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Tag: india covid 19 cases

  • Even as Covid-19 cases surge to over 6,000, masks adherence low

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Even though India has seen a surge in Covid-19 cases and over 6,000 cases have been reported in the past two days after 200 days, a small section of people are wearing masks in the country, a survey has found.

    Of the 9,656 people surveyed in 321 districts of India, only six per cent said they were “effectively complying” with the masking norms, 90 per cent said they were not following the norms, and four per cent gave no clear response.

    Of the six per cent who were complying with masking, the largest segment – 45 per cent – indicated that they wear a mask when in crowded outdoor spaces; 35 per cent shared that they avoid going to crowded outdoor spaces like weddings, sports events, and others.

    In the survey by LocalCircles, India’s leading community social media platform, 20 per cent shared that they avoid going to crowded indoor spaces like malls, restaurants, trains, buses, etc.

    Also, 15 per cent said they have been wearing a mask in indoor spaces with people outside their immediate family.

    Though the centre has not announced any mask mandate yet, some states have taken some proactive steps. Puducherry is the only state that has made masks mandatory in public places, while Haryana made masks mandatory for gatherings of more than 100 people amid an uptick in Covid cases.

    Experts said that the mask mandate sends a strong and clear message to people that they are the best protection at the time of a surge.

    “When mask mandates are in effect, it will reduce the total number of bad outcomes from this fast-spreading respiratory virus. Two other benefits of masks include protection from influenza as well as worsening air pollution,” said Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the National Indian Medical Association (IMA) Covid-19 task force.

    ALSO READ | As Covid cases surge, Health Minister asks states to ramp up tests, identify hotspots

    “Masks are one of the few effective tools we have against the pandemic,” he added.

    Speaking with TNIE, Sachin Taparia, Founder, LocalCircles, said that “the survey found that the effective mask compliance at a pan India level is at an abysmal 6%, and most don’t even have a mask with them any longer, let alone wear it,” said

    “When those who believe they are complying effectively were asked about how they were following Covid norms, only 15% said that they were wearing masks in indoor spaces when with people outside their family members, indicating a poor understanding of the risk of spread,” he added.

    Dr Preeti Kumar, Director, of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Delhi, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), said the adherence to masks is going down as people are “definitely tired.”

    But she added that as Covid-19 is still here, masks are the best way to protect people, especially senior citizens and people with co-morbidity as many of them have not taken booster shots.

    In his high-level review meeting on Covid-19 and rising Influenza cases on March 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said ‘Covid-19 is far from over” and emphasised on wearing of masks on hospital premises by patients, health professionals and health workers – being followed by some states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi – which are seeing high Covid-19 cases.

    The PM had also advised that senior citizens and those with comorbidities should wear masks when they visit crowded areas.

    The current spike, triggered by XBB.1.16, which is further mutating, has led eight states to report a high number of new cases in India, with ten or more districts reporting more than 10% positivity in Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi and over five districts reporting more than 5% positivity in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Haryana.

    NEW DELHI: Even though India has seen a surge in Covid-19 cases and over 6,000 cases have been reported in the past two days after 200 days, a small section of people are wearing masks in the country, a survey has found.

    Of the 9,656 people surveyed in 321 districts of India, only six per cent said they were “effectively complying” with the masking norms, 90 per cent said they were not following the norms, and four per cent gave no clear response.

    Of the six per cent who were complying with masking, the largest segment – 45 per cent – indicated that they wear a mask when in crowded outdoor spaces; 35 per cent shared that they avoid going to crowded outdoor spaces like weddings, sports events, and others.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    In the survey by LocalCircles, India’s leading community social media platform, 20 per cent shared that they avoid going to crowded indoor spaces like malls, restaurants, trains, buses, etc.

    Also, 15 per cent said they have been wearing a mask in indoor spaces with people outside their immediate family.

    Though the centre has not announced any mask mandate yet, some states have taken some proactive steps. Puducherry is the only state that has made masks mandatory in public places, while Haryana made masks mandatory for gatherings of more than 100 people amid an uptick in Covid cases.

    Experts said that the mask mandate sends a strong and clear message to people that they are the best protection at the time of a surge.

    “When mask mandates are in effect, it will reduce the total number of bad outcomes from this fast-spreading respiratory virus. Two other benefits of masks include protection from influenza as well as worsening air pollution,” said Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the National Indian Medical Association (IMA) Covid-19 task force.

    ALSO READ | As Covid cases surge, Health Minister asks states to ramp up tests, identify hotspots

    “Masks are one of the few effective tools we have against the pandemic,” he added.

