Ghaziabad, May 25 (IANS) In more woes for the people travelling from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, the Ghaziabad district administration on Monday once again decided to seal its borders with the national capital after witnessing a surge of 10 fresh cases of coronavirus in last 24 hours.

The district administration in an order said, “In Ghaziabad district, there is an increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the last few days. A large chunk of these cases are linked to those who travel between Delhi and Ghaziabad.”

“Hence, on the recommendations of the Chief Medical Officer, the district administration has decided to seal the Delhi-Ghaziabad border until further orders,” the order read.

The district administration had earlier ordered to seal its border with the national capital on April 26.

According to the district administration on Sunday, 10 people tested positive for the virus in the district.

The administration said that the people employed in essential services will be allowed. Doctors, paramedical staff, police, media personnel and bank employees will not need passes. Their identity cards will be enough.

Meanwhile, the officials of the third and fourth grade working with the central and Delhi government offices where 33 per cent attendance system is in place, would be required to produce temporary passes from their offices to gain entry into the district and their identity cards alone would not be considered.

The order also stated that till the time the central and Delhi government employees don’t get proper passes their ID cards will be valid to travel. Even the advocates have been allowed to travel to Delhi.

The order also asked the government employees to enter Delhi before 9 a.m. and return to Ghaziabad after 6 p.m.

The order also stated that in case of emergency. residents willing to get e-passes will have to apply. Such applications will be assessed and then e-passes issued, it said.

Thiruvananthapuram, May 25 (IANS) When the figures of the Covid-19 impact on Monday was reviewed, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s hometown — Pinarayi in Kannur has been declared as a new hotspot.

Kannur, the home district of Vijayan reported 10 new cases on Monday, taking the total positive cases there to 77.

With Pinarayi turning a hotspot along with three other places on Monday, at present there are 59 hotspots in the state. Vijayan however has not visited his hometown for a while now, as he has been staying put in the state capital.

Meanwhile, the total number of fresh positive cases on Monday in Kerala stood at 49, keeping with the increased numbers that have been reported in the past few days.

On Saturday, there were 62 cases and on Sunday it was 53.

Of the 49 cases, 18 came from abroad and 25 from within the country.

Currently there are 359 active positive cases in the state and 532 people have by now turned negative, since the first case reported in the country was at Thrissur on January 30.

On Monday, hugely popular national award winning Malayalam comedian Suraj Venjaramoodu was asked to go into quarantine after he took part in a function along with a police officer at his hometown, near here, who has gone into isolation following a remand prisoner, who was arrested by the police official, turned Covid positive on Sunday.

With around six lakh people registered to return to Kerala (around 4 lakh from abroad and 2 lakh from within the country) since the travel was permitted, so far 97,247 people have come which includes 9,900 who came by air and sea and over 87,000 who came by train and road.

As on date, 98,486 people are under observation in homes, while 792 are in hospitals.

State Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunilkumar reacting to the increase in cases, said that this was much expected and the state is fully geared to face the challenge.

“The need of the hour is all those who have been asked to sit in quarantine have to adhere to that in its true spirit. Kerala’s home quarantine has been a huge success and all what the people should do is just follow the system in place and listen to the health authorities,” said Sunilkumar.

Meanwhile top Indian Medical Association official Rajeev Jayadevan said complacency should not set in.

“As things stand today, they are still under control in Kerala. Fourteen-day quarantine is a must for all those who come from outside our state. In a pandemic situation, there should be no let up on the way our state has taken utmost care till now. If an error happens, cases will multiply in geometric progression. So each and everyone here have to be careful,” said Jayadevan.

Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed a petition demanding the postponement of the remaining Class 10 and 12 examinations, where a record 1.3 million students will have to write the examination in the various schools in the state.

The state government assured the court that all the necessary health protocols will be followed for the smooth conduct of the examinations.

New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) After a mess worker at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) here, another staff member died from coronavirus on Monday.

The deceased, Hiralal was working as senior sanitation supervisor and was posted at Rajkumari Amrit Kaur OPD in the AIIMS.

A source from the hospital said that he was very alert while discharging his duty in the hospital. “He used to follow all norms of hygiene but despite that, the deadly virus entered his body and he lost the battle of life. He did not care about his life while serving people in the hospital. He was loved equally by all including nursing staff and doctors.”

The source also said: “Hiralal was very active in participating in social causes. He played a key role in establishing SC/ST Employees Welfare Association at the AIIMS.”

His body has been kept in the AIIMS Trauma centre mortuary and will be handed over to his family after due procedure.

On May 22, a mess worker had also died from Covid-19 leading the Resident Doctors Association of the hospital charging the AIIMS administration of not following safety norms and demanding testing of all mess workers and residents after diligent contact tracing and compensation for the family of the deceased worker.

A source had then told IANS that AIIMS is allegedly “not taking proper precautions for its residents and staff”.

“Two months ago, we had demanded regular screening and other safety measures like thermal scanners, sanitisers, masks etc. to ensure mess workers are able to work safely without endangering themselves as well as the staff members. But the administration didn’t pay heed to our demands,” the source said.