Adopting "zero tolerance" for attacks on health workers fighting the COVID-19 battle, the government on Wednesday proposed making such offences non-bailable with maximum punishment of seven years in jail and Rs 5 lakh fine. The nationwide tally of coronavirus positive cases, in the meantime, crossed 20,000 with over 650 deaths.
"Our government has zero tolerance against violence and harassment targeting doctors, nurses, paramedics and ASHA workers when they are doing their best to fight the pandemic," Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said after a union cabinet meeting
At the meeting, the cabinet also approved Rs 15,000 crore for 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package' for setting up dedicated treatment facilities and laboratories as part of an urgent response to contain the pandemic. The fund will be utilized in three phases.
The Union Health Ministry also advised chief secretaries of all states and Union Territories to adopt adequate measures in ensuring the safety of health workers involved in COVID-19 services.
In a letter, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said amongst all professionals, the skills and services of these health workers place them in a unique position of saving lives.
Official sources also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers via video conferencing on April 27 morning on the way ahead in the fight against coronavirus. This will be the third such video conference.
In the last interaction on April 11, several chief ministers had recommended extension of the 21-day lockdown by two weeks, which was slated to end on April 14 earlier. Modi then extended it to May 3.
The political stand-off, however, continued between the BJP-headed central government and the Trinamool Congress-led government in West Bengal, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that the Centre had dispatched faulty testing kits to her state.
"Canards are being spread every day that only a few are getting tested in Bengal for COVID-19. This is absolutely false. Faulty kits were sent to Bengal which have now been withdrawn. We didn't even get adequate testing kits," she told a press conference.
The state government, however, assured it will abide by all the central government orders on the nationwide lockdown and said "it is not a fact" that it was not cooperating with the central team deputed to assess the COVID-19 situation in the West Bengal.
The assurance followed the Centre's allegation that the West Bengal government was obstructing the central team's work.
West Bengal has so far reported 15 deaths and 385 confirmed cases, though at least 79 people have been cured of COVID-19 in the state.
A PTI tally of figures reported by various states and union territories, as on 6.45 PM, put the nationwide tally of confirmed cases at 20,564 with 654 deaths and 3,871 recoveries.
The evening 5 PM update from the Union Health Ministry, however, put the number of confirmed cases at 20,471 with 652 deaths and 3,949 recoveries so far.
While Maharashtra has reported the maximum cases at over 5,600 and at least 269 deaths, Gujarat, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have also reported large numbers of positive cases.
In Dharavi area of Mumbai, nine more persons tested positive on Wednesday, taking the number of coronavirus cases in the densely-populated slum area to 189, a civic official said. At least 12 COVID-19 patients from the area have died so far.
New cases that emerged during the day included an employee of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, which said all staff members who had come in contact with that person, have been asked to go into self isolation as a precaution.
With a number of media persons also testing positive across various states, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued an advisory to print and electronic media, calling on journalists covering coronavirus-related incidents to take precautions. The advisory has also asked the management of media houses to take necessary care of their field as well as office staff.
In the fight against COVID-19, some parts of the country have also seen attacks on health workers and others on the front line of the battle.
In a bid to tackle this issue, the union cabinet on Wednesday approved an ordinance making acts of violence and harassment against healthcare personnel deployed in combating COVID-19 a non-bailable offence with maximum punishment of seven years imprisonment and Rs 5 lakh fine. This was a key demand of health professionals in the wake of recent attacks on them.
I&B minister Javadekar said a person can be sentenced to anywhere between three months and five years in jail, besides a fine between Rs 50,000 and two lakh, for crimes against healthcare workers under the new provision. In cases where injuries are serious, the punishment will range from six months to seven years, and carry fine between Rs 1-5 lakhs, the minister told reporters.
It was not clear whether these provisions would continue even after the COVID-19 crisis.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) called off its proposed 'white alert' and 'black day' protests scheduled for April 22 and 23 following a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah through video conference on Wednesday. The doctors' body has been demanding that the Centre bring a law to protect healthcare workers from rising attacks at a time when they are battling COVID-19.
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