    Speaking with TNIE, Sachin Taparia, Founder, LocalCircles, said that “the survey found that the effective mask compliance at a pan India level is at an abysmal 6%, and most don’t even have a mask with them any longer, let alone wear it,” said

    “When those who believe they are complying effectively were asked about how they were following Covid norms, only 15% said that they were wearing masks in indoor spaces when with people outside their family members, indicating a poor understanding of the risk of spread,” he added.

    Dr Preeti Kumar, Director, of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Delhi, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), said the adherence to masks is going down as people are “definitely tired.”

    But she added that as Covid-19 is still here, masks are the best way to protect people, especially senior citizens and people with co-morbidity as many of them have not taken booster shots.

    In his high-level review meeting on Covid-19 and rising Influenza cases on March 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said ‘Covid-19 is far from over” and emphasised on wearing of masks on hospital premises by patients, health professionals and health workers – being followed by some states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi – which are seeing high Covid-19 cases.

    The PM had also advised that senior citizens and those with comorbidities should wear masks when they visit crowded areas.

    The current spike, triggered by XBB.1.16, which is further mutating, has led eight states to report a high number of new cases in India, with ten or more districts reporting more than 10% positivity in Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi and over five districts reporting more than 5% positivity in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Haryana.

  • Need to redesign welfare system to meet challenge of pandemics: Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee

    By PTI
    JODHPUR: The Covid pandemic has paved the way for learning many lessons with regard to the country’s health situation and preparedness in general as well as highlighted the need to redesign welfare systems, Noble laureate and renowned economist Abhijit Banerjee said on Sunday.

    While addressing a webinar organised by the city-based National Institute for Implementation Research on Non-Communicable Diseases, Banerjee focused on the economic aspect of the country’s health situation, welfare and healthcare systems.

    On the economic aspect of the health situation, he said that India has a large population afflicted with lifestyle diseases, which are non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

    “Many young people died in the second and first wave of the pandemic, but their conditions were not detected.

    Causalities among the young has caught us without any clue,” the economist said, terming awareness about NCDs a key challenge.

    ALSO READ | India gained from globalization, need to develop mechanism for associated risks: Abhijit Banerjee

    Banerjee also said that the welfare system of the country has not been designed for a pandemic and stressed on the need for redesigning the welfare mechanism to deal with such situations in the future.

    The webinar was organised by the institute on its foundation day and Banerjee was chief gusted for the virtual event.

    Speaking on different aspects of the healthcare system of the country, the noble laureate highlighted multiple consequences of medical practitioners without any qualification (quacks) and indiscriminate and spontaneous use of steroids and their availability.

    Citing a study, he said, “In West Bengal, underweight women frequently take steroids to put on weight for marriage and these steroids are easily available at a local grocer.”

    Terming the practice by quacks in rural areas a fully open phenomena, Banerjee said that there was no enforcement to address this issue and this has triggered a general culture of “abusive medicine”.

    “Our healthcare system is being handled by those who are left out of the healthcare system,” he said.

    The noble laureate also highlighted the issue of over-prescribing of medicines for very normal ailments.

    While talking about the public healthcare system, he claimed that sub-centres are empty and nurses are mostly not available, which pushes people to visit quacks.

    “While an average time given by an MBBS doctor to a patient is about two minutes, quacks give adequate time to them hearing their problems,” he claimed and argued that this was a likely condition forcing patients go to quacks.

    Taking a dig at the consumerist culture towards medicine, Banerjee stressed on the need of development of a preventive culture instead of a curative culture.

    “We are exposed to demand of medicines. We go to the doctor and tell him ‘Kuchh to de do (give us something)’, when he is disinclined to prescribe medicines,” he said.

    There is a need to build a mechanism for prevention and get people aware about it, Banerjee said.

    ALSO WATCH:

  • IISER Bhopal team develops affordable oxygen concentrator to meet demand during virus surge

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Bhopal have developed an affordable oxygen concentrator to meet high demand of medical oxygen amid a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

    The device, which is estimated to cost less than Rs 20,000, can provide 93-95 per cent pure oxygen with a flow rate of up to 3 litre/minute, they said.

    According to the team, the device, which costs around Rs 60,000-70,000 at present, has been developed as a solution to tackle the oxygen shortage amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “The device, called ‘Oxycon’, has been developed using the open-source technology and material. Once approved, it can be used anywhere from small villages to big cities due to its affordability,” said Siva Umapathy, Director, IISER Bhopal.

    “Unlike the first wave of COVID-19, the second wave has hit the surface very hard.

