypertension and diabetes. The death toll in Maharashtra has reached 485 of which 295 have been reported in Mumbai. More than 100 patients have been discharged after full recovery.

Maharashtra reported a total of 1,008 new cases on Friday. Civic officials said that among the 751 new cases in the city, 399 had tested positive in various laboratories between April 25-28 and they were added to the list after the civic body received their details. Based on the recent circular issued by the central government, asymptomatic COVID-19 patients can be allowed to stay in home isolation if it is feasible. Civic officials said that people living in slum areas need the COVID centres more since home isolation is not possible for them.

11,506
Active coronavirus cases in Maharashtra as of today

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The civic body is bracing for the Centre's projection of a high number of COVID-19 cases in the coming days and to ensure full preparedness, it has beefed up work on new facilities to treat patients and has started recruiting additional medical staff to run these centres.

Senior BMC officials said that a major recruitment drive is underway to hire over 3,000 doctors, nurses and ward boys on a contractual basis. BMC is planning to rope in medical staff from the city and the green zones across the state. A senior civic official said a circular has been sent out to deans of medical colleges and ward officials for the recruitment.

Civic officials said they are preparing for around 70,000 COVID-19 cases over the next two weeks. "We will hire doctors who are part of the Indian Medical Association as well as interns, post graduate students from private medical colleges for the COVID Care Centres (CCC). Since the centres are meant for asymptomatic patients, there is no need for specialised medical equipment and can be run by a basic medical staff," the senior BMC official said. He added that the doctors, nurses and ward boys will be hired for a period of three months.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani, however, said there will be some restrictions for doctors. We will only allow specialists who aged below 55 years as a precautionary measure, he said, adding, "The new recruits will work in three shifts."

The BMC is setting up CCCs for asymptomatic patients in various schools and colleges. Besides, city's largest centre, with a capacity of 1,000 beds, is coming up at the MMRDA grounds at BKC. "The work is underway and we are trying to complete it by next week. The centre will have beds and oxygen supply, but no ventilators," said an MMRDA official, adding that Jupiter Hospital in Thane is helping with designing the centre.

It will also have a laboratory that will be the primary testing centre for complete blood count and haematology. The MMRDA official said they will bear the cost of construction while the BMC will provide the staff and other support to run the facility.

The decision on who will run the facility is yet to be taken, said a civic official, adding, "The state government may ask a medical college to handle it."

3
Total no. of months the doctors, nurses and ward boys will be hired for

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With the increasing number of COVID-19 patients in the city, the total number of containment zones have crossed the 2,000 mark. Of these, 1,235 are in congested areas.

The Central and the state governments have ordered restarting some activities in the red zones across the country. As on May 4, the number of sealed areas in the city reached 2,083. Sixty per cent of the Containment Zones (CZ) are in congested areas like chawls and slum. Around 600 containment zones are in densely populated areas and require 24-hour police surveillance.

"While the exact number of people living in these containment areas cannot be calculated, around 400 to 500 people live in every CZ," said a senior civic officer, adding that CZs restrict the spread of COVID.

Till April 23, the number of CZs were 983 with 231 zones released after 14 days. The number of CZs increased two-fold in the past 11 days.

Shifting to CCCs
The BMC has now begun to shift mild-symptomatic and asymptomatic patients to Corona Care Centres II (CCC). The civic body has started these centres across the city with a total capacity of 17,651 beds. As of now, 1778 positive patients are taking treatment in these centres. The NSCI club in Worli with a capacity of 500 people, has 279 positive persons. Byculla which comes under the E-ward has 210 positive persons in CCC II. F-North (Wadala) has 210, G-North (Dharavi, Dadar) has 207, H-East (Bandra) has 124, K-West (Jogeshwari, Andheri West) has 194 and L-Ward (Kurla, Chembur) has 118 patients in the facility.

In institutional quarantine, the civic body managed to increase the capacity of CCCI to 20,462 beds. There are 7,771 high-risk contacts of positive patients staying in these centres.

There are around 10 lakh people living in containment zones in the city right now.

10 lakh
No. of people in containment zones in the city

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The city's record for the highest number of COVID-19 cases reported in a single day increased to 769 on Wednesday as the total count reached 12,716. Bracing for more cases in the coming days, the civic body is planning to set up additional COVID-19 care centres in various open spaces across the city.

Civic officials said that the new COVID-19 centres will come up at Mahalaxmi Racecourse, Nehru Science Centre, MMRDA grounds in BKC, Mahim Nature Park and NESCO ground in Goregaon. Once the work is complete, civic officials said that the current capacity of 14,000 beds will increase to 34,000 beds. For critical patients, the capacity will be increased from 3,000 beds to 4,750 beds in hospitals like Nair, KEM and SevenHills. Additionally, ICU beds will be set up at the centre in NSCI.

The G South ward (comprising Worli) with 903 cases and G North (comprising Dharavi) with 888 cases, continued to have the highest concentration of positive cases. While three deaths were reported from the G South ward, one was reported from Dharavi where a 64-year-old male resident of Naik Nagar died on Wednesday. Civic officials from G North ward said that 68 new cases were reported in Dharavi, eight in Dadar and 11 in Mahim. Civic officials in G South ward said 25 new cases were reported on Wednesday.

State health officials reported 1,233 new cases in Maharashtra and the total count of COVID-19 cases now stands at 16,758. There were 34 COVID-19-related deaths on Wednesday of which 26 were in Mumbai which included one patient who was a resident of Uttar Pradesh, three in Pune, three in Akola and one each in Jalgaon and Solapur.

