Schools, colleges may remain closed till May 15

Nationwide COVID-19 toll touches 124

08/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said the country has registered 13 deaths and 508 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 124 with 4,789 cases nationwide.

A total of 326 persons have recovered from the infection, Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Lav Agrawal said at the daily press briefing.

Amid calls from the States on the need for a calibrated lifting of the lockdown, a meeting of the Group of Ministers on COVID-19, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, recommended that the closure of all educational institutions and restrictions on all religious activities having public participation be extended till May 15, irrespective of the government decision, official sources said.

The recommendation came as State Health Departments reported 20 more deaths, taking the nationwide toll to 165, with 5,126 confirmed cases.

Maharashtra reported 12 more deaths, taking the tally of the deceased so far to 64, with 1,018 confirmed cases.

Four more deaths were reported from Gujarat, while Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir and Tamil Nadu reported one death since Monday.

In Rajasthan, which saw the number of active cases touching 283 with 24 new cases, Health Minister Raghu Sharma said the government had decided to step up screening in hotspots using rapid testing kits. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that one lakh random rapid anti-body tests would be conducted in the city’s hotspots.

(With PTI inputs)