Coronavirus updates: India - cases, deaths and news summary
Coronavirus live: latest India Covid-19 news - 5 May
India Covid-19 update: 03:30 IST on Tuesday 5 May (00:00 CEST)
According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 3,651,010 cases have been detected worldwide, with 256,239 deaths and 1,194,140 people now recovered.
In India, there have been 49,400 cases confirmed, 1,693 people have died and 14,142 people have recovered from the virus.
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Still keen for a tipple
People were still flocking to pick up liquor on the second day of phase 3 of the coronavirus lockdown, but things were calmer than yesterday, when several shops had to be shut due to throngs of people.
Heading home...
Young family members of migrant workers look out from the window of a special train organised to bring them to their hometowns from the Western Indian state of Rajasthan, as the government eased a nationwide lockdown imposed as a preventive measure against Covid-19. The photo (by Dibyangshu Sarkar) was taken at Dankuni Railway station, some 25 Km north of Kolkata.
Modi chairs vaccine-development meeting
India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, today chaired a meeting of the coronavirus-vaccine taskforce, reviewing the status of the nation's efforts to develop a vaccination against the virus that causes Covid-19.
Half a dozen Indian firms are said to be in the process of creating vaccines against the coronavirus, which has caused around 46,500 deaths the country.
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India has registered its highest 24-hour increase in coronavirus cases and deaths, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
Gujarati hospitals involved in WHO 'Solidarity Trial'
Hospitals in four cities in Gujarat - Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot - are to take part in the World Health Organization's 'Solidarity Trial', which the WHO says "will compare four treatment options [...] to assess their relative effectiveness against Covid-19".
Give people money to revive economy - Banerjee
Nobel laureate Abhijeet Banerjee who has suggested that handing out money to people would be a way of reviving an economy hit by the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis.
"It is more about reviving demand,” Banerjee said. “Giving money in the hands of everybody, so that they can buy from stores or they buy consumer goods.”
'Five Eyes' spy network has no evidence Covid-19 created in lab
In addition to the WHO's statement that suggestions the coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab are "speculative", intelligence sources have told the Guardian newspaper that the ‘Five Eyes’ spy network comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US has no evidence to support the theory.
WHO denies Trump's China claims
The World Health Organization said on Monday that Washington had provided no evidence to support ‘speculative’ claims by the US president that the new coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab.
"We have not received any data or specific evidence from the United States government relating to the purported origin of the virus - so from our perspective, this remains speculative," WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a virtual briefing.
(AFP)
Delhi imposes 70% 'corona tax' on alcohol to deter large crowds
Officials in India's capital imposed a special tax of 70% on retail liquor purchases from Tuesday, to deter large gatherings at stores as authorities ease a six-week lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Taxes on alcohol are a key contributor to the revenue of many of India's 36 states and federal territories, most of which are running short of funds because of the lengthy disruption in economic activity caused by the virus.
Police baton-charged hundreds of people who had flocked to liquor shops when they opened on Monday for the first time in a relaxation of the world's biggest lockdown, which is set to run until 17 May.
The Delhi state government announced the "special corona fee" in a public notice late on Monday. "It was unfortunate that chaos was seen at some shops in Delhi," said Arvind Kejriwal, the state's chief minister.
"If we come to know about violations of social distancing and other norms from any area, then we will have to seal the area and revoke the relaxations there," he added.
Other states, such as southern Andhra Pradesh, where people also violated social distancing measures to queue up in their hundreds for alcohol, also hiked prices.
The increases come as India reported 3,900 new infections on Tuesday for its highest single day rise, taking the tally to 46,432. The death toll stood at 1,568, the health ministry said.
Health experts said the daily increase shows India remains at risk despite a severe lockdown that has confined its population of 1.3 billion to their homes since late March, with all public transport halted and economic activity nearly frozen.
"The curve has not shown a downward trend. That is cause for concern," said Dr Randeep Guleria, director of New Delhi's premier All-India Institute of Medical Sciences.
India's average daily increase in cases has been 6.1 over the past week, behind Russia and Brazil but higher than Britain, the United States and Italy.
(Reuters)
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India have now seen 46,437 confirmed cases with 1,566 deaths as of Tuesday 5 May at 05:30 IST (02:00 CEST). 25% of all cases have been confirmed in the last 3 days.
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