News Analysis India

Tag: Coronavirus Outbreak

  • Man with lungs damaged by COVID undergoes transplant after donor organs brought from Ahmedabad

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A 55-year-old man, whose lungs had been damaged due to the coronavirus, underwent a bilateral lung transplant at a private facility here after donor organs were transported 950 kilometres in three hours, according to a statement.

    The surgery took place at Max Hospital, Saket, and the hospital said it is the first time in North India that a bilateral lung transplant has been done with the help of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, (ECMO) support.

    The patient, a resident of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, was suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

    His lungs were damaged due to Covid and he was too unstable and desaturating badly, said the hospital in the statement.

    “He was on high flow oxygen and required intermittent BIPAP support. Only option that could save his life was a lung transplant,” it said.

    At the hospital, he was evaluated in the past and had been put on the waiting list for lung transplant by a heart lung transplant team led by Dr Rahul Chandola, the statement said.

    On December 22, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization notified about a brain dead donor at Ahmedabad.

    This patient was a 44-year-old man who died due to brain haemorrhage.

    The team following the notification then went to Ahmedabad to harvest his lungs, the statement said.

    A green corridor was made between the Civil Hospital and the airport at Ahmedabad, and then between the IGI International Airport here and the Max Super Specialty Hospital at Saket to get the organs promptly, it said.

    Covering a distance of 950 km in three hours, the lungs were transported without a glitch, it said.

    This entire process ensured the retrieved lungs to be transplanted within the critical eight-hour chest to chest period.

    Talking about the patient’s condition, Dr Vivek Nangia, Principle Director and Head of Pulmonology in Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket Complex said, “This patient had come to us with bullous lung disease, where the lung had already developed multiple bullae or balloon like structures and the patient was finding it difficult to breathe.”

    “He had been on oxygen for almost about a year now and was not improving and there was no other treatment for it,” he said.

    Chandola said that the patient required extended ECMO life support for 10 days post operatively and was gradually weaned off from ventilator subsequently.

    “It was a very complicated surgery and we performed this double lung transplant on extended ECMO life support for the first time in North India. Now the patient has completely recovered and both the lungs are working perfectly,” he said.

  • Jharkhand: 84 school children test COVID positive in Dumka district in two days

    By PTI

    DUMKA: As many as 84 children in at least eight schools of Jharkhand’s Dumka district have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last two days, an official said on Friday.

    Forty-five school children, including 23 students of RSK High School at Nonihat, tested positive for the infection during the day.

    A day before, 34 students of four high schools of Jama block, and five others in Jarmundi, Dumka, and Shikaripada blocks were found to be corona positive.

    Along with the school children, three teachers of Jama block were also afflicted with the disease, Dumka Civil Surgeon, Baccha Prasad Singh said.

    Jharkhand on Friday recorded 3,749 fresh COVID-19 cases with the tally rising to 3,99,275, a health department bulletin said.

    The death toll increased to 5,192 as three more people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said.

  • Containment zones in Delhi go up from less than 1,000 to nearly 24,000 within fortnight

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Amid the soaring COVID-19 cases in Delhi, the number of containment zones have gone up from less than 1,000 to nearly 24,000 within the past fortnight, officials said on Thursday.

    There were 800 containment zones in the national capital on December 30, 2020.

    According to the latest official figures, the number rose to 23,997 by mid-January.

    South Delhi topped the list of 11 districts in the city with 8,383 containment zones.

    The districts with higher number of containment zones included West Delhi at 4,109, Central Delhi at 3,493, and New Delhi at 2,354.

    The lowest number of containment zones were in East Delhi at 151, North East Delhi at 279, North West at 547 and South West Delhi at 851.

    ALSO READ: Government must vaccinate elderly, ailing persons against COVID-19 at the earliest – Delhi High Court​

    A residential area or an apartment is contained usually if three coronavirus-infected people live there.

    However, district authorities have discretionary powers to declare a residential area a containment zone if even one person is found infected.

    Most of the containment zones in Delhi are micron ones with less than three patients.

    Currently, an infected person with mild symptoms or without any symptom has to undergo seven days’ home isolation.

    Amid COIVD surge, Delhi government suspends routine, elective surgeries at LNJP, GTB hospitals

    The Delhi government has suspended routine and elective surgeries at the LNJP and the GTB hospitals to deal with the surging coronavirus cases in the national capital, officials said.

    Delhi on Thursday reported 28,867 COVID-19 cases, the sharpest single-day spike since the pandemic began, and 31 deaths, while the positivity rate surged to 29.21 per cent, according to health department data.

    Delhi’s previous biggest daily jump of 28,395 cases was recorded on April 20 last year.

    On Wednesday, Delhi had reported 27,561 Covid cases, and 40 deaths.

    ALSO READ: Only hospitalisation data can’t determine if peak is over – Experts on COVID wave in Delhi

    “In view of the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in Delhi, it is hereby directed that routine/elective surgeries shall be suspended in LNH and GTB Hospitals of GNCTD, till further orders,” an order issued on January 11 said.

    According to Delhi Corona app, the LNJP Hospital has 750 designated oxygen beds for Covid patients and 154 of these are occupied.

    At GTB Hospital as well, there are 750 beds and 41 are occupied.

    Delhi logs record 28,867 COVID cases, positivity rate rises to 29.21 per cent

    Delhi on Thursday reported 28,867 COVID-19 cases, the sharpest single-day spike since the beginning of the pandemic, and 31 deaths, while the positivity rate surged to 29.21 per cent, according to health department data.

    Delhi’s previous biggest daily jump of 28,395 cases was recorded on April 20 last year.

    According to the data, Thursday’s positivity rate is the highest since May 3, when it was 29.6 per cent.

    On Wednesday, Delhi had logged 40 deaths, the highest since June 10 last year, when 44 fatalities were recorded.

    The city had recorded 23 deaths on Tuesday and 17 each on Monday and Sunday.

    A total of 164 Covid deaths have been recorded in the first 13 days of January.

    Most of these patients had comorbidities, according to government data.

    ALSO READ: ‘Data indicates covid cases will go down soon’ – Delhi Health Minister on Omicron situation

    The capital saw 130 fatalities in the last six months — nine in December, seven in November, four in October, five in September and 29 in August.

    In July, Covid claimed 76 lives in the city.

    The national capital currently has 94,160 active Covid cases, of which 62,324 are in home isolation, the health department bulletin stated.

    At present, 2,369 Covid patients are admitted to Delhi hospitals.

    Of these, 98 are on ventilator support, it said.

    A total of 98,832 tests, including 80,417 RT-PCR ones, were conducted the previous day, it added.

    The data showed that 2,424 of the 15,433 hospital beds in the capital are occupied and 84.29 per cent are vacant.

    Earlier in the day, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said hospital admissions due to Covid have stabilised in the city over the last four days, but the number of cases and the positivity rate have seen an increase.

    “The number of hospital admissions has stabilised over the last four days. Cases are increasing but the hospital admission rate has not increased in the same proportion. The increase in cases can be attributed to the increase in the number of tests in Delhi,” he said.

    The city’s death audit committee, which met on Wednesday, found that fatalities have mostly occurred among those with co-morbid conditions, the minister said.

    According to its analysis, most of the 97 Covid patients who died between January 9 and January 12 had co-morbidities.

    Seventy of them were not vaccinated and 62 were aged below 60.

    Among those who died, seven were aged below 18, 37 were in the 41-60 age group, 18 were aged between 19 and 40, and 27 between 61 and 80.

    Eight of them were aged above 80.

    Jain told reporters that the hospital admission rate when 27,000 cases are being reported is the same as when 10,000 cases were recorded.

    “This is an indication that the wave has plateaued,” he said, adding that the hospital admission rate is a “major indicator of the situation” and not the number of infections or the positivity rate.

    He expressed hope that cases will start declining soon.

    In his view, there is no need for increasing the number of beds in hospitals at present.

  • Haryana government extends COVID curbs across the state

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Amid a spurt in Covid cases, the Haryana government on Thursday extended various restrictions in all over the state.

    The restrictions imposed by January 5 order in “Group A” districts, which had witnessed a big spike in cases, shall now be imposed in all districts, the Haryana State Disaster Management Authority (HSDMA) said.

    The guidelines released through orders on January 5 and 10 too shall continue to be imposed in the state, it added.

