India coronavirus dispatch: Can RWAs really stop maids from coming to work?

From Mumbai migrant workers' struggle to get home, to rethinking school education, and why the coronavirus test costs Rs 4,500 in India - read these and more in today's dispatch.

Here is a selection of pieces from across publications on Covid-19. From Mumbai migrant workers’ struggle to get home, to rethinking school education, and why the coronavirus test costs Rs 4,500 in India – read these and more in today’s dispatch.

Expert Speak

Some Covid-19 patients are presenting with gastro symptoms: Some patients presenting with gastrointestinal or ENT (ear-nose-throat) symptoms are also testing positive for Covid-19. Every patient should be investigated for Covid-19 to reduce unnecessary exposure to healthcare workers and the larger community. Read this interview with Saibal Moitra, adjunct professor and senior consultant, Department of Allergy and Immunology at the Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkata,

Long Reads

Why does the coronavirus test cost Rs 4,500 in India? A debate has broken out over the price that private labs are charging for Covid-19 tests. The pricing question turned out to be complex. Would the costs have come down if the government had allowed labs to assemble their own kits instead of mandating that they buy ready-made ones?

Citizens Under Lockdown

Confusion reigns as migrant workers in Mumbai struggle to get home: It took five weeks and two lockdown extensions for the government to finally announce measures to send migrant workers home. But the announcement has been followed by a slew of confusing orders, leading to more distress on the ground.

India coronavirus dispatch: Social measures to raise public consciousness

From risk stratification approach, to a game-changing vaccine, and what precautions you should take when visiting a shop - read these and more in today's India dispatch.

Here’s a round-up of important coronavirus-related articles from across Indian publications. From risk stratification approach, to a game-changing vaccine, and what precautions you should take when visiting a shop – read these and more in today’s India dispatch

Citizens Under Lockdown

NGO feeds 30,000 slum dwellers daily during lockdown: The Mumbai Roti Bank (MRB), a non-governmental organisation, founded by Sivanandan in January 2018, has tied up with the Mumbai Police to ensure that the city’s daily-wage earners and the poor living in areas like Dharavi, a containment zone, do not go without food.

Covid lockdown takes a toll on India’s red-light areas: Most residents of red-light areas live in cramped quarters, with poor sanitation and often no running water, ruling out social distancing and other hygiene measures that are supposed to contain the virus. Should a case of Covid-19 be detected in these areas, it would spread like wildfire, social workers as well as residents of red-light districts fear.

Long Reads

Essential outreach services hit in states with worst health indicators: Six of the eight most socioeconomically backward Indian states — together called the empowered action group — which have among the highest infant and maternal mortality rates have discontinued health outreach services during the lockdown, multiple government and media reports show. Immunisation, antenatal checks (ANCs) and nutrition drives have been halted in all these states except Odisha, which continues apace, and Uttarakhand, which has kept its immunisation services open

Over 400,000 samples tested, 17,615 Indians Covid-19 positive: ICMR

ICMR said that by the end of May it would achieve the testing capacity of 100,000 per day.

The number of total coronavirus (Covid-19) positive cases in India has risen to 17,615 according to the latest data released by the Indian Centre for Medical Research (ICMR).

The release said "Today, on 19 April 2020, till 9 pm, 27,824 samples have been reported. Of these, 1,135 were positive for SARS-CoV-2.

According to ICMR a "total of 4,01,586 samples from 3,83,985 individuals have been tested as on 19 April 2020, till 9 PM. 17,615 individuals have been confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known."

The ICMR will conduct a study to identify the effectiveness of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine against Covid-19, as per the Union Health Ministry officials. It may be noted that it is administered against tuberculosis immediately after the birth of an infant.

ICMR also said that soon it will reach the testing capacity of 100,000. "The daily Covid-19 testing capacity at various laboratories in the country is being increased and is expected to reach to 1 lakh test per day by May 31," it said.

ALSO READ: Data story: The march of Covid-19 across India

Accordingly, a total of 16 regional depots are being set up and are modelled into self-contained units by strengthening manpower, resources and infrastructure. Besides these, depots at the National Institute of Malaria Research here and the National Institute of Virology in Pune would also function as central depots.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday asserted that doubling rate of Covid-19 cases has increased from three days before imposition of lockdown in March to 9.7 days now.

Covid-19: As govt offices reopen, here are guidelines by MoHFW for safety

It advised the authorities to ensure proper cleaning, sanitisation of the workplace, particularly the frequently touched surfaces.

