United News of India
New Delhi/ Washington, Apr 6: The death toll due to Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) rose to 111 and the number of cases in the country mounted to 4,281 on Monday when the country entered to the 13th day of its lockdown to contain the spread of the pandemic.
Maharashtra has reported the most coronavirus deaths at 45, followed by Gujarat at 11, Madhya Pradesh at nine, Telangana and Delhi at seven each, Tamil Nadu and Punjab at six each.
With 50 fresh positive cases the tally mounted to 621 in Tamil Nadu on Monday.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Kerala and Telangana are the worst-affected states in the country.
As many as 42 doctors, nurses and 50 other staff members of DY Patil Medical College and Hospital in Pimpri were sent to quarantine on Monday, a day after a 32-year-old auto-rickshaw driver from Khadki Bazaar tested positive for Coronavirus while being treated for accident injuries.
Wockhardt Hospital near Mumbai has been sealed and declared a containment zone by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as at least 29 staffers of the hospital tested positive for the coronavirus, officials informed on Monday.
The staffers included three doctors and 26 nurses.
The infections reportedly spread after four patients, including two suspected cases, were shifted here from the Kasturba Hospital a fortnight ago.
Global death toll surpasses 70k mark; Spain, Italy give world some hope
As the world battles with novel coronavirus, the global death toll on Monday crossed the 70,000-mark with total confirmed cases reaching 12,89,380.
According to John Hopkins University, the current death toll till 2000 hrs (IST) is 70,590.
US continue to maintain the top spot in the total number of confirmed cases. So far 3,37,933 have tested positive of the deadly virus while as many as 9653 people have lost their lives.
Despite such alarming figures, a ray of hope has emerged from the two worst-hit European nations — Spain and Italy.
The number of new COVID-19 cases and new deaths continued to fall in Spain, according to the daily data published by the Spanish Ministry for Health on Monday.
The total number of confirmed cases recorded in the 24 hours between Sunday and Monday rose by 4,273 to 135,032 from 130,759. The growth has slowed down continuously. A total of 6,023 new infections were registered between Saturday and Sunday, fewer than the 7,026 new cases in the previous 24 hours and 7,472 between Thursday and Friday.
Data in Italy suggests a similar trend. The death toll there is the highest in the world, standing at 15,887. But again, infections and daily deaths are dipping, and the number of people in intensive care in Lombardy – the worst affected region in Italy – is decreasing.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte however has said he is not sure when the lockdown restrictions will be lifted.
South Korea also confirmed 47 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, which was down by 34 from the previous day, marking the fewest daily number since the drastic outbreak of the disease in February. According to the Yonhap news agency, there are now 10,284 confirmed coronavirus cases in South Korea, 186 patients have died from the disease. The day before the death toll stood at 183.
China has also contained the spread of the coronavirus in general. During Sunday, there were only 39 new confirmed cases nationwide, 38 of which were imported. As a result, China doesn’t have enough confirmed cases for further vaccine testing.
As several countries are marking a drop in cases, meanwhile, the news of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitting to a hospital worried millions of people who have been tested positive of the coronavirus.
US President Donald Trump, today, during White House press briefing extended his well wishes to the Prime Minister Johnson. “All Americans are praying for him. He’s a great friend of mine, a great gentleman and a great leader,” Trump said, adding that he was sure the prime minister would be fine because he is “a strong person”.
Japan to declare emergency
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would make an announcement about the state of emergency on Tuesday amid the coronavirus pandemic, but the cities would not be shut down. “On April 7, I intend to declare the state of emergency,” Abe said, as aired by the NHK broadcaster. The measures will concern Tokyo and its surroundings and six other prefectures. However, “unlike in the foreign countries, the cities will not be closed,” Abe said.
The prime minister announced a new set of anti-crisis measures worth 108 trillion yen, or about $989 billion, which is roughly equivalent to the 20 percent of the country’s GDP.
With more than 1.2 million coronavirus cases been confirmed worldwide as of Monday, the world’s population have been put confined and the experts round the globe echo the prediction that the COVID-19 can linger for years. Many countries have started to pour investments into projects related to vaccine development.
A COVID-19 vaccine may be the best hope for the world to return to a normal life, experts opined.
