News Analysis India

Tag: COVID19

  • Two cases of Kappa variant of COVID-19 detected in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Two cases of Kappa variant of COVID-19 have been detected in Uttar Pradesh, according to an official statement issued on Friday. Genome sequencing of 109 samples was done at King George’s medical college here in the past few days.

    The Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 was found in 107 samples, while the Kappa variant was found in two samples, the statement issued after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s routine review meeting said. “Both the variants are not new for the state. The facility of genome sequencing is being increased in the state,” it added.

    At present, the daily positivity rate in the state is 0.04 per cent. When asked about the Kappa variant, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said earlier also cases of this variant were found in the state.

    “There is nothing to worry about. This is a variant of coronavirus and its treatment is possible,” he said. When asked in which districts this variant was found, Prasad did not divulge details and said it would create fear among people.

  • PM Narendra Modi reviews progress of oxygen supply, availability across country

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: More than 1,500 PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) oxygen plants are coming up across the country, the government said on Friday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of augmentation and availability of the life-saving gas.

    The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), in a statement, said that Modi asked officials to ensure that these plants are made functional at the earliest and also told them to work closely with state governments in this regard. These upcoming oxygen plants include those being built with the contribution from the PM CARES fund as well as from various ministries and PSUs, it said.

    PSA oxygen plants contributed by the PM CARES fund are coming up in all states and districts of the country, and Modi was told that they will support more than 4 lakh oxygenated beds once functional, the PMO said.

    “PM asked officials to ensure there is adequate training of hospital staff on operation and maintenance of oxygen plants. He also directed officials to ensure that each district has trained personnel available,” it said.

    The prime minister was informed by officials that a training module prepared by experts is in place, and they are targeting training of around 8,000 people across the country. Modi also asked them to deploy advanced technology like IoT to track the performance and functioning of these oxygen plants at the local and national level.

    The PMO said that he was informed by officials that a pilot exercise is being done using IoT for monitoring the performance of the oxygen plants. “Officials also informed the prime minister that they are in regular touch with officers from state governments regarding fast-tracking the oxygen plants,” it said.

    With many places complaining of oxygen shortage in hospitals during the peak of the second COVID-19 wave in April-May, the Union government has been taking measures in coordination with states to boost the production and supply of the life-saving gas.

    Modi has been holding a number of meetings in this regard amid apprehensions of a third wave of the pandemic.

  • Set up separate pediatric wards at all hospitals to deal with third wave: Uttarakhand CM

    By PTI
    DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said there should be separate pediatric wards at all district hospitals, CHCs and PHCs besides adequate oxygen, ICUs and ventilators in the state to deal with a possible third wave of COVID-19.

    Reviewing the state’s preparedness in view of a possible third wave of the pandemic, Dhami said all these arrangements should be in place by the end of July. Maximum vaccination and increased testing are a must to build a protective mechanism against COVID-19, he said.

    The CM also asked officials to pay heed to the maintenance of medical equipment and tools provided to the state under the PM CARES Fund and corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributions from companies.

    Apprising the Chief Minister on the status of arrangements, Health Secretary Amit Negi said there is enough oxygen in the state and it ranks fifth in the country in terms of vaccination. He added that apart from doctors, paramedics have also been trained to deal with COVID cases.

  • ‘Will there will be no vaccine shortage?’: Rahul Gandhi takes potshots at new health minister

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Soon after the new health minister assumed charge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asked whether it will change anything and there will be no vaccine shortage. “Does this mean no more vaccine shortage,” he asked on Twitter, using the hashtag “#Change”.

    Does this mean no more vaccine shortage?#Change
    — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 8, 2021

    The Congress has been criticising the government’s vaccination policy, alleging that it is moving at a slow pace and needs to be accelerated. However, the BJP hit back at Gandhi with its spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia alleging that the former Congress chief is “irresponsible” and is criticising for the sake of doing so. “We would, however, welcome his constructive criticism,” Bhatia said.

