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Belgaum, Karnataka: Police thrash people violating Coronavirus lockdown as they left Mosque after Namaaz

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a full lockdown of India in the wake of the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus spreading across the country. The Wuhan Coronavirus has claimed 13 lives in India with the positive cases going up to 649. While the Government is imposing stringent restrictions to ensure that the spread is contained, several people throughout the country were seen violating the lockdown. A video emerged where Karnataka police was seen thrashing people as they left the Mosque after Namaz, and were violating the lockdown.

In the video, a group of Muslim can be seen coming out of the Mosque after offering Namaz. At that point, the police took action against the congregation in the bid to disperse the crowd that was violating the lockdown. In the lockdown order, it was specifically mentioned that all religious institutions will also remain closed for the period of 21-days of the lockdown.

Earlier today, in yet another shocking act of deliberate violation of lockdown, a Muslim mob not only assembled at a local mosque in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh but also attacked the policemen for asking to avoid mass prayers (namaz) in the view of nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Muslim had assembled at a local mosque in Bhogaon, Mainpuri on Wednesday to offer namaz at a time when Uttar Pradesh government has issued orders that no religious places will be kept open for prayers during the lockdown. The local administration had also appealed the Muslims to not assemble at the mosque. 

However, the Muslims had defied the rules to assemble at the mosque. On receiving information that people had gathered at the mosque located in Mohalla Mohammad Saeed town of Bhogaon, Inspector Pahup Singh reached the mosque with fellow policemen. When asked to open the door of the mosque, the mob became angry and refused to open the doors of the mosque.

Despite all the efforts, the police could not convince the Muslim mob. They tried hard to open the doors but they were not allowed inside the mosque. Then, the Muslim mob unleashed themselves on the policemen as they attempted to disperse the mob. The police had to call for reinforcements to control the mob.

No International passenger flights in or out till 14th April: India extends restriction in a bid to control Wuhan Coronavirus spread

In a circular issued on the 19th of March 2020, the Government of India had imposed a restriction on International flights in and out of India, effective from 22nd March till the 31st of March. In a fresh circular, the Government of India has extended that restriction till the 14th of April in a bid to control the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus that has till date, 649 positives in the country.

Order issued by the Government of India extending order to stop International flights to control Coronavirus spread
Order issued by the Government of India extending order to stop International flights to control Coronavirus spread

The circular says that in continuation of the previous circular issued on the 19th of March 2020, it has been decided that all scheduled international commercial passenger services shall remain closed till 6:30 PM GMT of April 14th 2020.

The order also says that this restriction will not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today held a press conference and announced a financial package which would take care of the welfare concerns of the poor and the suffering migrant workers after the 21-day lockdown has been announced to arrest the spread of Wuhan Coronavirus. The package was called ‘Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Yojana and totalled a whopping 1.70 lakh crores. The Finance Minister said that one side of the scheme would focus on cash transfers through DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) and the other would focus on food security as the government does not want anyone to remain hungry. 

The Government of India had announced a full 21-day lockdown of India in a bid to arrest the spread of the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus also known as Covid-19. So far, there have been 649 positive cases in India including 13 deaths and 42 people who have recovered.

Washington Post journalist says the term ‘Chinese Virus’ is racist, a term used by the publication multiple times

Despite the fact that the Novel Coronavirus, which has descended as a global catastrophe, originated from Wuhan in China, the Chinese media, international ‘liberals’ and many organisations across the world have been trying to peddle victimhood, claiming that calling the pandemic a Chinese disease and terms like Chinese virus and Wuhan virus is ‘racism’ and ‘bias’.

One such woke journalist, Niha Masih, working as the Indian correspondent for the international media outlet, The Washington Post, today took to Twitter to denounce India for tweeting on “#coronavirus as #ChineseVirus19”. Niha called it a nasty and racist attempt to defame China.

Screenshot of Niha Masih’s Tweet

The visibly irked journalist could not control her emotions and merely a couple of minutes after the first tweet she once tweeted that she is shocked to see even India Today using this racist hashtag.