As the central government allows partial relaxation of lockdown from Apri 20 the Parliament secretariat, and some other central government offices will start functioning from Monday while adhering to the guidelines on social distancing.

Ahead of the opening, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) issued guidelines on measures to be taken by various ministries and departments of the Union and state governments to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The government advised its employees to use reusable/cloth face masks, to cover nose and mouth while sneezing, to maintain personal hygiene and abide by physical distancing norms even in the sections or rooms.

It also advised the authorities to ensure proper cleaning, sanitisation of the workplace, particularly the frequently touched surfaces.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: India records 1553 cases in 24 hrs; total rises to 17,615

MoHFW guidelines banned gathering of 5 or more people within the office premises, even in the canteens, and discouraged entry of visitors. Those with proper permission should be allowed after proper screening.

The official meetings have to be done through video conferencing, sending essential physical files and documents to other offices should be avoided, instead, the correspondence must be done through official emails.

All officials should take care of their health and leave the workplace immediately if there are symptoms like fever or respiratory trouble and should observe home-quarantine. As per the guidelines, the leave sanctioning authorities are requested to sanction leave whenever such a request comes up.

India coronavirus dispatch: A time for brave and imaginative action

From caring about the Indian migrant, to getting the containment strategy right, and when one could get infected from food - read these and more in today's India dispatch.

Here is a round-up of important articles on Covid-19 from across Indian publications – from caring about the Indian migrant, to getting the containment strategy right, and when one could get infection from their food.

Expert Speak

Now is the time to show india cares about its migrants: Benoy Peter, an expert on internal migration, and executive director of Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development, a Kerala-based non-profit, says in this interview that this might be the time for India to show it cares about its migrant workers. He suggests the country should immediately take measures like ensuring food and decent living conditions, testing for Covid-19, and explaining properly to workers in their own language the intricacies of this virus.

Citizens Under Lockdown

Locked down and forgotten in Mumbai: The protest by thousands of stranded migrants at Mumbai’s Bandra railway station on Tuesday evening was yet another reminder of how the nationwide lockdown had been hardest on the poorest among us. It also exposed holes in the government’s repeated claims that it had been providing food and other essentials to those who needed it most. Read more here.

Don’t push yourself to excel in BYJU’S and Duolingo: People are trying new things during the Covid-19 lockdown but it is a problem if they pressure themselves to master those hobbies in these stressful times. Finding time to finally do something you always wanted to is indeed a productive, self-improving and satisfying way of spending time in isolation. Read here why it’s vital to realise that one doesn’t have to come out of this pandemic prim, proper, with a degree in hand and a new language on the lips.

Opinion

A long haul, spend wisely, but don’t skimp on the truly needy: The biggest worry right now is that a huge number of people will be pushed into dire poverty or even starvation by the combination of the loss of their livelihoods and interruptions in the standard delivery mechanisms. Nobel laureates Amartya Sen and Abhijit Banerjee, and former RBI Governor of India Raghuram Rajan explain why as part of the commitment to not miss the needy, there has to be funding available for state and local governments to find effective ways of reaching those suffering from extreme deprivation. If there was ever a challenge that required brave and imaginative action, this has to be it.

Covid-19 Factoid: US suffers its highest single-day death toll yet

From the US' continuing pains, to some good news coming from Iran and Italy, and Madhya Pradesh's rising number of coronavirus cases - here are some data trends to help to grasp the situation better.

The global tally of confirmed coronavirus infections has now crossed two million, with the United States contributing the most to the spike. The global death toll now stands at over 1,37,000, and the number recoveries at a little over half a million.

In India, the numbers of confirmed cases have breached the 13,000 mark, with 431 fatalities and 1,659 recoveries. Maharashtra has become the first state in India to have more than 3,000 confirmed coronavirus cases. At 187 deaths, it also has the highest fatality in the country.

Here are a few data trend to help you understand the current coronavirus pandemic situation better:

1. US suffers its worst single-day death toll

The US, the worst affected country in the world, recorded 2,494 deaths on 15 April, the highest ever death count since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in that country. This is also the highest number ever of coronavirus-related deaths globally.

The US’ per-day death toll has been more than 2,000 only twice before.

2. Some positive news from Iran and Italy

Iran and Italy, two of the countries that were the first to witness widespread coronavirus outbreak outside of China, are now showing early signs of a recovery. Both reported their smallest addition of new cases in the past 20 days. Italy has more than 165,000 confirmed cases at present, and Iran has over 77,000.