While 18 of the deaths involved patients who were senior citizens, 13 of them fell in the age group of 40-59 years and 27 of the patients were suffering from other ailments. Till date, Maharashtra has had 651 deaths due to COVID-19 and till date, 3,094 COVID patients have been discharged after a full recovery. Currently, more than 2 lakh people are under home quarantine while 13,107 people are kept at quarantine facilities.

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Actor Vidya Balan, who is raising funds through donations for providing personal protection equipment (PPE) kits to healthcare workers, has released the first batch of 2,000 safety kits to Kasturba Gandhi Hospital here.

The 'Mission Mangal' actor took to Instagram to post the pictures of PPE kits being loaded in trucks and thanked her fans for their generous donations.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

First batch of the 2000 PPE kits donated by you all is being loaded at the plant in Delhi on its way to Kasturba hospital 😊👊🏽🙏🏽💃🏻. Thank you so much for your generous donations and God bless you with a million times over of the best blessings life has to offer 😇☀ï¸Â!❣ï¸Â @tring.india @atulkasbekar @manmundra00 #UniteForHumanity #WarAgainstCovid19

A post shared by Vidya Balan (@balanvidya) onMay 2, 2020 at 7:37am PDT

"First batch of the 2000 PPE kits donated by you all is being loaded at the plant in Delhi on its way to Kasturba hospital," she wrote in the caption.

"Thank you so much for your generous donations and God bless you with a million times over of the best blessings life has to offer @tring.india @atulkasbekar #UniteForHumanity #WarAgainstCovid19," Balan's caption further read.

Besides Vidya, 'Dabangg' actor Sonakshi Sinha is also raising funds for donating PPE kits to healthcare workers.

Earlier on Friday, Sinha posted a video message on Instagram and urged the people to donate generously to help the frontline warriors combating COVID-19.

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Celebrities supporting social causes is indeed commendable because amidst the current scenario, the world needs empathy, love and financial support at the right time. In this regard, one person who always goes an extra mile; by extending support towards social causes and works for the betterment of indigent is Superstar 'Salman Khan'.

Commencing the financial aid, he was one of the first people who made sure that money was directly transferred into the bank account of 25,000 daily wagers who were in dire need. It did not stop there, he further transferred money into the account of additional 7000 daily wage workers of the film fraternity.

The actor also helped 90 vertically challenged wage workers associated with All India Special Artistes Association (AISAA), a wing of FWICE.

The superstar also arranged for food supplies for thousands of people from varied corners of the state. A video of the same surfaced on the internet recently where truckloads of essentials were sent to the villagers around the farm.

Salman Khan has been carefully watching the situation and extending help in installments to ensure steady flow of income and essentials for the needy in different parts of the country.

Over the years the actor has been involved more into humanitarian work and the great thing about him is that apart from money, he also gives his time and effort. Even in the current situation, he has personally invested himself in providing support to the nation.

Salman Khan is known for his philanthropist activities. Keeping in mind the current situation, he has released several videos where he has voiced his opinions and made personal appeal to his massive fandom and people of the nation and his massive fandom to stay indoors and maintain social distancing.

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Parineeti Chopra has stepped forward to do more during the coronavirus crisis that is raging in our country. The sensitive actress has decided to go on a virtual coffee date with people to raise funds that will feed 4000 family members of 1000 daily wage earners of our country!

Millions of poor labourers are struggling to access food and rations during the COVID lockdown, and are unable to keep themselves and their families safe. Parineeti has come on board to help raise funds for GiveIndia's Mission: Ration Kit that aims at delivering food to those most affected by the crisis.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

•FOR THE DAILY WAGE WORKERS• You say coffee, I say WITH ME! @fankindofficial @give_india and I have come together for your chance to go on a virtual coffee date with me! All you have to do is log onto fankind.org/parineeti and help provide ration kits with essential food supplies for daily wage labourer's who are struggling to feed their families. (Link in bio) 5 lucky winners will get a chance to go on a super fun virtual coffee date with me! No one should go to sleep hungry, so let's come together to feed the less privileged. And to make our impact even bigger, A.T.E Chandra foundation will be be adding 25% of the total donation we raise as a matching amount, thereby multiplying our impact. YOU, ME and Latte fun! So donate now! #Fankind #FankindXParineeti #Covid19

A post shared by Parineeti Chopra (@parineetichopra) onMay 6, 2020 at 12:14am PDT

Pari's campaign will see ration kits containing dal, rice, aata, salt, masala, tea, sugar, oil etc, to be able to sustain a family of 4 people. These kits will be distributed to families in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. The A.T.E. Chandra Foundation has also joined hands in this cause and will be adding 25 per cent of the total donation value collected as a matching amount, thereby multiplying the impact!

Parineeti, who is doing this in association with Arjun Kapoor’s sister Anshula's breakthrough charity initiative Fankind, says, "There are millions of unemployed daily wage earners who are struggling to make two ends meet today due to the coronavirus crisis in our country. During the COVID19 national lockdown, they are unable to earn and that is putting them at high risk! Fankind, GiveIndia and I have come together to try and help them and their families by providing them ration kits."

One just needs to log on to fankind.org/Parineeti and donate to be eligible for this virtual date which will aid GiveIndia to reach out to the ones who need our immediate help. The contest will be open for donation for a week, starting 6th May.

