'Dr Shaukat Ali, a 45-year-old doctor posted in the 108 ambulance service at Malad railway station died of COVID-19 on Sunday. Despite being a frontline warrior, Ali's family ran from pillar to post to get him hospitalised in either a private or government hospital, to no avail. Ali was working with the 108 ambulance service for the last four years. A few days ago, he got his blood tests done after his health deteriorated. The result stated typhoid fever following which he started getting treatment at home in Malwani...'
'At least six doctors from the suburbs and one from south Mumbai have been served showcause notices for prescribing the Covid-19 test to asymptomatic patients or for asking them to get tested without conducting a physical examination...'
'...He was referred to Cooper Hospital, a designated Covid-19 hospital in the city. “After standing in a line for two hours to take a slip to see a doctor, I was informed that the line for the fever clinic is different. By that time, my brother had already started having trouble breathing. So, I rushed him to a private nursing home,” said his brother. The nursing home refused to admit him without a swab test. So, the doctor at the nursing home prescribed a Covid test and he was taken to Hinduja Hospital for a test...'
'A rapid survey done by four independent organisations on the condition of migrant workers in Gujarat and Maharashtra has suggested several measures that could be taken to ease the situation. The rapid survey, done by theCentre for Labour Research (CLRA), Habitat Forum (Inhaf), Mashal and sociology department of Savitribai Phule University, Pune was done between April 23 and May 1,on issues related to stranded labours, migrants and workers in the unorganised sector... Employment and wages were uncertain in both states.
'Sixteen migrant labourers, who were trying to return to their home State Madhya Pradesh on foot, were killed on Friday when a goods train ran over them between Jalna and Aurangabad districts, nearly 260 km from here. One was seriously injured, while three escaped. According to the Aurangabad police authorities and railway officials at the Nanded division of the South Central Railway (SCR), 14 were killed on the spot, while two died of their injuries on way to hospital. The incident occurred under the jurisdiction of the Karmad police station in Aurangabad...'
'A 40-year-old Jharkhand man heading home, mostly on foot from Nagpur, collapsed near Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh on Sunday and died a few hours later in a local hospital on Monday morning. “The deceased Ravi Munda (40) was a labourer from Saraikela in Jharkhand, who was working in some private company in Nagpur. His body has been handed over to his brother and cremation will be done in Bilaspur on Wednesday with the help of police,” said IG Bilaspur zone, Dipanshu Kabra...'
'There could not be a clearer indication of how bad the coronavirus crisis is going to get for Mumbai. On Monday, the 40th day of lockdown, the BMC was working feverishly to add new isolation beds, especially in the worst effected south-central Mumbai. Soon, one of Mumbai’s prettiest open spaces, the Mahalaxmi Racecourse will have a 200-bed isolation facility in its vast parking lot.
'The number of official Covid deaths in Malegaon in Maharashtra is just 12 since the first case in early April but, overall, the number of deaths in this city has shown an unusual surge. At 580 deaths for April, as per civic records obtained by The Indian Express, it’s almost twice the figure for the same month last year (277) and a 48 per cent jump over the number of deaths in March this year (see chart).
'While voices on our phones, televisions, and radios don’t tire of telling us to wash our hands frequently, reminding us how important that simple act is in this battle against Covid-19, a simple fact of Mumbai life seems to have escaped all our experts and planners – lakhs of Mumbaikars don’t have access to enough water to do that. According to a survey carried out by Pani Haq Samiti, an NGO involved in fighting for water rights of underprivileged, there are at least 5 lakh slum-dwellers in Mumbai spread across 60 slum pockets who get less than 60 litres of water per family per day.
'In a desperate attempt to reach home, a migrant worker from MP’s Sidhi walked nearly 60km, without food or water, before collapsing in a jungle in Maharashtra and dying on April 24...'
