The Delhi government allowed veterinary services and self-employed individuals such as electricians, plumbers and water purifier repairmen to work from today.
A week before the scheduled end date of the lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Ministers for the fourth time since the COVID-19 outbreak on the exit strategy from the lockdown, among other things.
The Hindu has brought out a multi-language e-book on essential COVID-19 information, in addition to covering the developments related to the coronavirus pandemic as it unfolded. Here is a collection of our daily cartoons on COVID-19 .
Here are answers from experts on your queries about the virus, a list of State Helpline numbers , a State-wise tracker for COVID-19 cases, deaths and testing, and a map of confirmed cases in India.
Here are the latest updates:
Maharashtra reports 729 new cases; breaches the 9000 mark
Maharashtra breaches the 9000 mark with 729 fresh cases reported today. Total cases in the State now stand at 9318 and death toll is 400.
Death toll stands at 34 in U.P.
Three new deaths were reported in U.P., two in Agra and one in Kanpur, as per the data of the U.P. Health Department. Cases have been reported from 60 of the 75 districts in UP. Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Jalaun have joined the list over the last couple of days. Agra still has highest deaths, 12, and cases, 401, but Kanpur has overtaken Lucknow to find itself as the second-most affected district in UP. Kanpur has 205 cases while Lucknow has reported 201. The death toll at U.P. now stands at 34, and total cases at 2053.
One more COVID-19 positive case in Bihar from Sitamarhi district of a 27 year male has taken the figure in the state to 366.
Delhi reports 206 new COVID-19 cases
206 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Delhi on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases to 3,314, according to the Delhi government.
Of the 3,314 cases, 1,078 people have recovered and there are 2,182 active cases. A total of 54 people have died so far, but there was no death reported on Tuesday.
- Nikhil M. Babu
12 new cases in Punjab
Punjab reported 12 new positive cases today, taking the total number to 342. A total of 104 have recovered so far, taking the number of active cases to 219. 19 have died so far.
- Health department
2 deaths in Rajasthan today, 102 new cases
Rajasthan reported two deaths and 102 positive cases today - 26 in Jaipur, 25 in Jodhpur, 24 in Kota, 11 in Ajmer, 8 in Tonk, 4 in Dholpur and 1 each in Banswara, Nagaur, Sikar & Udaipur. The total positive cases stands at 2364, with 52 deaths and 770 have recovered.
- State health department
M.P. death toll rises to 120
In Madhya Pradesh, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases is now 2387, including 1372 positive cases in Indore, 458 positive cases in Bhopal and 123 positive cases in Ujjain. The total death toll has increased to 120.
- State health bulletin
Hospitalise those with ‘severe’ alcohol withdrawal symptoms: Centre
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has issued an advisory to immediately admit and give treatment to people with “severe” alcohol withdrawal symptoms during the coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) lockdown. In the advisory, the Ministry said as liquor shops are shut during the lockdown , it “may be a blessing in disguise for those who may utilise this opportunity to quit drinking altogether”.
4 new cases in Kerala
Kerala on Tuesday reported four more positive cases of COVID-19 of which three cases are from Kannur district and one case from Kasaragod, taking the total aggregate in the State to 485.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said four cases were cured in the State and currently 123 are under treatment in various hospitals.
- PTI
CRPF Sub Inspector dies of COVID-19
A 55-year-old Sub Inspector of CRPF succumbed to COVID-19 infection. He was a diabetic. He was a primary contact of a nursing attendant of CRPF who had earlier tested positive on April 17. So far, 46 CRPF personnel have tested positive.
- Vijaita Singh
Gujarat government has made arrangements for sending 6000 fishermen from Andhra Pradesh stranded in Gujarat’s Veraval. Today, 10 buses have left for Srikakulam. Earlier the A.P. CM had raised the issue with the Gujarat CM for safe passage of fishermen.
- Mahesh Langa
4 deaths in Dharavi
Dharavi in Mumbai recorded its highest single-day tally on Tuesday with a jump of 42 new cases and four new deaths. Total number of cases now stands at 330 and total number of deaths are now 18.
- Tanvi Deshpande
6 new cases in Telangana
Six fresh cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Telangana on Tuesday, taking the total number of positive cases in the State to 1,009.
No fresh death occurred and the number of people who died due to the virus continued to be 25, State Health Minister E Rajender told reporters.
With 42 people being discharged today, the number of people discharged after recovery went up to 374, he said.
The number of active cases in the State stood at 610, he added.
