Corona Updates You Must Track: Domestic Flights Resume With Hiccups, 6,535 New Cases In 24 Hours

As India entered the second week of Lockdown 4.0, the country’s coronavirus count is showing no signs of a let-up with 6,535 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours. With this, India is inching towards the 1.5 lakh case-mark—total cases on Tuesday morning stood at 1,45,380. Domestic flights have resumed partial operations, but many airports across several states are yet to open, forcing cancellation of several flights on Monday. 

Follow all the important developments related to coronavirus and Lockdown 4.0 here:   

India cases and toll: India has witnessed a huge surge in coronavirus cases in the fourth phase of lockdown, which came into effect on 18 May. Since the past week, at least 5,000 fresh cases of coronavirus have been reported every day from across the country. On Tuesday, India’s COVID-19 count rose to 1,45,380 with 6,535 new cases and 146 deaths in the last 24 hours. According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data, India has 80,722 active cases while 60,490 people have been cured and 4,167 people succumbed to the illness.

Where Maharashtra, Delhi stand: Mumbai and Delhi, the financial and political capitals of the country respectively, have been badly hit by the coronavirus. Maharashtra has reported 52,667 COVID-19 cases so far, of which Mumbai alone accounts for close to 32,000 cases. The COVID-19 toll in the city has crossed the 1,000-mark. Along with Moscow in Russia and Sao Paulo in Brazil, Mumbai could emerge as a global hotspot for COVID-19.

Delhi has reported 14,053 confirmed coronavirus cases till Tuesday morning; of these, 6,771 people have recovered while 276 lost their lives to the illness. The capital’s public transport life, Delhi Metro, is likely to resume services soon, but with social distancing norms in place. Every second seat in a coach will have to be left vacant with just about 50 passengers in one coach. 

Domestic fights resume operations but with hiccups: After being suspended for two months, domestic flight started operations on certain routes from Monday, but several last-minute cancellations left passengers stranded at the airports. The Times of India report quoted a senior official of a private airline as saying that “some airports like Kolkata, Bagdogra, Vijaywada and Visakhapatnam will open only later this week while others like Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad would have a strict cap on the number of flights”. At the Delhi airport alone, 82 flights were cancelled on Monday, which includes arrivals as well as departures.

WHO halts hydroxychloroquine trials:The World Health Organization on Monday halted the trials of hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus after a study published in medical journal Lancet found patients administered hydroxychloroquine, alone or with a macrolide (antibiotics), were at a higher risk of death. WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus however said that both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are “accepted as generally safe for use in patients with autoimmune diseases or malaria”.

ICMR guidelines on hydroxychloroquine: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued revised guidelines on Sunday, recommending use of hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure for asymptomatic healthcare workers in non-COVID-19 hospitals, asymptomatic frontline workers deployed in containment zones and asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases. It had earlier recommended the drug for asymptomatic healthcare workers taking care of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases. It has, however, cautioned that intake of the drug should not instill “sense of false security”.

A ‘second peak’ possible, warns WHO: Even as many European countries and the US states are easing lockdown measures to give economic activity a push, the World Health Organization has warned that countries that have witnessed a gradual decline in coronavirus cases can see a “second peak” if all the curbs enforced to check the spread of the virus are lifted too soon. A Reuters report quoted WHO emergencies head Dr Mike Ryan as saying, “When we speak about a second wave classically what we often mean is there will be a first wave of the disease by itself, and then it recurs months later. And that may be a reality for many countries in a number of months’ time.”

Global corona update: The total confirmed coronavirus cases across the world are now at 55,88,356 with 23,65,719 recoveries and 3,47,873 deaths, according to worldometer, a website that tracks COVID-19 numbers real-time. The US alone has reported 17,06,226 COVID-19 cases so far and nearly 1 lakh deaths. Brazil is now the second worst-hit country by the virus in terms of number of confirmed COVID-19 cases—3,76,669 cases and 23,522 deaths. Meanwhile, Japan has lifted the emergency measures put in place due to COVID-19 after the number of fresh coronavirus cases has dwindled.