Screenshot of Niha Masih’s second Tweet

Well, Twitter can be really harsh on people sometimes. An alert Twitter user Harsh Gupta was quick to call out the journalist for her double standards. Sharing a snapshot of The Washington Post’s report where it referred to the Coronavirus as ‘Chinese virus’, Gupta asked Niha Masih to “resign from WaPo”.

Screenshot of Harsh Gupta’s Tweet

The Washington Post, in one of its report dated January 27, 2020, titled: “Chinese coronavirus infections, death toll soar as fifth case is confirmed in U.S.”, had itself called the Novel Coronavirus a ‘Chinese Virus’. It’s funny how one of its own journalists had now taken to Twitter to virtue signal on racism and Chinese virus.

Screenshot of the article by The Washington Post dated January 27, 2020

Well, Niha Masih will be delighted to know that this is not the only instance the American daily newspaper, which she is associated with, has referred to the Novel Coronavirus as the ‘Chinese coronavirus’ or ‘China virus’, but they have used the term multiple times. In another article dated January 22, 2020, titled: “First U.S. case of potentially deadly Chinese coronavirus confirmed in Washington state.” While talking about the first case in the US to be tested positive of the coronavirus, The Washington Post called it the “potentially deadly Chinese coronavirus”.

In yet another article published on 29th January, Washington Post had used the headline “China coronavirus: Party scrambles to avert a Chernobyl moment”, but later they edited the headline and removed the term ‘China coronavirus’.

Screenshot of Google search result showing the original title of WaPo’s 29th January article

It is well known now that the coronavirus infection had started and spread from Wuhan in China as early as November 2019, till January 14. A tweet by WHO, that had gone viral on social media, also revealed how China has been misleading the world about the pandemic.

The negligence and cover-up of Chinese authorities have pushed the world to battle a pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives and impacted global economies heavily. But China is ‘offended’ at the disease being called ‘Chinese’. And now this seems to be rubbing off on many woke ‘liberals’ and organisations across the world. Moreover, several other diseases are already named after places, like Japanese Influenza, Spanish Flu, German Measles etc, but only when a virus is named after China or Wuhan, China feels offended.

Odisha government to set up the largest COVID-19 hospitals in the country with a 1000 bed combined capacity

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Amid the grave health crisis in the country due to COVID-19 novel coronavirus that has led to a countrywide lockdown, the Odisha government led by CM Naveen Patnaik announced that the state of Odisha will be setting up two hospitals for COVID-19 patients with a combined capacity of 1000 beds.

The said hospitals, planned in collaboration with the SUM Hospital and KIIMS Medical College will be set up in a fortnight. OMC and MCL will provide CSR funding for the purpose. Both the new facilities will be functional in a fortnight.

The State of Odisha had yesterday announced an advance salary for doctors, nurses and healthcare workers for the next four months. In a video conferencing, CM Naveen Patnaik said, “Our doctors, paramedics, and healthcare workers are in the first line of defense providing relentless services amid these difficult conditions.”

The government of Odisha is also setting up testing labs in various districts and also announced earlier to arrange 2000 isolation beds for the coronavirus patients.

Earlier on Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a financial package that would take care of the welfare concerns of the poor and the suffering migrant workers after the 21-day lockdown which has been announced to break the chain of the novel coronavirus. The package is called as ‘Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Yojana and totalled a whopping 1.70 lakh crores.

The Finance Minister said that one side of the scheme would focus on cash transfers through DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) and the other would focus on food security as the government does not want anyone to remain hungry. The package will benefit medical staff, BPL families, farmers, MGNREGA, widows, pensioners and Divyangs, households under the Ujjwala scheme, self-help women who are dealing with Livelihood Missions, construction workers, District mineral fund and Organised Sector Workers.

Wuhan Coronavirus: If India is testing too few, why is the percentage of ‘positives’ in India so low?

Since the time the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic began, India has been facing a constant barrage of criticism. Why is India testing so few people? Are India’s stringent testing criteria leaving out too many affected people who are spreading the disease all around the country?

Let us hope at least some of this criticism comes from well meaning concern, although I suspect much of it does not. But without anyone on either side getting defensive about their position, they really do need to explain this.

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Tweet by Arvind Jain

While these numbers are changing rapidly in real time, these figures are broadly correct.  Till now, India has carried out a total of 25,144 tests and detected 693 cases, which comes to 2.7%.

