Archives for June 2020

Top officials of the Union Health Ministry asked states to make a district-wise plan for the coming months in view of the lockdown curbs being lifted.

NEW DELHI: As the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases crossed 2.5 lakh mark on Monday morning, the Centre reiterated the need of conducting house-to-house surveys in 38 districts across 10 states that have the highest caseloads.

In a meeting with district and state-level authorities, top officials of the Union Health Ministry asked states to make a district-wise plan for the coming months in view of the lockdown curbs being lifted.The districts that participated in the meeting headed by Union health secretary Preeti Sundan were from Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh.

Main issues discussed were the widespread infection in densely populated urban areas, the importance of house-to-house surveys, prompt testing followed by isolation, clinical management of cases and containment strategy.

The country now has 2,56,611 confirmed cases of which 7,135 have died. Health ministry officials advised states on the measures to be taken in the containment zones for case management and buffer zones surveillance activities and promotion of COVID-appropriate behaviour.

To reduce the fatality rate, the Centre has stressed on measures such as prioritising the high-risk and vulnerable segments like elderly people and people with co-morbidities while contact-tracing to prevent deaths; active surveillance, adequate testing and promoting health-seeking behaviour for timely detection of cases and ensuring prompt shifting of patients without escalating the symptoms.

On the issues of infrastructure and human resource management for the containment of Covid-19, the Centre asked states to carry out proper planning for health infrastructure, deploy an adequate number of surveillance teams and set up a system for communicating bed availability.  It was also stressed that care needs to be given to regular and essential health services.

The Centre also underlined the need for augmentation of the survey teams, efficient ambulance management, efficient triaging of patients at the hospitals and bed management and clinical management of the hospitalised cases through rotational 24X7 teams.

The secretary also suggested to states to involve elected representatives in rural areas for cooperating with the district health authorities for confidence-building and timely accessing of available health services and activating fever clinics for detection of severe acute respiratory illnesses and flu cases in the buffer zones.

Sources said three security men have sustained bullet injuries in the gunfight and have been hospitalized.

SRINAGAR: Four militants were killed in an ongoing gunfight with security forces in militancy-hit Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

With these killings, nine militants have been killed in two encounters with security forces in Shopian district, which has emerged as stronghold of militants after killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani in July 2016.

A police official said acting on specific information about presence of militants, a joint contingent of J&K police’s Special Operations Group, CRPF and army laid siege around Pinjoora village in Shopian late last night.

He said in the early hours today, security personnel launched house to house searches in the village to track down the militants hiding there.

“While the searches were going on, militants hiding in the area fired volume of fire towards the security men. The fire was returned by the troops, triggering an encounter,” the official said.

He said in the ensuing gunfight, four militants have been killed so far.

Sources said three security men have sustained bullet injuries in the gunfight and have been hospitalized.

The operation was going on when reports last poured in, a police official said.

This is the second encounter in Shopian district in recent times. On Sunday, five militants of Hizbul Mujahideen including a commander were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Reban area of Shopian district.

The deceased militant commander was identified as Farooq Asad Nalli, who had joined militancy in 2015 and was wanted by security agencies for attacks on security forces.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 1,10,960, while 1,09,461 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, as per the latest government data.

NEW DELHI: India saw a record single-day jump of 9,851 coronavirus cases and 273 deaths on Friday, pushing the nationwide infection tally to 2,26,770 and the death toll to 6,348, according to the Union health ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 1,10,960, while 1,09,461 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.

“Thus, around 48.27 per cent patients have recovered so far,” a senior health ministry official said.

The total confirmed cases include foreigners.

Of the 273 deaths reported since Thursday morning, 123 were in Maharashtra, 44 in Delhi, 33 in Gujarat, 16 in Uttar Pradesh, 12 in Tamil Nadu, 10 in West Bengal, six each in Telangana and Madhya Pradesh, four each in Karnataka, Bihar and Rajasthan, three each in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, two in Uttarakhand and one each in Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Jharkhand.

Of the total 6,348 fatalities, Maharashtra tops tally with 2,710 deaths followed by Gujarat with 1,155 deaths, Delhi with 650, Madhya Pradesh with 377, West Bengal with 355, Uttar Pradesh with 245, Tamil Nadu with 220,  Rajasthan with 213, Telangana with 105 and Andhra Pradesh with 71 deaths.

The death toll reached 57 in Karnataka and 47 in Punjab.

Jammu and Kashmir has reported 35 fatalities due to the disease, Bihar has 29, Haryana has 24 deaths, Kerala has 14, Uttarakhand has 10, Odisha has seven and Jharkhand has reported six deaths so far.

Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh have registered five COVID fatalities each, Assam has recorded four deaths while Chhattisgarh has reported two deaths so far.

Meghalaya and Ladakh have reported one COVID-19 fatality each, according to the ministry data.

According to the ministry’s website, more than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities.

Surprisingly, the parents have denied their daughter’s allegations of molestation against the son.

ETAWAH: A 20-year-old girl surrendered before police after killing her elder brother who had allegedly tried to molest her.

The incident took place in Kotwali police circle in Etawah district in the early hours of Wednesday.

The deceased has been identified as Deepak Rajput, a resident of Sati Mohalla.

According to reports, Deepak, who was pursuing a computer course at a local institute, attempted to molest his younger sister who resisted the attempt and then attacked him with a sickle and pestle.

The parents had gone to their maternal grand-parents’ place in Bela town at the time of incident.

The alleged victim then went to the police station and informed them about the incident.

Circle Officer (City) Vaibhav Pandey said: “The accused girl later reached Kotwali police station and confessed before the police about the crime. She guided the police to her house in Sati Mohalla, where they found her brother lying in a pool of blood with grievous wounds. He was rushed to Sefai Medical College where doctors declared him brought dead on arrival.”

“A case under relevant sections including 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC has been registered at Kotwali police station and the accused has been arrested,” he said.

Surprisingly, the parents have denied their daughter’s allegations of molestation against the son.

The circle officer said, “We are cross-checking the call details of the victim and the accused. She will be produced before court and sent to jail on Thursday.”