- PTI
Gujarat records 19 deaths, death toll at 181
Gujarat on Tuesday recorded 226 new positive cases of COVID-19 infection and 19 deaths, bringing the cumulative numbers to 3774 cases and 181 deaths.
Today, 40 patients were discharged after recovery, bringing the recovery number to 434. All 19 deaths occurred in Ahmedabad where 164 cases were also recorded. So far, 128 deaths and 2543 cases.
- Mahesh Langa
One death in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu reported one death on Tuesday, with 121 more persons testing positive for COVID-19, taking the total numbers to 2058 in the State. 27 persons were discharged today and the number of active cases is 902.
- Health department
Mid-day meal scheme in government schools to be extended over the summer holidays: HRD Minister
HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had a meeting with State education ministers on Tuesday.
He instructed them to begin the process of evaluation of answer sheets of completed Board exams during the lockdown itself.
Mr. Pokhriyal said the mid-day meal scheme in government schools will be extended over the summer holidays.
- Priscilla Jebaraj
In Kolkata, doctor’s death strikes fear in medical fraternity
In the overload of information related to COVID-19 and the associated lockdown, Dr. Sisir Mandal’s demise on Monday, caused by the virus, went almost unnoticed. On Facebook, a handful of loyal patients mourned the death of the orthopaedic surgeon, long associated with the famous Bellevue Clinic, with one of them saying that she still did the exercises prescribed by him for lower back pain. Only by Tuesday afternoon did tributes start pouring in.
Dr. Mandal was the second doctor to die in Kolkata in a span of just two days. On Sunday, Dr. Biplab Dasgupta, an Assistant Director in Health Services (in charge of stores and equipment), also succumbed to complications caused by COVID-19. But it is the death of Dr. Mandal — a popular figure in Kolkata — that has shaken the medical fraternity in the city, with doctors realising that they are at a far greater risk than they had imagined.
Some industries have begun operations in Sanand, Gujarat: MHA
Automobile units at the Sanand industrial base in Ahmedabad have started functioning again and are working with 50% capacity, the inter-ministerial Central team sent to Gujarat has found, a Home Ministry official said on April 28.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, MHA Joint Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said two Central teams were sent to Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat to assess implementation of the lockdown.
Headed by Additional Secretary-level officers, these teams comprise public health specialists and officers of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) whose expertise can be leveraged by the State government for management of the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.
On Tuesday, Karnataka cumulatively recorded 523 COVID-19 positive cases, with 20 deaths & 207 discharges, plus 1 death due to non – Covid-19 cause, according to the State health bulletin.
Bihar reported one more COVID-19 positive case, taking the total number to 360, a male, 26, from Lodipur in Sheikhpura district.
Punjab varsity launches unique COVID-19 website
To fight against novel coronavirus with authentic information, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda (CUPB) has launched a unique COVID-19 information web portal, which it claims has most of the authentic information, and sources for references, research and an understanding of the phenomenon.
University Vice-Chancellor R.K. Kohli, said that the portal will provide authentic information to scientists, medical practitioners, administrators, mediapersons, bureaucrats and diplomats.
Death toll in J&K rises to 8
The death toll due to COVID-19 in Jammu and Kashmir has risen to eight after a coronavirus positive elderly woman died at a hospital here on Tuesday, officials said. “The elderly woman died today. She was diabetic and also hypertensive,” the officials said.
Jammu and Kashmir has reported 546 positive cases of COVID-19 so far. As many as 164 of them have recovered.
Coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore Central Jail rise to 19
Nine more prisoners lodged at the Central Jail in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city have tested positive for coronavirus ( COVID-19 ), an official said on Tuesday.
With this, the total number of those who contracted the infection in the jail in the last 14 days has gone up to 19, including 17 prisoners and two jail guards, prison superintendent Rakesh Kumar Bhangre said.
“Out of the 124 prisoners, who were already kept at a temporary jail located far from the Central Jail campus after they showed symptoms similar to coronavirus, nine have tested positive for the disease,” he said.
India takes $1.5 billion loan from ADB
India has taken a $1.5 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank for immediate reponse to tackle COVID-19. The money would be spent to implement the containment plan and rapidly ramp up test-track-treatment capacity, as well as to provide social protection to 80 crore poor people over the next three months, the Finance Ministry said.
Positive cases in U.P. passes 2000
The total number of coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday crossed the 2,000-mark, with 57 fresh cases reported in the State, officials said.
