Mayawati demanded that the Centre should bear the expenses of treatment of COVID-19 patients from the poor and the weaker sections.
Tag: Coronavirus Outbreak
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Seven-day complete lockdown in Haryana
Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: In view of the surge in Covid-19 cases in the state, the Haryana government on Sunday declared a seven-day lockdown from May 3 to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus.“Complete lockdown declared in Haryana for 7 days from Monday, 3 May,” tweeted Haryana’s Home and Health Minister Anil Vij.
During the lockdown period, residents must stay indoors. No non-essential person shall leave their homes or shall move on foot or by vehicle or travel or stand or roam around on any road or public places during the above said hours.
Any person violating the norms will face legal action under various provisions of the Act and Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.
The government on Friday had ordered weekend lockdown in nine districts of the state– Panchkula, Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonepat, Rohtak, Karnal, Hisar, Sirsa and Fatehabad that was in force till 5 am on May 3.
Vij said that the vaccination drive for people aged between 18 and 45 years has started in all districts from May 2 about 200 centres across the state. He said that free vaccination will be done at all government hospitals and vaccination centres in the state.
For this, 66 lakh doses of Covid vaccine have been sought and its first batch has been received. He said that about 1.1 crore people fall in the 18-44 years age group.
He also informed that a special vaccination camp will be organised on Monday at the MLA dispensary where journalists can get vaccinated.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said that he will directly monitor Covid-19 management measures, health infrastructure and availability of medicines in Gurugram. He had allotted the charge of different districts to other ministers.
Case against Tikait for holding Mahapanchayat
The Haryana Police has registered a case against BKU leader Rakesh Tikait and twelve others for allegedly violating prohibitory orders in holding a Mahapanchayat at Dhurali village near Ambala Cantonment. The police had imposed section 144 in the district.
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Needless row over O2 supply to embassies
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The BJP-led government at the Centre faced a huge embarrassment on Sunday with the New Zealand High Commission in New Delhi reaching out to the Opposition with requests for supply of oxygen cylinders.The High Commission’s official Twitter handle tweeted asking BV Srinivas, the national president of the Indian Youth Congress, to help arrange oxygen cylinders.
“Could you please help with the oxygen cylinder urgently at the New Zealand High Commission,” the High Commission asked Srinivas.
“The high commission opened gates of the embassy and accepted cylinders,” Srinivas tweeted later. Reacting to the development, the MEA said essential medical supplies, including oxygen cylinders, must not be hoarded.
“The Chief of Protocol and Heads of Divisions are in continuous touch with all High Commissions/Embassies and MEA is responding to their medical demands, especially those related to Covid. This includes facilitating their hospital treatment,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
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PM Narendra Modi takes stock of conversion of nitrogen plants to make oxygen
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reviewed the progress of conversion of existing nitrogen plants to generate oxygen whose requirement has shot up across the country in the ongoing wave of the pandemic.Modi also took stock of various measures taken to augment human resources for effective management of the COVID-19 situation as well as discussed measures such as incentivising students and pass-outs of medical and nursing courses to join the pandemic duty.
“Decisions may include delaying NEET and incentivizing MBBS pass-outs studying for it to join the Covid-19 duty. The decisions may also include utilising services of final-year MBBS and nursing students,” a government source was quoted as saying by a news agency.
“In order to ramp up oxygen supplies, the government is working on converting nitrogen plants into oxygen plants. Potential industries where current nitrogen plants could be spared are being identified and converted,” the PM tweeted after the review meeting.
India is hit by a devastating wave of Covid infections with the daily new cases crossed the four-lakh mark on Saturday and 3,92,488 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Sunday morning.
The surge in cases has left hospitals overwhelmed, doctors traumatised, and resources like beds, medicines, and oxygen in perilously short supply.
In an earlier review meeting with Modi, institutions like Army had highlighted that they had opened temporary hospitals and their medical staff is also treating civilians wherever they can.
The Centre has identified more than two dozen nitrogen generation plants for the production of medical oxygen.
The process of converting the existing Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) nitrogen plants for the production of oxygen was discussed in the meeting, the PMO said in a statement.
“On deliberation with the industries, so far 14 industries have been identified where conversion of plants is under progress.
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India records 3,68,147 new COVID-19 cases and 3,417 fatalities in single day
By PTI
NEW DELHI: The daily COVID-19 cases in India showed a slight dip with 3,68,147 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, taking the total tally of cases to 1,99,25,604, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.The death toll increased to 2,18,959 with 3,417 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
While the country recorded 4,01,993 new cases on May 1, it had registered 3,92,488 cases on May 2.
Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 34,13,642 comprising 17.13 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 81.77 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1, 62,93,003, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.10 per cent, the data stated.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of 1.50 crore on April 19.
According to the ICMR, 29,16,47,037 samples have been tested up to May 2 with 15,04,698 samples being tested on Sunday.