    The Congress has earlier said that the dropping of former Health Minister Harsh Vardhan is an admission of the government’s failure in handling of the pandemic. Earlier Congress leader P Chidambaram said the first task of the new Health Minister Mansukh Mandavia is to remove vaccine shortage as some states are facing acute shortages.

  • Union home secretary reviews COVID-19 situation in Northeastern states, UTs

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Wednesday reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the Northeastern states and all Union Territories (UTs) in the wake of spike in coronavirus cases there. The review came as 45 of the 73 districts that reported over 10 per cent COVID-19 positivity rate in the country over the last one week are from the Northeastern region.

    “The union home secretary chaired a meeting here today to review the COVID-19 situation in all the Northeastern (NE) States and Union Territories (UTs),” a home ministry statement said. During the meeting, the current status and trends on the active cases, Case Fatality Rate (CFR), Case Positivity Rate (CPR) and vaccination status in respect of all the UTs and NE states were discussed, it said.

    ALSO READ| COVID control measures to be strengthened in nine states reporting surge in cases: Govt

    It was also noted that out of 73 districts in the country with CPR above 10 per cent, 45 are in the northeast, where strict containment measures need to be taken as per extant guidelines, the statement said.

    The home secretary emphasised to follow five-fold strategy of Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate and COVID appropriate behaviour, as has been laid out in the home ministry order dated June 29, 2021. The north-eastern states and UTs were advised to strictly monitor the situation at district and city level and take timely corrective measures, wherever any early sign of surge is noticed.

    For those districts identified with high case positivity and higher bed occupancy, State and UTs may consider imposing restrictions in a calibrated manner. Strict enforcement of COVID-appropriate behaviour was reiterated and it was advised to involve political leaders and civil society organisations.

    The meeting was attended by Chief Secretaries, Director Generals of Police and Principal Secretaries (Health) of these States and UTs. Member (Health) NitiAayog, Director NCDC and senior officers of the MHA and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare were also present.

    According to the Union Health Ministry, 73 districts in India reported a positivity rate of over 10 per cent for the June 29-July 5 week. Sixty-one per cent of these high-positivity districts are from the Northeastern states — Arunachal (Pradesh (18), Manipur (9), Meghalaya (6), Tripura (4), Sikkim (4), Nagaland (3), and Mizoram (1).

    In the region, Manipur (5,974) has the highest active cases followed by Meghalaya (4,354), Tripura (3,962), Mizoram (3,730), Sikkim (1,869) and Nagaland (1192).

    The Central government had last week also dispatched multi-disciplinary teams to Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura, besides three other states, to asses the public health situation there and advise remedial action to the state governments concerned.

    The central government has been deputing teams from time to time to visit various states and UTs for interacting with the state and UT authorities and get a first-hand understanding of the challenges and issues being faced by them so as to strengthen their ongoing activities and remove bottlenecks, if any, officials said.

    The central teams make assessment of the situation and suggest remedial actions on public health activities to the respective state governments.

  • Lambda variant of COVID-19 not reported in India so far, says expert

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: The lambda variant of COVID-19 has not been reported in India so far, sources said on Wednesday.

    Speaking to ANI, Dr Pragya Yadav, head of the National Institute of Virology’s Maximum Containment Facility, “Lambda variant has been detected in 30 countries. Lambda variant was first reported from Peru, in December 2020. The number of cases reported from this variant is increasing in different countries, indicating it to be highly transmissible. A recent study revealed that the lambda variant is susceptible to mRNA vaccine-elicited antibodies and convalescent serum was able to neutralize the lambda variant.”

    Notably, the lambda variant has been designated as a ‘Variant of Interest’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Asked if the variant has been reported in India, Dr Yadav said, “No, so far India has not reported any case of lambda variant.”

    A new COVID-19 strain called ‘Lambda’ is much more dangerous than the Delta variant, said the UK Health Ministry adding that it has been detected in more than 30 countries in the past four weeks. On Monday, the UK Health Ministry tweeted, “The Lambda strain was reported to have originated from Peru, the country with the highest mortality rate in the world.”

