News Analysis India

Tag: fighting covid

  • Free rice in return for Covid jabs help dispel vaccine hesitancy in Arunachal Pradesh village

    By PTI
    ITANAGAR: Free rice in return for a COVID-19 jab, and as much as 20 kg.

    The prospect turned out to be lucrative enough to dispel rumours around vaccination among villagers of an administrative circle in Arunachal Pradesh, as over 80 of them turned up on foot for the inoculation within days of the announcement of the sop.

    The brainchild of Circle Officer Tashi Wangchuk Thongdok of Yazali in Lower Subansiri district, the offer of free rice for those getting vaccinated in the 45-plus age group was launched on Monday and is valid till Wednesday.

    “We are constantly trying to work out strategies to improve vaccination coverage in the circle and in the district.

    “Till today noon, 80 people have come to receive the jabs. Our aim is to achieve 100 per cent inoculation in the circle by June 20,” Thongdok, a 2016-batch APCS officer, said.

    There are 1,399 people above the age of 45 in the Yazali Circle, officials said.

    Many of those who came to get themselves vaccinated came on foot from far-flung villages, braving inclement weather, Thongdok said.

    He said the administration is chalking out a roadmap for taking the vaccination drive to every village of the circle.

    “We are planning door-to-door visits on Friday and Saturday to administer vaccines to people above 45 years of age. Our offer will continue but the quantity of rice will be 10 kg instead of 20 kg,” Thongdok said.

    Two former students of Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya have donated the rice for distribution among the beneficiaries, he added.

    Rumours surrounding the COVID-19 immunisation, including severe ailments post inoculation and the possibility of microscopic tracking devices being injected through the serum, have turned many sceptical in the northeast, the officials said.

    State Immunisation Officer Dimong Padung said a total of 3,95,445 people have been vaccinated so far in the state.

  • J-&K hamlet first village in India to achieve 100 per cent vaccination of its adult population against Covid

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: A remote hamlet in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir has become the first village in India to vaccinate all its adult population against COVID-19, officials said on Tuesday.

    The credit goes to the healthcare workers whose strenuous efforts shot Weyan hamlet, with an adult population of 362, to national fame, they said.

    “The village is located only 28 kilometres away from Bandipora district headquarters, but a distance of 18 kilometres has to be covered by foot as there is no motorable road,” an official of the health department said.

    He said the task of vaccinating all the residents was even more difficult as the village consists of nomadic families who go to higher reaches for grazing their livestock.

    “There is no internet access in the village. So it was not possible for the residents to get appointments for vaccination like the way people in urban areas do,” Bashir Ahmed Khan, Chief Medical Officer, Bandipora said while explaining the difficulty faced by the healthcare workers.

    The vaccination in the village was covered under ‘J&K model’, which is a 10-point strategy to vaccinate entire eligible population at accelerated pace.

    Despite initial vaccine hesitancy, Jammu and Kashmir has achieved 70 per cent vaccination in the 45+ age group, almost double the national average, the official said.

    Commenting on the achievement, Yatish Yadav, media advisor to Jammu and Kashmir government, said the Union territory was raising the bar in the Covid vaccination drive.

    “#JammuAndKashmirModel. And we thought up to now that Everest was the highest and toughest peak of Himalayas. But, some journey brings a new light, a new life. Team J&K raising the bar on vaccination drive,” he tweeted.

  • BJP to train one lakh health volunteers to perform essential medical services

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The BJP will train one lakh health workers to use ventilators and other essential medical devices, it was decided in the two-day meeting of party general secretaries organised by the BJP national president J P Nadda.   

    At the conclusion of the deliberations, J P Nadda gave specific tasks to the party’s various wings (Morchas) to take the schemes of the Central government to the people. The BJP national general secretary Bhupender Yadav told reporters after the meeting that the women wing of the party will take up the task to promote the ‘Poshan Abhiyan’ of the Central government to promote nutrition among women and children. 

    He said the report on Covid support work being done by the party was also submitted to the party chief. He said that the BJP will be training one lakh volunteers in handling technical works in health care, including operating ventilators. The meeting also discussed the alleged political violence in West Bengal and resolved to stand with the party workers in the state.

