India reports its biggest single-day coronavirus spike as lockdown eased
On Monday, India reported its biggest single-day spike in coronavirus cases as the government eased one of the world's most stringent lockdowns to allow some production and agricultural activity to resume.
Updated: Apr 20, 2020 16:19 IST
|Niranjani Jesentha Kumari Prabagararaj
|1,553 cases registered
Over 24 hours, an additional 1,553 cases have been registered, taking the national total past 17,000. Nearly 543 people have died from Covid-19, the virus-induced respiratory disease, and epidemiologists believe the peak may not be reached until June. The shelter in place orders imposed in India on March 24 stopped all but vital services, sparking an exodus of migrant workers and survivors of Indian cities and rural villages on daily wages. Authorities picked up travelers in a bus fleet, then quarantined many of them for 14 days in vacant schools and other public buildings.
Limited industry and agriculture were allowed to restart, beginning Monday, where employers could follow social distance and hygiene requirements, and migrant workers were able to move to factories, farms, and other work sites within states.
When a group of migrants wants to return to their workplaces within the state where they are currently residing, they will be screened and those who are asymptomatic will be transported to their respective workplaces, "the home ministry of India said in a letter to state governments. Government surveys in Maharashtra's central Indian state, the worst-hit by the virus, have, however, indicated that few companies eligible to restart operations could do so because they are expected to transport and shelter staff as a virus prevention measure.
India's airspace was also closed to its passenger rail, bus and metro network was halted, e-commerce was limited to food and other important products, and schools, stadiums, and worship houses were closed until May 3. India is also continuing the testing, building up ventilator stocks and personal protective equipment and planning makeshift isolation wards and Covid-19 dedicated hospitals.
In Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra and home to Asia's largest slum, city authorities decided to administer hydroxychloroquine over 14 days to thousands of slum residents to assess whether the drug has helped slow the spread of the disease in a location where social distancing norms can not be met.