Coronavirus cases in country climb to 107, cases rise in Maharashtra

New Delhi, Feb 4: Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, on Tuesday attacked the BJP over Anantkumar Hegde's controversial remark on Mahatma Gandhi and termed the party as "Ravan ke aulad" (children of Ravana). "Aaj ye Mahatma Gandhi ko gaali dete hain. Ye Ravan ke aulad hain. Ram ke pujari ka ye apmaan kar rahe hain (Today, they abuse Mahatma Gandhi. They are children of Ravan. They are insulting Lord Ram's devotee)," Chowdhury said.

Later, BJP lawmakers object to Chowdhury's statement. Hegde, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Uttara Kannada, had on Saturday said that the freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi was a "drama".

"None of these so-called leaders were beaten up by the cops even once. Their independence movement was one big drama. It was staged by these leaders with the approval of the British. It was not a genuine fight. It was an adjustment freedom struggle," Hegde had said while addressing a public event in Bengaluru. While several Congress leaders, including Karti Chidambaram and BK Hariprasad, have condemned Hegde's remark, BJP leaders too have distanced themselves from it.

Top leadership in BJP is unhappy with Anantkumar Hegde over his controversial remark on Mahatma Gandhi, party sources had said on Monday, adding that he has been asked to issue an unconditional apology.

Mumbai, Mar 28: Doctors in Mumbai have not been spared by the novel coronavirus. As Mumbai’s count for Covid-19 cases went up to 58, an octogenarian doctor from Saifee Hospital passed away on Friday. He was a suspected case of coronavirus with co-morbid conditions like diabetes and had a pacemaker implanted, said a press release from the state health department.

As per a statement from Saifee Hospital, he underwent a CT scan at Saifee Hospital and was diagnosed positive for Covid-19. The surgeon was transferred to the special isolation facility at PD Hinduja Hospital where he subsequently died. Behranwala’s close relatives had come down from England and were under quarantine.

In a statement, Saifee Hospital, where Behranwala underwent CT scan, said, "All containment and surveillance measures have been implemented to ensure the safety of our staff patients and visitors. Saifee Hospital reiterates that the Hospital is fully operational," said Dr Vernon Desa, Director (Medical governance and clinical compliance) Saifee Hospital.

In the second case, an Andheri-based doctor, aged 53, has been tested positive along with his 43-year-old wife and 20-year-old daughter. The family doesn’t have a travel history. The doctor reportedly came in contact with the virus through a patient. MCGM has taken samples of 60 patients who came in contact with the doctor. "As of now, no patient from his contact has tested positive," Assistant Commissioner, Vishwas Mote.

Another doctor who practiced at Vakola tested positive after he came in contact with a person having travel history to Italy, later tested positive. The doctor has been admitted at Raheja hospital and samples of his close contact have been taken.

Feb 28: The best economic tonic for the coronavirus shock is to contain its spread and worry about stimulus later, said Raghuram Rajan, former head of the Reserve Bank of India.

There’s little central banks can do, and while more government spending would help, the priority should be on convincing companies and households that the virus is under control, he said.

“People want to have a sense that there is a limit to the spread of this virus perhaps because of containment measures or because there is hope that some kind of viral solution can be found,” Rajan told Bloomberg Television’s Haidi Stroud Watts and Shery Ahn.

“At this point I would say the best thing that governments can do is to really fight the epidemic rather than worry about stimulus measures that comes later,” said Rajan, who is currently a professor at the Chicago Booth School of Business.

The spread of coronavirus is pushing the world economy toward its worst performance since the financial crisis more than a decade ago.

Bank of America Corp. economists warned clients Thursday that they now expect 2.8% global growth this year, the weakest since 2009.

“We have moved from extreme confidence in markets to extreme panic, all in the space of one week,” said Rajan, who previously was chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.

The virus outbreak will force companies to rethink supply chains and overseas production facilities, he said.

“I think we will see a lot of rethinking on this, coming on the back of the trade disruption, now we have this,” Rajan said. “Globalization in production is going to be hit quite badly.”