Parineeti adds, "No one should go to sleep hungry, so let's do our bit to make a difference and take care of our fellow brothers and sisters of India. This fund raiser is uniquely crafted for me to meet you virtually and have a cup of coffee! This is how I will be saying thank you to 5 lucky winners through a video chat. I am looking forward to chatting with you and getting to know more about you over a piping cup of coffee. Let's join hands and donate for those who are in need."

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Farhan Akhtar announced that he has contributed 1,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits to help the frontline workers, and urged the people to help them to make their fight smoother. The actor, 46, shared the information on social media and signalled the need for more supply of PPE kits in hospitals.

He also detailed the cost of the PPE kits, guided his followers on how they can make the contribution, and also mentioned that he would personally extend his gratitude to everyone.

"Every PPE kit costs Rs 650, and will be provided to the hospitals most in need of it." Apart from Akhtar, Vidya Balan and Sonakshi Sinha are also raising funds for donation of PPE kits to healthcare workers.

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Celebrities supporting social causes is indeed commendable because amidst the current scenario, the world needs empathy, love, and financial support at the right time. Salman Khan has been financially supporting daily wage workers and providing ration to those impacted during the Coronavirus outbreak.

Commencing the financial aid, he was one of the first people who made sure that money was directly transferred into the bank account of 25,000 daily wagers who were in dire need. It did not stop there, he further transferred money into the account of additional 7000 daily wage workers of the film fraternity.

The actor also helped 90 vertically challenged wage workers associated with All India Special Artistes Association (AISAA), a wing of FWICE.

The superstar also arranged for food supplies for thousands of people from varied corners of the state. A video of the same surfaced on the internet recently where truckloads of essentials were sent to the villagers around the farm.

Salman Khan has been carefully watching the situation and extending help in installments to ensure steady flow of income and essentials for the needy in different parts of the country.

Keeping in mind the current situation, he has released several videos where he has voiced his opinions and made a personal appeal to his massive fandom and people of the nation to stay indoors and maintain social distancing.

ALSO READ: Inside Salman Khan’s Panvel farmhouse with Jacqueline Fernandez and Iulia Vantur

The daily wage earners have taken the hardest hit during this lockdown and have been struggling to get a proper meal on their table. While most of the industry has been trying their best to arrange food and other amenities for them, Vivek Oberoi announced that he has provided financial aid to over 5,000 families of daily wage earners. He joined hands with Rohit Gajbhiye to raise funds.

Releasing a statement regarding the same, he said, “We observed that migrant labourers have been stranded here since a while now. There are many of them who are not even able to cope up with acquiring daily essentials. “They are struggling to pay their rent, buy daily essentials, to feed their children. We have supported more than 5,000 families”

Fund were directly transferred to the families’ account to help them out in arranging their daily essentials under their Support Aid & Assist The Helpless – SAATH initiative.

As celebrities are doing everything they can to help those in need, it’s been revealed that actor Farhan Akhtar recently donated 1,000 PPE kits to government hospitals to help the frontliners who have been working in the fight against the novel COVID-19.

Sharing a video on Instagram, Farhan urged everyone to donate as many PPE kits as they can. He captioned the video as, “Help our Covid 19 warriors. It is critical that we provide PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) kits to our healthcare workers for their protection in this #WarAgainstCovid19. I am personally donating 1000 PPE kits and have partnered with @tring.india to raise funds for more PPE kits which are in immediate need across India for our doctors and medical staff.”

He further said, “For your contribution, I will send a personal ‘thank you’ video message recognising your generosity. This video will be in permanent memory with you. Some of you will even get to interact with me over a live video chat. Log onto www.tring.co.in and go to my profile to donate. Let's all join the #WarAgainstCovid19 and #UniteForHumanity.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

It is critical that we provide PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) kits to our healthcare workers for their protection in this #WarAgainstCovid19. I am personally donating 1000 PPE kits and have partnered with @tring.india to raise funds for more PPE kits which are in immediate need across India for our doctors and medical staff. For your contribution, I will send a personal ‘thank you’ video message recognising your generosity. This video will be in permanent memory with you. Some of you will even get to interact with me over a live video chat. Log onto www.tring.co.in and go to my profile to donate. Let's all join the #WarAgainstCovid19 and #UniteForHumanity #StaySafe #StayHome #JustTringIt #IndiaFightsCorona

A post shared by Farhan Akhtar (@faroutakhtar) on May 7, 2020 at 4:32am PDT

Farhan Akhtar, recently, participated in the mega digital concert I For India. It was a fundraiser hosted by his sister Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar in order to raise funds for Covid-19 relief.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Shankar Mahadevan recreates Dil Chahta Hai featuring Aamir Khan and Farhan Akhtar

On April 9, Odisha became the first state to extend the 21-day nationwide lockdown in the state till April 30. But two days before the extended lockdown was announced, a 20-year-old youth from Odisha, who was working in Maharashtra's Sangli district before the lockdown returned to his state after cycling for around 2,000 km.

The 20-year-old youth identified as Mahesh Jena left Sangli on April 1 and reached Odisha on April 7 after he cycled around 2,000 km for seven days. Jena took the bold decision when the factory where he worked was closed when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of the global pandemic.

While speaking to Hindustan Times Jena said, "When the factory was closed we were told that it would not reopen for the next five months. I figured out that if I continued to stay then I would run out of money quickly. So the only option was leaving the place at any cost."

In order to reach Odisha, Jena bought a bicycle for Rs 1200 and spent another Rs 500 to replace its tyre and tube. Jena, who began his journey on April 1 at 4.30 a said that his original plan was to reach his village in 15 days.