    Earlier on January 10, amid the rising COVID-19 cases, the Haryana government had banned large gatherings of people such as rallies and protests and extended existing restrictions including the closure of cinema halls and sports complexes to eight more districts.

    The order issued by the HSDMA had said the restrictions will be applicable till 5 am on January 19.

    On Monday, the eight new districts where the restrictions became applicable included Sirsa, Rewari, Jind, Bhiwani and Hisar.

    Earlier, these restrictions were imposed in eleven districts including Karnal, Panipat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ambala, Panchkula and Sonipat.

    Now, all these restrictions have been extended to all the 22 districts in the state.

    Cinema halls, theatres and multiplexes shall remain closed, the earlier order issued on January 5 had stated.

    “Hence, restrictions imposed in Group ‘A’ districts (other 11 districts) vide order dated January 5, shall also be imposed in these (eight districts),” said the earlier order.

    As per earlier guidelines, the malls and markets are allowed to open till 6 pm.

    However, shops selling essential items like milk and medicine will be allowed to open at all times to enable them to serve the public at large.

    All sports complexes, swimming pools and stadia shall remain closed except when being used for training of sportspersons for participation in national and international events, the earlier order had said.

    All entertainment parks and B2B exhibitions are prohibited, it had said.

    The government and private offices, except for emergency / essential services, have been advised to function with 50 per cent staff attendance.

    Haryana has witnessed a huge spike in Covid cases over the past fortnight.

    There was no let-up in the rising trend of the COVID-19 cases in Haryana, with 7,591 fresh infections and two fatalities reported on January 13.

    The total number of active cases in the state now stands at over 35,979.

    To check the spread of the viral infection, the state government has banned people eligible for vaccination but not fully vaccinated from entering shopping malls, cinema halls, restaurants and grain markets, among other crowded places, starting January 1.

    A night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am is already in force in the state.

  • ‘Bike ambulance’ to deliver medicines at home to COVID patients in Jaipur

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: The Health Department has started a ‘bike ambulance’ facility in Jaipur city to deliver medicines at home to those infected with coronavirus.

    This initiative has been taken keeping in mind the convenience of the infected living in ‘home isolation’.

    Such infected people can now get medicines by calling the number ‘108’ while sitting at home, an official said.

    According to an official statement, 25 bike ambulances have been set up police station-wise in Jaipur city.

    Through this, medicines will be made available to the patients, especially the coronavirus infected patients, at their homes through bikes and ambulances on calling 108 helpline.

    Of the 9,881 new cases reported in the state on Thursday, 2,785 were in Jaipur.

    A total of 45,565 cases are currently under treatment in the state.

  • COVID-19: Haryana bans rallies, protests, other gatherings; extends existing curbs to 8 more districts

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Amid the rising COVID-19 cases, the Haryana government Monday banned large congregations such as rallies and protests, and extended existing restrictions including the closure of cinema halls and sports complexes to eight more districts, according to an official order.

    The order issued by the Haryana State Disaster Management Authority (HSDMA) said the restrictions will be applicable till 5 am on January 19.

    “Large congregations like all kinds of public meetings, rallies, protests, dharnas etc shall be prohibited in the state,” said the order.

    The eight new districts where the restrictions will be applicable are Sirsa, Rewari, Jind, Fatehabad, Mahendergarh, Kaithal, Bhiwani and Hisar.

    Earlier, these restrictions were imposed in Karnal, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Rohtak Jhajjar, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ambala, Panchkula and Sonipat.

    Cinema halls, theaters and multiplexes shall remain closed, the earlier order issued on January 5 had stated.

    “…Hence, restrictions imposed in Group ‘A’ districts (other 11 districts) vide order dated January 5, shall also be imposed in these (eight districts),” said the order.

    Malls and markets will be allowed to open till 6 pm.

    However, shops selling essential items like milk and medicine will be allowed to open at all times to enable them to serve the public at large, it said.

    All sports complexes, swimming pools and stadia shall remain closed except when being used for training of sportspersons for participation in national and international events, the order said.

    All entertainment parks and B2B exhibitions are prohibited, it said.

    According to the existing order, government and private offices, except for emergency/essential services, have been advised to function with 50 per cent staff attendance.

