Face covers, human distancing new normal; PM says economy also important while fighting COVID-19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said economy needs to be given importance too while fighting COVID-19 and asked chief ministers to plan for the way ahead after two phases of lockdowns end on May 3. He also cautioned that the danger is far from over, while Health Ministry said a record number of 60 COVID-19 patients have died in the last 24 hours.

However, a ray of hope emerged with authorities declaring that 85 districts across India have not reported a single infection in the last two weeks and five northeastern states have become totally free of the virus. The nationwide tally of coronavirus positive cases, in the meantime, crossed 29,000 with at least 935 deaths, but more than 6,600 patients have been discharged, pushing the recovery rate to over 22 per cent, according to figures announced by various states and UTs.

Domestic rating agency Crisil warned that the "disastrous" lockdowns will lead to losses of Rs 10 lakh crore, as it nearly halved its GDP growth estimate for the current fiscal to 1.8 per cent.

"Lockdowns are showing a disastrous impact on the economy and could lead to a permanent loss of GDP, unemployment and poverty, despite relief packages,” Crisil said.

On the positive side, the Health Ministry said 85 districts have not reported a single positive case in the last 14 days, while 16 districts have not witnessed even one case in the last 28 weeks.

Separately, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said five Northeastern states -- Sikkim, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura -- are now completely coronavirus-free and the other three -- Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram -- have not added any new COVID-19 positive case in the last few days.

Himachal Pradesh has also nor reported a single positive case for four days now.

The nationwide tally suggested that some large urban centres are facing the brunt of the deadly virus much more than many other parts of the country with just three of them -- Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad -- accounting for almost one-third of the total positive cases in the country. These three also account for nearly 40 per cent of COVID-19 deaths.

Officials said education institutions, shopping malls, religious places and public transport are likely to remain shut beyond May 3, but limited movement of private vehicles may be allowed in green zones. But passenger train and air services are unlikely to start anytime soon, while ban on puiblic and social gatherings may also continue, an official said.

There is a possibility of regulated train or air services after mid-May between some designated places depending on the COVID-19 situation.

A final decision on lockdown will be taken during the weekend, officials said on Monday after a meeting on the strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

At least five chief ministers out of nine who spoke during the video conference interaction with the prime minister are said to have strongly pitched for an extension of the lockdown beyond May 3 while a few advocated a cautious relaxation in curbs with limited activities in COVID-19 free districts.

As the final week of the second phase of lockdown began, Modi conveyed to chief ministers that the country will have to give importance to the economy as well as continue the fight against the novel coronavirus.

In his fourth video conference with the chief ministers over the pandemic, Modi also underlined that the nationwide lockdown has "yielded positive results as the country has managed to save thousands of lives in the past one and a half months."

"The prime minister said that the country has seen two lockdowns till now, both different in certain aspects, and now we have to think of the way ahead. He said that as per experts, the impact of coronavirus will remain visible in the coming months," according to an official statement.

Modi said masks and face covers will become part of people's lives in the days ahead. He emphasised on the importance of the use of technology as much as possible, and also on a need to embrace reform measures. He, however, forewarned that the danger of the virus is far from over and a constant vigil is of paramount importance. The first lockdown was announced by Modi on March 24 in a bid to combat the coronavirus endemic. It was later extended till May 3.

In the meantime, the country's apex health research body ICMR asked states to stop using the COVID-19 rapid antibody test kits procured from two Chinese companies and return them to be sent back to the suppliers. Some states including Rajasthan had flagged issues with results given by these kits. Opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has alleged that some people were indulging in profiteering while supplying rapid test kits for COVID-19 to the government.

The Union Health Ministry, in its evening update, said there has been a spike of 1,463 cases since Sunday evening. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 21,132, while 6,361 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said. The total number of cases includes 111 foreign nationals. However, a PTI tally of numbers announced by various states and union territories, as on 10.20 PM, put the total number of positive cases across India at 29,268 with at least 935 deaths. It also showed more than 6,600 having recovered.

Among major cities, Mumbai saw its tally rising to 5,589 cases with at least 219 deaths and Ahmedabad now has 2,378 positive cases with at least 109 deaths. Delhi also saw its tally of positive cases rising to 3,108 with 190 new cases during the day. These three major urban centres also impact a significant part of the country's overall economic activities.

Of the nationwide death toll, Maharashtra has the maximum 369 fatalities, followed by Gujarat at 162, Madhya Pradesh at 106, Delhi at 54, Rajasthan at 50, and Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh at 31 each. Maharashtra has also reported the maximum number of confirmed cases at 8,590, followed by Gujarat at 3,548, Delhi at 2,918 and Rajasthan at 2,262.

In Andhra Pradesh, the number of cases reached 1,177, while it has crossed 1,000 in Telangana also. Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister Y S Jagan Reddy asked people to take precautions to prevent the infection as he warned, "We cannot eliminate it, so we have to live with it." Telangana government, howver, said two fresh coronavirus cases were reported on Monday and it hoped the state would become free of the disease in coming days.

While interacting with the prime minister, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani favoured a gradual lifting of the coronavirus-enforced nationwide lockdown. Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Meghalaya favoured extending the lockdown. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, after his interaction with the prime minister, asked state officials to make specific plans for post May 3, when the second phase of the lockdown is scheduled to end.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, alleged that the Centre was making contradictory statements on enforcement of the lockdown, and wanted greater clarity on the recent union home ministry order on reopening shops.

Claiming that many states were not allowed to speak during Modi's video conference with chief ministers owing to the rotation system, Banerjee said given a chance she would have raised several questions, including the need to send central teams to Bengal. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami sought from the Centre more RT-PCR kits for COVID-19 screening to help the state ramp up its testing capacity to 10,000 a day against existing 7,500.

Globally, an estimated 30 lakh have tested positive for the deadly virus ever since its emergence in China last December, while more than two lakh have died. Approximately 8 lakh COVID-19 patients have recovered worldwide so far. New Zealand on Monday announced it has "won the battle" against COVID-19 for now with very few new cases coming up and it lifted most of the restrictions imposed to fight the deadly virus spread.