Talking about his journey he said, "When I started, I did not want to stop, I rode during the daytime and carried on till 12 in the night. I would then look for a temple or roadside dhaba to sleep." During his journey, Jena ate at roadside dhabas and at places where local police or NGOs would offer free food. During the journey, Jena not only replaced his cycle tyres but his phone was also conked off.

Speaking about how he planned to reach Odisha Jena said, "When I first arrived in Sangli along with my village friend 7 months ago, I had hazy idea about the route. On April 1 when I started from Sangli, I thought I could cover about 120-130 km a day on the cycle and reach home. But when I started, I did not want to stop, I rode during the daytime and carried on till 12 in the night. I would then look for a temple or roadside dhaba to sleep off."

Upon reaching Sholapur, Jena rode towards Hyderabad and then towards Vijayawada. Post which he rode his bicycke to Vishakhapatnam and Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh before entering Odisha at Ganjam. From Ganjam he then cycled to Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and finally Jajpur on April 7 evening.

Upon reaching Jajpur on April 7, Jena was stopped by the police at a check post installed where the police personnel stopped outsiders from entering the district. Talking about Jena, police inspector Ashish Kumar Sahu said, "With a rucksack on his back, he was cycling. After lockdown was announced, the factory in Maharashtra where he worked as a daily labourer was closed leaving him and several others in great misery. He somehow managed to get a rickety bicycle from a local there and started cycling to his home in Odisha."

Following lockdown procedures, Jena was first screened at the district headquarters hospital where he was found without any COVID-19 symptoms. Post which he was sent to a government quarantine centre, where he would be kept in isolation for 14 days.

"I was worried about being picked up by police during my journey. I was stopped twice by police on Andhra-Maharashtra border and Andhra-Odisha border, but I was allowed to go,"recalls Jena, who was stopped by the police on two occasions.

The 20-year-old migrant worker has spent over seven days at the quarantine facility. Speaking about his time at the quarantine centre, Jena said that the meal which comprised of rice and a boiled curry of lentil and vegetables was getting too boring for him. Speaking about the food, he stated, "How long can you eat the same food twice a day? After I am discharged from the quarantine centre, I plan to go back home and have a nice meal. Once the factories reopen, I would again go back."

Lauding the youngster on his inspiring journey, Odisha's Jajpur block development officer Sourav Chakraborty said that it was incredible the way he cycled to his home. "His journey would make a very good script for a movie."

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With 1,076 new COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 11,439, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday. Out of the total tally, 9,756 cases are active while 1,306 patients have been cured/discharged and migrated. With 38 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the death toll rises to 377.

According to the ministry, Maharashtra is the worst-affected state with 2,687 cases of which 259 patients have recovered/discharged while 178 patients have lost their lives due to the virus. Delhi comes in at the second position with 1,561 cases of which 30 patients have recovered while 30 patients have succumbed to the virus.

Tamil Nadu is the third state with over 1,000 cases at 1,204 cases of which 81 have recovered and 12 have died due to the deadly virus. Rajasthan is nearing the 1,000 mark with 969 cases of which 147 people have recovered while 3 patients are dead. Madhya Pradesh reported 730 cases including 51 patients recovered and 50 patients dead.

On Tuesday, in an address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the 21-day national lockdown has been extended till May 3.

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India's total number of coronavirus cases has reached 15,712, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Sunday. Out of the total cases, 12,974 cases are active, while 2,231 people have been cured/discharged/migrated and 507 deaths have been reported, as per the ministry. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with a total of 3,651 cases. While 365 patients have recovered, 211 deaths have been reported.

Delhi comes next with 1,893 cases, out of which 72 patients have recovered while 42 patients have died. Tamil Nadu has reported 1,372 cases, out of which 365 have recovered and 15 have succumbed to the virus. Rajasthan has confirmed 1,351 cases, out of which 183 people have recovered while 11 patients are dead.

Madhya Pradesh has reported 1,407 cases, including 127 patients recovered and 70 patients dead. On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh has 805 COVID-19 positive cases.

In Kerala, which reported the country's first COVID-19 case, 400 people have been detected positive for coronavirus.

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Hyderabad: In a humanitarian gesture, a police officer in Hyderabad paid Rs 20,000 from his pocket for the emergency surgery of a man from Himachal Pradesh who got stranded here due to the lockdown.

B.L. Laxminarayan Reddy, inspector and Station House Officer of Kukatpally police station under Cyberabad police commissionerate, not only got Lalit Kumar admitted to a private hospital but also paid the hospital bill from his pocket.

Lalit Kumar, a resident of Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh, was stranded due to the lockdown at Kukatpally here and was in need of medical surgery. He approached the police and the inspector came forward to get him admitted to Omni Hospital.

Himachal Pradesh Governor Bandaru Dattatreya and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur appreciated the police officer's kind gesture.

Dattatraya, who hails from Hyderabad, spoke to Laxminarayan Reddy over the phone and lauded him for the immediate help he rendered to the man in distress. He said that the official's action is an inspiration to all.

Himachal Pradesh chief minister sent a letter to Laxminarayan Reddy. "This act was a great gesture on your part and I appreciate your exemplary effort. Your deed is an inspiration to all the persons involved in the fight against COVID-19," Thakur wrote.

"Your concern beyond humanity towards Mr Lalit who got stranded due to lockdown really deserves this appreciation. Admitting him at the hospital and supporting financially on your own, proves once again that police are there to reach every needy. Proud of you dear SHO, Kukatpally," tweeted Telangana Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy, who also posted Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister's letter of appreciation for the police official.

