The partial lifting of lockdown curbs, especially in rural areas, is the top news of the day. However, mainstream papers also note that Delhi continues under total lockdown with no relaxation as the number of cases in the national capital crosses 2,000.
First off, news from Mumbai that has been wrecked by the coronavirus pandemic. According to Mumbai Mirror, ‘BMC tries a Wuhan’. Well almost, it clarifies. How? According to the Mumbai daily, “A 60-bed isolation centre to be readied within 90 days” in Mumbai. This isolation centre is inspired by China, which built hospitals in ten days to counter coronavirus. BMC is planning to build this three-storey pre-engineered building on the Kasturba Hospital premises.
The paper further explains, “A meeting to discuss the project was held on Saturday. The design will be finalised this week and work is expected to start by May 1.”
The lead story in The Times Of India, `Covid-19 spreading fast…’ has Kejriwal explaining why he can’t ease the lockdown in the city. The paper reports Kejriwal said “it would be difficult to contain (the virus) if any relaxation in the lockdown was given…’’ at this point in time. “We realise that people are in distress and facing difficulties… but we also have to see that the situation does not worsen in terms of rising Covid-19 positive cases,” Kejriwal said.
Despite over 13,000 reported cases of Covid-19 in the country, a graph in TOI explains that nearly half of India is still coronavirus-free. “As of Sunday, 325 of India’s 736 districts had not reported a single case. Better still, nearly half — 46% of all coronavirus cases were restricted to only 18 districts”, explains TOI.
On the other hand, there’s bad news from the west coast: ‘Biggest spike in Covid numbers yet as Maha, Guj report huge spurt’. “1,612 new cases were reported in the country on Sunday, with Maharashtra (552), Gujarat (367) and Uttar Pradesh (179) registering their highest single day count… Maharashtra also recorded 12 new deaths, followed by Gujarat (10), Madhya Pradesh (5) and Telangana (3).”
Like Kejriwal,the Centre seems reluctant to ease the lockdown in some areas: ‘Govt U-turn: E-comm firms can deliver only essentials’. The national daily reports that according to the Home Ministry “when the list of items that e-commerce firms would have been able to deliver was examined, it was found to be too extensive, raising concerns of the lockdown to contain Covid-19 being compromised”.
The Indian Express delivers some good news on the migrant worker crisis. Its lead, ‘Some curbs to be lifted today…’, notes the government’s directive to allow migrant workers to travel between districts of a state, though movement between states “remains prohibited”. Local authorities are meant to register migrant labour and conduct a “skill mapping exercise to ascertain their sustainability for various works.”
Concerns about the delivery of PDS grain to migrant workers under lockdown may not be a concern in Pune following the Zilla Parishad’s temporary ‘ration cards’ scheme. The paper’s second lead calls the scheme “a first innovation of its kind”. It reports: “80,000 undocumented people in the district [will receive cards], so they can receive foodgrains under the Public Distribution System (PDS)”. The newspaper makes a distinction between rural areas and urban areas: in the latter, “local self government bodies…have been taking steps to provide both cooked meals and grains to people”, it says.
However, another report notes that loopholes still exist. In ‘Rural opens but…’, the daily says the authorities remain undecided on allowing MGNREGA workers older than 65 years to work due to the disproportionately high number of Covid-19 deaths in this category.
Like TOI, Hindustan Times reports on Capital curbs not being eased today as its lead.
In another story, ‘Covid-19 doesn’t see race, religion: Modi’, the paper refers to the PM’s message Sunday. “Modi’s comments come at a time when some sections of the society have sought to introduce a communal element in the discourse surrounding Covid-19 when the nation is still in the midst of the battle against the pandemic.”
Addressing professionals on LinkedIn, the prime minister explained that the future will be about togetherness and resilience as the world today is facing a common challenge.
Delhi is locked down but ‘Eateries, offices to open in some states’. “Hotels in Kerala, highway dhabas in Haryana, tea gardens in West Bengal and mining in Jharkhand will be among the establishments that will open for business from Monday as states across India partially lift curbs… The state governments are expecting 10 to 25% of the industries to start operations…” it adds.
