NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday said that the rate of doubling of Covid-19 infections in India has slowed to 7.5 days as compared to 3.4 days before the lockdown. But despite the improvement in doubling rate, the situation remains serious in several key cities like Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur and Kolkata where large-scale lockdown violations have been observed. Meanwhile, the worldwide death toll due to coronavirus now stands at 166,271.
Here are the top developments from India and around the world:
1
INDIA
- COVID-19 death toll rose to 559 in India while the number of cases now stands at 17,656, as per health ministry data on Monday evening.
- The MHA today said the COVID-19 situation is “especially serious” in Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata and a few other places in West Bengal, and warned that violation of lockdown measures risks the spread of the novel coronavirus further.
- A Chinese embassy spokesperson has said that India’s new policy for foreign direct investment (FDI) from specific countries violate WTO’s principle of non-discrimination and is against the general trend of free trade.
- Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind appeals to Muslims to follow lockdown norms during Ramzan.
- Centre asked states, UTs to strictly comply with COVID-19 lockdown guidelines, not dilute them.
- The government is unlikely to exempt GST on medic