News Analysis India

Tag: Pandemic

  • Goan-origin Briton tests positive for COVID-19 at airport, isolated

    By PTI

    PANAJI: A 41-year-old British national of Goan-origin tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday on his arrival at the international airport near here from the UK, the state government said.

    State health authorities have isolated the man, whose test at the airport in Dabolim returned positive for COVID-19, at a government-run healthcare facility in Cansaulim as he has arrived from one of the ‘at-risk’ countries where cases of the newly discovered Omicron variant have been detected.

    Health Minister Vishwajit Rane tweeted, “A 41-year-old British national of Goan origin tested positive today morning at the airport. The patient has been isolated at PHC-Cansaulim.” Airport officials said the passenger was on-board the 98th Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flight that arrived at the Goa airport during the wee hours.

    The Goa airport tweeted, “Goa Airport has ramped up the infrastructure reqd for post arrival testing of Int’l arriving passengers. Sufficient Registration counters, swab collection centres, waiting area are provided for smooth management, safety and convenience of pax.” In another tweet, it said, “98th in the series of VBM flight arrived from London-Heathrow today early morning at Goa International Airport. Arriving passengers undergoing thermal screening and completing mandatory formalities upon arrival.” The VBM is a central government initiative to bring back Indians stranded abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic and the resultant travel curbs.

    Authorities in Goa have already isolated five crew members of a merchant navy ship who had tested positive for COVID-19. Their swab samples have been sent to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology for genome sequencing and reports are awaited.

  • Ensure adequate stock of drugs used for clinical treatment of Covid, Centre tells states

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Union government on Thursday asked states and Union Territories to ensure adequate buffer stock of the eight critical drugs used for clinical treatment of COVID-19 and advised them to review the readiness of hospitals to deal with any possible surge in cases.

    Reviewing the public health preparedness for the Omicron variant and the progress of vaccination via video conference, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan urged the health Secretaries and NHM MDs of states and UTs to ensure that all health facilities have functional ventilators, PSA plants and oxygen concentrators.

    “States were informed that many ventilators supplied by the Centre are still lying unpacked and unused at some field hospitals, with consumables not being procured and made available by the states.

    “This needs to be reviewed immediately to ensure that all PSA oxygen plants, Oxygen concentrators and ventilators are installed and are functioning,” a health ministry statement said.

    The five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccinate-adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour was highlighted as the mainstay of public health response strategy for effective and timely control and management of COVID-19 and its variants.

    States and Union territories were told to enhance testing and focus on surveillance to ensure early identification of suspected cases for their prompt isolation and further clinical management.

    They were advised to ensure the availability of RT-PCR testing in all districts, the statement said.

    “Districts reporting higher case positivity were alerted to monitor the case trajectory regularly, and to promptly dispatch positive samples to the mapped INSACOG labs for genomic sequencing,” it said.

    Close monitoring of emerging hotspots/clusters, breakthrough and re-infection cases, and prompt investigation was discussed.

    It was re-emphasised that all contacts for positive patients are to be traced and tested according to protocol as quickly as possible, the statement said.

    Based on the information of travellers from ‘at-risk’ countries from the Air Suvidha portal, district-wise monitoring of international passengers who have tested negative on arrival with a focus on symptomatic cases was highlighted in the meeting.

    Keeping the winter season in mind, they were advised that the prevalence of influenza-like illness, severe acute respiratory infection and respiratory distress symptoms need to be closely monitored, the statement said.

    To ensure that all hospital infrastructure is ready for any possible surge in cases, states and UTs were advised to review their readiness for providing quality medical care.

    As the progress of the fund utilisation at the field level is being reviewed by the Health Ministry, information on the progress of this matter needs to be filled in the portal created for the purpose.

    It needs to be ensured that all health facilities at the field level have functional ventilators, PSA plants, oxygen concentrators, the statement said.

    The Health Secretary also urged the states to ensure to maintain adequate buffer stock for the eight critical drugs identified for the clinical treatment of COVID-19. The Guidelines for these were shared with them in July.

  • Will this chewing gum really alleviate the spread of COVID-19?

    By Online Desk

    Amid the rise in a number of COVID-19 cases once again and the discovery of new mutations of the virus, scientists are developing a chewing gum laced with a plant-grown protein that can “trap” the SARS-CoV-2 and hence reduce the spread of the deadly virus.

    The chewing gum can trap coronavirus particles, limit the amount of virus in saliva and help curb the transmission of virus when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks, according to the study published in the journal Molecular Therapy.

    ALSO READ: India records 8,439 new COVID-19 cases, 195 fatalities; active infections lowest in 555 days

    “SARS-CoV-2 replicates in the salivary glands, and we know that when someone who is infected sneezes, coughs or speaks some of that virus can be expelled and reach others,” said Henry Daniell at the University of Pennsylvania in the US. 