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As and when the present lockdown norms are lifted, over 10,000 private bus owners have decided to inform the Kerala government, that they will not be operating their buses, as strict social distancing norms will leave them reeling in losses. The bus owners points out that even without any such norms, they are incurring heavy losses and with this new scenario, they will be unable to operate.

Hence they will request the Transport Department to keep the buses in the garage and under the G Form application, they will not have to pay the road taxes also, as the buses will not be operating. State Transport Minister A.K.Saseendran said that their concerns are genuine under the new circumstances.

"Since I alone am unable to take a decision, we will bring this before the Chief Minister and the cabinet. This situation would also be applicable to the state-run transport department also. Things are not that easy," said Saseendran.

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India's tally of COVID-19 cases has reached 31,332, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday. With 73 more deaths reported, the number of deaths due to coronavirus in the country breached the 1,000 mark and stood at 1,007. The tally is inclusive of 22,629 active coronavirus cases, 7,695 patients who have been cured/discharged and one patient migrated.

According to the Ministry, Maharashtra has the most number of COVID-19 cases with 9,318 cases of which, 1,388 patients have been cured/discharged while 400 patients have succumbed to the virus. Gujarat has the second-highest number of positive cases in the country with 3744 cases including 434 patients cured/discharged and 181 deaths.

Delhi's tally stands at 3314 cases of which, 1078 patients have recovered while 54 patients have succumbed to the virus. Madhya Pradesh has a total of 2387 positive cases including 377 patients recovered/discharged and 120 fatalities.

Meanwhile, Goa (seven cases; all seven recovered), Arunachal Pradesh (one case; now recovered), Manipur (two cases; both recovered), Tripura (two cases; both recovered) have reported no new cases of COVID-19.

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With 2,293 new cases in the last 24 hours, the highest number of cases in a single day, India's COVID-19 tally reached 37,336 on Saturday, including 1,218 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. As many as 71 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Out of the total number, 9,951 people have been cured/discharged/migrated.

In the state of Maharashtra, the number of coronavirus positive cases has crossed the 10,000-mark with at least 485 deaths. The positive cases in Maharashtra has reached 11,506, including 1,879 discharged cases. After Maharashtra, Gujarat has the most number of COVID-19 cases (4,721). The state has reported 236 deaths, while 735 people have been discharged.

The Centre on Friday extended the ongoing nationwide lockdown for two more weeks with effect from May 4 till May 17 while allowing different sets of relaxations in red, orange and green zones.

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Around 1,000 migrant labourers, mostly from northern parts of India, came on to the streets in Maharashtra's Chandrapur on Saturday to demand that arrangements be made for their return to the native places, police said. The incident took place around 9.30 am at Ballarpur in the district, an official said. "More than 1,000 labourers, mostly staying at a construction site in a government medical college, hit the streets and demanded that arrangement be made for their movement to their home states. They tried to block the highway and started walking towards the railway station," he said.

"The labourers want to go back to their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Some of them are from West Bengal. They said they have been facing hardships due to the lockdown as their source of income has stopped," the official said. On being alerted, personnel from the Ramnagar Police Station rushed to the spot and the situation was brought under control.

"The police staff told the labourers that proper procedure has to be followed if they want to return to their home states as special trains are being arranged. They were asked to fill the application forms to get a place in the special trains," he said.

The police provided food to them, he said that the labourers later returned to local residence.

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Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that India's COVID-19 mortality rate of 3.2 per cent is the lowest in the world and over 10,000 coronavirus patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the disease so far.

Today more than 10,000 COVID19 patients have been discharged. Those still admitted at hospitals are on the road to recovery. If in last 14 days doubling rate was 10.5 days, then today it's around 12 days.Our mortality rate of 3.2% is the lowest in the world: Union Health Minister pic.twitter.com/YnQpnJ9IeJ

— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2020

"Today more than 10,000 COVID-19 patients have been discharged. Those still admitted at hospitals are on the road to recovery. If in last 14 days doubling rate was 10.5 days, then today it is around 12 days," the Minister told ANI after visiting Lady Hardinge Hospital.

"Our mortality rate of 3.2 per cent is the lowest in the world," he said. With 2,644 more COVID-19 cases and 83 deaths in the last 24 hours, the number of people infected from coronavirus in the country has reached 39,980 including 1,301 deaths, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

Currently, there are 28,046 active cases while 10,633 COVID-19 positive patients have been cured/discharged.

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a PIL by former Uttar Pradesh police chief Vikram Singh seeking direction to quash nearly 75,000 FIRs registered for violating orders of lockdown and petty offences during the coronavirus pandemic.

The #SupremeCourt on Tuesday declined to entertain a PIL by former #UttarPradesh police chief Vikram Singh seeking direction to quash nearly 75,000 FIRs registered for violating orders of #lockdown and petty offences during the #coronaviruspandemic. pic.twitter.com/1xiNJ5qoqQ

— IANS Tweets (@ians_india) May 5, 2020

A bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and B.R. Gavai questioned Singh's counsel, "You want there should be no FIR and this (Section 188 IPC) should not be invoked...then how can the lockdown be enforced?"

The bench wondered why such petitions were coming to the apex court? Singh's PIL sought quashing of nearly 75,000 FIRs registered under Section 188 of the IPC and other provisions for violation of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said this person has been on the field and also has experience. "The submission is that we cannot have rule of law, which is selective. You cannot have one rule of law for those who have to travel by chartered flights...," said the advocate.