The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 in the State stood at 31, while 400 patients had recovered and discharged from hospitals, they said.
"The total count of COVID-19 cases in the State stands at 2,043. These cases have been reported from 60 districts," Principal Secretary, Medical and Health, Amit Mohan Prasad, told reporters.
The count of active cases in the State was 1,612, he said.
- PTI
Plasma therapy is not proven till date
Plasma therapy is not proven till date; it is only in the experimental stage. Till the time it is approved, it should not be used as it would be harmful to the patients and it would be illegal, Health Ministry spokesperson said.
The number of confirmed cases in 20 countries, as per WHO data, whose overall population is close to India's, is 84 times more than the cases reported in India.
200 times deaths have been reported in these countries compared to India, says Health Ministry spokesperson.
This is because of proactive, pre-emptive and graded response in coordination with the States, and the strict adherence to lockdown measures by the people.
The doubling rate, which was around 3.5 before lockdown, is currently around 10.20, he adds.
Health Ministry issues new guidelines on home isolation
People who are required to be kept in home isolation will have to submit an undertaking, they should be diagnosed as pre-symptomatic cases, they should have required facility for home isolation and should have a certified care giver.
The care givers and their close contacts will have to have HCQ, the patients will have to keep the district surveillance officer informed regularly. They need immediate medical intervention in case of breathing difficulty or other emergencies.
At home, they need to stay at an identified room, away from others, particularly from the elderly, use triple-layered mask.
The care givers and their close contacts will have to be kept on HCQ.
In the past 24 hours, 1543 new cases reported, taking total to 29,435; 21,632 cases under active medical supervision; 684 patients cured in past 24 hours, taking the total to 6,868, overall recovery rate around 23.30%. In 17 districts, no cases reported in the past 28 days, says Health Ministry
Today, the Health Minister held videoconference meeting with Department of Bio-technology and its 18 autonomous bodies and chiefs of related PSUs to review the research initiatives on vaccine, anti-body detection kits and real-time PCR detection kits.
Central teams visit Surat, Ahmedabad
At the daily COVID-19 press briefing, Home Ministry spokesperson says an inter-ministerial team toured Surat today.
The IMCT team in Surat found that the administration was using advanced technology for tracking suspect cases. Door-to-door survey was being carried out, data plotting on GIS maps is being done for monitoring, he adds.
The team surveyed hospitals, containment zones and shelter homes, it found that drones and CCTVs are being used for keeping watch in containment zones. However, to ensure that lockdown is observed in all the pockets, the team suggested that stringent measures need to be taken.
Another team visited Ahmedabad. The Ahmedabad Team also conducted surveys of entry and exit points of quarantined zones, it held meetings with various stakeholders, visited hospitals and interacted with relatives of the patients, found that arrangements were adequate. In rural areas of Ahmedabad, in all the panchayats, Gram Yoddha Samiti has been set up to ensure door-to-door supply of essentials, the spokesperson explained.
Maharashtra state headquarters Mantralaya and the new administrative building will be closed on April 29 and 30 for fumigation amid corona crisis, a government order said on Tuesday.
Four employees have reportedly tested positive.
Thirteen more cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Bihar taking the total number in the State to 359.
This includes six from Gopalgunj, four from Kaimur, and one each from Munger , Araria and Banka districts.
Only wholesale vegetable market to function at Chennai's Koyambedu complex from Wednesday
The wholesale vegetable market alone will function at the Koyambedu wholesale market complex from Wednesday.
This decision was taken during the second round of meetings held between government officials and representatives of various traders associations on Tuesday. D. Karthikeyan, member secretary, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority was among the officials who held the talks.
Relaxations extended to more districts
In continuation of lockdown relaxations, the State Government on Tuesday eased restrictions for industries located in rural areas in a few more districts, taking the total number of districts to 14.
This includes Chamarajangar, Chikmagalur, Koppal, Raichur, Chitradurga, Ramangara, Hassan, Yadgir, Shivamogga, Haveri, Kolar, Davanagere, Udupi, and Kolar.
The existing lockdown norms would continue in hotspot districts of Bengaluru urban, Belagavi, Mysuru, Dakshina Kannada, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Kalaburagi and Bidar, the order said.
3 active cases remain in Chhattisgarh
Two more COVID-19 patients were discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur city on Tuesday after recovering from the infection.
At least 34 persons have been discharged from the hospital, which now only has three active cases left, a public relations officer from AIIMS said.