    The meeting was held at Nadda’s residence and was attended by all the eight general secretaries of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh and the presidents of its yuva, kisan, mahila, OBC, SC, ST and minority morchas.

    After the meeting, Nadda, Santhosh and the general secretaries of the party went to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official residence. The meeting was called by Nadda to take stock of the Covid relief works and the party’s defeat in West Bengal.

  • Muslim youth in Srinagar helps families by carrying out final rituals of those who succumbed to Covid

    Express News Service
    SRINAGAR: A ‘chowkidar’ of a cremation ground in Srinagar is going beyond his brief to help grieving non-Muslim families in completing the final rituals of their beloved ones who succumbed to Covid-19.

    Working in place of his father in the pandemic, Shabir Ahmed, 24, says he has done 60-70 cremations in the last nine months. 

    ​“I have been working at my father’s place and my job is 24×7. My job is to keep watch of the cremation ground,” said Ahmed.

    “Some of the bodies were of non-locals, who had no family members in the Valley and were brought by the police.”

    Some of the Covid victims were also security personnel, mostly CRPF constables, who hailed from other parts of the country.

    “The government is making arrangements to bring family members of such victims to Srinagar for attending their last rites.” 

    There are two more staff both pujaris (priests) in the cremation ground at the cremation ground managed by Sanathan Dharam Trust in Srinagar’s Batamaloo area.

    “I make arrangements of firewood and other items. I am doing it on humanitarian grounds as we need to be with each other in this testing time when Covid is snatching our loved ones,” said Ahmed who is yet to get PPE kits. Asked whether there was opposition from his family, Ahmed said, “No. In fact, many families praise my services and tell me that ‘I am doing punya ka kaam’ (charity work).”

    ​“As doctors and frontline health workers have been working round the clock since last year to save precious lives, I am doing my bit in fighting the coronavirus with my efforts,” he added.

  • Government facility locked, Bihar villagers set up ‘Atmanirbhar’ Covid Care Centre

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Sarisab and Pahi villages in Bihar’s Madhubani district are now the talk of the town. And for a good reason. As the pandemic ravaged the rural hinterland, locals as well as those living outside came together to set up a makeshift Atmanirbhar covid care community centre.

    Launched four days ago, two beds replete with oxygen concentrators and other basic primary healthcare essentials are now ready. A good number of non-resident villagers contributed with medical equipment. Six villages are covered under the initiative, so far.

    “We have a government-run PHC but it remains locked even during this crisis hour. So, we made this arrangement to save the lives of our folks,” says Sarisab- Pahi (west) panchayat mukhiya Ram Bahadur Choudhary. The plan was discussed at a virtual meeting involving locals and non-resident villagers.

    Vicky Kumar Mandal of the Ayachi Nagar Yuva Sangathan, along with Ram Bahadur Chaudhary and dozens of youths then took over to set up the centre at the flood relief building. Doctors have volunteered to provide both online consultations and offline services depending upon the situation.

    Electricity connection is not erratic, but villagers arranged a generator set for the centre to deal with power trips especially during heavy rains. 

    “Our youths are also involved in an awareness-cum-assistance campaign daily in which they wear PPE kits and travel in a group of five to monitor families, motivate them to get vaccines and familiarise them with Covid safety protocols,” says Mandal.

  • Free food distributed to over 35 lakh poor during Covid second wave thanks to Bihar community kitchens

    Express News Service
    PATNA: The community kitchens, started by CM Nitish Kumar-led NDA government during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, have served free food to a record number of poor people in the state — this time both in urban and rural areas.

    To review the arrangements, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also carried out virtual inspections across all community kitchens and first time took direct feedbacks from the beneficiaries.

    “At present, 739 community kitchens are functioning across the state’s 534 blocks, wherein nutritious foods including milks to children and other immunity boosters edible items are being served free to the poor and local poor people and their children,” said additional chief secretary of health and state disaster management department Pratyay Amrit.

    This is the first time that thousands of people, who tested positive for Covid-19, were also served food packets from nearby community kitchens if they were in home isolation.

    Ram Kumar, a resident of Patna whose entire family was down with the virus, said “Had the Community Kitchen not been available, all my family members, even two minor children, would have died due to hunger.”