Justice Kaul replied he "can see an agenda". The lawyer contended that if the law didn't permit registration of FIRs then the NDMA law cannot be allowed for registration of FIRs. He told the bench that cases have been registered against migrants and those withdrawing money from ATMs.

Singh filed the PIL in his capacity as the Chairman of a think-tank -- Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC). He requested the apex court to issue directions, under the Disaster Management Act 2005, to state governments to not file complaints under Section 188 of the IPC or for other petty offences during the lockdown.

"Police action on an individual who is perhaps suffering from distress and lack of information as a result of the circumstances has ramifications which can extend beyond the coronavirus lockdown, and cannot be good for a constitutional democracy. The situation needs to be handled humanely, and it will be best to avoid adding aspects of criminality, wherever possible," Singh's plea stated.

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Total number of Covid-19 cases in the country mounted to 59,662 on Saturday, with 3,320 cases and 95 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said. Of the total, 39,834 are active cases, 17,846 people have recovered, and 1,981 people have succumbed to the disease. Maharashtra remained the worst hit state with a total number of cases rising to 19,063, followed by Gujarat which has reported 7,402 cases. Delhi has reported 6,318 cases and Tamil Nadu 6,009 cases, according to the Health Ministry data.

Maharashtra has also recorded 731 deaths so far, the highest number of casualties among all the states. Other states which have jumped the 3,000 mark are Madhya Pradesh (3,341), Rajasthan (3,579), Tamil Nadu (6,009) and Uttar Pradesh (3,214). Among other major cities, Andhra Pradesh has reported 1,887 and 41 deaths, Bihar stood at 571 cases and five deaths, Haryana at 647 and eight deaths, Jammu and Kashmir at 823 cases and nine deaths, Karnataka at 753 and 30 deaths and Kerala was docked at 503 and four deaths.

States which have reported less than 10 cases are -- Tripura, Mizoram, Puducherry, Manipur, Goa and Arunanchal Pradesh.

On the global front, the total number of cases are about to touch four million mark and over two lakh people have died due to coronavirus till now.

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American actor Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila, donated approximately 80,000 face masks to COVID-19 first responders in Texas and Louisiana, officials said. The couple gave away the masks at the Austin Fire Department on Friday, Fox News said quoting KEYE.

Expressing its gratitude, the Austin Fire Department tweeted on Saturday, "The C-shift at Station 32 got a surprise yesterday, when McConaughey and @iamcamilaalves stopped by to let us know we're getting several 1,000 N-95 masks soon, part of their donation of 80K to healthcare workers, FFs, and police officers in #ATX and #NOLA! DC T.

just keep winning #HookEm @UTAustin @Jeopardy https://t.co/eqdQf8FAL2

— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) April 7, 2020

Smith, AFD" Earlier on Sunday, the COVID-19 death toll in Texas reached 270, following a rise of nearly 1,000 more positive tests for the disease in the state. Overall, roughly 13,500 cases have been reported so far, according to Fox News. Camila wrote on Instagram about the donations. She wrote, "Our mission is to protect those who protect us, by providing healthcare workers, firefighters, police officers and others with approximately 80,000 masks needed to battle the #COVID19 virus."

She hoped that the move would "inspire you to pick a lane to help others whatever that lane is even if your lane is helping your neighbour, calling people, emotional support, donations, volunteer... pick a lane and do it well! Stay strong this too shall pass..." Last month, McConaughey urged students at the University of Texas in Austin to stay at their homes after dozens tested positive following an ill-fated spring-break trip to Mexico.

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Always eager to share his vast knowledge and experience, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has interacted with 12,000 doctors on sports injuries. In his over two decade long illustrious career, Tendulkar suffered many health issues, the most prominent being the tennis elbow injury.

The veteran of 200 Tests and 463 ODIs, got to know through one Dr Sudhir Warrier, an orthopaedic surgeon, that several young doctors across the country were utilising the lockdown time to effectively gain knowledge on sports injuries through live webinars. A session on sports injuries was held on Saturday and Tendulkar, knowing that his experiences will help these doctors, volunteered to be a part of it.

Tendulkar, accordingly, interacted with around 12,000 doctors, who attended the session. It is reliably leanrt that the 46-year-old legend said he was grateful to the medical fraternity for their service. During the session, the young orthopaedic doctors got to know how the requirements and treatment outcomes of athletes are different from regular patients, sources said. Dr Warrier moderated the session with Dr Nitin Patel, physiotherapist, who has worked with Indian cricket team and IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.

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The worldwide death toll from the novel Coronavirus pandemic rose to 160,685 on Sunday, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP. More than 2,334,130 declared cases have been registered in 193 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December.

Of these cases, at least 518,900 are now considered recovered. The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organisation, probably reflect only a fraction of the actual figures.

Only serious being tested
Many countries are testing only the most serious cases. In the US, now the worst-hit country, the death toll stood at 39,090 with 7,35,287 infections. At least 66,819 patients have recovered. Italy is the next most-affected country with 23,227 deaths and 1,75,925 confirmed infections.

It is followed by Spain with 20,453 fatalities and 1,95,944 infections, France with 19,323 deaths and 1,51,793 infections and Britain with 15,464 deaths and 1,14,217 cases. China — excluding Hong Kong and Macau — has to date declared 4,632 deaths and 82,735 cases.

Europe has listed 1,153,148 cases and 101,493 deaths to date, the US and Canada together have 7,68,670 cases with 40,619 deaths, Asia 1,62,256 cases with 6,951 deaths, the Middle East 1,22,819 cases with 5,559 deaths, Latin America and the Caribbean 98,202 cases with 4,915 deaths, Africa 21,165 cases with 1,058 deaths and Oceania 7,879 cases with 90 deaths.