3. MP becomes fifth Indian state to cross 1,000 mark in number of cases

In India, Madhya Pradesh has seen a surge in its number of new confirmed cases – to 1,120. The state has reported over 100 new cases in the past three days and become the fourth-most-affected Indian state by number of cases. At present, Madhya Pradesh has 53 fatalities and 64 recoveries.

Newborns may get Covid-19 transmission from mothers: ICMR issues guidelines

ICMR pointed out that health care practitioners should immediately create an isolation facility for pregnant mothers with Covid-19 and should follow the national protocol.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), there is a possibility of transmission of coronavirus from a pregnant mother to a newborn baby. However, the proportion of pregnancies affected and the significance to the newborn is yet to be determined, ICMR said on Monday.

The available scientific evidence suggests that transmission of the virus can happen to a baby before the birth, while it is in the mother's womb, or during delivery from an infected pregnant mother. However, the country's top medical research body added that at present, there are no recorded cases of breast milk being tested positive for Covid-19.

Issuing guidance for the management of pregnant women during the Covid-19 pandemic, ICMR said, "There are reports of Covid-19 pneumonia in pregnancy which are milder and have a good recovery. Also, there are case reports of pre-term birth in women with Covid-19, but it is unclear whether the pre-term birth was always iatrogenic, or whether some were spontaneous."

ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: Modi to address nation shortly; lockdown may be extended

"A registry for all women admitted with confirmed Covid-19 infection in pregnancy should be maintained. Maternal and neonatal records including outcome should be completed in detail and preserved for analysis in the future," according to the ICMR.

"With regard to vertical transmission (transmission from mother to baby antenatally or intrapartum), emerging evidence now suggests that vertical transmission is probable, although the proportion of pregnancies affected and the significance to the neonate has yet to be determined."

India coronavirus digest: Why we need a greater decentralisation of power

From risks posed by discarded medical waste, to why a strong scientific workforce is our best insurance against adversity, read these and more in today's world coronavirus digest.

Here is a roundup of articles from news publications on how India is dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic — from the risk posed by discarded medical waste to sanitation workers, to federal limitations, and why a strong scientific workforce is our best insurance against adversity.

Citizens Under Lockdown

Sanitation workers at risk from discarded medical waste related to Covid-19: Sanitation workers and rag pickers are at risk from handling unmarked medical waste emerging from homes where Covid-19 patients are quarantined, medical experts and waste management specialists have warned. Discarded masks, gloves and tissues could be potential sources for the spread of this highly contagious virus, they have said.

Lockdown making you restless? Chances are you have cabin fever: Being cooped up in our homes for as long as we have is bound to stir up negative emotions. If you too are experiencing it, you might have cabin fever. Here are some steps that you can take to fight off this distress and irritability.

Long Reads

Neglected frontline workers need coronavirus safety gear: In Maharashtra, the worst-affected state, nurses, sanitation workers, and community health workers say they do not have adequate protection from virus exposure. Despite the high level of precaution that they have been asked to exercise, workers have not received any personal protective equipment from hospitals. Such equipment – masks, gloves, face shields, gowns and goggles – is needed to prevent exposure to the coronavirus.

Opinion

Needed, greater decentralisation of power: A crisis of the kind that Covid-19 has wrought will show us that India needs a greater decentralisation of power, and that administration through a single central executive unit is unsuited to its diverse and heterogeneous polity. We cannot continue to regard the intricate niceties of our federal structure as a nettlesome trifle.

Coronavirus: Boeing suspends production of 787 at South Carolina plant

The announcement came soon after the state's governor issued an order on Monday directing residents to stay home except for essential trips.

Boeing Co said on Monday it would suspend production of its 787 airplanes at its facilities in South Carolina amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement came soon after the state's governor issued an order on Monday directing residents to stay home except for essential trips.

Boeing production will be suspended until further notice after the second shift on Wednesday. On Sunday, the largest US planemaker indefinitely extended the halt of its production operations at its Washington state facilities.

On Thursday, Reuters reported that planemakers - including Boeing and Airbus SE - were looking at drastic cuts in wide-body production amid a slump in demand for the industry's largest jetliners, citing manufacturing and supplier sources.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: India cases at 4,778, death toll 136, says Worldometer

Deliveries of long-range jets like the Boeing 777 or 787 and Airbus A350 or A330 have been hit particularly badly as airlines seek deferrals and many withhold progress payments.