    Pratyay Amrit said that more than 35.40 lakh poor people have been served free food in the state till June 1 and the services will continue till June 8.

    In Bihar, the fourth round of Covid-19 lockdown is slated till June 8.

    He said, “The community kitchens started by the government also served free food to attendants of all those Covid-19 patients, who were admitted at the Dedicated Covid Hospitals and the Covid Care Centres in addition to those who were helping people in home isolation”.

    Many of the people, who availed the free food facility, said that the arrangements were fine with tables, chairs, milk, eggs, porridges and nutritious foods were served with pure drinking waters.

    “We not only got food but also dignity. We are offered food on table and our children have been drinking milk for the last 20 days,” said Munna Das, a rickshaw puller.

  • Rajasthan woman wins Covid battle after 28 days on ventilator

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR: The second wave of coronavirus is proving to be deadly but a 27-year-old woman from Kota displayed steely resilience to fight off the virus in 32 days. 

    Rupali Srivastava was on ventilator for 28 days. Upon her discharge from the hospital, the staffs and doctors showered flowers on her. She says she is grateful to the medical team.

    At the city’s Jaiswal Hospital her treating physician, pulmonologist Dr. Kewal Krishna Dung said that Rupali had tested Covid positive on April 21. Her oxygen saturation level was steadily falling. She was hospitalised on April 26 due to difficulty in breathing. 

    As per the Covid treatment protocol, Rupali was given plasma but it did not work. Her oxygen saturation was just 30 and the CTC score was 21/25 in the HRCT test.

    Due to the delicate situation, she was taken on ventilator. After that, according to protocol, regular medicines and cancer drugs were administered. Following this, doctors saw a gradual improvement in her health as her saturation reached between 67 and 72. 

    Under the supervision of a skilled team round the clock, Rupali’s oxygen level continued to rise and 25 days later, her oxygen level reached 88. When she was discharged, her oxygen saturation had reached 93.

    This was a period when the situation in other critical Covid patients in the city was bad. Hospitals saw shortage of oxygen and medicines and there were no beds. 

    Rupali said that she had to stay away from her 18-month-old baby for 32 days. “I did not remember when I came here, the situation was very bad, but thanks to the hospital team, I have won the battle against Covid. My child is waiting for me and I am needed there, and that is why maybe I am still alive”, she exclaimed.

  • Covid-19: NEERI develops simple, fast method of swab collection and processing

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) has developed a simple and fast method of swab collection and processing for RT-PCR coronavirus test which could be used in rural and tribal areas.

    The method is simple, fast, cost-effective, patient-friendly and comfortable, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) said.

    It is well-suited for rural and tribal areas, given minimal infrastructure requirements, it said.

    The Nagpur-based NEERI is a constituent laboratory of CSIR.

    Krishna Khairnar, senior scientist, Environmental Virology Cell at NEERI, said the swab collection method requires time.

    Moreover, since it is an invasive technique, it is a bit uncomfortable for patients.

    “Sometime, it is also lost in the transport of the sample to the collection centre. On the other hand, the Saline Gargle RT-PCR method is instant, comfortable and patient-friendly. Sampling is done instantly and results will be generated within three hours,” he said.

    The method is non-invasive and so simple that a patient can collect the sample himself, said Khairnar.

    Collection methods like nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab collection require technical expertise and they are also time-consuming.

    In contrast, the Saline Gargle RT-PCR method uses a simple collection tube filled with saline solution, he said.

    The patient gargles the solution and rinses it inside the tube.

    This sample in the collection tube is taken to the laboratory where it is kept at room temperature, in a special buffer solution prepared by NEERI.

    An RNA template is produced when this solution is heated, which is further processed for Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR).

    This particular method of collecting and processing the sample enables to save on the otherwise costly infrastructural requirement of RNA extraction.

    The method is environment-friendly as well, since waste generation is minimised, Khairnar said.

    The Nagpur Municipal Corporation has given permission to go ahead with the method, following which testing has begun at NEERI, the CSIR said.

