Coronavirus India Updates, 02 August: Amit Shah tests positive for Covid-19; 7-day paid quarantine must for int’l travellers

A look at the top Covid-19 developments today:

Home Minister Amit Shah tests positive for Covid-19, hospitalised

Home Minister Amit Shah, 55, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and has been admitted to a hospital. In a tweet, Amit Shah said he got tested after showing Covid-19 symptoms while requested those who had come in contact with him in the last few days to get tested and isolate themselves.

कोरोना के शुरूआती लक्षण दिखने पर मैंने टेस्ट करवाया और रिपोर्ट पॉजिटिव आई है। मेरी तबीयत ठीक है परन्तु डॉक्टर्स की सलाह पर अस्पताल में भर्ती हो रहा हूँ। मेरा अनुरोध है कि आप में से जो भी लोग गत कुछ दिनों में मेरे संपर्क में आयें हैं, कृपया स्वयं को आइसोलेट कर अपनी जाँच करवाएं।

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) August 2, 2020

“On getting the initial symptoms of coronavirus, I got the test done and the report came back positive. My health is fine, but I am being admitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors. I request those who came in contact with me in last few days to get tested for coronavirus and isolate themselves,” Shah tweeted.

Govt issues fresh guidelines for international arrivals, makes 7-day paid institutional quarantine mandatory

Issuing fresh guidelines for international passengers arriving into India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) Sunday made a seven-day institutional quarantine mandatory for travellers, followed by home isolation for another 7 days.

Exceptions will be given in a few cases — human distress, pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parents accompanied by children below 10 years of age. They will be asked to self-isolate at home for 14 days. The new set of guidelines will come into place from August 8.

Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun dies of coronavirus

Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun, who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, died due to the infection in Lucknow on Sunday. Kamal Rani is the first minister in Uttar Pradesh to die due to Covid-19. She was 62.

Varun, 62, was the minister of Technical Education in the Uttar Pradesh cabinet and MLA from Ghatampur seat in Kanpur Nagar. The state government has announced state mourning upon her death and lower down the flags in the district and her cremation with police honour.

Expressing condolences, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called her a “popular public leader who worked efficiently.” “I express my deepest condolences to the family of Cabinet Minister Kamala Rani Varun. She was COVID19 positive and was receiving treatment at SGPGI Hospital. She was a popular public leader & a social worker. She worked efficiently while being the part of the Cabinet,” he tweeted.

A man wears a mask with “Boycott China” written on it, in New Delhi on Saturday.

Tamil Nadu observes strict Sunday lockdown

A strict lockdown is in force in Tamil Nadu today, leaving several roads deserted as most shops, barring pharmacies, remained shut. The state saw skeletal vehicular movement, with police allowing private vehicles on the roads only for emergency purposes.

While announcing the extension of the coronavirus-induced lockdown till August 31, Chief Minister K Palaniswami had said that complete restrictions would be in place on all five Sundays this month also, much like in July. There will be no relaxations, he had said.

Covid testing underway in New Delhi.

Assam eases restrictions in ‘unlock 3’

Malls, gymnasiums and restaurants will be allowed to open in Assam from Monday to Friday till August 15, even as movement of individuals remains strictly prohibited between 6pm and 6am on all weekdays. A complete lockdown will also be imposed on weekends.

An order by Assam chief secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna said that in Guwahati — the state capital which was under a complete, and then a partial, lockdown, over the last five weeks — malls and gymnasiums would be allowed to open on one side of a road on one day and the other the next. But apart from Guwahati, they would be allowed to open on both sides of roads across the state. Hotels are also allowed to open.

“Inter-district movement of people is allowed on Monday and Tuesday only. No separate permission/approval/e-permit will be required for inter-district movement,” the order said. It added that all government offices would operate with 100% attendance from Monday. The order continued, “Cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places of public gathering shall remain closed.”

(Inputs by Abhishek Saha, Guwahati)

Karnataka’s Hubballi Railway Museum open for visitors from Aug 5

A key tourist attraction in Karnataka for history buffs, the Hubballi Railway Museum is set to open its doors for visitors from August 5.

Claimed to be the first of its kind in north Karnataka, the museum is centrally located next to the second entry of Hubballi Railway Station on Gadag Road opposite to Central Railway Hospital. This is the second such museum set up by the South Western Railway (SWR) after the Mysuru Rail Museum — established in 1979 by the Indian Railways — the second such museum in the country after the National Railway Museum was commissioned in 1977.

While the museum will be open for visitors only from 4 pm to 7 pm till August 9, the entry will be free for the first five days (Express Photo)

The major highlights at the museum include the Galaxy of Rolling Stock, Malaprabha and Ghataprabha cottages themselves, theatre coach, Suruchi cafeteria, toy train, memorabilia shop, ticket printing machine display, Model train run, and a children’s activity room.

ICMR plans to set up registry of hospitalised Covid patients

A registry of hospitalised coronavirus patients across the country is being considered to collect real time data which will help improve treatment outcomes, analyse trends in the progression of the pandemic and calibrate response, officials said, PTI reported.

The officials added that the ICMR, in collaboration with the Health Ministry and the AIIMS, is planning to set up the National Clinical Registry that will help researchers and policy makers understand effectiveness of investigational therapies, adverse effects taking place and generate evidence for improving treatment.

“The aim is to collect data of the hospitalised Covid-19 patients like clinical and laboratory features, their demographics, comorbidities, treatment outcomes, complications?in all age groups among others,” officials said.