The Punjab government has decided on Friday to extend the lockdown in the state till May 1 to contain the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus. The decision was taken following a state cabinet meeting today. In a video conference with cabinet ministers today, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said, “Prediction by experts about the spread of the virus are horrendous and frightening.” He added that the government is preparing itself and gearing up for such a situation.
This decision comes at a time when Punjab is seeing a spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the past few days, pushing the total count to 132 so far with 11 deaths. In the last 24 hours, 21 fresh coronavirus cases have been reported.
Keeping in mind the present harvesting season, the CM said Punjab will allow district-wise relief from the lockdown only to farmers in order to allow them harvesting of Rabi crop. Yesterday, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced a similar extension in his state till 30 April. The nationwide lockdown is set to continue till 15 April amid various states and experts recommending an extension.
Whether to extend the 21-day national lockdown after it ends on 14th will be decided after a meeting of Prime Minister Modi with all the Chief Ministers through video conferencing on the 11th of April. Several states have requested to extend the lockdown, while some others have favoured a limited lockdown after 14th April. The PM is expected to announce a decision after the meeting and before the current lockdown ends.
To contain the spread of the virulent Wuhan coronavirus, the government has taken a tough decision of putting the country under complete 21-day lockdown. Researchers are trying their best to come up with vaccines and treatments for the virus, but until then extreme social distancing is pretty much the only intervention available to help individuals stay healthy, and to break the chain of transmission.
The government, police and security personnel have been doing everything possible to keep people indoors. At a time like this, when journalists and influencers should be dutybound to educate masses about the merits of staying home and the seriousness of the pandemic, media person, accused of sexual harassment and stalking, Vinod Dua, through his show titled The Vinod Dua Showon HW News, is almost inciting people to take to the streets.
Liberal Jamaat wants πiots in India.
One Jamaat spreading Corona, the other is inciting people to come on roads so that millions d!e in πiots or by Corona
Whole world is in lockdown, but these vultures can’t see India effectively controlling an epidemic pic.twitter.com/SARhSVDKPL
In episode 253 of the program, the veteran journalist says that though Coronavirus is a ‘social emergency’, the ‘real’ social emergency would be if people start defying lockdown. He incites viewers by casting aspersions on the government and police personnel who have been in the forefront fighting the pandemic. While on one hand, Vinod Dua rebukes the police by calling them ‘Jallad’- brutal and ruthless, on the other hand, he accuses the Modi government of being insensitive towards the masses.
However, it is beyond a normal persons’ intellect, that how stopping people from violating rules, in turn saving them from the pandemic makes police brutal and ruthless and how a tough decision taken, to save millions of lives, makes the government insensitive. This only a cynical misanthrope like Vinod Dua could explain.
And this is why, perhaps in a situation like this, when the masses are extremely vulnerable and sensitive, Dua attempts to instigate public by accusing Prime Minister Modi of giving them merely four hours before the announcement of the lockdown to prepare themselves for the same. He says that the Prime Minister announced at 8 pm that the lockdown would begin at 12 midnight giving barely 4 hours for the public to prepare, which led to panic, Dua says.
Invoking the demonetisation decision taken by the centre in 2016, a hot topic which the leftist and opposition have thrived on for years, he said that there are two things, implosion and explosion. Implosion, he says, is what happened at the time of demonetisation, when people slowly stopped following rules and regulations set by the government. And, now, during the lockdown, if people are deprived of food, medicines, basic amenities there would be an explosion, exhorts Dua in his video.
Apart from this, at the beginning of his latest video (Episode 261), he says that civil disobedience could break out if the lockdown continues. In a veiled instigation, he says that the masses could reject the lockdown and take to streets because lockdown is not enough to fight the coronavirus. He asks people how long can they sustain on staples provided by NGOs and the government? He says people could reject this and get out of their homes defying the government imposed lockdown.
Moreover, Vinod Dua shamelessly fearmongers in the name of unemployment during this time of crisis. He also chides whatever the government is doing in terms of providing relief packages, schemes which are being put in place for essentials like food, healthcare and income support, the social welfare policies for households, the financial policies are not enough and all the other efforts being put in by various voluntary organisations to help people at the time of this global crisis. He incites by saying that whatever they are doing is not sufficient.