    “This gum offers an opportunity to neutralise the virus in the saliva, giving us a simple way to possibly cut down on a source of disease transmission,” said Daniell, who led the study.

    It is said that prior to the pandemic, Daniell was studying the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) protein in the context of treating hypertension. Daniell’s lab had grown this protein, as well as many others that may have therapeutic potential, using a patented plant-based production system. This system has the potential to avoid the usual obstacles to protein drug synthesis: an expensive production and purification process, the researchers said.

    ALSO READ: With Omicron, third Covid wave projected to hit India by Feb 2022 but may be milder than second

    To test the chewing gum, the team grew ACE2 in plants, paired with another compound that enables the protein to cross mucosal barriers and facilitates binding. The researchers incorporated the resulting plant material into cinnamon-flavoured gum tablets.

    The scientists observed that the gum largely prevented the viruses or viral particles from entering cells, either by blocking the ACE2 receptor on the cells or by binding directly to the spike protein. 

    Finally, the team exposed saliva samples from COVID-19 patients to the ACE2 gum and found that levels of viral RNA fell so dramatically to be almost undetectable.

    ​ALSO READ | Omicron has higher risk of reinfection than Delta and Beta variants: Singapore’s health ministry

    The research team is currently working towards obtaining permission to conduct a clinical trial to evaluate whether the approach is safe and effective when tested in people infected with SARS-CoV-2.

    (With inputs from agencies)

  • Over 1 crore Covid vaccine doses administered in India in one day

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The number of Covid vaccine doses administered in a day crossed one crore on Saturday after more than two months, taking the total jabs given so far to over 127.5 crore, amid fears of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

    Four cases of the Omicron variant have been reported in India so far. The vaccination has gathered pace in the country over the last one week after South Africa reported the new variant which has been designated as a variant of concern by WHO. More than one crore vaccine doses have been administered till 8.15 pm on Saturday.

    “India achieves another 1,00,00,000 #COVID19 vaccinations today! With the #HarGharDastak campaign in full swing, the world’s #LargestVaccinationDrive is touching new heights & accomplishing new feats under PM @NarendraModi ji’s leadership,” Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted.

    The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late Saturday night.

    According to the government data, 59.32 lakh vaccine doses on average were administered per day in November compared to 19.69 lakh doses per day in May this year.

    Besides, 55.77 lakh doses on average were administered per day in October, 78.69 lakh in September and 59.29 lakh in August. Officials said around 84.8 per cent of the adult population in India has been given the first dose of the Covid vaccine, while 50 per cent has received the second dose.

    The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase.

    The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2. The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

    The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1. The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.

  • Days after favouring booster dose, INSACOG says more experiments needed to assess its impact

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Days after favouring a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine for people above 40 years, the country’s top genome sequencing laboratories on Saturday said their recommendation was not for the national immunisation programme as many more scientific experiments are required to assess its impact.

    In a bulletin issued on Saturday, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) said the mention of the booster dose in its previous bulletin was merely a “discussion about the potential role of additional dose of Covid-19 vaccines in high-risk populations”.

    “Many more scientific experiments are needed to assess the impacts of booster dose, which are being guided and monitored by National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) and National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC),” said the INSACOG bulletin dated December 4.

    It also made it clear that the recommendations and suggestions regarding vaccines, schedule, and roll-out came under the expressed mandate of NTAGI and NEGVAC.

    Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had told the Lok Sabha on Friday that a decision on booster doses and vaccines for kids would be taken on the basis of scientific advice and that the focus of the vaccination drive would be to expand the coverage of the second dose.

    During the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Covid pandemic, several lawmakers had suggested a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines for the elderly, immunocompromised and healthworkers who work in high-risk environments.

    NTAGI is likely to meet next week to assess whether there was adequate data on waning immunity, where the effects of the vaccine wear off over a period of time.

    In its bulletin dated November 29, the INSACOG had said vaccination of all remaining unvaccinated at-risk people and consideration of a booster dose for those 40 years of age and over, first targeting the most high-risk / high-exposure may be considered.

  • No need to panic, follow Covid-appropriate behaviour: Vice President on new coronavirus variant

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday urged people not to panic about the emergence of new COVID-19 strain Omicron and advised them to remain vigilant and keep following Covid-appropriate behaviour till the pandemic is over.

    Addressing a gathering at a book launch event at the Upa Rashtrapati Nivas here, he also urged people to shed hesitancy and get themselves vaccinated against coronavirus at the earliest.

    The vice president said the coronavirus pandemic has come as a big challenge for the entire human race, and appreciated the world’s largest vaccination drive currently underway in India, an official statement of the Vice President Secretariat said.