Chhattisgarh COVID-19 figures are as follows:
Positive cases 37; New cases 0; Deaths 0; Discharged 34; Active cases 3; People tested so far 14,987. - PTI
No active COVID-19 cases in Erode district
With four COVID-19 patients recovering and set to be discharged from the Government Erode Medical College and Hospital in Perundurai on Tuesday evening, the active number of cases in the district is now zero.
A total of 70 cases were reported in the district so far including four of a railway doctor’s family in Coimbatore and one person from the district who recovered at Tiruchi. After treatment, 65 persons recovered while one person died at the District Headquarters Hospital. Four persons who continue to be under treatment tested negative twice and were expected to be discharged at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
Class XI students in Manipur to be promoted based on performance in term exams
The Manipur government has approved the promotion of class XI students of State-board schools to class XII, a senior Education department official said on Tuesday.
Commissioner of Education (School) T. Ranjit Singh in a notification on Monday said class XI examination for the academic year 2019-20 has been done away in view of the COVID-19 outbreak and students will be promoted to class XII based on their performance in term tests.
Two more policemen in Chennai test positive for COVID-19
Nungambakkam police station, located in the heart of city, was cordoned off on Tuesday, following two police personnel testing positive for COVID-19. Both have been admitted to the special ward for COVID-19 in Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.
16-year-old girl tests positive in Assam
A 16-year-old girl has become the youngest in Assam to test positive for COVID-19
State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the girl was from Salmara in western Assam’s Bongaigaon district. She tested positive while in quarantine as she had come into contact with an infected person, he added.
UP to operate special buses
Uttar Pradesh government has arranged 300 buses to ferry around 9,000 students from Prayagraj to other districts in the State. This includes those studying in Allahabad University.
A government official said, permission will be granted for other States to operate such service if they wish to take back the students.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be interacting through video conferencing with students of Uttar Pradesh who returned from Kota and kept under quarantine.
Coronavirus cases in Karnataka reach 520
Eight new cases have been detected in Karnataka on Tuesday taking the total number of positive cases to 520.
These include 20 deaths and 198 discharged persons.
The new cases include six from Kalaburgi — all contacts of Patient Number of 395 — one from Bengaluru Urban and one from Gadag, a SARI case.
New Meghalaya High Court Chief Justice goes into home quarantine
Biswanath Somadder, who drove 2,000 km from Prayagraj via Kolkata to reach Shillong , went into home quarantine after taking oath as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Meghalaya on Monday.
Court officials said Chief Justice Somadder had travelled by road following national protocols related to COVID-19 and honoured State protocols to quarantine himself for 14 days at his official residence soon after State Governor Tathagata Roy swore him in.
NITI Aayog office sealed after employee tests positive
An employee working at NITI Bhavan has been detected positive with COVID-19, the government's think tank tweeted on Tuesday.
"It was informed to the authorities at 9 am this morning. NITI Aayog is following all the due protocols necessary as per the Ministry of Health guidelines. The building has been sealed," said the tweet.
According to PTI, a director-level officer has been tested positive for the pandemic.
Disinfection and sanitisation of the building are underway. Contacts of the single covid-positive person have been asked to go on self-quarantine, another tweet said.
Mumbai Police cops aged above 55 asked to go on leave
Senior police officers directed all constables in Mumbai aged 55 and above to go on compulsory leave.
Officials said the instructions are being enforced as all three police personnel who lost their lives to COVID-19 were over the age of 50, which is regarded to be a vulnerable group.
Naval Bajaj, Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration), said, “The instructions were issued at the beginning of the crisis, but were obviously not being followed. We are now enforcing them more strictly.”
Indian national is first case in U.S. border protection custody to test positive for COVID-19
A 31-year-old Indian man, who was apprehended on the suspicion of illegally crossing into America through the US-Mexico border, has tested positive for the COVID-19, becoming the first individual in the border protection agency’s custody to be infected with the virus.
82 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Andhra Pradesh in the last 24 hours. Total positive cases are now 1259, including 259 discharged after treatment, and 31 deaths.
COVID-19 deaths in Rajasthan cross 50
A 60-year-old male COVID-19 patient died in Kota today, taking the toll in Rajasthan to 51.The deceased had co-morbidity conditions of diabetes mellitus and acute myocardial infarction.
The State's tally of COVID-19 positive cases has increased to 2,328 with the detection of 66 cases today.