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Vaccine policy against right to health, Supreme Court tells Centre
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: While oxygen shortage continued in Delhi on Sunday with at least five hospitals sending out SOS calls, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to revisit its vaccine policy, saying in its current form it is detrimental to the right to public health, which is an integral element of Article 21 of the Constitution.The Madhukar Rainbow Children’s Hospital in Malviya Nagar sounded an alarm saying 50 people, including four newborns, were at risk.
“It has become a daily fire-fight in the absence of a continuous supply. We require around 125 oxygen cylinders a day,” said an official of the hospital.
Triton Hospital in Kalkaji said it has been struggling to arrange oxygen for their neonatal intensive care unit. Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research, too, took to social media seeking help from authorities.
The Supreme Court’s order that was reserved on April 30, said the present policy would compel the State governments to negotiate with manufacturers to promote competition and make it attractive for new vaccine manufactures, which will result in a serious detriment to those in the age group of 18 to 44 years, who are to be vaccinated by the state governments.
“The social strata of this age group also comprises persons who are Bahujans or belong to other under privileged and marginalized groups, like many in the other population age groups. They may not have the ability to pay,” the court said.
“Whether or not essential vaccines will be made available to them will depend upon the decision of each state government, based on its own finances, on whether or not the vaccine should be made available free or should be subsidized and if so, to what extent. This will create disparity across nation,” the court said.
Since vaccinations constitute a valuable public good, “discrimination cannot be made between different classes of citizens who are similarly circumstanced on the ground that while the Central government will carry the burden of providing free vaccines for the 45 years and above population, the state governments will discharge the responsibility of the 18 to 44 age group on such commercial terms as they may negotiate,” the court emphasised.
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Former Uttar Pradesh Minister Haji Riyaz Ahmad, IAS officer Deepak Trivedi die due to COVID-19
By PTI
LUCKNOW: Former Uttar Pradesh Minister Haji Riyaz Ahmad and senior IAS officer Deepak Trivedi died due to COVID-19 on Thursday, official sources said.Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ahmad (69) died at a hospital in Bareilly during treatment on Thursday morning, his son-in-law Arif said.
He will be buried in his ancestral village Gauhar, he said.
Ahmad, a five-time MLA from Pilibhit, was a minister in Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav governments.
Senior bureaucrat and Revenue Board Chairman Deepak Trivedi (59) also succumbed to the virus during treatment at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) on Thursday morning.
Trivedi, who was also the chairperson of Uttar Pradesh IAS Association, was admitted to the hospital about a fortnight ago.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has condoled both the deaths.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav also condoled the demise of Haji Riyaz Ahmad, terming it a loss for the party.
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Mental health experts call for moderation in media’s COVID coverage
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Mental health professionals wrote an open letter to the media urging them to show restraint in their coverage without compromising on facts or public interest. It said the media has the power to ‘inform, educate and infuse hope in people.“This includes the sharing of authentic information and allaying of fears. These are extremely important weapons in the fight against the pandemic.”
The signatories included B N Gangadhar, president, Ethics and Medical Registration Board, Pratima Murthy from NIMHANS Bangalore, Gautam Saha, President, Indian Psychiatric Society, and AIIMS’s Rajesh Sagar.
The letter said images of bodies at cremation grounds, and relatives of the deceased, and emotional outbursts would help garner eyeballs but may come at a cost.
“We are sure that reporting on sensitive issues especially during this time of difficulty is not easy, even for journalists. If the news you are reporting affects you so much, then imagine the impact it has on the people who are watching,” the letter said, highlighting that responsibility acquires greater importance in a pandemic.
“Yet again, we are not saying the facts should not be reported. We are saying that hysteria and panic-inducing coverage should be avoided,” the letter added. The letter said specific information empowers people and prepares them to face challenges.
“Remember that none knows about the exact mental health situation of every person who’s watching you or reading you,” the experts wrote in the letter.
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20 per cent of India’s COVID-19 deaths in April alone
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Close to 20% of all official deaths reported in India due to Covid-19, occurred over the last four weeks. Within the same time span, fresh Covid cases shot up a gargantuan 58,47,932. It works out to over 32% of the 1.80 crore reported in the country thus far.The official tally of 38,719 Covid deaths in April so far out of 2,01,187 total fatalities due to the contagious disease in the country may, however, be because of gross undercounting as is evident from the civic death records and grisly visuals from overwhelmed crematoriums across cities and towns.
Experts concur. They point out that while an average of 28,000 deaths are reported in India every day, crematoriums in cities would not be overflowing if the Covid fatality is just 2,000-3,000 a day, as is being counted officially as of now.
ALSO READ: Delayed hospital admission causing Covid deaths to spiral in Telangana
Epidemiologist Jammi N Rao pointed out that the official toll on April 25 was about 2,850. “So assuming all other deaths were constant, the net addition due to Covid amounted to an extra 10% of the baseline,” he said.
“Would that excess have resulted in the scale and magnitude of the chaotic scenes we witnessed with cremation grounds working round the clock, queues of bodies waiting for hours and hours to be cremated, the shortage of firewood and so on? I think that is hardly likely.”
