The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in its press conference requested citizens to not be violent towards the frontline workers who are actively working to tackle COVID-19.
Campaign For Stigma
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare emphasised that the stigma attached to patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 should be abolished through active community participation to bring about behavioural change among the public at large.
Recovery Rate At 22.17%
With 1396 new cases and 381 people recovered in the last 24 hours, India's recovery rate is at 22.17%
There are 16 districts that have not reported no new cases in the last 28 days. These are districts in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Bihar.
Two districts from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh which had not reported positive cases for 28 days have reported fresher cases.
Currently, there are 85 districts across 25 States and UTs that have not reported any new cases in the last 14 days.
The Inter Ministerial COVID Control Team that visited Jaipur requested that the lockdown should be strictly enforced in the city as well as to keep an eye on the supply chain of ration. They also requested the city officials to identify Non-COVID hospitals so as to help other patients.
The Inter-Ministerial Control Team that visited Pune has found that the doubling rate is 7 days as compared to the country and the positive cases are per 9 tests whereas India has one positive cases per 23 tests.
Till April 26, 2,000 vegetable mandis have reopened: Ministry of Home Affairs
F1 French Grand Prix stands cancelled due to COVID-19. The race at Le Castellet becomes the 10th leg of the decimated 2020 championship to be either scrapped (Australia, Monaco, France) or postponed (Bahrain, China, Vietnam, Netherlands, Spain, Azerbaijan, Canada).
Lockdown 3.0?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conference with his group of ministers and the Chief Ministers of the various states in the country.
A lockdown 3.0 is highly probable to be put into effect in the country and public transport along with railways as well as airways will be kept shut till further notice.
Several Chief Ministers including Naveen Patnaik of Odisha actually recommended a month-long extension.
331 deaths reported in Spain
Spain has reported an additional 331 deaths, bringing their total death toll to 23,521. Spain is the second-most affected country in the world after the United States, with more than 2,26,000 cases, according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
Highlights of RBI Governor's Interview To Cogencis
The Governor of the Reserve Bank Of India, Shaktikanta Das, gave an hour-long interview to Cogencis. Here are the highlights:
- Govt. working on economic package for the economy
- It would be tough for the government to meet FY21 fiscal target of 3.5%
- No decision taken to monetise deficit
- Expects GST hit due to lockdown
- RBI monitoring cash balances of respective states
It can be read here.