Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Total cases of COVID-19 in India climbs to 649; 'relatively stable', say officials

01:20 PM - The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has directed the registered hospitals, clinics, medical professionals and chemists in the city to remain operational during the ongoing lockdown so that people have easy access to healthcare facilities during this period.

In a directive issued on Thursday, civic commissioner Vijay Singhal warned that action would be initiated against such establishments if they are found shut during the period.

01:10 PM - An IAS officer in Kerala has 'skipped' home quarantine after his return from Singapore nearly ten days ago and seems to have left for Bengaluru to be with his brother, prompting the state government to seek an explanation from him, a top district official said on Friday.

07:10 PM - Financial services major Kotak Mahindra Group on Thursday said it will reimburse its employees and their family members for COVID-19 (coronavirus) test. The group, which runs private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank, has nearly 60,000 employees.

"All employees or immediate family members that are advised to go for COVID-19 testing will have the cost of the test done through private labs reimbursed to them," it said in a statement.

06:55 PM - The coronavirus-related worries are likely to aggravate difficulties for Indian banks, ratings agency Fitch said on Thursday, revising down the operating environment score for the critical sector by a notch.

The score has been revised to BB from BB+ earlier, the agency said, pointing out that COVID-19 outbreak ups the worries for the sector, which is already reeling under weak business and consumer confidence.

06:40 PM - In remarks which may provide anxious citizens with much needed hope, Union health ministry on Thursday said that the rate of increase in the positive coronavirus cases was "relatively stable" in India. Officials said India was at the second stage as there is still no "hard evidence" to say that there has been community transmission of the fast-spreading coronavirus. So far, COVID-19 has claimed four lives and there are 43 fresh cases of the infection reported in last 24 hours, taking the tally to 649. 

06:30 PM - Vodafone Idea on Thursday said it is monitoring traffic pattern and remains confident of handling surge in voice and data services demand amid country-wide lockdown to tackle the spread of coronavirus, as the company made an appeal to the telecom department to clear pending applications for spectrum allocation.

The telecom company, in an advisory, said it has activated pandemic response plan with risk mitigation protocols while ensuring continuity of mission critical processes, to ensure uptime and smooth running of telecom networks, classified as essential services.
 

06:15 PM - Railways is contemplating to convert its coaches and cabins in isolation wards in view of the growing number of COVID-19 patients, sources in the ministry said.

The Railways runs 13,523 trains daily, and has now suspended all passenger services till April 14 in view of the country-wide lockdown.

According to sources, the proposal to offer the empty coaches and cabins to be used as isolation wards was discussed in a meeting of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal with Chairman Railway Board V.K Yadav, General Managers of all zones and Divisional Railway Managers over video conferencing on Wednesday.
 

06:00 PM - Ace Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu on Thursday donated a sum of Rs 10 lakh to combat the spread of coronavirus. Sindhu has donated Rs 5 lakh each to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Chief Minister Relief Funds in fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

"I hereby donate an amount of Rs 5,00,000/- each (Rs five lakhs) towards the "Chief Ministers Relief Fund" for the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to fight against COVID-19," she tweeted.
 

05:45 PM - Telugu superstar Pawan Kalyan has announced that he will donate a sum of Rs 2 crores to the government`s relief fund as the nation battles the COVID-19 pandemic.
The actor took to Twitter to announce that he will be donating Rs 50 lakh each to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Chief Minister`s relief funds and Rs 1 crore to the Prime Minister`s relief fund.
 

05:30PM - The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration on Thursday allowed home-delivery services, including those delivering food, medicines and groceries, and the hawkers selling fruits and vegetables to operate without any pass amid the ongoing lockdown, officials said.

The online services included in the list were Zomato, Flipkart, Amazon, 24Seven, BlueDart, DTDC, Wow Express, Swiggy, Grofers, BigBasket, Milkbasket, Dunzo, Big Bazaar, Snapdeal, Licious, Medlife, PharmEasy, Urban Clap, Ninja Kart, Honasa Consumer and Healthians Diagnostic, they added.

Also Delhivery, Nutrimoo Milk Dairy, More Retail Ltd, Easy Day, Jabong, Myntra, Spencer's, Reliance Fresh, Jubilant Food works (Dominos Pizza), Food Panda, Faasos, Pizza Hut, Uber Eats, Needs Supermarket, 1mg, Dr Lal Path Labs, Max Path and Satva Cart can operate without any pass, the officials said.

05:10 PM - Sensex skyrockets! Extending its speedy recovery for the third straight session, equity benchmark Sensex surged by another 1,411 points on Thursday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a stimulus package worth Rs 1.70 lakh crore to cushion the impact of the coronavirus lockdown in the country.

The 30-share BSE barometer rallied 1,410.99 points or 4.94 per cent to settle at 29,946.77. It surged over 1,564 points during the session.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty finished 323.60 points, or 3.89 per cent, up at 8,641.45.
 

04:55 PM - Mobile maker Lava has paid 20 per cent advance salary to factory workers to support their expenses during the lockdown period.
The company has around 3,500 workers in the factory.
"The move is a part of the several measures that the company has taken to ease the trouble of its employees and ensure their safety and well-being. Lava paid around 20 per cent of the salary in advance yesterday (Wednesday), almost 12 days ahead of the scheduled date," the company said in a statement.
 

04:30 PM - Coronavirus spreads through tears? Here is truth - It is unlikely that COVID-19 patients transmit the deadly novel coronavirus through their tears, according to a study which sheds more light on how the virus spreads via bodily fluids.
The study, published in the journal Ophthalmology, assessed tear samples collected from 17 patients with COVID-19 from the time they showed symptoms until they recovered about 20 days later. Since none of the patients had conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, the researchers, including those from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in Singapore, said the risk of virus transmission through tears is low.
 

04:10 PM - Hundreds of people were left stranded at various checkpoints on the Andhra Pradesh- Telangana borders since Wednesday night as authorities refused to let them into the state in view of the coronavirus lockdown, exposing the communication gap and lack of coordination between the authorities of the two States.

After frantic SOS calls by the stranded persons, including pregnant women and children, AP authorities finally agreed to let them in, on the condition that they be shifted to a quarantine facility.

While those who accepted the government directive were allowed in, others were left at the border points.
 

03:50 PM - The Ranchi district administration has appealed to the people to grant leave to domestic helps without pay cut for their own safety besides helping them stay at home in view of the lockdown to prevent spread of coronavirus outbreak.

In a video clip, Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray said many people have provided leave to their domestic helps, but there are still some families who have not done so.