    Naidu also referred to the transformational changes brought in governance over the past seven years. These changes are both empowering and enabling 1.3 billion people to deliver on their potential, he said.

    “Be it life expectancy, financial inclusion, access to healthcare, employment, owning a house, or honouring entrepreneurial ability, the quality of Indian lives is getting better with each passing day,” Naidu said.

    Quoting the prime minister’s three-word mantra, ‘reform, perform and transform’, the vice president praised the tremendous progress made by the nation over the past few years in various fields such as financial inclusion, insurance coverage, number of LPG connections for poor women and tap water connection to households.

    He said following the principle of ‘minimum government and maximum governance, the government is leveraging technologies to bring transformation in every sector, and expressed satisfaction over India becoming the third largest startup ecosystem in the world.

    “It is a testimony to the government’s resolute commitment to improve the business environment in the country that India’s ranking rose to 63rd place in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index 2020,” he said.

    Naidu noted that India’s strategic partnerships are based on mutual respect and the nation has given a resolute response to inimical forces who dared to challenge its integrity and sovereignty.

    “We are guided by our unwavering self-belief and our dedication to becoming ‘atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) in every possible way,” he noted.

  • Omicron: Parliamentary panel recommends evaluation of vaccines in view of new Covid strain

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Amid growing concerns over the new Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, a parliamentary committee has recommended that the efficacy of Covid vaccines must be evaluated and concerns with regards to the new strain developing immune escape mechanism critically addressed.

    The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health, which presented its report on Friday, also recommended that the government should conduct more research and examine the need of administering booster doses of vaccines to contain the new strain of the virus.

    In its report, the committee said it apprehends that a rise in mutations in the virus may lead to reporting of more virulent and transmissible strain of the Covid virus in the country and strongly recommended the Union Health Ministry to adopt a zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy and closely track Covid cases across the country.

    “The committee believes that timely detection and isolation of potentially infectious people is very crucial in reducing the impact of the pandemic COVID-19. The importance of diagnostic testing therefore, cannot be overlooked,” the panel said in its report.

    In view of the loss of life during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the committee said that the measures taken by the ministry to contain or prevent the spread of SARS-COV-2 proved to be squarely inadequate and suggested that the focus should be on strengthening of health infrastructure, ensuring adequate availability of beds, adequate supply of oxygen cylinders and essential medicines etc.

    With the threat of a third wave looming around, the government should utilise the time in strengthening public health infrastructure.

    This is evident from the fact that unlike the first wave (peaked in September 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic, which largely was restricted to urban areas where testing was introduced rapidly, the second wave (peaked in May) largely spread through rural towns and villages, it said in its report.

    The committee observed that there is a dire need for improving the geographical spread of testing facilities in the rural regions of the country.

    It also recommended establishing sync between the PHCs/CHCs with the VRDLs in the states.

    Besides, the government must aggressively keep pushing the vaccination programme in terms of granting approval to more vaccines, ramping up vaccine production, enhancing delivery capacity and increasing the vaccination rate, the committee said in its report.

    “With the incidence of highly mutated Omicron (B.1.1.529) strain of Covid virus, the committee strongly believes that the efficacy of the vaccines must be evaluated.

    The concerns with regards to the new strain developing immunoescape mechanism need to be critically addressed,” it said.

    An efficient and widely deployed testing mechanism will go a long way in preventing the spread of the infection, the report noted.

    The committee said that although the second wave came almost six months after the peak of the first wave, India’s testing infrastructure remained “abysmal and highly insufficient”.

    The report stated that to combat the current pandemic and other future emergencies, India must realise its full testing capacity and augment this capacity even further and that the government should ensure that the testing should far outpace the growth of the cases to arrest future waves of Covid early.

    “The committee also noted that with the new strain of Covid, Omicron (B.1.1.529), exhibiting 30 plus mutations, tracking and testing facilities especially at airports must also be strengthened and rigorous testing and screening of travellers must be carried out,” it said.

    “The committee is also concerned about the efficacy of the present vaccines and the possibility of mutated strain like Omicron evading vaccine immunity.

    The committee, therefore recommends the Government to conduct more research and examine the need of administering booster dose of vaccines for containing the newer strain of virus,” the report said.

    The committee recommended Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia INSACOG to closely monitor the new strain of the virus and work towards upgrading the genome sequencing infrastructure in the country.

    With WHO designating Omicorn as a “Variant of Concern”, the government must take immediate measures to prevent the transmission of any newer strains in the country, the committee said in its recommendations.

    The committee also sought to be apprised of the ‘plan of action’ with respect to the utilisation of Rs 64,179.55 crores allocated for strengthening public health infrastructure for pandemic preparedness.