It’s appalling that a veteran journalist like Vinod Dua cannot for once keep his hate for Modi aside and speak judiciously and sensitively, especially at the time when the entire country is battling with a global concern as poignant and disturbing as this one. But for such paid leftist stooges no time is inappropriate to spread filth against Modi and his government.
In a bizarre case from Ludhiana in Punjab, several people including Police officers, Magistrate, informers, and the family members have been quarantined on Thursday after a 25-year-old vehicle thief named Saurav Seghal reportedly tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus.
#Breaking | Bizarre case of Corona scare in Punjab.
10 people have been quarantined after a burglar was tested positive for Coronavirus.
Sehgal was apprehended by the local Focal Point Police and produced in a court on April 5. He was kept in judicial custody at the Jeevan Nagar police post. On April 6, the district magistrate had asked the police to take the accused and his accomplice, Navjot Singh, for a medical examination after Sehgal had reportedly developed cough and fever. Singh, however, escaped from the hospital during the medical examination.
ASI Gurmeet Singh said, “The thief was sent to the isolation ward but the moment I opened Navjot’s handcuffs, he pushed me and fled.” 10 cops had also come into contact with Sehgal on April 5 and April 6. Additionally, the Magistrate and the Court Staff have been asked to go into self-isolation. 11 family members of the thief and two local informers were also quarantined in Ludhiana’s Ganesh Nagar locality.
The Union Health Ministry has released an advisory on the use of hydroxychloroquine drug for the treatment of the Wuhan coronavirus infection.
The advisory is based on the recommendation on the Indian Council of Medical Research. A task force was constituted by the ICMR to list the essentialities.
The drug Hydroxychloroquine has been widely used as a medicine which can treat coronavirus infection, ICMR said that it is not recommending its commercial use unless it gets satisfactory test results.
The advisory recommends to the drug should not be prescribed to children below 15 years of age and those cases of retinopathy and known hypersensitivity to hydroxychloroquine or 4-aminoquinoline compounds should also refrain from taking the medicine.
ICMR scientist R Ganga Ketkar said to ANI, “It is important to understand that this (hydroxychloroquine) medicine is not mandatory. Whether it will reduce the infection, will be known only after tests. The doctors are still testing it on symptomatic patients. Until we get satisfactory results, we won’t recommend this to anyone.”
ICMR suggests that Hydroxychloroquine is recommended to those health workers who are involved in the care of suspected cases of coronavirus or those who are confirmed cases and symptomatic household contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases.
The advisory released by the health ministry has listed points that should be considered before taking the hydroxychloroquine. The advisory asserts that the drug has to be taken only after it is recommended by a registered medical practitioner and patients or suspects should check with a physician about any adverse event before taking the medication.
The health ministry guidelines says that, “If anyone becomes symptomatic while on prophylaxis, he/she should immediately contact the health facility, get tested as per national guidelines and follow the standard treatment protocol.”
The advisory has strictly mentioned that the drug should be taken after the prescription of registered medical practitioner.
There is a huge demand for the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, from all over the world, including the US, for its potential use in helping treat patients of the novel coronavirus. India is the largest producer of the malarial drug. India has got a request from 30 countries for hydroxychloroquine.
Till 10 April, 6412 cases of coronavirus has been confirmed positive while 199 succumbed to the disease. 504 has been recovered and discharged.
Delhi Government Employees Welfare Association has written to the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijla, seeking eviction of 120 members of Tablighi Jamaat who had been quarantined in a government school in the neighbourhood. Gulabi Bagh houses 2500 Government officers along with their 15,000 family members.
They have requested the Government to shift the Wuhan Coronavirus infected patients to a neighbourhood with less population. “They have been quarantined here ignoring the fact that most of the staff residing here, is on emergency duty to contain Novel Coronavirus”, the letter read.
The Tablighi Jamaat event at the Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi held earlier in March has wreaked havoc in the country. Out of India’s 2500 odd cases, 647 have been linked to the congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat, a staggering 28 percent of the total cases.
In Delhi too, the number of cases is increasing rapidly and most of these cases are related to Nizamuddin Markaz. Yesterday, Delhi reported 93 new cases and all the cases were related to the Tablighi Jamaat. However, the Delhi Minorities Commission has written a letter to the Delhi government urging it to drop the separate column of ‘Markaz Majid’ in its daily bulletins on coronavirus cases in Delhi.