Public health researcher Oommen John, too, said that the number of reported deaths does not reflect the actual number of people who are in prolonged hypoxia (acute breathlessness), which is incompatible to survival.
ALSO READ: Odisha records massive surge, 1 in 2 persons COVID positive in Kalahandi
“This is a mystery and would warrant close attention.” What is alarming is the rapid increase in cases despite local restrictions. India, for instance, was reporting less than 75,000 daily cases in the beginning of the month but reached the 1 lakh mark, higher than the peak in September last within a week, which rose to over 2 lakh cases within another week.
‘Second wave has engulfed India’s towns & villages too’
It took just six more days for the country to cross 3 lakh cases, the highest by any country globally since the beginning of the pandemic, and the case trajectory has continued to grow northwards.
Some biostatisticians, including Bhramar Mukherjee from the Michigan University in the US, have predicted that India’s infection curve could peak in mid-May with 8-10 lakh daily cases after which there could be a swift decline. Those watching the pandemic management in India closely, however, differ slightly.
ALSO READ: Shortage unlikely, but donate blood ahead of COVID vaccination – Experts
“In my understanding, the official tally of daily Covid-19 cases may not go beyond 5 lakh cases per day as case is a function of tests conducted and there has not been significant rise in daily tests despite such an aggressive rise of the pandemic,” said a WHO India official, adding that the actual number of cases and deaths may be far higher.
“The worst part is that the second wave has engulfed metros, tier 2 and 3 towns and even rural areas altogether,” he said.
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COVID-19: Supreme Court to extend period of limitation for filing appeals by litigants until further orders
By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the second wave of COVID-19 has created an ‘alarming situation’ and extended the period of limitation for filing appeals from courts or tribunals by litigants until further orders.Observing that resurgence of COVID-19 cases has put the litigants in a ‘difficult situation’, the bench extended all periods of limitation ending on March 14, 2021 until further orders.
The top court on March 8 noted that country is “returning to normalcy and decided to end the extension of limitation period which was granted for filing appeals in March, 2020 to litigants due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, due to the second wave of coronavirus, the newly appointed Chief Justice N V Ramana today again extended the period of limitation for litigants after the matter was put before it.
The bench asked Attorney General K K Venugopal to submit a note in this regard for passing formal orders.
The apex court also issued notice to all High Courts on the application filed by Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association(SCAORA).
The bench also comprising Justices Surya Kant and A S Bopanna said for the last few weeks there has been an alarming situation across the country due the second wave of COVID-19 putting litigants to hardship.
The apex court had on March 23 last year invoked its plenary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to extend the limitation period of appeals from courts or tribunals on account of the pandemic with effect from March 15, 2020.
The top court had been extending the limitation period by interim orders and finally decided to put an end to this keeping in mind the improved situation in the country and the fact that courts have started functioning.
“Though, we have not seen the end of the pandemic, there is considerable improvement. The lockdown has been lifted and the country is returning to normalcy. Almost all the Courts and Tribunals are functioning either physically or by virtual mode.”
“We are of the opinion that the order has served its purpose and in view of the changing scenario relating to the pandemic, the extension of limitation should come to an end,” the apex court had said in its order.
It had considered suggestions of Attorney General K K Venugopal and issued a slew of directions regarding future course of action on filing of appeals.
“In computing the period of limitation for any suit, appeal, application or proceeding, the period from March 15, 2020 till March 14, 2021 shall stand excluded,” it said.
Consequently, the balance period of limitation remaining as on March 15, 2020, if any, shall become available with effect from March15, this year, it had said.
“In cases where the limitation would have expired during the period between March 15, 2020 till March 14, 2021, notwithstanding the actual balance period of limitation remaining, all persons shall have a limitation period of 90 days from March 15, 2021.
“In the event the actual balance period of limitation remaining, with effect from March 15, 2021, is greater than 90 days, that longer period shall apply,” it had said.
The apex court had said its order would applicable in cases including those under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, the Commercial Courts Act and the cheque bounce cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act.
Due to the onset of pandemic, the top court had taken a suo motu cognizance of the situation arising from difficulties that might be faced by the litigants across the country in filing cases within the limitation period and had passed the order.
Earlier, Venugopal urged the Supreme Court that litigants be given 90 more days as the limitation period for filing appeals as the earlier order on the issue which was passed due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation has been lifted.
In its March 23 last year order, the apex court had said, “This court has taken suo motu cognizance of the situation arising out of the challenge faced by the country on account of COVID-19 virus and resultant difficulties that may be faced by litigants across the country in filing their petitions/applications/suits/ appeals/all other proceedings within the period of limitation prescribed under the general law of limitation or under Special Laws (both Central and/or State).”
“To obviate such difficulties and to ensure that lawyers/litigants do not have to come physically to file such proceedings in respective courts/tribunals across the country including this court, it is hereby ordered that a period of limitation in all such proceedings, irrespective of the limitation prescribed under the general law or special laws whether condonable or not shall stand extended w.e.f. March 15, 2020 till further order/s to be passed by this court in present proceedings,” it had said.