Coronavirus India Live Updates: The number of deaths from COVID-19 climbed to 113 in West Bengal on Sunday with 14 more people succumbing to the infection in the last 24 hours, a state government bulletin said. The state also reported 153 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest in a day so far.
Of the 14 deaths, Kolkata alone accounted for 10 while two each were from North 24 Parganas and Howrah districts. There have been 72 deaths due to comorbidities where COVID-19 was incidental, the bulletin said.
Meanwhile, Indian Railways plans to restart passenger trains in a phased manner starting May 12, the national transporter said in statement on Sunday evening, with ticket bookings to be opened from 4 pm on Monday. Tickets will only be available through the IRCTC website, with ticket counters (including those for platform tickets) at all stations to remain closed.
Passenger services, suspended since the coronavirus lockdown that began March 25, will start with 15 "special" trains (total of 30 journeys) departing from Delhi and connecting cities in Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Tripura.
Only passengers with confirmed and valid tickets will be allowed to enter the station at Delhi, the Railways warned, adding that all passengers would also have to wear face masks, under screening at departure (only asymptomatic people can travel) and maintain social distancing at all times.
"These trains will be run as special trains from New Delhi station connecting Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad, and Jammu Tawi," the Railways' statement said.
Meanwhile, five pilots, an engineer and a technician of Air India have tested positive for coronavirus, sources in the airline have told NDTV. The pilots were detected after 77 pilots of the airline were tested for the virus yesterday on priority basis. None of the infected pilots have any symptoms and they have been advised home quarantine, the sources said. All of them are from Mumbai.
India reported 3,277 new coronavirus patients in the last 24 hours and 128 deaths linked to the illness that brings the total number of cases to 62,939, including 2,109 deaths, the Union Health Ministry said today. At least 50 per cent of these cases have been reported from five major cities - Delhi, Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Chennai, Tamil Nadu's capital. The Indian Council of Medical Research or ICMR, the nodal body for COVID-19 testing, has partnered with a biotech firm - the Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) - to develop a fully indigenous vaccine for the virus.
Earlier today, a Navy warship sent to Maldives to bring back stranded Indians arrived with 698 nationals. Nineteen pregnant women were also on board the ship that started the journey from the Maldivian capital Male on May 8.