Amidst the Coronavirus outbreak, the Delhi health department has been publishing a daily health bulletin giving out comprehensive details of coronavirus case status in the state. The daily health bulletin updates the: total number of coronavirus cases, new cases on that specific day, discharged and migrated out coronavirus patients, the total number of death as on that day in Delhi. It also has other three columns that have been mentioned under ‘source of cases’. The Tablighi Jamaat finds mention under this sub-heading, as ‘Markaz Related’.
The DMC Chairman Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan alleged, “Your bulletins of Coronavirus victims are showing a separate column ‘Markaz Masjid’. Such thoughtless classification is feeding into the Islamophobia agenda of the lap media and Hindutva forces and has been easily turned into a handle to attack Muslims across the country.”
The Secretary-General of United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres cautioned the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on April 9 (Thursday) that the Coronavirus pandemic is threatening international peace and security as terrorists might use this opportunity to launch a bio-terror attack. The UN chief listed pressing risks to the world due to the pandemic as he spoke via video conference at the UNSC meeting on the Coronavirus impact. It was the first discussion of the UNSC on the pandemic.
Guterres in a short press statement said that the Coronavirus pandemic has provided a “window” into how a bio-terror attack might unfold across the world. He warned that that non-state groups could gain access to “virulent strains” that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe.
Describing the battle against Coronavirus as the “fight of a generation – and the raison d’etre of the United Nations itself,” Guterres furthered: “While the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a health crisis, its implications are much more far-reaching. The pandemic also poses a significant threat to the maintenance of international peace and security, potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease.”
Terrorist outfits, he said, may see a window of opportunity to strike while the attention of most governments was turned towards the current coronavirus pandemic. “The weaknesses and lack of preparedness exposed by this pandemic,” the UN chief said, adding: “Provide a window onto how a bio-terrorist attack might unfold and may increase its risks.”
“Non-state groups,” he cautioned “could gain access to virulent strains that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe”.
Guterres said that in some conflict settings, the uncertainty created by the pandemic may create incentives for some actors to promote further division and turmoil.
“This could lead to an escalation of violence and possibly devastating miscalculations, which could further entrench ongoing wars and complicate efforts to fight the pandemic,” he added.
Owing to the devastating effects of the coronavirus and the global efforts to combat the pandemic, the UN chief had on March 29 called for an immediate global ceasefire, urging all warring parties in conflict zones to suspend violence.
On Thursday, the UN chief said the engagement of the Security Council will be “critical in mitigating the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
There are over 1.6 million positive coronavirus cases around the globe and over 95,000 people have been killed so far due to the deadly virus.
On Thursday, two unattended currency notes of ₹500 created a sense of panic among the residents in Paper Mill Colony, Lucknow. The locals insisted that the notes were kept on the road to deliberately transmit the Wuhan Coronavirus infection. Police suspect that the panic was triggered by a Whatsapp video that has also been doing the rounds on social media.
In the viral video, a woman can be heard saying that someone rang their doorbell and had left a ₹500 rupee note on the doormat. The son then sprayed sanitiser on the currency note and cautiously slid it under the neighbour’s door. He then retreated back into his room. The contentious video had created mass hysteria among the residents of Paper Mill Colony.
The cops were called in and a doctor was also briefed about the situation. The notes were kept separately for 24 hours. No police action has been initiated to track the video. While ensuring social distancing, the residents of the colony engaged in serious discussion beyond midnight about how currency notes were used to spread coronavirus. They only left to their respective houses after the police intervened.
The fear of the residents of Lucknow’s paper Mill Colony may well be grounded on certain events in the recent past. Earlier, the Nashik police had taken to Twitter to inform that a Muslim man, whose video of licking and wiping nose with a bunch of currency notes and calling Coronavirus a punishment by Allah was doing rounds on social media, was in the police custody. The Muslim man in the video used few 500 denominations notes to wipe his nose and mouth as he looked into the camera and said, “There is no cure for a disease like Corona because it is the punishment of Allah, for you people.”
On Thursday, Deputy Commissioner (Srinagar) Shahid Iqbal Chowdhury had revealed that about 800 people in the Kashmir Valley had concealed their travel history and thus worsened the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus in the Union Territory.