An analysis by HT has found that ‘Silent spread fears grow as asymptomatic cases spike’. Its analysis finds that “65% of Maharashtra’s 3,648 cases and 75% of Uttar Pradesh’s 974 cases did not show symptoms at the time of testing. In Assam, 82% of 34 cases were of people with no symptoms”. In Delhi, Kejriwal said that “all 186 people diagnosed with Covid-19 the previous day had exhibited no symptoms of illness”.
The Hindu’s second lead finds ‘Confusion over mismatch in Health Ministry, ICMR figures’. Hindu reports, “The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which coordinates testing and is the central node of data regarding the daily infections, reported that 16,365 individuals had been confirmed positive. Of these 2,154 were confirmed on Saturday alone — the first time the daily case load breached the 2,000 mark. However, the Health Ministry, the point-Ministry for all information regarding COVID-19, reported only 14,792 cases and 957 new cases.”
And here’s very good news from Goa: it is now Covid-19 free. “Goa on Sunday became the first zero COVID-19 State in the country with the last seven positive cases also turning negative. It has had no case of coronavirus since April 3”.
In other news, “PM-CARES donations cut from govt. staff salaries”, reports Hindu. “Employees from a number of government departments and agencies have donated a day’s salary toward the PM-CARES fund. While the donations, meant for COVID-19 relief, were said to be ‘voluntary’, government circulars show that the deductions were made directly from salaries. Those unwilling to donate were asked to submit their refusal in writing.”
The Kolkata daily finds that Goa is not alone in being Covid free. In “Green shoots of flattening emerge”, it says that “Ten more districts in five states have joined 44 others that have not reported new Covid-19 cases for 14 days or longer amid signals that some states are “flattening” their epidemic curves…’’ The health ministry said 10 districts — Gaya and Saran in Bihar, Bareilly in UP, Fatehgarh Sahib and Rupnagar in Punjab, Bhiwani, Hisar and Fatehabad in Haryana, and Cachar and Lakhimpur in Assam “are among 54 across 23 states without fresh cases for 14 days or longer”.
As education goes increasingly online, UN agencies raise the red flag on online classes. “Two UN agencies have warned against any large-scale shift towards online education, saying it would deepen socio-economic inequalities and warning that virtual platforms can leave children vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Unesco, the UN’s education arm, has released key recommendations from an independent Futures of Education Commission, which said: ‘It is an illusion to think that online learning is the way forward for all’”, reports the paper.
Alongside Business Standard’s lead on migrant workers being allowed to travel between districts, is a graphic that notes “labour’s love lost” — it notes that more than 10 lakh migrant workers are stuck in relief camps and 5,00,000-6,00,000 workers had to walk back home.
The paper also takes note of SEBI’s latest directive. In its anchor story ‘Sebi may scan Cayman, Singapore investment hubs for Chinese links’, it notes that Cayman Islands, Singapore, Ireland, and Luxembourg will be under the scanner as a lot of investments coming from China and Hong Kong into India “may be routed through these jurisdictions”.
In its second lead, BS notes that ‘RBI is likely to impose cap on reverse repo’ to ensure that liquidity translates into credit.
Mint’s lead story suggests India pat itself on the back. In “Lockdown 2.0: The Reality Check”, it cites a IIT Kanpur study that showed India has transitioned from an exponential growth phase in coronavirus infections to “a linear phase”. It notes: “India may soon join the ranks of China and South Korea, who have managed to flatten their infection curves”. Even the accompanying picture of an empty stretch leading up to Delhi’s India Gate, is captioned “a silver lining”.
Like BS, Mint also notes that SEBI appears to have noted the growing international skepticism towards China. In “Sebi trains its lens on investments by China in Indian companies”, it notes that this is the Indian regulator’s “fourth such communications…seeking details of investments coming in from some Asian countries, particularly from China.” This comes against the backdrop of the Centre’s efforts to “restrict direct investments from China”, adds the report.
Despite playing a critical role amid the nationwide lockdown, e-commerce companies were delivered a significant blow after Centre backtracked on its promise to allow delivery of non-essentials. In ‘E-commerce firms hit hard as govt scraps permission for non-essentials;, the paper observes that “sales of larger ecommerce platforms have been down by almost 90%.”