Trupti Desai finally enters Haji Ali Dargah, offers prayers

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 10: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said that it has been 100 days since the first COVID-19 case was reported and shared the updated figures of positive cases, along with the efforts made by the state government to contain the virus.

"100 Days of #COVID19 | Kerala Story It's been 100 days since the first case was reported. 258 active cases, 97 recovered, Total confirmed: 357 Deaths: 2. 12,710 samples tested Special COVID-19 Hospital, 1,251 Community Kitchens, 28,08,650 Individuals Served, 3,676 Destitutes Rehabilitated," Vijayan tweeted.

India's first case was reported in Kerala in January. The patient was a student, who was studying at Wuhan University in China.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday informed that India's total number of COVID-19 positive cases now stands at 6,412. Out of these, 5,709 are active patients and 504 of them have been cured/discharged and migrated.

With 30 new deaths reported in the last 12 hours, the death toll has reached 199.

Hubballi, Mar 25: The people living in rural areas of North-Karnataka region have become more aware about deadly Corona virus as they are leaving no stone unturned to prevent people of Bengaluru and other metropolitan cities from entering into their villages. People have put thorny plants on all roads at the outskirts connecting their villages and deployed youths to conduct patrolling round the clock till next 21 days.

Their motto is to prevent their own villagers getting infected from the outsiders especially from cities like Bengaluru and other two-tier cities where positive virus cases are on the rise. They have also take precautionary measures in the wake of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's call to the people to return to their native places.

Several people have also dug up the roads leading to their villages to block the entry of outside vehicles. They have put a condition to the outsiders to enter into their villages only after proper health check-up to confirm that they are not infected with Corona positive.

"We don't have access to the proper medical care if Corona virus is entered into our village. The Primary Health Centres are not functioning properly and these centers are facing lack of adequate staff and medical equipments unlike in big cities.Therefore, those who have deserted our village to employ in various jobs in Bengaluru and other cities should confirm that they are tested negative for the virus", said Mallikarjun Patil of Kudal village in Hangal taluk of Haveri district. The village has totally banned the outsiders into their village and warned their fellow villagers to return immediately if they have visited to their relatives' homes in neighboring villages to observe 21-day lockdown.

Hundreds of youths in Itanal village of Chikkodi taluk of Belagavi have also resorted to similar tactics and patrolling in all roads at the outskirts by holding sticks to prevent outsiders from entering into their village until April 14.

People of Hunagunti village in Ron taluk and Kotamuchagi village in Gadag taluk have also adopted similar plan by parking tractors at th outskirts to prohibit the entry of outsiders. They have also created awareness in their villages by beating drums urging the people not to venture outside village for next three weeks.

The police officials have resorted to lati-charge at various places in urban areas when people gathered in large numbers to buy essential commodities.

French Nobel prize winning scientist Luc Montagnier has sparked a fresh controversy by claiming that the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from a lab, and is the result of an attempt to manufacture a vaccine against the AIDS virus.

In an interview given to French CNews channel and during a podcast by Pourquoi Docteur, professor Montagnier who co-discovered HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) claimed the presence of elements of HIV in the genome of the coronavirus and even elements of the "germ of malaria" are highly suspect, according to a report in Asia Times.

"The Wuhan city laboratory has specialized in these coronaviruses since the early 2000s. They have expertise in this area," he was quoted as saying.

The theory that Covid-19 virus originated in the lab is making rounds for quite some time.

US President Donald Trump last week acknowledged Fox News report that the novel coronavirus may have been accidentally leaked by an intern working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.

The Fox News, in an exclusive report, based on unnamed sources has claimed that though the virus is a naturally occurring strain among bats and not a bioweapon, but it was being studied in Wuhan laboratory.

The initial transmission of the virus was bat-to-human, the news channel said, adding that the "patient zero" worked at the laboratory. The lab employee was accidentally infected before spreading the disease among the common people outside the lab in Wuhan city.

Professor Montagnier was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the identification of AIDS virus, with his colleague professor Franeoise Barre-Sinoussi.

His fresh claim on coronavirus, however, received criticism from scientists, including his colleagues.

"Just in case you don't know. Dr Montagnier has been rolling downhill incredibly fast in the last few years. From baselessly defending homeopathy to becoming an antivaxxer. Whatever he says, just don't believe him," tweeted Juan Carlos Gabaldon.

As per a recent Washington Post, two years ago, the US embassy officials in China raised concerns about the insufficient biosafety at the Chinese government's Wuhan Institute of Virology where deadly viruses and infectious diseases are studied.

Though the institute, located quite close to the Wuhan wet market, is China's first biosafety level IV lab, the US state department had warned in 2018 about "serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory".