Coronavirus cases in India climb towards 30,000; Pakistan mosques a growing worry
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
February 03, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 03, 2023
Coronavirus cases in India climb towards 30,000; Pakistan mosques a growing worry

Coronavirus chronicle

Reuters
28 April, 2020, 08:20 pm
Last modified: 28 April, 2020, 08:28 pm

Related News

  • PM likely to attend G20 Summit in New Delhi September
  • Indian shares struggle for direction as Adani rout deepens
  • Pakistan mosque suicide bomber 'was in police uniform': Police chief
  • Australia batter Usman Khawaja flies out to India after visa approved
  • Pakistan’s revisionist tactics

Coronavirus cases in India climb towards 30,000; Pakistan mosques a growing worry

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has allowed some farm and industrial activity to resume in less-affected rural areas after the shutdown of the economy left millions without work and short of food and shelter

Reuters
28 April, 2020, 08:20 pm
Last modified: 28 April, 2020, 08:28 pm
A doctor wearing a protective suit seals a bag containing a swab sample vial, at a testing center during an extended nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
A doctor wearing a protective suit seals a bag containing a swab sample vial, at a testing center during an extended nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

India was nearing 30,000 coronavirus infections on Tuesday, second only to China in Asia, a steady rise that would make it difficult to lift a nearly six-week lockdown that ends this weekend, health officials and some government leaders said.

Neighbouring Pakistan also recorded a jump in cases and deaths from Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, and there were concerns that many people were gathering in mosques for Ramadan prayers despite strict rules on distancing.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has allowed some farm and industrial activity to resume in less-affected rural areas after the shutdown of the economy left millions without work and short of food and shelter.

But with about 1,500 new cases each day on an average over the past week, the government is facing calls not to ease further and instead keep the world's biggest shutdown in force beyond May 3, even though the economic distress is deepening.

"India is still on the ascending limb of the epidemic curve and so to ease the restrictions will mean the cases will multiply uncontrollably," said Dr S.K. Sarin, who leads a government group tackling the outbreak in the capital, New Delhi, one of the hotspots.

The number of people infected with the coronavirus stood at 29,434, the health ministry said, a rise of 1,543 over the previous day. So far 934 people have died, a small number compared with the United States and parts of Western Europe where tens of thousands have died.

But India's healthcare systems are much more limited than those in developed countries and the fear is that a surge in cases of the kind seen in the United States and Italy could easily overwhelm public hospitals.

"We are recommending that the lockdown be extended after May 3. No mode of public transport be allowed between states," said Pramod Sawant, chief minister of Goa that draws hundreds of thousands of tourists to its beaches from within India and overseas.

NO FACE MASKS OR DISTANCING

Pakistan had 14,079 cases including 301 deaths, 20 of them over the past day the highest single-day toll so far. Pakistan, which the World Bank said could tip into recession in the current fiscal year, has opened 600 export industries, mainly in Punjab and Sindh province, to reduce the pain for businesses and workers.

A bigger problem was congregations at mosques because the ground rules for such gatherings were not being followed, a leading non-government organisation said.

Pakistan, under pressure from religious groups, allowed people to pray at mosques during the holy fasting month that began last week provided they kept six feet apart, wore face masks and did not pray in the streets.

But Pattan Development Organisation said the rules were largely violated in the 194 mosques it surveyed in 15 cities and towns.

"In more than 80% of the mosques of Punjab and Islamabad, imams have failed to implement the government-clergy agreement during the first Taraveeh congregations on Friday evening," it said. Taraveeh refers to special prayers offered during the month.

Most worshippers didn't wear masks and few kept distance from each other while a large number were praying on the streets, it said, warning many could be contracting the virus and carrying it into their homes.

In more than two-thirds of the mosques monitored, children were also seen alongside their elders.

"This is indeed a very dangerous situation. Authorities and clerics should know that one infected person can cause massive harm," Pattan said.

