作者： bharat.cn

India registered over 1,000 cases of novel coronavirus for the fourth straight day on Friday, taking the national tally close to 14,000. In the last four days, India has registered 4483 new cases of Covid-19 with 128 deaths and yet public and political leaders continue to make headlines for flouting lockdown rules.

While a massive crowd was witnessed at a religious festival in Karnataka’s Kalburgi on Thursday, the state on Friday witnessed similar scenes at the wedding ceremony of former CM HD Kumaraswamy’s son. Crowding was also witnessed at various fruits and vegetable markets across the nation, where no social distancing was being maintained. Meanwhile, UP government sent around 300 buses to bring back students stranded in Rajasthan’s Kota despite restrictions on all non-essential movements.

However, despite these violations, the Centre claims that India is doing fairly good in controlling the spread of the disease. The health ministry has said that time it takes for the Covid-19 cases to double has slowed down in last one week as against three days before the nationwide lockdown came into effect from March 25.

India Today TV also spoke to an expert who suggested that the lockdown will fullfill its purpose only when the curve is flattened.

Here’s all you need to know about Covid-19 related developments in India today

Tally inches closer to 14,000

Covid-19 cases in the country rose by 1,076 and 32 deaths were reported in 24 hours, taking the tally to 13,835 and the fatalities to 452, according to the latest health ministry data. A total of 1,767 patients have recovered, it said.

According to a PTI tally based on reports from states, the total number of cases was 14,173 and 1,896 had recovered while the death toll stood at 479.

The Covid-19 cases had jumped by 1,463; 1,118; and 1,043 on the three days respectively from Tuesday this week.

At least six states in India – Maharashtra (3,236), Delhi (1,640), Tamil Nadu (1,323), Rajasthan (1,193), Madhya Pradesh (1,164) and Gujarat (1,021) – have surpassed the mark of 1,000 Covid-19 cases.

In Mumbai alone, these cases rose to 2,120 with 77 more persons testing positive, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said, adding the number in the Dharavi slum area reached 101.

Of the total 452 deaths listed by the health ministry, Maharashtra tops the tally with 194 fatalities, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 57, Gujarat and Delhi at 38 each and Telangana 18.

Picture of the wedding held on April 17 (Photo Credits: PTI)
Tamil Nadu has reported 15 deaths while Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh reported 14 fatalities each.

Punjab and Karnataka reported 13 deaths each.

Rajasthan has registered 11 deaths while West Bengal reported 10 deaths fatalities. Some states have reported less than 10 deaths.

Delhi, which has 1640 cases of Covid-19 with 38 casualties, has increased its list of containment zones to 68.

Areas of L-2 Sangam Vihar, Streets no. 26&27 Tughlakabad Extension, C-105, Hari Nagar, B-33 Hari Nagar, C-785 Camp no. 2, Nagloi and RZ-168, K-2 block, Nihal vihar have been added to the list.

With India set to extend the lockdown that was due to end next week in an effort to prevent the further spread of Covid-19, global consulting firm McKinsey & Co has warned that the measures could come at a great cost.
In its recent report, the consultancy considered three possible scenarios for the country’s economy, depending on how long the restrictions stay in place. The decision to prolong the lockdown, announced on Saturday, renders the prediction with the mildest impact (10 percent contraction in the first quarter) impossible, as it was predicated on the measures being lifted on Tuesday.
While it is not yet clear how much longer Indians will have to stay home, if the lockdown continues for an additional month, it could put 32 million livelihoods at risk and the country’s economy could contract by around 20 percent in the first quarter, McKinsey’s analysts warn.

However, annual results in this case would not be too devastating, with growth falling between two and three percent in the fiscal year 2021.

The worst-case scenario envisaged by the report said there could be an even deeper annual economic contraction of around eight to 10 percent. This might happen if the epidemic continues to ravage the country and the authorities have to impose additional restrictions that spill into the second quarter and beyond. This scenario would result in an “even greater reluctance among migrants to resume work, and [ensure] a much slower rate of recovery.”

To evaluate those risks, the consulting firm spoke with more than 600 economists, financial market experts and policy makers, in 100 companies across multiple sectors.

The potential economic fallout of the coronavirus would vary by sector, with aviation, the auto industry, construction and real estate taking the biggest hits. The demand in key categories would also drop sharply.

Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown till May 3, a large number of migrant workers who earn daily wages came out on roads across India demanding transport arrangements to go back to their native places.

In a repeat of shocking scenes from when the lockdown was first announced by the Union government, migrants across the country once again set off to reach their hometowns in huge numbers, violating orders to stay at home.

Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown till May 3, a large number of migrant workers who earn daily wages came out on roads on Tuesday demanding transport arrangements to go back to their native places.

BANDRA

The biggest such incident was reported from Mumbai’s Bandra West, where flocks of migrant labourers gathered outside the railway station, hoping to go home as they had no jobs, no money and no source of food.

Daily wage earners, numbering around 1,000, assembled at suburban Bandra (West) bus depot near the railway station and squatted on road at around 3 pm.

Videos and images showing hordes protesting outside the Bandra station soon went viral on social media.

Heavy police deployment was made at the site to tackle any untoward incident.

Initially, the police asked local community leaders to help convince the crowd to leave the area but when the labour refused to disburse, the police resorted to lathicharge.

A police official said the migrants were dispersed two hours later and have been assured accommodation and food till the lockdown lasts.