Coronavirus India: summary of news for Wednesday 20 May
Coronavirus live India updates: cases, deaths and news - 20 May
India Covid-19 update: 02:00 IST on Thursday 21 May (22:30 CEST on Wednesday 20 May)
According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 4,955,312 cases have been detected worldwide, with 325,810 deaths and 1,874,998 people now recovered.
In India, there have been 112,015 cases confirmed, 3,434 people have died and 45,422 people have recovered from the virus.
1,041 people returning to Uttar Pradesh test positive
43,265 people returning to Uttar Pradesh from other states have been tested so far for coronavirus, with 1,041 testing positive.
Problems for health workers in Karnataka
Firstpost continues with its series on the difficulties faced by healthcare workers as they tackle the coronavirus pandemic hands on. In this part Sulekha Nair looks at the shortage of PPE kits and unequal distribution of resource is putting healthcare staff at risk.
Dr Bhuvana Krishna who works in Bangalore: “Enduring physical discomfort from tight, well-fitting PPEs, to ignoring hunger, thirst and nature’s call, in an effort to save precious PPE. Long days with no weekend offs makes one struggle to maintain sanity within and outside."
Cyclone Amphan has now killed 12 in India
At least 12 people have lost their lives to the Cyclone Amphan. Up to 300,000 people in coastal areas are at risk from storm surges and flooding.
You can track the cyclone on CNN's weather page.
Two Mumbai Police offices die from Covid-19
Two policemen died of Covid-19 today, according to an official source, taking the number of police personnel who have lost their lives to the pandemic in Maharashtra to 14, ten of them in Mumbai.
A 57-year-old police constable at Parksite Police Station died after testing positive for the virus eight days ago, while an assistant sub-inspector of traffic also passed away from the infection.
India to allow some domestic flights from May 25
(Reuters) India will allow airlines to begin some domestic flights from May 25, its civil aviation minister said on Wednesday, two months after the country imposed a ban on air travel as it went into lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
"Domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from Monday," the minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, said on Twitter.
Puri said all airports and airlines are being informed to be ready for operations from May 25 and that the ministry would issue guidelines for passenger movement separately.
India to partially reopen national airspace
The government has announced a partial reopening of the country's airports, mainly to be used to move stranded people back to their home states.
Migrant workers that arrived by train queue to board buses going back to their hometowns after the government eased a nationwide lockdown imposed as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Allahabad on May 20, 2020. (Photo by SANJAY KANOJIA / AFP)
Nepal's prime minister has slammed India's response to the coronavirus and says "it now looks worse than China and Italy."
Domestic scheduled commercial passenger flights will resume operations in a calibrated manner from May 25.
People wearing face masks travel in a bus, maintaining social distancing after few restrictions were lifted during an extended lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New Delhi, India, May 20, 2020. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
Largest drop in carbon emissions in recorded history
The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating effect on countries, communities and families. The global economy has not seen anything like it for decades and unemployment is widespread. Cities were closed down because of strict quarantine and isolation measures and airlines have practically ceased operations.
The lack of cars on the road and planes in the sky has contributed to an estimated 17 percent decline in daily global carbon dioxide emissions compared to daily global averages from 2019 according to an analysis carried out on Tuesday and published in the Nature Climate Change journal.
Heavy rains in India and Bangladesh as cyclone bears down
Heavy rains and winds lashed two eastern Indian states and parts of Bangladesh hours before a powerful cyclone made landfall on Wednesday, with rescue teams evacuating millions of villagers to higher ground in an operation complicated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Bangladesh's disaster management officials said they were working on a war footing to evacuate about two million people from coastal areas as Cyclone Amphan approached from the Bay of Bengal.
"It has been challenging to evacuate people while maintaining distancing. We have doubled the number of the cyclone centres to ensure safe distancing and hygiene," said Enamur Rahman, the junior minister for disaster management.
"Our revenue has come down 95 per cent over the past 2 months. Most importantly, this crisis has affected the livelihoods of millions of our drivers and their families across India and our international geographies," said Aggarwal, the CEO of the cab aggregator Ola, in a blog post.
Migrant workers in Ahmedabad wait for transport to reach a railway station to board a train to their home state of Bihar, amid India's extended lockdown to slow the spreading of the coronavirus. (Photo: REUTERS/Amit Dave)
India records biggest single-day surge in cases
India registered 5,611 new coronavirus cases in the 24-hour cycle between Tuesday and Wednesday, the country's health ministry has confirmed, in what is the nation's highest single-day spike in infections. There were 140 new deaths. In all, there have been just under 107,000 Covid-19 cases in India, leading to a total of 3,303 fatalities.
Business is slow for returning auto drivers in Delhi
Auto drivers are able to return to work after some lockdown restrictions were lifted in New Delhi but only one passenger is allowed for the time being - with few customers on the first day back.
Migrants to be tracked
India's government have stepped up their test, track and trace programme among the country's migrant workforce in a bid to stop the spread of Covid-19 infection. Over 100,000 coronavirus tests were conducted on Monday, the Time of India reports. Migrants will be monitored over a two-week period to gain a clearer picture of the situation in the country as it moves towards easing of lockdown measures.
Catch up...
We freshen up each day with a new blog so if you want to have a look back at what has been happening over the previous 24 hours then check out yesterday's feed.
Hello and welcome
Welcome to our live coverage of the latest coronavirus news in India for Wednesday 20 May.
We'll aim to keep you up to date with everything you need to know throughout the day.