BENGALURU THURSDAY APRIL 02, 2020 `6.00 PAGES 16 LATE CITY EDITION LOCKDOWN LIFT IN SIGHT AS IRCTC OPENS ONLINE RESERVATION SYSTEM TRAVEL SITES RESUME AIR BOOKINGS IRCTC had shut down online booking of rail tickets after PM Narendra ■ “The shutdown is only till April 14 night. Booking can’t be stopped RLY, AIRLINES START BOOKINGS Modi announced a nationwide lockdown on March 24. “As we have clear beyond that,” said an Air India official. In the unlikely event of `3,928 indications from the government the lockdown will not be extended, we further lockdown, passengers can reschedule the trip The move comes after clear indication from the Centre that the have resumed sale of online tickets,” an IRCTC official said, adding that ■ Bookings are also open on private airlines and travel portals COST OF A CHENNAI-DELHI NON-STOP 21-day national lockdown will not be extended beyond April 14 this will help passengers plan their travel in advance such as MakeMyTrip and Yatra from April 15 onwards FLIGHT ON APRIL 15 ON YATRA.COM CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI 1.5K FROM K’TAKA J&K 1 TABLIGHI VIRUS LOAD ALL EFFORTS ATTENDED JAMAAT 48 UTTARAKHAND ANUSHA RAVI @ Bengaluru JAMAAT ATTENDEES DELHI 53 48 ARUNACHAL PRADESH THE Karnataka State Health De- IN QUARANTINE 48 UTTAR PRADESH 1 partment on Wednesday pegged RAJASTHAN 11 81 BIHAR ASSAM 17 TO TRACK ITS the number of people who re- turned from Delhi’s Nizammud- din Tablighi Jamaat at a stagger- JHARKHAND 1 ing 1,500. By Wednesday evening, 6 15 19 MADHYA PRADESH 1 71 WEST BENGAL the State Government had BELAGAVI DHARWAD KALABURAGI 1,500 GUJARAT screened 800 of them and the pro- PARTICIPATED FOOTPRINTS 101 CHHATTISGARH cess of tracing, screening and Cabinet secretary tells chief secretaries to quarantining the rest is under 45 25 from Mysuru of them 50 ODISHA way. Of the 800 screened so far, INFECTED trace all who participated in Nizamuddin attended advised home swab samples of 143 people have religious meet; PM to speak with CMs today event quarantine 252 MAHARASHTRA 1,030 TELANGANA 21 6 been sent for testing. DEAD “About 1,500 people, who attend- 5 from M’luru attended ed the congregation between EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi March 8 and 20, returned to Kar- 3 under observation 1085 ANDHRA PRADESH 70 UK extends nataka in batches on different in home quarantine doc work visa WITH the threat of Tablighi Jamaat’s Nizamuddin congregation dates. We are monitoring those 2 1,500 KARNATAKA 1 In a relief to participants spreading the deadly Novel Coronavirus across the who have returned less than 14 foreign doctors, country looming large, Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on days ago more closely, since their media in Bagalkot that only about including from Wednesday ordered all authorities to be firm in tracing and taking 1,103 TAMIL NADU 190 India, whose incubation period isn’t over. All 342 people from Karnataka took 395 KERALA 1 action against the Jamaat workers. of them have been sent to govern- part in the congregation. 376 new cases visas were set CASH FOR Gauba directed the states and Union Terri- ment-supervised quarantine,” Karnataka is compiling its lists India registered 376 cases of to expire in POOR SOON tories to launch on a “war-footing” the contact Health and Family Welfare De- of those who attended the Tab- the virus in the last 24 hours. October, the UK tracing of all participants of the congregation, partment Additional Chief Secre- lighi Jamaat in New Delhi based The spike is primarily due to has extended With reports of the adding that intensive tracing of all contacts the deadline by poor and tary Jawaid Akhtar said on on inputs received from the Union Class 10, 12 exams IOC tack on purchases the fallout of the Tablighi must be ensured in a fool-proof manner. Jamaat congregation in Delhi one year vulnerable sections Wednesday evening. Government. The attendees are only for 29 subjects IOC has declared force majeure Prime Minister Narendra Modi may also The number is a whopping said to have returned in three of the society speak to the Chief Ministers on Thursday to “It has been decided that on crude purchases from Saudi Wimbledon facing hardships in jump from Tuesday when the batches. “Their travel history is 7 more in Noida hotspot cancelled take them on board to deal with the uphill the board conduct exams Arabia, Iraq, UAE and Kuwait, accessing state had traced 79 returnees. being collected to ascertain how for only main subjects as refinery run rates have been 7 new coronavirus patients in Wimbledon task of tracing all participants and those who Health minister B Sriramulu, ear- many returned in the last 14 Gautam Buddh Nagar