Coronavirus LIVE Updates: India records highest single-day spike in cases, deaths

With that it's a wrap to the day's LIVE updates on the coronavirus pandemic. Do join us tomorrow for the top developments on the COVID-19 outbreak. Until then stay safe, stay secure. Good night.

Coronavirus in Delhi LIVE updates: Cong, BJP lash out at AAP govt for rising COVID-19 cases in Delhi

The opposition BJP and Congress hit out at the AAP government in Delhi on Friday for a substantial rise in fresh COVID-19 cases and death toll due to the disease in the national capital, saying it lacked a clear strategy to deal with situation. No immediate reaction was available either from the Delhi government or Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The speed at which the number of coronavirus cases is rising in Delhi every day has brought the reality of the Arvind Kejriwal government's "imaginary" health system before the people, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said. The city government on Friday said the COVID-19 death toll was 398 so far, including 69 fatalities in the last 34 days that were reported late by the hospitals concerned. The number of fresh COVID-19 cases was 1,126, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain told a press briefing.

Coronavirus in Mumbai LIVE updates: Tipplers being cheated in online liquor purchase

The Mumbai Police has released a black-list of fraudulent helpline numbers on which tipplers placing online orders for liquor have been cheated, mostly by scamsters operating in Rajasthan, Assam and Haryana, an official said on Friday, IANS reported. A majority of these so-called 'helpline numbers' -- 73 of them -- identified by the Cyber Police investigations so far which customers pick up randomly are based in different states in the country. The fraudulent telephone numbers include: Rajasthan (24), Assam (20), Haryana (13), Uttar Pradesh (6), Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal (3 each), and one in Karnataka. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime) Vishal Thakur said in the ongoing lockdown, many gullible people ordering liquor online have become victims of various types of cyber frauds.

Coronavirus in West Bengal LIVE updates: CM Mamata Banerjee announces slew of relaxations

Two days before the end of the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced a slew of relaxations, including reopening of shrines from June 1. She also announced restarting of private and public sector offices with full attendance from June 8. After Karnataka, West Bengal became the second state to announce reopening of the shrines for devotees. However, the chief minister made it clear that no congregation and not more than 10 people would be allowed at a time at the religious places in the state.

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Coronavirus in Karnataka LIVE updates: Maharashtra adds to states woes as single-day spike of 248 case reported

Karnataka recorded a biggest single-day spike of 248 COVID-19 cases with returnees from Maharashtra continuing to add to the state's tally, taking the virus count to 2,781 on Friday. One casualty was reported and with this the COVID-19 death toll has gone up to 48, the health department said. A whopping 208 out of the fresh cases are returnees from Maharashtra. The previous biggest single-day spike was recorded on May 23 with 216 cases, when the state had breached the 200 mark for the first time, in terms of number of positive cases per day. As of May 29 evening, cumulatively 2,781 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 48 deaths and 894 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin. It said out of 1,837 active cases, 1,822 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 15 are in ICU.

Coronavirus in Nepal LIVE updates: Country records highest single-day spike of 170 coronavirus cases

Nepal registered its highest single-day surge in coronavirus cases on May 29 with 170 new infections, taking the COVID-19 tally in the country to over 1,200, the health ministry said. A 35-year-old Nepali man, who returned home last week from India, has died of coronavirus, the ministry said. The man died soon after he reached the India-Nepal border. His swab samples were collected and the result came as coronavirus positive, the ministry said. With this, the total number of coronavirus deaths in Nepal has risen to six. Among the 170 new cases, five are women. The rest are men aged between 4 to 70 years, the ministry said. Rautahat district reported 57 new cases, Kapilvastu 51, Jhapa Jhapa 28, Banke 10, five each in Parsa and Sarlahi, four each in Bara and Saptari, two each in Nawalparasi and Dang, and one each in Rupandehi and Myagdi, PTI reported.

Coronavirus in Tamil Nadu LIVE updates: Over 20,000 cases reported in state; 9 deaths takes toll to 154

Nine more people succumbed to COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, which witnessed its highest single day spike of 874 cases, taking the infection count past the 20,000 mark, the health department said on Friday, according to PTI. With the nine deaths, the death toll in the state has risen to 154. Friday marked the third straight day when the number of positive cases crossed the 800 mark in the state. Among the 874 cases, 141 were those who had arrived from various states, the health bulletin said. The number of people cured after testing positive stood at 765 cases, it said.

Coronavirus in Odisha LIVE updates: 90 COVID-19 patients recover in state, 63 new cases

As many as 90 more novel coronavirus patients have recovered in Odhisha -- the highest number of recoveries in a single day so far -- while 63 new cases were reported on Friday, the Health Department said. The recovered cases in Odisha now total 977. The state has 737 active cases. The 90 recovered patients are being discharged, the department tweeted. These cured patients include 23 from Jagatsinghpur, 22 from Jajpur, 21 from Bhadrak, 15 from Ganjam, three from Cuttack, two each from Khurda and Sambalpur, and one each from Balasore and Nayagarh. Seven persons have died of the disease in Odisha.

Coronavirus in Delhi LIVE updates: HC gives govt 10 days to release Rs 5,000 to auto, e-rickshaw drivers

The Delhi High Court pn Friday granted one last opportunity to the Delhi government to release assistance package of Rs 5,000 each to eligible drivers of auto rickshaws, e-rickshaws and Gramin Sewa, who have not yet received the amount. A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad, which conducted the hearing through video conferencing, said already enough time has been granted to the Transport Department to release the assistance package which was announced by the authorities in early April and its the end of May. The high court granted 10 days’ time to the Transport Department to clear the balance list by depositing a sum of Rs 5,000 into bank accounts of the eligible non-chip public service vehicle (PSV) badge holders, whose grievance has been raised in the petition. The high court passed the order on a public interest litigation (PIL) by NGO, Nayee Soch Society, seeking directions to the department to provide a one-time financial benefit of Rs 5,000 to life time PSV badge holders.

Coronavirus in India LIVE updates: Centre to retain limited role, allow states more say after lockdown 4.0

The Centre is likely to retain a limited role and allow states and union territories to take decisions on whether to tighten or give additional relaxations in the nationwide lockdown in their respective jurisdictions from June 1, officials said on Friday. The central government may, however, advise state authorities to continue with strict curbs in COVID-19 containment zones in the worst-affected 30 municipal areas that account for 80 per cent of the positive cases in the country. These 30 municipal areas are from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Odisha.

Coronavirus in India LIVE updates: 70% capacity of pvt labs for testing Covid-19 lies unused, says report

Even as India is conducting over 1 lakh tests per day in the country for novel Coronavirus in private and public labs, at least 70 per cent of the testing capacity of private laboratories lie unutilised across the country, IANS reported. A recent survey conducted by NATHEALTH, a healthcare foundation of India, showed that the private sector is being utilized only at 25-30%. The survey was conducted among 50 private laboratories across 13 Indian states to explore ways to enhance testing in private sector labs.

While the stress has been on more and more testing in order to trace and isolate every single case of novel coronavirus, the private labs accredited by the government can play a big part in testing more people. The surveyed labs are currently working only single shifts, doing cumulative 5,000 tests per day with 17 labs doing less than 100 tests per day and 6 labs not doing any testing at all. A mere 30% utilization of private labs also indicates demand flow as a challenge to enhance testing. The current testing regime prioritizes demand flow to public labs with only excess demand flowing to private labs.

Coronavirus in Maharashtra LIVE updates: 3 hospitals in Thane sealed for not taking patients amid outbreak

Three hospitals in Mumbra in Thane district were sealed by the civic body after receiving complaints that they were not admitting patients amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. The three facilities were turning away pregnant women and other non-COVID patients despite availability of beds and there were also allegations of overcharging, a Thane Municipal Corporation official said on Friday. Thane city, as on Thursday night, had 2,604 COVID-19 cases.

Coronavirus in India LIVE updates: GDP growth at 3.1% in Q4

India's gross domestic product (GDP) was recorded at 3.1 percent in January-March 2020 quarter, according to official data released on Friday. The GDP growth was recorded at 5.8 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2019-20. In the previous quarter (October-December) of the ongoing fiscal, the economic growth growth slipped to a nearly 7-year low of 4.7 percent weighed by a contraction in manufacturing sector output.

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