India declares Covid-19 as national 'disaster', announces ex-gratia of INR 4 lakh

New Delhi, March 14 (IANS): The central government on Saturday declared Covid-19 as a national 'disaster' and announced to provide ex-gratia relief of INR 4 lakh to the families who died of the virus.

The Ministry of Home Affairs in a letter to states and union territories stated: "Keeping in view the spread of Covid-19 virus in India the declaration of it as pandemic by World Health Organisation, the Central government has decided to treat it as a notified disaster and announced to provide assistance under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)."

The Centre said that cost of hospitalization for managing Covid-19 patients would be at the rates fixed by the state governments. The state government can use SDRF found for providing temporary accommodation, food, clothing and medical care for people affected and sheltered in quarantine camps, other than home quarantine, or for cluster containment operations.

The state executive committee will decide the number of quarantine camps, their duration and the number of persons in such camps. "Period can be extended by the committee beyond the prescribed limit subject to condition that expenditure on this account should not exceed 25 percent of SDRF allocation for the year," the Ministry of Home Affairs notification stated.

The cost of consumables for sample collection would be taken from the funds which can be sued to support for checking, screening and contact tracing.

Further, funds can also be withdrawn for setting up additional testing laboratories within the government set up. The state has also to bear the cost of personal protection equipment for healthcare, municipal, police and fire authorities. Further SDRF money can also be used for procuring thermal scanners and ventilation and other necessary equipment.

Kerala put on alert as 6,000 people under observation

Though no fresh cases of COVID-19 have been reported since Friday evening, the Kerala government on Saturday issued an all-around alert in Kerala, as the total positive cases continue to be pegged at 19, as authorities expect a few more might turn positive in the coming days.

As on Saturday afternoon, the following districts have coronavirus positive patients.

As many as seven cases in Pathanamthitta, 4 in Kottayam, 3 each in Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram, one each in Thrissur and Kannur.

According to the health authorities, there are 6,000 people under observation in the state, of which 300 are in various hospitals.

On Saturday, across the 14 district headquarters a high level meeting presided by a state Cabinet Minister took place which took stock of things and the general guidelines that have gone is time is not yet come to relax and a high alert and awareness have to be maintained.

In the state capital, where on Friday three fresh positive cases were announced, the general advisory that has come is it's time that malls, beaches meeting places should be avoided. The state-owned indoor stadium has been closed.

At Kannur the meeting was led by State Industries Minister E.P.Jayarajan and said the need of the hour is there need be no panic or fear as we are confident of able to keep things under check.

Three media persons quarantined in Karnataka

Two journalists and a cameraman of a national news channel were quarantined in North Karnataka's Kalaburagi for interviewing the coronavirus victim's son two days ago, a top official said on Saturday.

"The three media persons have been quarantined in their respective homes for having interviewed on Thursday the son of the 76-year-old man who died of COVID-19 on Tuesday night," Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner B Sharat told IANS.

"As a precaution, we have advised the three media persons to remain in their homes and take steps to ensure they were not affected by interviewing a person who was son of the victim," said Sharat.

PM Modi to lead India at video conference of SAARC nations today

New Delhi, Mar 14 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead India at a video conference of all SAARC nations at 5 pm on Sunday to chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus in the region, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

Modi on Friday proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.

"Coming together for common good! 15 March, 1700 IST. PM Narendra Modi will lead India at the video conference of all SAARC member countries, to chalk out a strong common strategy to fight Covid-19 in the region," MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

Calling on the SAARC nations to set an example for the world, Modi had reached out to the eight-member regional grouping and pitched for a video conference among its leaders to chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus, which has killed nearly 5,000 people globally.

His appeal got a prompt response from Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier

Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Afghan government, all of whom welcomed the proposal.

Pakistan's response to the proposal came late in the night with the country's Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui saying the threat of Covid-19 required coordinated efforts at global and regional levels.

"We have communicated that SAPM (Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister) on Health (Zafar Mirza) will be available to participate in the video conference of SAARC member countries on the issue," she said.