He added, “All of them were later traced one by one and quarantined. Although their test results are awaited, there’s apprehension that some of them carried the Coronavirus from abroad and spread it in the Kashmir Valley.,”
800 people in valley hid travel history: Srinagar DC
Around 184 people in Jammu (32) and Kashmir (152) had been diagnosed with the deadly Chinese virus. However, the health authorities are awaiting the test results of 648 people who have a high probability of testing positive for Coronavirus. There are also about 6,112 low-risk cases in Srinagar. In order to control the vulnerable situation, around 1000 teams comprising of 4000 officials have been deployed in 25 zones in the city.
Dr Shahid said, “No shortage of medicine. Two aircraft of medicine have arrived on April 6 and 7 and one more is expected today. We will ensure to get the required medicine from any place across the country. It is our duty.” He also urged people to adhere to the social distancing guidelines.
SSP (Srinagar) Hasseb Mughal informed that the lockdown in the Kashmir Valley imposed in the wake of Coronavirus pandemic was not the usual law and order kind. He said that evening strolls would not be allowed and passes would be valid only from the place of stay to the place of work.
Delhi Police on Friday booked a local Congress leader, for not disclosing the fact that he had traveled to the Markaz Nizamuddin of Tablighi Jamaat, which has emerged as the country’s biggest Wuhan Coronavirus vector. The police have alleged that because of the Congress leader’s gross negligence, his village Deenpur in south-west Delhi has now been declared a containment zone, meaning it has been sealed off and movement of residents in and out of the place has been restricted.
Along with the former civic councillor, his wife, who is currently the area councillor and their daughter, the three have tested positive for the deadly contagion. The police have claimed that the Delhi Congress leader had deliberately hidden his travel details to the event organised by Tablighi Jamaat in Markaz Nizamuddin. When he was asked if he had visited any large religious gathering last month, he did not disclose his visit to Markaz, the police said. As per police, he was home quarantined at his residence in Deenpur village in Najafgarh. However, he was later found missing during physical verification of home quarantined persons.
An FIR had been lodged against him at Chhawla police station under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other relevant sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act.
A police official said that when the Congress leader was probed further to ascertain the source of his contagion and the number of contacts he might have transmitted the disease to, it was revealed that he had hidden the details about his visit to Markaz Nizamuddin. “When we were investigating initially, he was not showing any symptoms. But later when we did technical investigations, his link was clearly established, that he had visited the Tablighi Jamaat gathering,” a police official said.
The police officials have alleged that he has not only imperiled the health of his family members, two of whom have tested positive for the infection, but his conduct has also posed a threat of the spread of the disease to the local community members.
The role of the Tablighi Jamaat in the spreading of the Wuhan Coronavirus in India came to light when thousands of Jamaatis were found holed up in the Markaz Nizamuddin in violation of all lockdown guidelines and orders. Subsequently, numerous people across several states of India who had attended the Islamic event at the Markaz Nizamuddin tested positive for the virus.
A 65-year old man who was infected by Wuhan coronavirus has reportedly succumbed to the disease in Silchar’s Medical college and hospital(SMCH) in southern Assam’s Barak Valley on Friday.
As per reports, The deceased has travel history from Saudi Arabia and he also had participated in the Nizamuddin Markaz event of South Delhi last month. The infection was detected on April 7 and he was admitted to Silchar Medical College and Hospital.
Regarding the incident Assam’s Health Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma tweeted, “With utmost Grief and sorrow, I would like to inform that Sri Faijul Haque Barbhyan, (65) Hailakandi District has expired a few minutes back in SMCH due to complication of COVID19 infection. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family.”
With utmost Grief and sorrow,I would like to inform that Sri Faijul Haque Barbhyan,(65)Hailakandi District has expired few minutes back in SMCH due to complication of COVID19 https://t.co/MoRWPP4Bml deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family
He was among the 29 people who were tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus in the state of Assam. Apart from the cases in Assam, Manipur has reported 2 cases, while Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Mizoram have reported 1 case each.
The Nizamuddin Markaz event has turned into an epicentre for most of the Wuhan coronavirus cases across the country. The role of the Tablighi Jamaat in the spreading of the Wuhan Coronavirus in India came to light when thousands of Jamaatis were found holed up in the Markaz Nizamuddin in violation of all guidelines and orders. Subsequently, numerous people across numerous states of India who had attended the Islamic event at the Markaz Nizamuddin tested positive for the virus.