    The spread has been recorded significantly high and many of the affected need emergency oxygen support.

    Hence, hospitals all across the nation are in need of oxygen cylinders or concentrators and the demand has spiked in a very short time,” Umapathy added.

    The researchers said that the developed device is portable, customizable and easy to deploy.

    “It has a compressor that takes ambient air and passes it through columns having material named zeolite under an optimized pressure.

    Two such columns are used in alternate cycles and electronically controlled valves are used for this purpose to make it automatic and provide a continuous oxygen supply.

    “The material, zeolite, absorbs nitrogen from the air and throws it back to the atmosphere, hence the concentration of oxygen increases in the air at the outlet.

    The valve controls are achieved using a programmed micro-controller based circuit,” said Mitradip Bhattacharjee, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, IISER Bhopal.

    “This system prototype has already been developed and compared with the commercial systems currently available at the market and we have received positive outcomes.

    We are actively looking for industrial collaborations to further improve and manufacture the system at a larger scale and to deploy it after necessary testing and approvals,” he added.

    India logged a record 3,49,691 new coronavirus infections in a day taking its tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,69,60,172, while active cases crossed the 26-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

    The death toll increased to 1,92,311 with a record 2,767 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

    Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 26,82,751 comprising 15.82 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further dropped to 83.05 per cent.

  • Centre should have listened to Rahul Gandhi’s advise on COVID-19, says Digambar Kamat

    By ANI
    MARGAO: Hitting out at the Centre over surge in coronavirus cases, Goa Leader of Opposition (LoP) Digambar Kamat on Wednesday said that if the government had listened to the valuable suggestions of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi then the COVID-19 situation would have been different today.

    “It is most unfortunate that the “irresponsible” attitude of the BJP government at the Centre has resulted in total chaos with regards to COVID-19 pandemic handling and management in the Country. If the BJP government had listened to the voice and valuable suggestions of Rahul Gandhi, Covid situation would have been different today,” Kamat said in a statement.

    He added that if the BJP government acts wisely and works on demands put forth by Gandhi, the situation in the country will definitely change for good. Kamat recalled that the Wayanad MP had warned the government on February 12, 2020, almost 41 days before India entered lockdown and he had categorically stated that coronavirus is an “extremely serious threat” to the people and economy.

    “He had demanded timely action and gone on record saying that the government is not taking the threat seriously,” Kamat claimed.

    He went on to say that the government went on into festive mode organising “Taali Bajav, Thali Bajav, Diya Jalav” events pushing the people into COVID-19 pandemic.

    Highlighting that Gandhi’s latest demand to the Prime Minister to give approvals to other COVID-19 Vaccines was “ridiculed” by Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, he said: “Fortunately better sense prevailed and Modi government listened to Rahul Gandhi’s voice and gave approval to Russian vaccine Sputnik V for emergency use in India.”

    The LoP further said that the BJP government must come out of the celebration mode and accept seven demands made by Gandhi in his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 9, 2021.

    Cornering the Centre over organising various events amid the pandemic, he appealed to the government to “stop organising ‘Utsavs’ to grab political mileage and work on an effective COVID-19 vaccination programme taking all into confidence and work on the revival of the economy before it’s too late”.

  • India took 34 days to achieve one crore COVID vaccinations, 2nd fastest after US: Govt

    The US took 31 days, while the UK took 56 days to surpass the one-crore vaccination mark.

  • India’s national recovery rate from COVID-19 now at 97.32%

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday recorded another landmark achievement as the national recovery rate from COVID-19 touched 97.32 per cent, among the highest in the world, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed.

    India continues to follow the trajectory of steady decline in active cases with the country’s total active caseload dropping to 1.36 lakh (1,36,872) today.

    The present active caseload now consists of just 1.25 per cent of India’s total positive cases.

    More than 1.06 crore (1,06,33,025) of people have recovered so far. A total of 11,805 patients have recovered and got discharged in the last 24 hours.

    India’s Recovery Rate of 97.32 per cent is amongst the highest in the world. The difference between the recovered and active cases has further increased to 1,04,96,153 today.

    In another positive development, 31 states/Union Territories have reported recovery rate more than the national average. Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have a recovery rate of 99.88 per cent.

    Seventeen states/Union Territories reported no deaths in the last 24 hours. These are Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Chandigarh, J&K (UT), Meghalaya, Ladakh (UT), Manipur, Haryana, A&N Islands, Rajasthan, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

    Also, six states/union territories have reported no new cases in the last 24 hours. These are Sikkim, Meghalaya, A&N Islands, Nagaland, Tripura, and Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

    As of February 16, 2021, till 8 am, the cumulative number of healthcare and frontline workers vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country has surpassed 87 lakhs. The countrywide vaccination drive was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16, 2021.