Meanwhile the United States has carried out roughly 370,000 tests and detected around 60,000 infections, which is a rate of 16-17%.

Those two are very different numbers and very far from each other.

The irony here seems to be this: the wider you cast the net, you should have a lower and lower percentage of actual affected persons.

On the other hand, India is testing people who are already showing symptoms, have travelled abroad or have come into direct contact with those having a travel history. For a fairly long time, India was applying even more stringent criteria: only those with travel history (or direct contact with such people) and who are already showing symptoms. In other words, India was testing almost exclusively people in the highest risk category of contracting the Wuhan Coronavirus. This should have pushed the percentage of detected infections higher, not lower.

Read: Did Gujarat company ‘CoSara’ become ‘the first and only’ company to get ​license to make Covid-19 testing kits? Here are the facts

South Korea has drawn praise all across the world for its efficient and widespread testing after the breakout of the Wuhan Coronavirus. So far, Korea has carried out about 350,000 tests and detected about 9000 cases of the virus, which works out to 2.5%. That is strikingly close to India’s number.

This genuinely could be good news for India, a ray of hope. It does suggest that India might actually be testing at a very appropriate rate. So far, with around 700 infections, that means the disease might not have gone out of control in India. It might really still be stuck in Stage 2 instead of the truly terrifying Stage 3 (community transmission).

There are other considerations here, of course. We know that the number of infections goes up exponentially. The testing ability also goes up with time, but perhaps not as fast. Perhaps therefore the ratio between the number of infections and the number of tests will go up as time passes?

So what if we went back a little into the past and looked at these same countries when they had done fewer tests?

By Feb 29, Korea had done 55000 tests and detected 3000 cases. This works out to 5.7%, which is more than the 2.5% in Korea today. So the ratio went down with time, not up.

The French Health Agency has some data that is particularly eye opening in this regard.

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Data from French Health Agency

Till March 15, France had carried out 36747 tests (not far from our current 25000 tests) and discovered 6153 cases. That’s a rate of 17%, a very far cry from our 2.7%. As of now, France has carried out 1 lakh tests and reported about 20,000 cases, which works out to 20%.

There is a very good chance here that India is doing something right. There is no room for complacency here, but definitely grounds for cautious optimism.

Chinese Coronavirus in Kashmir: 152 people with undisclosed foreign travel history traced by Srinagar Control Room, put under quarantine

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In the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus Pandemic, District Magistrate of Srinagar Shaid Choudhary has revealed that 152 people with an undeclared history of travel to UAE, Iran, Hungary, Taiwan, Malaysia, Cambodia, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Kazakhstan have been traced by the Control Room in Jammu & Kashmir and put under quarantine. He also urged people to come forward and report to the authorities on their own in order to help themselves, their family and fellow countrymen.

“Control Room traced 152 undeclared cases of persons returned from the UAE, Iran, Hungary, Taiwan, Malaysia, Cambodia, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Kazakhstan. Put under quarantine. We continue to request people to come forward and self-report. Help docs, Urself, family & society,” Choudhary said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Kashmir has recorded its first death in the pandemic. A 65-year-old Islamic preacher of the Tableeghi Jamaat with an extensive history of travel within the country died in Srinagar on Thursday. Four others had contracted the Wuhan Coronavirus from him. All are reportedly from Bandipora. Five of the eleven cases of Coronavirus in Jammu & Kashmir had attended an Islamic event attended by the deceased Islamic preacher.

Patna’s Hanuman Mandir trust donates Rs 1 crore to CM’s relief fund to fight Wuhan Coronavirus

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As the scourge of novel coronavirus grips India, several companies from across sectors, as well as many organisations, have come forward to extend assistance to the government in their fight against the Covid-19. Like many others, the Mahavir Mandir Trust in Patna has donated Rs 1 crore to the CM Relief Fund for fighting Covid-19 pandemic in the state.

The Trust’s secretary Acharya Kishore Kunal said: “Our main motive is to strengthen the government’s plan to recover from the catastrophe and provide food to the poor people.”

