Three Delhi Police constables of the metro unit were suspended for indiscipline after they lied about coming in contact with a fellow policeman who tested positive for COVID-19, a senior officer said on Friday.

The three were posted at the Shastri Park Police Station where a sub-inspector (SI) tested positive for coronavirus on April 28. The trio later claimed that they had performed duty with the infected policeman and should be sent home to self-isolate, police said.

"They claimed about coming in contact with the SI who tested positive for coronavirus but upon checking, we found that they had lied to skip duty," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Metro) Harendra Kumar Singh said.

According to another senior officer, the 57-year-old COVID-19 positive policeman was either at home or in the investigation officers' room at the police station for the last few days and had not gone out, a senior police officer said.

Instead of lying, the constables could have applied for leave or undergone a medical rest. Police are already rotating their staff so that no personnel is burdened, the officer said.

The sub inspector had fever on April 21 and was sent home after a medical examination. On April 23, his COVID-19 test was conducted at RML hospital and the report came out positive on April 28, following which he was admitted to Safdarjung hospital, police said.

Three other police personnel, who actually performed duty with the sub inspector, were tested at the Lady Hardinge Medical College and their reports are awaited. They have been sent for home isolation, police said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification on Friday allowing special trains to ferry migrant workers, tourists, students, and other persons stranded at different places. "Movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places is also allowed by special trains to be operated by the Ministry of Railways (MoR). MoR will designate nodal officers for coordinating with states/UTs for their movement. MoR will issue detailed guidelines for social distancing and other safety measures to be observed at train stations, train platforms and within the trains," the notification read.

The special trains will run from point to point based on the request of the concerned state governments as per standard protocols.

Passengers will be screened by the departure states before onboarding. Once the passengers are found asymptomatic, only then will they be allowed to board the trains. Additionally, the departure state's government will bring the passengers in batches to the stations on buses that will be fully sanitised. Social distancing and other precautions must also be strictly followed during the process, stated MoR.

Once the passengers arrive at the destination, the destination state's government will make all arrangements to screen and quarantine (if necessary) the passengers, stated the railways ministry.

Special trains that have been planned for today are from Lingampalli to Hatia, Aluva to Bhubaneswar, Nasik to Lucknow, Nasik to Bhopal, Jaipur to Patna and Kota to Hatia.

This notification comes after Indian Railways ferried 1,200 migrant workers stranded in Telangana to Jharkhand. Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren also said that two special trains will leave Rajasthan's Kota for the state with students on board, today. "I thank the Central Govt and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot on behalf of the people of Jharkhand for their help," said Soren.

The Ministry of Shipping has announced Rs 50 lakh compensation to all port employees, including contract labourers employed directly by ports and other contractual labourers, in case of loss of life due to COVID-19 while discharging the port-related duty.

As per the government release, a port chairman will be the competent authority to settle claims or disburse compensation and to verify the cause of death from COVID-19. The compensation is applicable only for cases related to the COVID-19 pandemic and will be in force up to September 30, subject to review thereafter.

The coronavirus crisis has posed various challenges for frontline workers in India. Recently, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare entrusted New India Assurance with the issuing of health cover worth Rs 50 lakh to over 22 health workers. New India issued the policy on March 31 in the form of a tailor-made personal accident cover, which will be valid for the next 90 days.

The policy covers healthcare providers and community health workers who have come in close contact with COVID-19 patients during treatment. Private healthcare staff and workers are also detailed out in the order. As per the ministry, the aim of issuing this policy is to boost the morale of healthcare workers.

India presently has the total confirmed novel coronavirus cases at 29,435, including 21,632 active cases, 6,868 recoveries, 1 migrated and 934 deaths, according to the latest update by the Union Health Ministry. Globally, the tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases has crossed 30 lakh with over 2 lakh deaths.

Coronavirus pandemic and lockdown extension latest news: Karnataka goverment allowed reopening of shops in its green zones starting Tuesday midnight. However, malls will remain shut. The government added that the shops can open with 50% workforce in green zones. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address the nation for the fourth time this week-end. According to sources, the Prime Minister may announce a phased exit from the lockdown in the wake of increasing cases across the states in the country. India is planning to slowly and gradually ease lockdown restrictions from May 3 when it ends. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his video-conference meet with CMs discussed an exit strategy with states' chief ministers to help minimise risks after the lockdown is lifted. However, there will likely be a staggered lifting of COVID-19 lockdown meaning not everything may open up at once as PM Modi asked state CMs to relax rules after considering on-ground situation. Meanwhile, the government on Monday cancelled the order for Chinese COVID-19 rapid testing kits due to faulty results and also informed that the this will not have any financial bearing on it. India presently has the total confirmed novel coronavirus cases at 29,974, including 22,010 active cases, 7,026 recoveries, 1 migrated and 937 deaths, according to latest update by the Union Health Ministry. Globally, the tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases has cross 30 lakh with over 2 lakh deaths.

According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as of 5 PM on April 28, the total number of COVID-19 cases in India has reached 29,974. This includes 22,010 active cases, 937 deaths, 7,026 cured and dischaged patients and 1 migrated patient. The country saw 1,594 new coronavirus cases and 51 deaths in the past 24 hours.

India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a $1.5 billion loan that will support the government's in fight against novel coronavirus disease. The funds will be used for immediate priorities such as disease containment and prevention, as well as social protection for the poor and economically vulnerable sections of the society, especially women and disadvantaged groups, the government said in a statement.

Not a single rupee will be lost to Chinese firms who provided faulty COVID-19 test kits to India as the orders have been cancelled and the payments not made, the government said on Monday amid a controversy over the issue.

Coronavirus test kits made by two Chinese companies Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech and Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics have been found "under-performing" by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the government said.

It has asked states and hospitals to stop using the kits made by the two companies and since "due process followed (not going for procurement with 100% advance amount), GoI (Government of India) does not stand to lose a single rupee", an official statement said.

Earlier this month, around 5 lakh rapid anti-body test kits and RNA Extraction Kits were procured by the government and distributed around the country after the ICMR recommended that every resident in coronavirus hotspots - or areas with a large number of cases - will be tested for the virus.

It was decided to use fast-track kits as the regular RT-PCR tests are slow and have to be conducted in laboratories. Many states in the country do not have adequate testing facilities.

Several states, including Rajasthan and West Bengal complained about the new test kits, saying they had only 5.4 per cent accuracy. Opposition parties questioned the government's purchase as well.

ICMR sources said they had agreed to the use of rapid testing kits, widely considered far more unreliable than regular tests even though they are cheaper and faster, after repeated requests from states.

On Monday, a controversy flared over the Chinese rapid tests after a legal dispute between the distributor and the importer in the Delhi High Court suggested that India had paid double.

The test kits were bought by the importer, Matrix, for Rs 245 apiece from China. Yet, the distributors, Real Metabolics and Aark Pharmaceuticals, sold the same kits to the government for Rs 600 each, which means a 140 per cent mark-up.

In its clarification on Monday, the government said not only had it not paid in advance for any of the anti-body test kits, it had conducted a tender process that received bids between Rs 1,204 and Rs 600 and finally selected the lowest quote.