Of the total number of patients, 766 have recovered and 584 have been discharged from hospitals, a bulletin released by State's Medical & Health Department said. - Mohammed Iqbal
Six districts in Kerala are now ‘high-risk’
The Kerala government has declared Kottayam and Idukki as COVID-19 Red zones. Four panchayats in Kottayam have been declared as epidemic hotspots.
Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Thrissur, and Wayanad had been spared of new COVID-19 positive cases. The public could expect lockdown restrictions to be less stringent in these localities.
Beijing to shut coronavirus special hospital
Authorities in Beijing are set to close a COVID-19 special hospital after clearing all the cases even as China reported six new coronavirus infections and 40 fresh asymptomatic cases, health officials said on Tuesday.
The move to shut down the hospital comes after China’s coronavirus epicentre Wuhan recently closed 16 temporary hospitals and discharged its last patient on Sunday .
Xiaotangshan Hospital in Beijing, which was used in 2003 to quarantine SARS patients, cleared all COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and is scheduled to cease operation on Wednesday, official media reported. - PTI
Delhi lifts certain curbs
Veterinary services and self-employed individuals such as electricians, plumbers and water purifier repairmen can operate in the Capital from today.
An order lifting the curbs on services provided by them was issued by Chief Secretary Vijay Dev late on Monday evening.
The order also allowed the functioning of pathology labs, the operation of homes for the destitute and the mentally challenged as well as the physically differently-abled.
Veterinary doctors, nurses and personnel, the order said, were allowed to commute; it also stated that online or distance learning needed to be encouraged. - Jatin Anand
Villagers oppose cremation of women fearing COVID-19 spread
A group of people in Haryana's Chandpur village in Ambala opposed and attempted to disrupt cremation of an elderly women as they suspected the women died of COVID-19 and feared that cremation would spread the deadly coronavirus, the police said.
The Police said mild force was used to disperse the crowd, after they pelted stones on police personnel and members of health department and municipal committee at the cremation site in the village on Monday evening. - Vikas Vasudeva
BRICS Foreign Ministers expected to brainstorm joint response to COVID-19 today
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will join his counterparts from Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa on Tuesday, as the BRICS grouping goes into a major brainstorming session to forge a joint response to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by preparations for an economic recovery of the emerging economies and the Global South.
The ministerial videoconference hosted by Russia, the current rotating head of the BRICS, is also expected to crystal ball the post COVID-19 global order and the role of the emerging economies in shaping it. - Atul Aneja
Seven new cases detected in Odisha
Of the seven new cases, four were reported from Sundargarh and three from Bhadrak – taking the State’s total to 118, State Health Department said on Tuesday. - Prafulla Das
With one more COVID-19 positive case from Nalanda of a 27 year old female, total number in Bihar has gone up to 346. - Amarnath Tewary
Trump faults China for coronavirus' spread, says U.S. investigating
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that China could have stopped the coronavirus before it swept the globe and said his administration was conducting “serious investigations” into what happened.
“We're doing very serious investigations ... We are not happy with China,” Trump said at a White House news conference. ”There are a lot of ways you can hold them accountable.”
HAL allowed to resume work from Tuesday with fewer staff
The Ministry of Home Affairs has allowed Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to resume manufacturing operations as an essential defence service from Tuesday (April 28), but with curtailed staff and under strict safety guidelines.
HAL halted work around a month back under a nationwide lockdown imposed to check the COVID-19 pandemic.
Odisha prepares low cost ‘aerosol box’ and ‘face shields’
Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) of Odisha’s Berhampur has prepared extreme low cost ‘aerosol box’ and ‘face shields’ for medical staff involved in treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Receiving information about it, Director General of Employment and Training (DGET) and Central ministry for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship has organised a video conference of different ITIs of the country on April 30, where Berhampur ITI will provide technical training for preparation of these much needed medical equipments to other ITIs for local production at their end, said principal of Berhampur ITI, Rajat Panigrahy.
4.86 lakh people register with Odisha govt. to return home
A whopping 4.86 lakh stranded migrant workers and other natives have registered with the Odisha government in 48 hours stating that they intend to return home.
The overwhelming response was received from people stuck outside after the government made registration mandatory for all returnees. Either prospective returnees or their family members can register online or filling of forms by person at panchayats for return.
Irresponsible to call Chinese test kits "faulty": Chinese Spokesperson
It is irresponsible to term Chinese products as "faulty", the Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy said here early on Tuesday after the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) asked states to stop using the rapid antibody test kits and return them to the manufacturers in China.
Published - April 28, 2020 10:01 am IST
