NEWS CORONA INDIA
NEW DELHI: Nearly 200 persons were tested positive for Covid on Saturday, taking the total number of cases in the country to nearly a thousand and deaths to 19 so far. India is set to enter the third phase of the virus tracking from Sunday, which could be more deadly, but the spread so far is at a low level, unlike what is seen now in the US, Spain or Italy. The global economy is already faced with recessionary trends, in the backdrop of the Covid hit to businesses and industry, the IMF has warned.
The Union health ministry said as many as 194 persons were tested positive for Covid on Saturday. The total number of infections in India is put at 918, with Kerala and Maharashtra leading the pack of states. Worldwide, half a million people have been infected by Covid, as per WHO estimates, which also put the deaths so far to over 20,000. The US alone has as high as 1,00,000 confirmed cases, with New York as the epicenter. Italy, another severely hit nation, recorded 1,000 deaths due to Covid on Friday. Spain reported 832 more deaths since Friday night, taking the death toll to nearly 6,000.
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| Migrant workers at Delhi bus station to rush back homes.. |
In the backdrop of the Covid crisis, and grim warnings from IMF and other global financial institutions, India’s Reserve Bank promised on Saturday an infusion of Rs 3.74lakh crore of liquidity on aggregate basis into the financial system. It has also given the go-ahead to commercial banks and other lenders to allow a three month gap for loan repayments.
Stated IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva: “It is clear that we have entered a recession that will be worse than in 2009 following the global financial crisis.”
The Centre announced on Saturday that the flight ban will continue till April 14, from the initial suspension till March 31.
Meanwhile, industrialist Ratan Tata announced a donation of Rs 1, the 500crore from Tata group to fight Covid. Actor Akshay Kumar announced a donation of Rs 25crore in his mother’s name to the PM’s relief fund. –IHN-NN
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