  • IIT Mandi researchers reveal structure of key protein in COVID-19 virus

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi (IIT Mandi) in Himachal Pradesh have revealed the part of structure of a key protein in COVID-19 virus, which helps in understanding its mode of action, its role in the spread and severity of the disease and development of antiviral therapeutics.

    The findings have been published in the journal, ‘Current Research in Virological Science’.

    According to the team, current COVID-19 treatments simply manage symptoms while the body fights off the infection with its immune defence system.

    There are, as yet, no confirmed antiviral drugs that can stop the virus from replicating.

    “One route to neutralising any virus is to attack its proteins. Such an approach holds true for the COVID-19 virus as well, and scientists across the globe are involved in studies to elucidate the structure and functions of these proteins to understand the viral disease and develop drugs that are effective against the virus,” said Rajanish Giri, Assistant Professor of Biotechnology, IIT Mandi.

    This virus has 16 non-structural proteins (NSP1-NSP16), of which the NSP1 plays a vital role in the pathogenicity (ability to cause disease) of the virus.

    “The NSP1 disrupts the proteins of the host cell and suppresses its immune functions. Its importance can be understood by the fact that it is also called the ‘host shutoff factor’. Earlier in 2020, we have shown through bioinformatics studies that NSP1 C-terminal region has intrinsic disorder propensity between 0.4 to 0.5 scales — very close to borderline of intrinsic disorder prediction.”

    “However, without experimental studies we were not sure that this 131-180 amino acid region is actually an intrinsically disordered protein region. Generally, these regions are unfolded in solution but are folded into particular conformations when binding with specific molecules or partners inside the host cells,” said Giri, explaining the recent developments to his previous research.

    The IIT Mandi team has experimentally studied the structural conformations of SARS-CoV-2 NSP1 under various conditions — in an organic solvent, membrane mimetic environment and inside liposomes.

    Using analytical techniques such as circular dichroism spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and molecular dynamics simulations, the researchers have shown the dynamic changes in the conformation of the IDR of the NSP1, in response to its surroundings, due to hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions between the protein and the environment.

    “Our finding provides valuable insight into disorder-order conformation of the NSP1 C-terminal region (residues 131-180) of the SARS-COV2 virus under various environments, which will help in understanding the broader aspect of NSP1 and its interactions with binding partners that are currently unknown,” Giri said.

    The other members of the team include IIT Mandi research scholars Amit Kumar, Ankur Kumar and Prateek Kumar, along with Neha Garg from the Banaras Hindu University.

  • DST-funded start-ups develops electrochemical ELISA test for Covid antibody concentration

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A Bengaluru-based start-up has developed a novel, point-of-care electrochemical ELISA test that enables fast and accurate estimation of total antibody concentration of COVID-19 in clinical samples, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) said on Saturday.

    PathShodh Healthcare, the start-up incubated at the Society for Innovation and Development (SID), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has made a very significant breakthrough to develop the first-of-its-kind, semi-quantitative electrochemical ELISA test for COVID-19 IgM and IgG antibodies.

    While qualitative analysis detects constituent elements in the sample, semi-quantitative analysis gives an approximate estimation of their concentrations.

    PathShodh has received the licence to manufacture for sale from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) after validation at Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad, the DST said.

    This novel technology and product was supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under its initiative on Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH).

    The effort was coordinated through SINE at IIT Bombay and IKP Knowledge Park, Hyderabad.

    The test kit comes in two parts.

    One is the hand-held analyser which reads the blood sample and gives a detailed report.

    The other is a test strip where a drop of blood from one’s fingertip is inserted into the device.

    The hand-held device provides the results within five minutes, the results of which can be downloaded on your mobile phone.

    It has been developed, leveraging PathShodh’s Lab-on-Palm platform “anuPathTM”, which interfaces with disposable test strips functionalized with immunoreceptors specific to COVID-19 antibodies, it added.

    As the results are automatically displayed by the hand-held reader, there are no subjective errors due to the manual readout of test results.

    The other unique features of this technology include onboard memory to store more than 1 lakh real-time test results, touch screen display, rechargeable battery, Bluetooth connectivity to smart phone and cloud storage, capabilities to map the patient data to Aadhaar number, and the possibility of connecting test data through APIs to Aarogya Setu, it added.