Here are official government figures on the spread of the coronavirus in South Asia:

* India has reported 29,434 cases, including 934 deaths

* Pakistan has reported 14,079 cases, including 301 deaths

* Afghanistan has reported 1,703 cases, including 57 deaths

* Sri Lanka has reported 592 cases, including seven deaths

* Bangladesh has reported 6,462 cases, including 155 deaths

* Maldives has reported 200 cases and no deaths

* Nepal has reported 54 cases and no deaths

* Bhutan has reported seven cases and no deaths

South Asia

India / Pakistan

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • International Monetary Fund logo : AP via UNB
    IMF sets time-bound reform agenda as it releases first tranche of loan
  • Shipped Bhola gas to cost higher, yet cheaper than spot LNG
    Shipped Bhola gas to cost higher, yet cheaper than spot LNG
  • January exports rise nearly 6% riding on high-value RMG items
    January exports rise nearly 6% riding on high-value RMG items

MOST VIEWED

  • Tourists ride a tour bus in Hong Kong, China October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
    Hong Kong says 'hello' to woo back visitors after Covid
  • People wearing face masks following the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak are seen at Beijing Daxing International Airport in Beijing, China July 23, 2020. Photo:Reuters
    Pandemic to paradise: Chinese tourists return to Bali after three years
  • People walk outside wearing masks during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Harlem area of the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., February 10, 2022. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
    US to end Covid-19 emergency declarations on 11 May
  • A nurse prepares a shot for Jonathan Halter as the German embassy begins its roll out of BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for German expatriates at a Beijing United Family hospital in Beijing, China January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
    Covid remains a public health emergency, says WHO
  • FIKE PHOTO: Medical staff moves a patient into a fever clinic at a hospital, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue in Shanghai, China, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song
    China approves two domestically developed Covid drugs
  • People walk with their luggage at a railway station during the annual Spring Festival travel rush ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in Shanghai, China January 16, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song
    Holiday trips within China surge after lifting of Covid curbs

Related News

  • PM likely to attend G20 Summit in New Delhi September
  • Indian shares struggle for direction as Adani rout deepens
  • Pakistan mosque suicide bomber 'was in police uniform': Police chief
  • Australia batter Usman Khawaja flies out to India after visa approved
  • Pakistan’s revisionist tactics

Features

Six Jeep Wranglers and a special XJ Jeep Cherokee set out into the depths of Lalakhal, Sylhet for an experience of a lifetime. Photo: Ahbaar Mohammad

Jeep Life Bangladesh: A club for Jeep owners to harness the power of their vehicles

16h | Wheels
While the Padma bridge in operation is changing the lives of millions in the south for the better, passenger rush to Shimulia ghat died down. Photo: Masum Billah

How are the Shimulia ghat businesses faring after Padma bridge?

18h | Panorama
After so many investments going embarrassingly wrong, as was the case with Sam Bankman-Fried, perhaps tech investors’ preference for less experience will wane. Photo: Bloomberg

Are you the next Steve Jobs? Good luck raising money in 2023

18h | Panorama
An elderly couple's lonely battle to save Dhaka's trees

An elderly couple's lonely battle to save Dhaka's trees

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

A proper price formula can help investors to plan big

A proper price formula can help investors to plan big

8h | TBS Round Table
Rumors about Sarika that everyone thinks are true

Rumors about Sarika that everyone thinks are true

6h | TBS Entertainment
Mugging rife in Tejgaon, murder in Wari

Mugging rife in Tejgaon, murder in Wari

9h | TBS Current Affairs
What secrets are hidden behind Adani's wealth?

What secrets are hidden behind Adani's wealth?

7h | TBS Stories

Most Read

1
Bapex calls candidates for job test 9 years after advert!
Bangladesh

Bapex calls candidates for job test 9 years after advert!

2
Leepu realised his love for cars from a young age and for the last 40 years, he has transformed, designed and customised hundreds of cars. Photo: Collected
Panorama

'I am not crazy about cars anymore': Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu

3
Photo: Collected
Energy

8 Ctg power plants out of production

4
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Economy

IMF approves $4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh, calls for ambitious reforms

5
Photo: Collected
Court

Japanese mother gets guardianship of daughters, free to leave country

6
Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane
Infrastructure

Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]