Coronavirus India Live Updates: The centre is not receiving expected levels of cooperation from West Bengal over return of stranded migrants, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today. In his letter the Home Minister also accused the Bengal government of not allowing “shramik (worker)” trains run by the Railways to reach the state and declared this to be an “injustice” for Bengali migrants stranded across the country.
Over 3,000 people tested positive for novel coronavirus or COVID-19 in India in 24 hours, taking the total to 59,662 cases, the Union Health Ministry said this morning. 95 people have diedduringthis period, it said. At least 1,981 COVID-19 deaths have been reported so far and 17,847 patients have recovered, according to the government data.
The Union Health Ministry on Friday said people should “learn to live with the virus” while the nationwide tally of confirmed infections was seen fast approaching the 60,000-mark and the death toll crossed 1,900.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray admitted there has been no success yet in breaking the virus chain in the state — the worst hit in the country in terms of infections and the death toll — while apex industry body CII sought an immediate stimulus package of Rs 15 lakh crore, or 7.5 per cent of the country’s GDP, to help the Indian economy deal with this sudden but “deep distress”.
Industry chambers, including CII, FICCI and Assocham, also demanded suspension of several labour laws for next two-three years to help India Inc come out of the crisis induced by the lockdown to combat COVID-19 pandemic, including by increasing working hours to 12 hours per day from the existing 8 hours per day, a labour ministry statement said.
The Health Ministry, in the meantime, reeled off various datasets, including those showing a rising number of infection-free districts and an increasing recovery rate, to suggest success in the government’s COVID-19 fight, even as it sought “a behavioural change” and everyone’s support in this massive challenge.
In India, big urban centres across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi have been reporting large numbers of positive cases.
Mumbai, the country’s financial capital, saw its tally of COVID-19 patients growing to 11,967 with 748 new cases, while its death toll has reached 462 with 25 more fatalities.
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