    “The ministry may also apprise the committee about the feedback and assessment pertaining to key performance indicators related to surveillance, testing, hospital infrastructure, logistics at the district levels.

    The committee observes that the steps taken to combat the second wave of pandemic were not sufficient and more concrete action could have been undertaken to contain the impact of Covid,” it said.

    The committee noted that structural and operational corrections are required to prepare for future health emergencies.

    It, therefore, recommended that every state should establish at least one medical college and hospital as a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for proper health surveillance during emergency situations.

  • Omicron: 30 samples sent for genome sequencing, says Maharashtra health department

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: A total of 30 samples have been sent for genome sequencing after airport and field surveillance to detect the presence of Omicron, the new variant of SARS-CoV2, the Maharashtra health department said on Friday.

    Until Friday morning, 2,821 passengers arriving from high-risk countries at Mumbai airport have been tested using RT-PCR, with two samples testing positive, it added.

    A total of 224 out of 11,060 passengers arriving from other countries have been tested as well and one sample has returned positive, a department official said.

    “Additionally, field surveillance of all international passengers who have arrived since 1st November is underway. A total of 30 samples from both airport and field surveillance have been sent for genomic sequencing. Fourteen have been sent to NIV, Pune and 16 to Kasturba Hospital laboratory,” he said.

  • In last few weeks, India supplied vaccines to several countries: Government

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The government on Friday said that after putting on hold Covid vaccine export to cater to domestic demand, India now has supplied jabs in the last few weeks to several countries, including Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Iran, Paraguay and Indonesia.

    In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said that since the start of the Vaccine Maitri Programme in January, India has supplied 723.435 lakh doses to 94 countries and two UN entities in the form of grant, commercial export or through COVAX.

    “After holding the vaccine export to cater to the domestic demand first, in the last few weeks India has supplied vaccines to several countries including Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Iran, Paraguay and Indonesia,” Muraleedharan said.

    On the number of vaccines that India proposes to distribute globally as part of international vaccine partnerships like COVAX, he said the exact volume of export of vaccines will be determined by domestic production and requirements of the national vaccination programme.

    The government has taken initiatives to share medicines, vaccines, PPE, test kits and other medical and health products, training programmes, capacity building projects, genomic surveillance, recognition of vaccination certificates etc. as part of the global fight against COVID-19, Muraleedharan said.

    To another question, he stated that according to details available with Indian missions and posts, the total number of Indian citizens who succumbed to COVID-19 abroad is 4,048.

    A large number of casualties were reported from Saudi Arabia (1,154) followed by United Arab Emirates (894), Kuwait (668), Oman (551), Bahrain (200) and Qatar (109), according to the data provided by the minister.

    Muraleedharan said India supplied COVID-19 related medical and other assistance, to over 150 countries since the beginning of the pandemic.

    In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic during the second wave, support in the form of Covid-related equipment and medicines were received from 53 countries, he said.

    These included various items from foreign governments, private companies and Indian associations abroad, Muraleedharan added.

    Responding to a separate query on whether the government has noticed the “unofficial ban” imposed by China on Indian seafarers and prohibited entry of ships with Indian seafarers, he said the government had taken note of a few media reports which had appeared earlier in the year on the subject and had, therefore, taken up the matter with the Chinese side.

    The government emphasised to the Chinese side that any restriction selectively targeting sailors from India is unacceptable, he said.

    The Chinese side had conveyed that it had not imposed any ban and that such reports were not accurate, Muraleedharan said.

    To a separate question on whether Pakistan has approved India’s proposal for transporting 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan through the land route, which passes through Pakistan, for humanitarian aid for the people of Afghanistan, Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi said in view of the humanitarian requirement of the people of Afghanistan, India offered 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat and life-saving drugs as assistance to the people of Afghanistan to be provided urgently through land route through Pakistan.

    “In this regard, we made a request to the Pakistani side in October 2021, and a conditional response from Pakistan has been received on November 23, 2021,” she said in her written response.

  • On Covid debate day, Lok Sabha productivity increased to 204 per cent

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The productivity of Lok Sabha increased to 204 per cent on Thursday as the House sat for extra hours till midnight to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic.

    According to Lok Sabha officials, the productivity of the Lower House had touched 117 per cent on Wednesday when the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulations) Bill was passed after a four-hour debate.

    Overall, the productivity during the Winter Session of Parliament, which began on Monday, has been 83 per cent. Of the total allocated time of 1,440 minutes (24 hours), the House has transacted business for 1,205 minutes (20.08 hours), they said.

    Productivity of the House on the first two days was 6.7 per cent each. A total of 96 members participated in the debate on the Covid pandemic in Lok Sabha that stretched on for 11 hours and three minutes.