On Monday, Airbus said it would temporarily halt production at its A220 / A320 manufacturing facility in Alabama because of "high inventory levels in the sites and the various government recommendations. "

Production in Alabama will be halted this week through April 29.

Boeing said on March 23 it would halt production at its Washington state twin-aisle jetliner factory as a temporary measure to help fight the outbreak of the respiratory disease. Production had been expected to resume early this week.

World coronavirus dispatch: US unemployment rises, job cuts at airlines

From the US' plan to ban domestic flights to layoffs at aviation firms and Russia's extended restrictions and fresh wave of coronavirus cases in China - read these in today's international dispatch.

The coronavirus situation seems to have battered the US, with the number of infections in that country crossing the 200,000-mark rather quickly. Piling on to its worries is growing joblessness. New data show that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits more than doubled to 6 million – a new record.

Let’s look at the global statistics:

Total confirmed cases: 962,977

Change over the previous day: 88,896

Total deaths: 49,180

Total recovered: 202,728

Nations hit with most cases: US (216,768), Italy (110,574), Spain (110,238), China (82,431), and Germany (80,641).

Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

US may ban domestic flights

US President Donald Trump has said he is looking “very strongly” at banning domestic air travel to curb the spread of coronavirus but added that he is conscious that it will damage the US airline industry. He will announce his recommendations soon. Read more here.

Credit crisis in emerging markets

Investors are bracing for an emerging market credit crisis as the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic hits vulnerable countries. Commodity prices have plunged and demand has frozen, and currencies are tumbling against the dollar. This has particularly hit emerging markets in Africa, Asia and South America.

Covid-19 impact: HDFC, ICICI urge customers to use digital banking services

HDFC Bank has urged people to use cheque drop boxes to help reduce crowding in branches.

Private sector banks HDFC and ICICI have asked customers to use digital means for transactions and said they have reduced their staff in office as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus. HDFC Bank has changed its working hours and will function from 10 am to 2 pm till March 31, except on Saturday.
The private sector lender has also temporarily suspended passbook update and foreign currency purchase services.

"In the interest of public health and safety, we will be withdrawing the following services temporarily of passbook updates and foreign currency purchase," it said in a communication sent to its customers on Sunday.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus: Banks to ensure cash withdrawals, remittances at branches

ICICI Bank informed its customers through SMS that "our branches shall remain open with required hygiene steps and reduced staff".

"For the same reason, our contact centre will also function with reduced staff. We urge you to stay safe and bank from home using iMobile/Internet Banking for all essential banking services," it said in the communication.

HDFC Bank has urged people to use cheque drop boxes to help reduce crowding in branches.

However, customers can go digital to avail passbook updation and forex card reload, it said. NEFT, RTGS, IMPS and UPI services are among the digital transactional modes. It said customers can pay for their utility bills through UPI and PayZapp platforms.

According to Indian Banks Association (IBA) Chief Executive Sunil Mehta, during the lockdown in several states to contain the spread of Covid-19, banks will ensure at least four essential services — cash deposits and withdrawals, cheque deposition, remittances, and government transactions — at their branches from Monday.

For the rest, depending on the situation in each branch, the banks may suspend other services.

Covid-19: Centre asks banks to delay declaring companies' accounts as NPAs

FIEO President Sharad Kumar Saraf said that the spread of Covid-19 to over 144 countries points to the most challenging times for the exports sector.

Centre should ask banks to delay declaring companies' accounts as NPAs for one year due to the economic fallout of COVID-19, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said.

FIEO President Sharad Kumar Saraf said that the spread of Covid-19 to over 144 countries points to the most challenging times for the exports sector.

"Banks may be asked to delay the declaring companies' accounts as NPA for 1 year as the lack of business coupled with fixed cost will make many accounts NPAs," he said in a statement.

"The existing working credit limits of exporters with the banks may be automatically enhanced by 25 per cent, if so desired... All existing Export Promotion Schemes must continue till March 31, 2021 at least."

He said that as per current trend, MSMEs particularly in employment intensive sectors like carpets, handicrafts, apparels, footwear, gems and jewellery, marine and perishable, with their major market in Europe and the US are likely to be worst affected particularly in first quarter of FY 2020-2021.

As Bengaluru battles COVID-19, tech platforms come handy for IT workforce

The city has so far reported four positive coronavirus cases.