in the foodgrains, the have come into contact with them. that will be required cut down following lockdown organisers Cabinet Secretary lier on Wednesday, had told the days,” Akhtar added. P3,4,5 last 24 hours, total cases 45 During a video-conference call with Chief for promotion and may and oil market crash. A force scrapped the asked states to be crucial for higher majeure is an event outside oldest Grand Secretaries and DGPs of all States and Union education,” the CBSE said. reasonable control, which 3.2 lakh quarantine beds Slam tennis implement the PM Territories, the Cabinet Secretary also asked Also, all class 1-8 students prevents IOC from performing Railways setting up 3.2 lakh tournament for Garib Kalyan the State and UT authorities to ensure that no State COVID tally climbs to 110 to be promoted contract obligations isolation and quarantine beds the first time Yojana within the other religious groups are holding congrega- next week. “This tions anywhere in the country and strict ac- will involve large KARNATAKA EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru tion be taken against them if found doing so, cash transfer to COVID-19 COUNT sources said. Many of the jamaat attendees KARNATAKA recorded nine new positive cases beneficiaries,” have reportedly gone into hiding in various Total cases till for the Novel Coronavirus on Wednesday, taking officials said parts of the country, complicating matters. Wednesday 110 the total to 110. Of the nine, five are related to The country’s seniormost bureaucrat also the Nanjangud case, where a 35-year-old man ordered registration of cases against foreign Tablighis for viola- (Patient 52) working with a pharmaceutical tion of visa norms, according to sources. Gauba shared the road- 9 company and with no travel, had tested positive map for the intensive contact tracing of Tablighis. “Tracing all Total for coronavirus. Also, there are 15 contacts of the participants of the Nizamuddin Markaz is the top-most prior- recovered Patient 52 who have tested positive so far, mak- ity, and the state governments must not lose time,” said a senior patients ing it the largest cluster in the state. government official. P7,8,9 Meanwhile, a 67-year-old woman (Patient 11), who had returned from Dubai via Goa on March S GURUMURTHY WRITES ON TABLIGHI 3 9 and had chronic kidney ailment, was dis- Myanmar nationals settled in Hyderabad, who went to Narketpally for religious prayers flouting lockdown restrictions, JAMAAT - ITS OTHER, EVIL SIDE P7 Total deaths charged on Wednesday. P5 being taken to a hospital in Hyderabad for coronavirus tests on Wednesday | VINAY MADAPU Centre drops anti-virals from recommended list SUMI SUKANYA DUTTA @ New Delhi THE Centre has asked doctors treating severe patients of coronavirus to stop administering anti-HIV drugs and instead put them on a combination of anti-malaria drug Hydroxycholoroquine and antibiotic Azithromycin. In the revised guidelines on the management of Cov- id-19 patients, the Union health ministry said, “no spe- cific antivirals have been proven to be effective as per currently available data.” Earlier it had recommended using the Lopinavir-Rito- navir combo for patients with acute respiratory distress. “One of the drug is Hydroxychloroquine (Dose 400 mg twice a day for 1 day followed by 200 mg twice a day for 4 days) in combination with Azithromycin (500 mg once a day for 5 days),” said the guideline. “These drugs should be administered under close medical supervision, with monitoring for side effects.” However, they are not rec- ommended for children aged less than 12 years, pregnant and lactating women. Sources said the revision in medication came following a study published in the New England Journal, which said the anti-HIV drug combination did not work in 199 patients analysed. Another study from France said the anti-malarial and antibiotic combination helped 78 out of 80 patients analysed. Union govt expands scope of J&K domicile policy FAYAZ WANI @ Srinagar THE Centre’s new domicile policy for Jammu and Kash- mir to include anyone who has stayed over 15 years in the Union Territory has regional parties up in arms. Accord- ing to the redefined domicile rules, those who have studied for a period of seven years and appeared in Class 10 or 12th examination in J&K are also eligible for domicile rights. Only those with domicile rights can apply for govern- ment jobs in J&K. “Talk about suspect timing. At a time when all our efforts & attention should be focused on Cov- id outbreak, the government slips in a new domicile law for J&K,” tweeted National Conference leader and former CM Omar Abdullah, who was released recently after being detained for seven months.