COVID Watch: Numbers and Developments

The Hindu Newsletter - COVID Watch: Numbers and Developments Thursday 30, April 2020 [alt_text]( The Evening Wrap Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying home and staying safe. Here are the big stories that you need to follow today: Covid Watch — Numbers and Developments The total number of coronavirus cases in India stands at 34,789 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,150. The Health Ministry today said the overall recovery rate in the country now stands at 25.19%, and there is a progressive trend — 14 days ago it was 13.06%. The doubling time for new cases has slowed down further to 11 days, according to a Health Ministry spokesperson, who added that 78% of the deaths were of people with co-morbidities. According to the Health Ministry, the Inter-Ministerial Central Teams that visited Hyderabad and Chennai found that hospitals were following protocols, testing facilities were adequate, and recovery rates good. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting to discuss strategies for attracting more FDI as well as to promote local investments. During the meeting, Modi called for a more proactive approach to handhold the investors, to look into their problems, and to help them get all the necessary Central and State clearances in a time-bound manner. Rishi Kapoor passes away A second tragic death hit the Bollywood fraternity in as many days with [actor Rishi Kapoor passing away at a private hospital in Mumbai this morning](. The 67-year-old had been admitted to Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday. "Our dear Rishi Kapoor passed away peacefully at 8:45am IST in hospital today after a two-year battle with leukemia. The doctors and medical staff at the hospital said he kept them entertained to the last," the family said in a statement. "He remained jovial and determined to live to the fullest right through two years of treatment across two continents. Family, friends, food, and films remained his focus and everyone who met him during this time was amazed at how he did not let his illness get the better of him," the statement said. Rahul and Raghuram Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan, in a video chat with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that India needed ₹65,000 crore to help the poor during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also said further lockdowns would be devastating to the economy. “We will need ₹65,000 crore, it is not that much if one looks at the GDP as a whole,” Rajan said, when asked about how much money he thought was needed to help the poor survive the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. “If it is to save the lives of the poor, it must be done.” Rajan said the government needs to be calculated in lifting the countrywide lockdown. “We need to open up in a measured way as India does not have the capacity to feed people for long,” he explained. “We have to manage the reopening in such a way that when there are cases, we can isolate them.” Reliance Cuts India’s largest company Reliance Industries has decided to cut the salary of most of its employees by 10 to 50 per cent, with the firm’s chairman and richest Indian Mukesh Ambani electing to forgo his entire remuneration. The conglomerate has deferred annual cash bonuses and performance-linked incentives that are normally paid in the first quarter, according to an employee communique. Oman orders firing of expats In a dramatic development which is being closely studied here, the Gulf monarchy of Oman has asked all state-owned companies to fire expat workers and replace them with local Omanis. The order shows that the “Omanisation” campaign, which was launched during the rule of Sultan Qaboos who passed away on January 10, has intensified. Sources, however, claimed that the move was unlikely to immediately affect the Omani private sector, a major employer of expat workers from South Asia. Oman has been implementing new austerity measures in the public sector during the last few months. These moves were expected as Oman is among the worst affected by the ongoing global dip in oil prices. In Brief: The International Labour Organisation on Wednesday said that nearly half of the global workforce – around 160 crore people – stands to lose their livelihood due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many countries have shut down factories, schools, restaurants, public services and other avenues for employment, due to which economies have taken a severe hit. The [Supreme Court on Thursday asked an NGO to approach the Indian Council of Medical Research]( (ICMR) with its reservations about seriously ill COVID-19 patients being subjected to “controversial, unproven, non-specific and potentially toxic off-label” use of anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine and broad-spectrum antibiotic Azithromycin. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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