    This is now applicable to the eight more districts.

    Haryana has witnessed a big spike in Covid cases over the past nearly a fortnight.

    Districts including Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipat, Ambala, Panchkula are among the worst-affected.

    There was no letup in COVID-19 surge in Haryana, with 5,736 fresh infections and five fatalities being reported on Monday.

    According to the health department’s daily bulletin, the state also reported 26 fresh cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 and the tally of such infections in the state rose to 162, out of which 17 are active while the rest have been discharged.

    To check the spread of the viral infection, the state government banned people eligible for vaccination but not fully vaccinated from entering shopping malls, cinema halls, restaurants and grain markets, among other crowded places, starting January 1.

    A night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am is already in force in the state.

  • Maharashtra reports 33,470 new COVID-19 cases, down 10,918 from day ago; 8 more die

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Monday recorded 33,470 new coronavirus cases, 10,918 less than the previous day, taking its tally to 69,53,514, while eight fresh deaths linked to the infection pushed the toll to 1,41,647, the state health department said.

    An official said Maharashtra also reported 31 new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, raising their count to 1,247.

    Of the 31 new cases of the highly contagious variant, 28 were reported from Pune city, two are from Pune rural and one from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial township.

    With addition of new cases and deaths, the state’s COVID-19 tally jumped to 69,53,514, while the toll rose to 1,41,647, the department said.

    Of the 33,470 new cases and eight deaths in the state, 13,648 infections and five fatalities were reported from Mumbai city alone.

    The state had reported 44,388 COVID-19 cases and 12 fatalities on Sunday.

    The number of recovered cases surged to 66,02,103 after 29,671 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, the department said.

    Maharashtra’s coronavirus recovery rate is 94.95 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.03 per cent, the official said.

    According to the official, Maharashtra’s tally of active cases has shot up to 2,06,046 due to the widening gap between new and recovered infections.

    As many as 12,46,729 people are in home quarantine and another 2,505 in institutional quarantine in the state.

    The official said 1,73,766 coronavirus tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative tally to 7,07,18,911.

    The Mumbai region, which comprises the metropolis and its satellite cities, recorded 23,811 new cases, followed by the Pune region (5608), Nashik ( 1421), Nagpur (1213), Kolhapur (446), Aurangabad (395), Latur (349 ) and the Akola region (227), a health department bulletin said.

    The Mumbai region reported 6 fresh fatalities followed by two in the Pune region, it said.

    Other regions did not report any fresh COVID-19 fatalities in the last 24 hours.

    Meanwhile, speaking in Jalna, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic has started and it is expected to peak by January-end.

    He also said the 14-day quarantine period has been halved to seven days.

    He appealed to the people to strictly follow COVID-19 norms to keep themselves and others safe.

    “The third wave of the pandemic has started. It is expected to peak by January-end,” Tope told reporters.

    He expressed concerns over many political leaders not adhering to the pandemic protocols despite the rise in cases in Maharashtra.

    Quoting an Urdu proverb, ‘Jaan hai to Jahaan hai’, Tope said everyone needed to follow the norms put in place to stem the coronavirus spread.

    “Due to the spike in cases, the closure of schools is necessary to protect children from coronavirus. People should support the restrictions announced by the government,” he added.

    Tope said he had spoken with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya during a virtual meeting about the pandemic situation on Monday.

    In this meeting, utilisation of funds under the ECRP 2 (Emergency COVID Response Plans) for preparedness and prevention of the pandemic was discussed, he said.

    The minister said only four per cent of the total 17,000 oxygenated beds in Maharashtra remain occupied as of now.

    Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive cases 69,53,514; fresh cases 33,470; death toll 1,41,647; recoveries 66,02,103; active cases 2,06,046, total tests 7,07,18,911.

  • Omicron’s explosive spread potential makes threat level very high globally: INSACOG

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Omicron’s explosive spread potential makes the threat level very high globally, especially in regions with low population immunity, INSACOG has said and noted higher population immunity due to infections and vaccination was behind the apparent reduction in severity compared to Delta and other variants.

    In its weekly bulletin of December 27, released on Monday, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said global outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 are increasingly shifting from Delta to Omicron.