2,334,130
No. of people infected worldwide

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More than 900,000 people were infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as of Saturday in the United States, with the death toll exceeding 52,000, while a new study indicated that the virus was likely to be spreading in multiple US cities "far earlier" than Americans knew.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the country reached 905,364 as of 10.30 a.m. (1430 GMT), and a total of 52,042 deaths related to the disease were recorded, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University, Xinhua news agency reported.

New York remains the hardest-hit state, with 271,590 cases and 21,411 deaths. New Jersey follows, with 102,196 cases and 5,683 deaths. Other states with over 40,000 cases include Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania.

Worldwide, more than 200,000 people died of the disease as of Saturday, among over 2.8 million cases, showed the CSSE data.

The United States suffered the most fatalities. Italy followed with 26,384 deaths. Spain reported 22,902 deaths, France and Britain also reported over 20,000 deaths.

The US states and federal government are trying very hard to balance the public health risk posed by the virus with the severe cost of month-odd shutting down of the country's economy.

The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that the unemployment rate around the country, which was near a 50-year low before the coronavirus struck, will surge to 16 per cent by September as the economy withers under the impact of the outbreak.

More than 26 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits since March. White House unveiled on April 16 three-phase guidelines for reopening the US economy, putting the onus on governors of making decisions about their states' economies.

Over a dozen states, including Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, Colorado and Iowa, are moving toward restarting their economies this weekend with some restrictions.

Many other states remain hesitant to take such steps without more robust testing capacity. New York, California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Michigan have already extended their stay-at-home orders.

Several states have announced plans to coordinate their response with neighbours. California is moving forward in coordination with Washington and Oregon while governors from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island announced plans to form a joint task force.

A CBS News poll published Thursday said that 70 per cent of respondents believed the country's top priority should be trying to "slow the spread of coronavirus by keeping people home and social distancing, even if the economy is hurt in the short term."

The virus was likely to be spreading in multiple US cities "far earlier" than Americans knew, according to a new research.

"Even in early February -- while the world focused on China -- the virus was not only likely to be spreading in multiple American cities, but also seeding blooms of infection elsewhere in the United States, the researchers found," said a report by The New York Times on Thursday.

In the five major US cities -- New York City, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle, as of March 1, there were only 23 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

However, according to a model of the spread of the disease by researchers at Northeastern University, "there could have actually been about 28,000 infections in those cities by then," the report said.

The virus spread on the West Coast of the United States weeks earlier than initially believed, according to new information released by Santa Clara county, California on Tuesday.

Patricia Dowd, a 57-year-old San Jose woman, died at home on February 6. Jeffrey V. Smith, Santa Clara county executive, told Xinhua in an email interview that "so far, this is the earliest death in the United States."

Dowd and another 69-year-old man who died at home on Feb. 17 had no "significant travel history," and they presumably caught the virus through community spread, said the county's public health officer Dr. Sara Cody.

"These patients apparently contracted the illness from community spread. This suggests that the virus was circulating in the Bay Area in January at least, probably earlier," Smith told Xinhua. Previously, the first known US death from the virus was on February 29 in Kirkland in Washington state.

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The UK came together on Tuesday for a minute's silence in the honour of hundreds of healthcare and other workers who have lost their lives on the frontline of the Coronavirus fight across the country.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who just recovered from a severe coronavirus attack, led the tributes with UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street for the National Health Service (NHS) and other key workers across care homes and public transport.

The tribute comes as the government announced a new time-bound insurance scheme for the families of such public sector healthcare workers who lost their lives while on duty during the pandemic, with a £60,000 Life Assurance Scheme.

"Financial worries should be the last thing on the minds of their families so in recognition of these unprecedented circumstances we are expanding financial protection to the NHS and social workers delivering publicly funded care on the frontline," said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

"Nothing can make up for the tragic loss of a loved one during this pandemic. We owe a huge debt to those who die in service to our nation and are doing everything we can to protect them.

"We will continue to strive night and day to provide them with the support and protection they need and deserve to keep them safe as they work tirelessly to save lives," he said.

He said that bereaved family members will receive a £60,000 lump sum, worth roughly twice the average pensionable pay for the NHS staff, with the cost met by the government. The cases in the UK has reached 1,58,348 while 21,092 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University tracker.

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British Airways may be forced to cut more than a quarter of its workforce as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll on one of Europe's biggest airlines. Parent company IAG (ICAGY) said in a statement cited by CNN on Tuesday that the Airways is notifying labour unions about a restructuring program which will affect most employees and "may result in the redundancy of up to 12,000 of them." IAG, which also includes Spanish airline Iberia, said its first-quarter revenues declined by 13 per cent to EUR4.6 billion (USD 5 billion) as it swung to an operating loss of EUR535 million (USD 579 million).

The airline group warned that losses in the second quarter would be "significantly worse" and that it expects that "the recovery of passenger demand to 2019 levels will take several years." The warning echos a similar decision made by airline group Lufthansa (DLAKY), which owns national carriers in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium. Announcing earlier this month that it was permanently reducing the size of its fleet and shuttering one of its low-cost carriers, Lufthansa said that worldwide demand for air travel will take years to recover from the coronavirus.

