Covid-19: Delhi to hire 200 cabs; Assam says return only if necessary

The Delhi government has decided to hire 200 taxis from cab aggregators Ola and Uber to strengthen its ambulance service which is under pressure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The hired taxis, 110 from Ola and 91 from Uber, will be used for carrying non-critical and non-Covid-19 patients to and from hospitals, a Delhi government order said, news agency PTI reported.

The taxis to be used as ambulance vehicles will be placed under the CATS director who is responsible for managing the Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS) ambulances.

Such a decision was taken in view of high demand of CATS ambulances for ferrying coronavirus patients due to which more vehicles were needed to serve those suffering from other ailments.

In Himachal Pradesh, the Dharamsala administration has said only persons with a valid address proof in the state should book air tickets to the city as the domestic flight services from Delhi and Chandigarh resuming on Monday, and the flyer will have to obtain a district entry-pass.

Himachal has so far registered 185 coronavirus cases, 61 of them cured while 3 have lost their lives.

In the south, Telangana continued to witness a jump in Covid-19 cases on Saturday, with 52 fresh cases reported besides a death.

The number of virus-related deaths in the state rose to 49, a bulletin issued by the state government on Saturday night said.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the state mounted to 1,813 after 52 people tested positive for the virus.

In north-east, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday asked people not to return to the state unless "absolutely necessary" as 87 more people tested positive for coronavirus, the highest single-day jump, taking the total tally to 346.

He also said that the situation in Assam has reached a challenging phase and the government will write to other states to ensure that buses and trucks carrying people without maintaining social distancing are not allowed movement.

Seventeen new cases, including two persons coming from Tripura, were reported in the night, in addition to 10 in the evening, 53 in the afternoon and seven in the morning.

On Friday, 49 people had tested positive for coronavirus.

"17 more #Covid19+ confirmed. 4 from Chirang; 4 from Tinsukia; 1 from Goalpara; 8 test + at SMCH - Cachar (3), Hailakandi (3) & Tripura (2)", the Minister tweeted.

Ten new cases were reported in the evening -- four from Morigaon, two from Nalbari and one each from Nagaon, Hojai, Golaghat and Jorhat.