Coronavirus deaths top 4,000 in US

The coronavirus deaths crossed 4,000 in the US, a number higher than the toll in 9/11 terror attacks in the country, even as the top health experts projected that the pandemic could kill between 100,000 and 200,000 Americans. According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre, more than 4,000 people in the US have died due to COVID-19 and nearly 190,000 have been infected by it. The COVID-19 death toll in the US is also higher than the total number of people killed in China due to the deadly virus. China, which is the epicentre of the virus, witnessed 3,310 deaths. Globally, there are nearly 860,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and over 42,000 people worldwide have died of the disease. US President Donald Trump warned Americans of a “painful” two weeks ahead in fighting the coronavirus, with a mounting US death toll that could stretch into the hundreds of thousands even with strict social distancing measures. 

COVID-19 cases rise to 1,637 in India  

The number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,637 in the country on April 1 while the death toll rose to 38, according to the Union health ministry. The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 1,466, while 132 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated to another country, the ministry stated. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court sought response from the Centre on a plea seeking directions for providing WHO graded protective gear to doctors, nurses and medical staff who are treating coronavirus patients across the country. A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah, which heard the matter through video-conferencing, asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to look into the plea filed by a Nagpur-based doctor and file a response on it by next week. The plea has claimed that in the absence of appropriate protective gear, doctors and other medical staff are putting themselves at risk of being affected by the virus.

Govt promulgates ordinance to provide tax relief

The government brought in an ordinance to give relief in compliance in filing income tax, GST, customs and central excise returns, to help taxpayers tide over the coronavirus crisis. The ‘Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020’, which got assent of the President on March 31, also amends a provision in the Income Tax Act to allow 100 per cent deduction on donations to the PM CARES Fund. With the promulgation of the ordinance, the last date for filing income tax returns as well as that for linking PAN with biometric ID Aadhaar has been extended by three months to June 30.

‘Cargo air-bridge’ set up between India, China

The government announced setting up of a ‘cargo air-bridge’ between India and China, and said that regular cargo flights for transporting critical medical supplies between the two countries are likely to be operated by Air India from April 3. In an official release, the civil aviation ministry also said it has operated as many as 62 cargo services in the past five days, starting March 26, under its recently launched ‘Lifeline Udan flights’ initiative. The initiative is aimed at ferrying medical and essential supplies from one place to another across the country. The Lifeline Udan flights are being operated using the hub-and-spoke model, with New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata serving as the four hubs.

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