- 6039 active positive cases, 515 cured, discharged
- No community transmission so far MHA directs States, UTs to ensure complete lockdown
- Punjab extends curfew till May 1
United News of India
New Delhi, Apr 10: Even as India did not report any Novel Coronavirus community transmission, the pandemic claimed 206 lives and infected 6,761 in the country, leading to Punjab government extending the lockdown till May 1.
The nation has not entered the community transmission stage of COVID-19 yet, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Luv Agarwal said while briefing mediapersons.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh extended the lockdown till May 1 as the cases kept swelling.
A meeting of the Empowered Groups of Officers, to tackle the challenges emerging as a result of spread of COVID-19, was held under the Chairmanship of Principal Secretary to Prime Minister.
‘About 1 crore tablets of HCQ will be required. 3.28 crore tablets are available with us. Therefore, compared to projected requirements, more than three times the tablets are with us already,’ the Health Ministry said.
In view of the ensuing festivals in the month of April 2020, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed all States/UTs to ensure strict compliance of lockdown measures to fight COVID—19 and not
allow any social/religious gathering/procession.
Maharashtra continued to remain the worst-affected with 1364 cases and 97 casualties so far, followed by Delhi with numbers jumping to 898 with 13 deaths, Tamil Nadu where the number is 834 with 8 casualties, Rajasthan at 489 with 3 casualties and Uttar Pradesh 431 cases with four deaths.
There are 6039 active COVID cases at present in the country, the health ministry data said, while 515 cases have been cured and discharged so far.
Replying to a tweet from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who expressed his gratitude for India’s decision to supply Chloroquine to Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India is ready to do whatever possible to help its friends to fight against pandemic.
Modi telephoned his Japanese counter part Shinzo Abe and Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli during which they discussed the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and the steps taken in their respective countries to deal with this crisis.
Replying to a tweet of President of Brazil Jair M Bolsonaro, who expressed his gratitude for India’s decision to supply Hydroxychloroquine to Brazil, Modi said India Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times.
Home Minister Amit Shah has directed that farmers in the border areas must be educated about COVID-19 and the preventive measures to be taken to prevent its spread in these areas.
To cater to immediate medical equipment requirement in the face of tackling the virus, the union government has granted exemption from basic custom duty & health Cess on import of Ventilators, PPE, COVID Test Kits &Face & Surgical Masks.
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Nitin Gadkari said as the demand of medical items like ventilator, PPE kits, mask and sanitizer has increased suddenly over last one month and MSME is playing an important role in filling the gap by increasing the production of these items, it should be facilitated on priority.
The government has directed Food Corporation of India to provide food grains @5 Kg per person per month for 3 months at the rates of Rs. 21/Kg for wheat and Rs. 22/Kg for rice uniformly across the country to all beneficiaries, not covered under NFSA to whom ration cards have been issued by state governments under their schemes.
Since March 23, 2020, Railways delivered total 258503 wagons of commodities out of which 155512 wagons contained essential items.