    A total of 87,20,822 beneficiaries have been vaccinated through 1,84,303 sessions, as per the provisional report till 8 am today. These include 61,07,120 HCWs (1st dose), 1,60,291 healthcare workers (2nd dose) and 24,53,411 frontline workers (1st dose).

    Around 81 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Five states account for 70.37 per cent of the new deaths.

    Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties at 23. Kerala follows with 13 daily deaths and Punjab has reported 10 new deaths.  

  • Daily COVID-19 deaths below 150 for last 10 days; no fatality in 17 states, UTs in a day

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India on Monday reported 84 fatalities as it continued to register less than 150 daily COVID-19 deaths for the last 10 days, while the tally of active cases shrunk to 1,48,609 which is 1.37 per cent of the total infections.

    Seventeen states and Union Territories did not report any COVID-19 deaths in the 24 hour period till Monday 8 am, the Health Ministry said.

    These are the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland, Lakshadweep, Ladakh, Sikkim, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Assam.

    The strategy of containment, including prompt tracing and tracking, aggressive and widespread testing, combined with standardized clinical management protocols, have ensured the low mortality levels, in addition to consistent low daily positive cases, it said.

    As part of the COVID-19 management and response policy, the Centre’s focus is not only in containing fatality but to reduce deaths and save lives by providing quality clinical care to critical and severe patients, it said.

    Collaborative efforts of the Centre, states and Union Territories have resulted in reducing case-fatality substantially, the ministry said.

    It said 11,831 new cases were recorded in a span of 24 hours in the country while 11,904 new recoveries were registered during the same period.

    Five states account for 81 per cent of the total COVID-19 active cases of the country.

    Kerala and Maharashtra cumulatively account for 70 per cent of the total active cases of India.

    The ministry said 33 states and Union Territories have less than 5,000 active cases.

    The tally of recovered cases has surged to 1,05,34,505.

    “The gap between active cases and recovered cases is continuously increasing and stands at 10,385,896,” the Union health ministry underscored.

    It said 80.53 per cent of the newly recovered cases are recorded in six states.

    Kerala has contributed the highest 5,948 to the tally of newly recovered cases, followed by 1,622 in Maharashtra and 670 in Uttar Pradesh.

    Also, 85.85 per cent of the new cases are from six states.

    Kerala has also reported the highest daily new cases at 6,075, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka with 2,673 and 487 new cases respectively.

    Six states account for 79.76 per cent of the 84 fatalities reported in a span of 24 hours.

    Maharashtra reported the most 30 new fatalities, followed by 19 deaths in Kerala.

    Till February 8, the 24th day of the countrywide vaccination drive, 58,12,362 beneficiaries have been inoculated till 8 am.

    In a span of 24 hours, 36,804 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 1,304 sessions.

    So far, 1,16,487 immunisation sessions have been conducted.

    The number of beneficiaries vaccinated every day is following a steady upward curve, the ministry said.

  • India records 14,849 fresh Covid-19 cases, 155 more fatalities

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India’s COVID-19 caseload has gone up to 1,06,54,533 with 14,849 people testing positive for the coronavirus infection in a day, while the number of recoveries has surged to 1,03,16,786, according to the health ministry.

    The death toll due to the viral disease has climbed to 1,53,339 with 155 more fatalities, the ministry’s data updated at 8 am showed.

    The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 1,03,16,786, pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 96.83 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.44 per cent.

    The active COVID-19 caseload of the country remained below two lakh for the fifth consecutive day.

    There are 1,84,408 active cases of the coronavirus infection in the country currently, which account for 1.73 per cent of its total caseload, the data stated.

    India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, the 30-lakh mark on August 23, the 40-lakh mark on September 5 and the 50-lakh mark on September 16.

    It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19.

    According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 19,17,66,871 samples have so far been tested in the country for the viral disease, including 7,81,752 on Saturday.

    Of the 155 fresh fatalities, 56 were reported from Maharashtra, 23 from Kerala and 10 each from Delhi, Punjab and West Bengal.

    Of the total 1,53,339 COVID-19 deaths reported so far in the country, Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of 50,740, followed by Tamil Nadu (12,309), Karnataka (12,193), Delhi (10,799), West Bengal (10,107), Uttar Pradesh (8,609) and Andhra Pradesh (7,147).

    The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the COVID-19 deaths in the country occurred due to comorbidities.

    “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” it said on its website, adding that a state-wise distribution of the figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.