"What we are facing as an airline ... is that there is no 'normal' any longer," British Airways CEO Alex Cruz said in a letter to staff that was released to CNN Business. "Yesterday, British Airways flew just a handful of aircraft out of Heathrow. On a normal day, we would fly more than 300," he added. The news comes as flight bans and nationwide lockdowns are threatening to bankrupt airlines around the world. The "mounting financial crisis" facing carriers could cause revenues to tumble by as much as 55 per cent this year, or some USD 314 billion, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Virgin Australia collapsed into administration last week, while sister airline Virgin Atlantic confirmed on Monday that it was on the hunt for outside investors to keep it alive. Virgin Atlantic, which is controlled by Richard Branson's Virgin Group, is also seeking a commercial loan from the British government. Earlier this month, British Airways furloughed 30,000 employees on 80 per cent of their regular monthly pay until the end of May, with the government covering the first PS2,500 (USD 3,100) under its coronavirus job retention program.

But Cruz said the outlook for the aviation sector had worsened in the last few weeks and measures taken to conserve cash were not enough. "There is no government bailout standing by for BA and we cannot expect the taxpayer to offset salaries indefinitely," he added. "Any money we borrow now... will not address the longer-term challenges we face," he wrote.

With no certainty on when lockdowns will lift or when countries will reopen their borders, British Airways has to "reshape" itself, Cruz said. "The scale of this challenge requires substantial change so we are in a competitive and resilient position, not just to address the immediate Covid-19 pandemic, but also to withstand any longer term reductions in customer demand, economic shocks or other events that could affect us," he added.

The collapse in air traffic puts about 6.7 million jobs at risk in Europe, according to IATA, which has called for urgent government action to "preserve air services."

In a similar circumstance, Air France-KLM (AFLYY) further announced on Friday that following "several weeks of discussions" with the French government and banks, it had secured EUR7 billion ($7.6 billion) in loans backed by the French state "to help overcome the crisis and prepare for the future."

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As 690 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday, Singapore warned against spreading fake news and videos about migrant workers, saying this could disturb the law and order situation in dormitories where a large number of foreign workers have tested positive. A total of 15,641 people, including 12,183 migrant workers, have contracted the virus in the city-state so far.

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam warned that such videos can lead to serious law and order incidents. He said the authorities are watching individuals who spread the videos "very carefully". Warning those spreading fake news maliciously, he said, they will be charged if a crime was committed. Hundreds of thousands of foreign workers have been barred from leaving their cramped dormitories to curb the spread of COVID-19, according to a Channel News Asia report on Wednesday.

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President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the federal government will not be extending its COVID-19 social distancing guidelines once they expire Thursday, and his son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, predicted that by July the country will be "really rocking again."

Trump to fly out next week

Trump said he plans to resume out-of-state travel after spending over a month mostly cooped up in the White House, starting with a trip to Arizona next week. And he said he's hoping to hold mass campaign rallies in the coming months with thousands of supporters, even though medical experts have said there is little hope of having a vaccine by then.

Trump delivered his daily upbeat update on Wednesday, putting a positive face on the latest grim numbers — the death toll in the US on Wednesday crept past 60,000, a figure that he in recent weeks had suggested might be the total death count.

35 states' reopening plan out

"We mourn... every life tragically lost to the invisible enemy. And we are heartened that the worst of the pain and suffering is going to be behind us," Trump said. As many as 35 of the 50 US states affected by the pandemic have unveiled formal reopening plans, as President Donald Trump expressed confidence that "much better days" are ahead for the country that has been hit hard by the "invisible enemy".

So far, the virus has killed 61,670 Americans and infected 1,064,737 others. Globally, the virus has killed 2,29,182 people and infected 3,244,586 others.
Agencies

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The number of Coronavirus deaths in the US will jump to over 3,000 and new cases to about 2,00,000 per day by June 1, an internal draft report has said, even as over two dozen US states announced to open up their economy amid the health crisis.

The US is the worst-hit country from the pandemic. By Monday, over 1.2 million Americans tested positive for COVID-19 and the total number of fatalities crossed 69,000.

Multiple media reports on Monday quoted the draft report projecting the horrifying figures. "The numbers underscore a sobering reality: while the US has been hunkered down for the past seven weeks, not much has changed. And the reopening to the economy will make matters worse," The New York Times reported.

"There remains a large number of counties whose burden continues to grow," the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned according to the daily.
However, both the White House and the CDC disavowed the report. The slides carry the CDC's logo, The Washington Post reported. The projection was prepared by Justin Lessler, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

"I had no role in the process by which that was presented and shown. This data was presented as an FYI to CDC. it was not in any way intended to be a forecast," Lessler told The Washington Post. "There are reopening scenarios where it could get out of control very quickly," he said.

US gave no proof on COVID-19 origin: UN

The WHO's emergencies chief Michael Ryan said on Monday it has received no evidence from the US government to back up allegations by President Donald Trump that virus could have originated at a laboratory in Wuhan. "From our perspective, this remains speculative."

4 new cases in S Korea, China

China and South Korea, which had early, intense outbreaks of the COVID-19, together reported only four new infections on Tuesday and were slowly resuming public events after months of containment efforts. While South Korea reported three new cases, China reported one.

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Share price of Tata Motors slipped 2.36% intra day to Rs 84.85 compared to the previous close of Rs 82.50 on BSE

ICICI Bank's board also approved issuances of bonds/notes/offshore Certificate of Deposits in overseas markets up to $3 billion in single or multiple tranches for a period of one year

Adar Poonawala, CEO of Serum Institute of India, says he is taking the risk of initiating production even before the vaccine has reached advanced clinical trials