Mahavir Temple Trust deposits Rs 1 crore to the CM Relief Fund for fighting Covid-19 pandemic in the state, Courtesy: Jagran

Notably, this is the same trust which had announced in November last year that it would donate Rs 10 crore to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. “We have already allocated Rs 10 crore on behalf of the Mahavir temple Nyas in Patna to be donated to build Ram temple in Ayodhya. Once the construction of the temple begins in Ayodhya, we will donate Rs 10 crore”, Acharya Kishore Kunal had said.

Meanwhile, Bihar LJP President and MP Prince Raj also donated Rs 1 crore from his MPLAD fund for protection from coronavirus. In a letter to the Samastipur district administration, Raj wrote that this fund might be used in purchasing sanitizers, masks and other medical kits for coronavirus-affected patients.

As India grapples to contain the deadly Covid-19, many business houses have also extended assistance to the government in their fight against the Covid-19. Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, Anand Mahindra, the chairman of Mahindra Group and Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal have pledged their support amidst the unprecedented crisis that has triggered widespread lockdowns across many parts of the country.

Besides undertaking a slew of measures to shore up India’s battle against the Covid-19, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance had also announced initial support of Rs 5 crores to Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to combat coronavirus spread. It also announced that it has set up India’s first COVID-19 dedicated hospital in Mumbai.

Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the Mahindra group, not only offered resorts under Mahindra Holidays as temporary care facilities for the patients, but he also claimed that his group’s project team would stand ready to assist the government and Army to help set up care facilities and that Mahindra Foundation will be setting aside a fund to help the worst-hit tide over the current crisis. 

Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal has pledged an amount of Rs 100 crores to fight the pandemic of coronavirus that has hit the nation. 

Yesterday, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) decided that 1 crore party workers are going to provide meals to 5 poor people each (5 crore poor people) during the India-wide lockdown. The decision had been taken after reports emerged that during the lockdown which came into force from 12 AM of the intervening night between 24th and 25th March, several poor people of the country were going hungry.

As of now, India has recovered 649 positive cases in COVID19 and 13 people have died till now. States across the country have announced stringent lockdown to curb the further spread of the disease which threatens to overwhelm the nation’s public health system.

Korean series, Kannada magazine, novels and ‘psychic’ warnings: Here are the coronavirus ‘predictions’ going viral on social media

Netizens have taken aback after it has been revealed that a Korean series named ‘My Secret Terrius’ had appeared to predict the coronavirus pandemic back in 2018.

As most of the world has been staying at home since an unprecedented lockdown was enforced to fight the Chinese COVID-19 pandemic, many have found themselves binge-watching the Korean series. In the 10th episode, there has been a reference to the Chinese virus epidemic, which has now shocked the viewers.

In a specific scene in the series, a doctor is seen in a hospital informing an individual that their accompanying dying patient has been infected with a mutant strain of coronavirus, one which she explains is more dangerous than the previously known strains – 2002’s SARS and 2012’s MERS diseases.

The show depicts a virus that had been manipulated to kill 90% of humanity. “Someone tweaked it to increase the mortality rate to 90 per cent,” a character on the show explains to another person while comparing the coronavirus to MERS, adding that it has an incubation period between two to 14 days.

“The virus was manipulated to attack the lungs directly within just five minutes of being exposed,” she added.

In the series, she states that there’s no cure available, with a later scene reportedly showing a class of children being taught how to wash their hands properly to avoid the spread of the virus.

There have been several instances of people predicting the Chinese pandemic much before it spread across the world. An Astrologer named Acharya Vinod Kumar in an Instagram post had predicted that coronavirus will end in India between September and November. Reiterating the idea that the virus cannot survive hot weather, the astrologer said that it will end as summer starts in India.

Similarly, in a novel was written by Dean Koontz – ‘The Eyes of Darkness’, an alleged ‘prediction’ of a coronavirus. There is a passage in the book that implies the creation of a deadly virus known as Wuhan-400 in a Biolab in China, which is named after the place it was originated. Though the theories of te current coronavirus being a bioweapon have been largely debunked, the reference to Wuhan and a Chinese originated virus had grabbed widespread social media attention.

Image via MSN.com

Seven years ago, a man on Twitter had ‘warned’ the world about Coronavirus. Marco had exactly predicted that the coronavirus was going to hit humanity. In a 2013 tweet, Marco had tweeted saying ‘Coronavirus.. It’s coming.”

