A stampede at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night claimed 18 lives, including 11 women and 5 children. Thousands of passengers, mostly Maha Kumbh pilgrims, crowded the station to board trains to Prayagraj, leading to a surge of people that became impossible to manage. The chaos unfolded when a last-minute platform change announcement caused confusion and panic, resulting in a crush of people at an escalator. As dawn broke, railway staff began the grim task of cleaning up, while grieving families gathered at the hospital to identify their loved ones.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Thursday said the city government will declare black fungus an epidemic if need arises.
According to the NCDC, 415 cases of the UK strain of coronavirus were found in genomes sequenced in Delhi, followed by 23 cases of the South African strain.
Senior officials in the government have been pointing out that while cases are reducing, people should not get complacent.
He was booked under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups on the ground of religion, class, etc), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (public mischief).
According to Delhi Police, the incident occurred at around 3 am on Sunday.
A stampede-like situation at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday evening left at least 15 people injured, and fatalities are feared. The incident occurred due to overcrowding on platforms 14 and 15, triggered by a rush of passengers heading to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh. Eyewitnesses described a chaotic scene with passengers fainting from suffocation and a scramble for space. Authorities are investigating the incident, with initial reports suggesting overcrowding due to the influx of passengers for the religious festival. Rescue teams and fire tenders were dispatched to the scene, and the injured were taken to hospitals for treatment.
Delhi reported its fourth case of monkeypox on Wednesday, with a 31-year-old Nigerian woman testing positive for the disease, official sources said.
Jain has been lodged in prison since his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case in May.
'The residents are a bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial in case of Covaxin and might not participate in huge numbers thus defeating the purpose of vaccination. We request you to vaccinate us with Covishield which has completed all stages of trial before its roll-out'
The death toll in the overnight stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station climbed to 18 on Sunday, with a senior railway official saying the incident occurred after some passengers slipped and fell on others while coming down from a footover bridge.
Ankit Sharma, 26, had been missing since Tuesday and might have been killed in stone pelting, officials said.
In a statement, the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association said the decision has been taken in view of the developments in the last few days in connection with the issue, and the death of chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat and others in a helicopter crash on Wednesday.
The official said that the Centre needs to intervene as a large number of hospitals are affected due to the "stoppage of oxygen supply from Haryana".
'The oxygen crisis is at its worst. It is adding more pressure on the functioning. No one is able to help'
Under the nationwide mega vaccination drive launched on January 16, a total of 4,319 (53 per cent) health workers against a target of 8,117, were administered the shots at 81 centres across the city on day one.
Authorities in New Delhi intensified security arrangements on Tuesday to stop the farmers' march from entering Delhi as the Singhu and Tikri borders were shut while the Red Fort complex was closed temporarily after peasants on their way to the national capital clashed with the police at the Shambhu border between Haryana and Punjab.
Jain, 57, is the minister for health, power, home, PWD, industries, urban development, flood, irrigation and water in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.
The New Delhi district authorities on Monday issued a show-cause notice to Etihad Airways for allegedly violating the Centre's guidelines for international passenger arrivals at the IGI airport here, amid concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
The vector-borne disease has also affected over 1,150 people this season.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail till July 11 to former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain on medical grounds in a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate.
The Union health ministry said the emerging scenario calls for immediate measures by states and UTs to ensure optimal availability of medical oxygen at all health facilities.
One has to stay in isolation for 21 days from the last contact with a monkeypox patient or their contaminated materials, they said.
According to an order issued by Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev, the night curfew will also be imposed from 11 pm on January 1 to 6 am on January 2.
Only 30 ICU beds for COVID patients were available in hospitals across Delhi at 10 pm, according to government data.
Delhi logged 23 COVID-19 fatalities on Tuesday, the highest since June 16, and the positivity rate rose to 25.65 per cent with the government directing closure of all private offices, except those in exempted categories.
From 2.82 per cent over a month earlier, India's COVID-19 case fatality rate declined to 2.72 per cent on July 10 and has further reduced to 2.49 per cent presently.
At least 1,158 cases of dengue have been reported in the national capital with nearly 390 of them being recorded in the first 10 days of September, the month in which the vector-borne disease begins to peak.
"To make sure there isn't a Covid surge in the country, PM Modi has asked us to be careful. The government is also preparing if at the Covid cases increase. Today, mock drills are conducted across Covid hospitals in the country to make sure people get proper treatment," Mandaviya said.
The massive protest has been called by the All India Government Nurses Federation and the Delhi Nurses Federation seeking redressal of issues related to pay and allowances.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Telangana, UP and Andhra Pradesh contribute to around 75 per cent of the new cases, according to the Union health ministry data.
'Many of them were scared. So, I went to my seniors and said I should be given the vaccine first. I wanted to prove to my colleagues that there is no need to be scared'
Eight new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus were reported in Maharashtra -- seven of them in Mumbai -- and none of the patients had a history of international travel, the state health department said on Tuesday.
The man had attended a stag party recently in Manali in Himachal Pradesh.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said dedicated centres will be set up for the treatment of black fungus or mucormycosis cases at three city government-run hospitals.
Travellers coming from the United Kingdom to the national capital will have to undergo a seven-day institutional quarantine and a seven-day home quarantine even if they test negative for COVID-19 on arrival, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Friday.
Locals are overly concerned as horrifying tales emerge of patients running from pillar to post to secure hospital beds or even get themselves tested.
Jaipur Golden Hospital said it has over 200 patients and they had only half-an-hour of oxygen was left at 10:45 am.
Messages of congratulations, doctors posing with a victory sign for the media with their infectious smiles -- visible even under the cover of mask -- and the many 'just got jabbed' selfie by the health workers, it was a rare and happy day at the BLK hospital, which has witnessed many dreary days in the past due to the ongoing pandemic.
He said though there is a spike in new cases, the situation is under control as not many people are developing severe disease or require hospitalisation.
