France reports record 418 coronavirus deaths in 24 hours
Paris: France on Monday reported its highest daily number of deaths from COVID-19 since the coronavirus epidemic began, saying 418 more people had died in hospital to bring the toll to 3,024.
There are now 20,946 people hospitalised in France with COVID-19, with 5,056 of them in intensive care, the government said in its daily update.
The French death toll includes only those who died in hospital and not those who died at home or in old people's homes.
France has been in lockdown since March 17 in a bid to slow the spread of the epidemic and officials have repeatedly warned it will take time for the measures to bear fruit.
Top French health official Jerome Salomon told reporters that the figures "are in no way going down, we are in the midst of the epidemic".
He noted that the growth in infections in neighbouring Italy had seen a "relative slowing" in the last days and expressed hope that the figures in France could show signs of improvement at the end of this week.
"The aim of the confinement is to massively reduce the contacts between people," he said.
"Our aim every day should be to have as few contacts as possible. If we reduce contacts, the virus can no longer pass from one person to another and the number of people infected should fall."
According to Salomon, the most reliable indicator of the virus' spread is the daily admissions to hospital and intensive care.
"From the end of this week, we should have less people who are arriving at hospital and going into intensive care," he said.
He said that 44,450 people had been tested positive as being infected in France, while the actual number could be much higher as only those deemed at high risk are currently being tested.
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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