Astonishingly, an Indian – AS KVS Sharma, a scientist from Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), had also written about the coronavirus way back in 1989 and had also mentioned the name of the virus around 31 years ago, in an article, that appeared in a Kannada magazine ‘Taranga’.

Image Source: Deccan Herald

The article under the heading ‘Negadi – Nagabedi’, with byline Kollegal Sharma, appeared in the magazine in the year 1989. The article was about the common cold, where the name of coronavirus has been mentioned.

Similarly, another prediction from the book of American author Sylvia Browne, who claimed to be a psychic has also been doing rounds. In her book, Browne had ‘predicted’ that in 2020, a pneumonia-like illness will infect a large population around the world.

Sylvia Browne’s book, image via News 18

Chinese Coronavirus is a broad term that pertains to a large family of viruses that cause respiratory infections. These can range from the common cold to more serious diseases, while COVID-19 is the disease caused by a new coronavirus. The pandemic has now infected over 400,000 people worldwide, killing over 21,000 of them.

UP police arrest AIMIM leader Mansoor Alam for spreading misinformation that 50,000 people have died in India due to Coronavirus

Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested AIMIM District President Mansoor Alam in Prayagraj for spreading misinformation on social media about deaths caused due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to the reports, AIMIM District President Mansoor Alam, who is a resident of Gajia in Jahagirabad area of Naini had shared fake news pertaining to the Chinese coronavirus outbreak to create panic in the society.

Mansoor on social media had claimed that the government was hiding facts related to the total death due to coronavirus in the country. He had claimed more than 50,000 people have already died in the country and accused the government of stating wrong figures of just 500. The posted on Facebook by said, “The government is hiding facts. Over 50,000 people have already died in the country due to Covid-19 till now while the government figures show over 500.”

Read- Coronavirus: Congress leader and ‘friendly journalists’ spread fake news that Assam Medical College healthcare workers have to wear plastic due to lack of protective gear

The UP police have taken against AIMIM leader Masood after the post shared by him went viral on social media. An FIR has been registered against the accused and action is being taken accordingly. Prayagraj police said that Alam has been booked under section 188 (violating section 144 of CrPc), 153 A (indulge in wanton vilification) and 295 A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage the feeling of any class).

During questioning by police, he said that he exaggerated the figures to make people more aware so that they remain indoors.

According to the Health Ministry, a total of 649 COVID-19 positive cases have been detected in the country, out of which 42 have been cured and 13 have died.

Pakistan army starts forcibly moving Covid-19 patients to PoK and Gilgit as they don’t want any patient in Punjab province

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The Pakistani army has been moving COVID-19 positive patients from Punjab province to Gilgit and Baltistan of Pakistan occupied Kashmir despite strong agitation of the local Kashmiri people.

As per the report, special quarantine centres have been set up in Mirpur and other major cities in the occupied regions to cleanse the Punjab province of the coronavirus patients as the top brass of the army has ordered that no COVID-19 patient should be anywhere near Army facilities and societies in the Punjab province.

Reportedly, a large number of patients are being moved in locked transport carriers to Gilgit and Baltistan. The local residents have been protesting against the Pakistan government for setting up of quarantine centres there as the area itself lacks infrastructure and medical facilities.

The residents of Muzaffarabad, capital of PoK, are in constant fear knowing that their region is going to be hit by the epidemic and moreover, the area does not even have the basic health care facilities to deal with even the minor ailments.

A resident of Muzzafarabad, Jaffar Ismail said, “Pakistani Army only thinks about Punjab and nothing else. They are treating Gilgit and Baltistan as a dustbin. We have been seeing the movement of coronavirus patient from all over Punjab to hospitals in Muzaffarabad and we are very scared at this latest betrayal of Kashmiri people by the Pakistani Army.”

A political activist from PoK, Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza said, “On one side we are giving emphasis on social distancing and another side Pakistan government is forcing people to gather and demonstrate against the setting up of quarantine centres. This is a lack of governance in Pakistan that’s why they have handed over the entire country to the army and the army is making all the arrangements to suit its interests.”

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan has surged to 1,000 so far.