    Lambda accounts for nearly 82 percent of the coronavirus case samples reported during May and June in Peru, Euro News reported citing the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

    Recently, Public Health England in the UK reported a handful of cases caused by Lambda had been detected in the country and recognised it as having “a potential increased transmissibility or possible increased resistance to neutralizing antibodies”.

  • COVID control measures to be strengthened in nine states reporting surge in cases: Government

    In a letter to the states — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Kerala, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Tripura and Sikkim — the ministry has highlighted the areas of concern.

  • COVID-19: Goa government announces one-time financial aid for unorganised workers

    By PTI
    PANAJI: The Goa cabinet on Wednesday approved a scheme for providing one-time financial assistance of Rs 5,000 to workers from marginalised and unorganised sectors who have lost their livelihood due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    After the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters that the scheme will cover 25,000-30,000 people, whose livelihood has been affected by the pandemic. “A one-time financial assistance of Rs 5,000 would be paid to them after they fill a simple form,” he said.

    The scheme will cover auto-rickshaw drivers, motorcycle pilots, taxi operators, employees under Non-Muster Roll registered with various panchayats, and those listed under traditional occupations of the state social welfare department, he said.

    The chief minister said that the state government will also ask for a list of such beneficiaries from various associations covering the unorganised and marginalised people. Till Tuesday, Goa reported a total of 1,67,823 COVID-19 cases and 3,079 deaths due to the disease.

  • Centre should provide three crore COVID vaccine doses per month: Maharashtra legislature

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Both the houses of the Maharashtra legislature on Tuesday passed unanimous resolutions asking the Centre to provide a minimum of three crore COVID-19 vaccine doses per month to the state so that a third wave of the pandemic can be avoided and economic activities revived.

    Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, Health Minister Rajesh Tope, who moved the resolutions in both houses, said the state machinery can vaccinate 10 lakh people per day provided doses were available. “With this number, we can vaccinate three crore people in the next two months. Expediting vaccination drive is necessary for the economic revival as well,” he said.

    As per the resolution, the Union government has so far provided 2,84,39,060 doses and the state has purchased another 25,10,730, while 3,43,82,583 persons have received the jab in the state till now which is the highest in the country.

    Maharashtra has so far conducted 4.25 crore tests for coronavirus, of which 61 lakh came out positive while the viral infection has killed 1.23 lakh patients so far, Tope said. There are 1.23 lakh active cases, he pointed out.

    “Maharashtra is at the top in the number of infections, deaths and active cases. There are 21 cases of the ‘Delta Plus’ variant (of coronavirus) and 5,500 cases of mucormycosis (black fungus). This is a serious situation,” he said.

    The Shiv Sena’s Sunil Prabhu said the state should also consider vaccinating (on a priority basis) those from poor sections of society including the homeless people who do not have Aadhaar cards or any other identification document.

    Congress MLA and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan attacked the Centre over the high prices of doses and “profiteering”. “Who is responsible for the profiteering? No other nation has done this where people have to pay Rs 1,200 per dose. Instead of asking states and municipalities to procure vaccines, the central government should purchase vaccines through a single order for the entire nation and sell them or distribute to the states,” Chavan said.

    He added that as many as 6.5 crore vaccine doses were exported “when we should have kept them for our own people”. Speaking in the Council, Tope said that vaccinating every person was the only way forward. “If we carry out vaccination of 70 to 80 percent of people, it will help create herd immunity in the state,” the minister said.

    Economic activities have been impacted and if vaccination takes place on a large scale, the burden on the health systems will decrease which will help the government ease the existing `level 3′ restrictions, he said.

    The government has framed five levels of restrictions, the fifth level being the severest.

    Leader of Opposition in the Council Pravin Darekar (BJP) supported the resolution but also said that as Maharashtra is at the top in terms of number of vaccinated persons, the state government should be grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing the largest number of doses to the state.

  • Ensure people in mental health institutions are tested for COVID-19, vaccinated: SC to Centre

    The court took serious note of Maharashtra government #39;s shifting patients lodged in mental health institutes to homes for beggars and asked it to discontinue the practice immediately.