With the coronavirus reaching tech parks, campuses of multinational companies and even schools and colleges in Bengaluru, the IT city is gearing up to shoot the trouble with the help of technology. The city has so far reported four positive coronavirus cases.

As more employees opt for work from home in this time of crisis, start-ups are launching a suite of products to support collaboration and communication among workers. Ozonetel, a city-based start-up, for example, has rolled out a cloud-based solution for call centre companies to switch to work-from-home, in order to contain the spread of the virus. Using the solution, a company can route calls to mobile phones or even landlines, instead of them taking calls via desktop.

Human resource management software start-up Kredily has started providing its attendance management app for free to companies. Unlike a contact-based biometric system, the web-based authentication system rules out the possibility of spreading the virus through human contact, said the company.

“This restricts attendance to a specific location and comes in handy for companies where work-from-home is not being practised,” said Devendra Khandegar, founder & CEO of the start-up.

Chennai-based company Zoho which has clients such as Ola, MedLife and OnePlus in Bengaluru, has decided to offer its newly-launched remote work toolkit ‘Remotely’ for free to everyone. Remotely includes 10 applications that create a comprehensive communication system including virtual meetings, showtime for conferences, and online file management. “Our CEO (Sridhar Vembu) has been working from a remote farm in Tenkasi, a village in Tamil Nadu, and encouraging employees to go back to their home towns if they have internet connectivity,” said the company.

There are reasons to be a buyer in current market scenario amid virus scare

Our experience with earlier epidemics such as SARS, EBOLA and ZICA does suggest that medical science will find out a solution sooner than later.

Coronavirus scare has acted as a catalyst for global equity meltdown and India is not an exception to this. It is difficult to call when the coronavirus scare will come under control. Our experience with earlier epidemics such as SARS, EBOLA and ZICA does suggest that medical science will find out a solution sooner than later.

India obviously has short-term pain to endure from global growth slowdown and equity meltdown.

However, there are few benefits from Coronavirus scare.

- Oil prices have crashed from $68 a barrel to $50 a barrel and are likely to remain subdued for some time.

- India runs official trade deficit of $58 billion with China. Due to coronavirus-led supply chain disruption, this deficit can come down significantly. This, in turn, will encourage local manufacturing.

- Many global companies would like to diversify their supply chain from China due to increasing cost and heavy concentration. If India can invite all those companies and become part of global supply chain management, then growth will get a big boost.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have been heavy sellers in last week as they scaled back risk. This might continue until there is a solution for coronavirus. However, this volatility will provide an opportunity for long-term investors to buy, if our experience of SARS, EBOLA is an indicator.

There was a lot of panic during SARS and EBOLA outbreak. However, medical science found a cure and the world continued moving forward. From the lows of SARS, the Nifty50 index has gained 10-fold by now. That said, it is difficult to predict how much the market will go down from current levels, as it will be dependent upon how soon and effectively coronavirus gets controlled.

Coronavirus pain for Chinese mobile handset makers may be Samsung's gain

With manufacturing suspended in China and supply of key components and handset models in jeopardy, Chinese firms are feeling the heat.

As China reels from the coronavirus epidemic, Korean mobile phone maker Samsung seems to be recovering some of the lost ground.

While the outbreak has forced most leading brands like Apple, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Realme to rework their launch dates and pricing strategies, Samsung, which struggled to maintain its hold over the market last year, has taken the lead.

The data from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) shows that the local unit of the Korean major has lined up nine new handset models for launch in early 2020. Among major brands, only Redmi (from Xiaomi) and LG have registered two models each since January 1 with the national standards body, followed by Motorola and Coolpad (one each).

Delhi-based local brand Cellecor, which has a presence in the entry-level segment, tops the chart with 15 models registered since January 1. Hitech, another Indian brand, holds the third spot with eight models registered over this period.

According to Faisal Kawoosa, lead analyst at TechArc, the trend clearly indicates that “major OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are delaying their launches. Typically, after the BIS registration, models are launched in 4-6 weeks”.

ALSO READ: Are Indian imports worth $70.4 bn from China at risk due to coronavirus?

He said, “As of now it gives advantage to Samsung among major OEMs as it can procure from Korea and other countries, resulting in low impact on its supply chain.”

With manufacturing suspended in China and supply of key components and handset models in jeopardy, Chinese firms are feeling the heat. Though many of them have set up facilities in India, they continue to depend heavily on supplies from China.