NEW DELHI: The administrations of major cities across the country have initiated a series of measures to counter the spread of coronavirus in their region. From Chennai to Chandigarh, cities across the country have been trying to provide essential services to their residents amidst the lockdown.
Here is a look at the updates from various Indian cities —
1
Lucknow
- Strict action will be taken under the National Security Act against those who attack police personnel anywhere in the state during the lockdown.
- City-based Darul Uloom Farangi Mahal has issued a ‘fatwa’ making it must for all suspected persons to get themselves tested for Covid-19 and those who are affected by it should get themselves treated.
- Over 20,000 families living on the city’s outskirts are facing difficulty in getting home delivery of essential commodities. Supermarkets are stating that they cannot ensure delivery to them as their colonies do not come within 3 km radius of the store.
2
Chandigarh
- The total count of Covid-19 patients in the city now stands at 18, of which 10 cases were reported between March 30 and April 2.
- To keep an eye on the home quarantined coronavirus suspects and patients, the Chandigarh administration has directed the telecom operators in the city to track their locations.
- With the city in a lockdown mode, the air quality continues to remain good. Chandigarh, which had recorded cleanest air in the country on March 28, witnessed good air quality on the first two days of April.
3
Ahmedabad
- Seven test positive for Covid-19 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat tally reaches 95.
- Over the past 24 hours, civic medical teams in Ahmedabad have been directing leading private hospitals and respiratory diseases experts to immediately report cases involving Covid-19 symptoms. Pneumonia admissions have to be reported as well. The failure to report will invite penal actions, private hospitals and doctors have been warned.
- The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is now hiring data scientists to run regression analysis of morbidity and mortality Covid-19 cases in Ahmedabad. The data scientists will draw a correlation between Covid-19 positive patients including their age gender co-morbidity conditions like diabetic, whether they smoke, suffer from hypertension and minute aspects including the type of dwelling, geographical location.
- In a bid to enforce the lockdown, the city police have procured 15 drones which will start sending beeps to responders they are coupled with if they detect social distancing norms being violated on the ground below. This will make it easier for cops to home in on the area and book the violators.
4
Bengaluru
- The Karnataka government on Thursday indicated it may relax lockdown in phases after the 21-day shutdown period enforced by the central government across the country ends on April 14.
- Alarmed by a high number of drinkers reporting acute withdrawal symptoms or committing suicides following the closure of liquor shops as part of the lockdown, the government has decided to offer de-addiction treatment at all primary health centres and taluk and district hospitals in Karnataka. De-addiction treatment will also be provided at all 31 fever clinics set up in Bengaluru to treat patients with the virus symptoms.
5
Delhi
- The Delhi’s total count of Covid-19 cases has now climbed to 293, the third-highest in the country after Maharashtra (338) and Tamil Nadu (309), driven mainly by the high positive rate of the Jamaat followers.
- Two nursing officers at Delhi State Cancer Institution test positive for Covid-19. They have contact history with the doctor of the institution who tested positive on April 1.
- In a major relief to drivers of public service vehicles (PSV), which have gone off the roads because of the lockdown, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced that Delhi government will provide them Rs 5,000 to deal with the financial crisis. The beneficiaries include drivers of autorickshaws, taxis, gramin sewa and rural transport vehicles (RTV), e-rickshaws and other PSVs.
- Drones have been deployed to disinfect, monitor and sprinkle sodium hypochlorite solution in and around Nizamuddin Basti— the country’s biggest corona hotspot right now.
- The Tablighi Jamaat nightmare continued to unfold across the country for the third consecutive day on Thursday when at least 347 delegates at the religious congregation at Nizamuddin in Delhi last month tested positive for Covid-19, accounting for 65% of the new 544 confirmed nationwide cases.
6
Mumbai
- The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) will issue show-cause notices to private doctors, who have either shut nursing homes and clinics or refuse to attend to general patients in view of coronavirus scare.
- To put in place stricter restrictions in Mumbai’s 212 Covid-19 containment zones, the BMC has decided to monitor the areas through its network of CCTV cameras.
- Mumbai remained Maharashtra’s epicentre for the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday, recording two more deaths, both men in their 60s, taking the state’s toll to 22.
7
Hyderabad
- The supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers is barely sufficient. Currently, Telangana has stocks of 7,000 to 8,000 disposable PPEs also know hazmat suits. Around 800 are used and disposed of every day. With the number of Covid-19 patients rising to 400 at Gandhi Hospital, the frontline staff are worried.
- The ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) has advised state governments to treat waste from houses with quarantined people as bio-medical waste, but several urban local bodies (ULBs) in Telangana, including GHMC, are not implementing the advisory issued by the central government.
8
Kolkata
- Two youths were arrested in New Town and Kestopur on Thursday for allegedly circulating fake news regarding novel coronavirus. The Kolkata Police commissioner reiterated that netizens needed to be careful about the authenticity of nCoV-related news before forwarding them on social media.
- Trouble broke out when police reached the Pachuria Dharmatala locality near Kolkata Leather Complex on Wednesday night to disperse a large gathering.
9
Chennai
- Tamil Nadu Disaster Rescue Force is deployed on Kamarajar Salai off Marina Beach.
- State chief secretary K Shanmugham has scheduled a meeting with Muslim religious leaders in Chennai on Friday.
- To protect health professionals and police, who are at the forefront of the fight against the novel coronavirus, a team from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras has developed a face shield and is distributing it for free.
