Coronavirus Pandemic LIVE Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday thanked President Donald Trump for his remarks that the US stands with India during the pandemic as also for deciding to provide ventilators to New Delhi to help patients suffering from Covid-19. “Thank you @POTUS @realDonaldTrump. This pandemic is being fought collectively by all of us,” the prime minister tweeted.
He said in such times, it’s always important for nations to work together and do as much as possible to make the world healthier and free from Covid-19. Modi was responding to a tweet by US President Trump on Friday announcing the decision to donate ventilators to India.
“I am proud to announce that the United States will donate ventilators to our friends in India. We stand with India and @narendramodi during this pandemic. We”re also cooperating on vaccine development. Together we will beat the invisible enemy!” the US President said.
The dates for the class 10 and class 12 board exams will be released at on Monday, HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ announced, bringing relief to thousands of children who were stuck in limbo due to the delay because of Covid-19. Ending some uncertainty for students, the minister had earlier announced that the pending exams will be held from July 1 to 15. While class 12 exams will be conducted across the country, the class 10 exams are only pending in North East Delhi where they were affected due to the law and order situation.
India today reported nearly 86,000 coronavirus cases, with the death toll jumping to 2,752. The rise in figures comes amidst demands by several state governments to ease relaxations in phase 4 of the lockdown.
Twenty-four labourers were killed and several injured after the truck they were travelling in collided with another truck in Uttar Pradesh’s Auraiya. The workers were on their way from Rajasthan and the injured have been shifted to hospital. The accident is the latest in a series of similar tragedies involving migrant workers.
The Supreme Court yesterday said it was impossible for anyone to stop migrant workers from walking back to their homes and refused to direct the government to give them shelter or free transportation. “How do you stop people who want to keep walking? Can anyone go and stop them? Impossible for anyone to stop them,” a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, Sanjay Kaul and BR Gavai said.
Dozens of migrant workers have fallen sick or died on their way home, either from fatigue or in accidents, underscoring the extreme risks the poor have been exposed to under measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Migrant labourers have been walking back to their rural homes since the lockdown was announced in March as their income dried up overnight. The Centre, criticised for ignoring their plight, started running special Shramik trains earlier this month to ferry them home. The Railways says over a million have been sent back so far.
But activists said many were still trying to get home on foot because registering for the transport was too difficult.
Meanwhile, as India’s cases crossed China’s tally, President Donald Trump has announced that the US will donate ventilators to India, moments after he underlined the close partnership between the two countries and called Prime Minister Narendra Modi his “good friend”. India’s tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases crossed 85,000 yesterday, surpassing China’s count of 82,933 confirmed cases.
“I am proud to announce that the United States will donate ventilators to our friends in India,” Trump tweeted on Friday. However, the White House did not say how many breathing devices would be sent. “We are sending a lot of ventilators to India. I spoke to Prime Minister Modi. We are sending quite a few ventilators to India. We have tremendous supply of ventilators,: Trump told reporters before boarding Marine One on his way to Camp David.
The president is scheduled to spend his weekend at Camp David for a number of meetings. At Trump’s request, India had last month allowed the export of 50 million hydroxychloroquine tablets to treat COVID-19 patients in America, the country worst hit by the pandemic.
Earlier in the day, Trump praised India and Prime Minister Modi. “India has been so great and as you know your prime minister has been a very good friend of mine. I just got back a short while ago from India and we are very much together,” the president said, referring to his visit to New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Agra in February.
During a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said, “The president just extolled our great relationship with India. India has been a great partner to us for quite sometime. I am encouraged to hear ventilators to India.” She said India would be among several countries that would getting the ventilators.
Trump on Friday said the US and India are cooperating to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. “Together we will beat the invisible enemy! We stand with India and Prime Minister Modi during this pandemic,” Trump told reporters in the Rose Garden of the White House.
Trump recognised Indian-Americans as “great” scientists and researchers, who are contributing in the development of coronavirus vaccine. He said a COVID-19 vaccine would likely be available by the end of the year. He has announced appointing former head of vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline to spearhead the vaccine development effort.
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