© Provided by The Indian Express
With 941 casualties in the past 24 hours, the Covid-19 toll in India topped 50,000 (50,921) on Monday. As many as 57,982 new cases were reported in the country, taking the tally to 26,47,664. Of the 26 lakh cases, at least 19 lakh have recovered, while over 6.7 lakh are still active. India has been reporting over 60,000 cases daily since August 7, barring August 11 when the country registered 53,601 new instances of the infection.
The total number of tests for detection of COVID-19 has crossed the 3 crore-mark in India, with the Union Health ministry asserting on Monday that the “new landmark” has been achieved due to expanded diagnostic lab network and facilitation of easy testing across the country. A total of 3,00,41,400 samples have been tested until August 16 with 7,31,697 samples being tested on Sunday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.
Here are some interesting stories from across the country on day 17 of Unlock 3.0
Noida: Over 2,200 vehicles challaned for flouting COVID-19 curbs
Two people were arrested and challans issued to owners of more than 2,200 vehicles across Noida and Greater Noida on Monday for allegedly violating COVID-19 curbs, Gautam Buddh Nagar police said.
Nine vehicles were impounded for similar violations across the district, which has so far recorded 6,544 COVID-19 cases and 43 deaths, according to official figures.
Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which bars assembly of more than four people, is in force in Gautam Buddh Nagar in view of the pandemic. “Four FIRs were registered and two people arrested for violating the COVID-19 curbs. A total of 5,243 vehicles were checked across 200 barrier points in the district and challans issued to 2,214 of them while another nine were impounded,” the police said in a statement.
Covid and caution
A woman helps a child put on a mask while visiting Sector 17 Plaza of Chandigarh on Monday. Crowds are returning to malls, but with face masks or face covers.
Belagavi: With no aid coming due to COVID fear, family transports body on bicycle
With no one reportedly coming to their aid due to COVID-19 fears, a family was forced to transport a body on a bicycle amid heavy rains in a village in Belagavi district, Karnataka. As the video of the incident went viral, the Congress state unit flayed the government for its “apathy” in failing to providing an ambulance to the family.
Sharing the video on Twitter, Congress state chief D K Shivakumar wrote, “Relatives of a 70-year-old person who died in Kittur, Belagavi had to carry the body for cremation on a bicycle in heavy rains.”
Questioning the government, he said: “CM B S Yediyurappa, where is your government? Why was an ambulance not provided? ….. Govt lacks humanity & has been a total failure in handling the pandemic.”
According to the family members, the man had fever for two days and the medical team at the local primary health care advised the family to admit him to hospital as he was showing coronavirus symptoms.
94 per cent kids surveyed in 4 states don’t have smartphones or internet access for e-education: CRY
A survey among children in four southern states found that about 94 per cent of the respondents did not have access to smartphones or the internet for online education. The study conducted by child rights body CRY in May-June covered 5,987 children in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The information was collected by CRY’s community organisers through telephonic interviews.
The objective of the study was to embark on a fact-finding mission on “internet accessibility of children” in the age group of 11-18 years. “With schools closed and mobility restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CRY wanted to envisage the ground reality of the potential for online education,” it said.
The study found that most of the respondents from Karnataka owned smartphones, with nine per cent of the 1,445 respondents answering in the affirmative, while only three per cent out of the 1,740 children surveyed in Tamil Nadu had smartphones.