    “Omicron has a clear growth advantage over Delta with the highest level of immune escape so far as well as high intrinsic transmissibility, leading to larger outbreaks than seen with Delta. Estimates of the severity of illness associated with Omicron are lower than seen in previous outbreaks,” it said citing global data.

    The difference in severity between Omicron and Delta measured over the same time period is smaller, suggesting that the majority of the apparent reduction in severity, compared to previous outbreaks, is because of higher population immunity from previous infections and vaccination, the INSACOG said.

    It noted that based on all available data, older non-immune subjects are still likely to be at risk for severe disease, comparable to previous variants.

    In view of Omicron’s explosive spread potential, the threat level is still very high, especially in regions with low population immunity, the INSACOG said.

    “Adjusted estimates of the hazard ratio for hospital attendance for Omicron vs Delta cases in the UK suggest that risk for unvaccinated is only about 25 per cent lower for the same period.

    “Importantly, in the UK, individuals who have received at least two doses of either AstraZeneca/Covishield or mRNA vaccines remained substantially protected against hospitalisation, even if protection against infection was largely lost against the Omicron variant,” it said.

    As many as 4,033 cases of the Omicron variant have been reported so far across 27 states and Union territories.

  • CPM leaders Prakash Karat, his wife Brinda tests COVID-19 positive

    By PTI

    HYDERABAD: CPI (M) senior leaders Prakash Karat and his wife Brinda Karat have tested positive for COVID-19, a senior leader of the Left party said on Monday.

    CPI(M) Telangana Secretary Veerabhadram said the leaders were in the city to attend the party’s Central Committee meeting held from January 7-9.

    “They had fever on Saturday night (December 8). They tested positive for the virus on Sunday. They were taken to a private hospital for other tests,” the CPI (M) leader told PTI.

    CPI (M) sources said both the leaders did not attend the meeting on Sunday and were in isolation at the party’s office here.

    He further said party cadre and leaders who came in contact with them have undergone COVID-19 tests and are safe.

    Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, and former Tripura CM Manik Sarkar were among those attended the meeting.

  • Surge in COVID-19 cases prompt Centre, state governments to postpone events, opt virtual mode

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Amid a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases fuelled by Omicron variant, several government programmes have either been postponed or moved to virtual mode.

    The Union Ministry for Youth Affairs and Sports has decided to organise the 25th National Youth Festival on the virtual platform from January 12-13 in view of the spike in Covid cases.

    The mega event was earlier scheduled to be held in Puducherry from January 12 to January 16.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate the festival and address the participants on January 12.

    Ahead of the event, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday called upon the country’s youth to share ideas for the prime minister’s speech.

    “My young friends, do you have a great idea that you’d like PM @narendramodi ji to speak about? Share your ideas for PM Modi’s speech at 25th National Youth Festival on 12th January 2022,” the minister tweeted.

    The venue of Puducherry for organising the festival had been “handpicked” by the prime minister, a ministry official said.

    Besides, the 30th edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF), which was scheduled to be held under the aegis of the National Book Trust at Pragati Maidan from January 8 to 16, has also been postponed in view of the latest DDMA guidelines imposed following the surge in COVID-19 cases and “request from stakeholders”.

    The fresh dates for NDWBF, which was held online last year due to the pandemic, will be announced separately, the National Book Trust had said in a statement on January 6.

    On January 6, the Gujarat government also decided to postpone the 10th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit which was to be inaugurated by Modi on January 10.

    The three-day summit was to be held in a grand manner to attract investments and delegations from many partner countries, and CEOs of top companies were supposed to participate in the event.

    The West Bengal government had on January 5 announced postponement of the 27th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), which was scheduled to begin from January 7.

    The announcement came days after KIFF organising committee chairman Raj Chakraborty and member Parambrata Chatterjee said that they had been infected by COVID-19.

    The 27th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival was slated from January 7 to January 14.

    Announcing the schedule for the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa with a strong focus on digital and virtual modes of campaigning, the Election Commission had on Saturday banned physical rallies and roadshows till January 15 due to Covid concerns.

    The Commission, however, said the ban on rallies, roadshows, nukkad sabhas, padayatras and vehicle rallies will be reviewed on January 15.