News Analysis India

Tag: Pandemic

  • India’s strong, decisive decisions slowed down entry, spread of COVID-19: MoS Health

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: India’s strong and decisive actions like surveillance at points of entry slowed down the spread of COVID-19 and gave enough time to the country to build public health capacities and infrastructure to effectively manage the pandemic, Union Minister Bharati Pravin Pawar said on Tuesday.

    The minister of state for health and family welfare represented India at the World Health Organization-South East Asia Regional Office (WHO-SEARO) through video-conference.

    She offered intervention on behalf of India at the ministerial roundtable for the seventy-fourth session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia.

    Pawar also highlighted the key measures and strategies planned to ‘build back better’ to achieve Universal Health Care and health-related Sustainable Development Goals and to strengthen health system resilience for the future.

    Noting that COVID-19 has affected virtually every sphere of life and caused a huge number of deaths, she said the country adopted a proactive, pre-emptive, whole of government, whole of society and people-centric approach to manage the pandemic.

    “Our preparedness and response strategies utilised our past experiences of managing public health emergencies and contemporary scientific knowledge about evolving nature of disease to decide requisite public health interventions,” the minister said.

    “India’s strategy for fighting the pandemic is built on five pillars Test, Track, Treat, Vaccinate and adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour. With a decentralised but unified, whole of government approach, we focused on rapidly creating Covid-dedicated infrastructure and upskilling our healthcare workforce,” she said.

    Pawar noted that the proactive and bold decisions by India’s “strong and decisive leadership” like surveillance at points of entry slowed down the entry and spread of COVID-19 and gave enough time to the country to build public health capacities and infrastructure to effectively manage the pandemic.

    Inter-sectoral coordination facilitated by establishing high level inter-ministerial groups and communication with states, other stakeholders and community at large facilitated a ‘jan andolan’ (people’s movement) for managing the pandemic, the minister said.

    “Legal and policy provisions like the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2020, and the Disaster Management Act, 2005, already available to the Union and sub-national jurisdictions, provided the enabling framework to operationalise all aspect of pandemic management by clarifying roles, responsibilities while facilitating inter-sectoral coordination as governance from national to local levels,” she said.

    Further, technical support by the Union government on containment, treatment protocol and all aspects of Covid management ensured a unified response, Pawar added.

    Speaking on the human cost of the pandemic, she said realising the indirect impact of COVID-19 especially on the poor and marginalised sections of society, a number of social security measures, including supply of food grains, minimum income support schemes, support for small industries, support for children who have lost their parents due to COVID-19 and other economic measures were taken to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

    On the massive implication of India’s development and deployment of vaccines along with amplification of production capacities on global health, Pawar shared the fundamental principles of India’s vaccination strategy such as augmenting production of vaccines, prioritising vulnerable groups for vaccination, making efforts in procurement of vaccines from other countries, monitoring vaccinated people for their second dose, as well as providing requisite digital vaccination certificate.

    “Our National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 provides guidance on vaccine trials, equitable distribution of vaccine, procurements, financing, delivery mechanisms, prioritisation of population groups etc. and the National Task Force on Vaccine Development supports Research and Development of Drug, Diagnostics and Vaccines for Coronavirus,” the minister said.

    India utilised the existing infrastructure of the Universal Immunization Programme which was augmented to ensure cold chain maintenance besides managing required logistics of vaccines and syringes, she said.

    Pawar added that the capacity building at all level was taken by training more than 7,600 participants at the state level and around 61,500 at the district level apart from training more than 2 lakh vaccinators and 3.9 lakh other vaccination team members.

    “To enhance vaccine production, financial support as grant was provided to vaccine manufacturers, advance payment for orders placed, permission for at-risk manufacturing was allowed besides focusing on technology transfer to aid production,” the minister said .

    The Co-WIN digital platform supported transparent registration and tracking of every beneficiary for COVID-19 vaccination along with real-time information on the available stocks of vaccine, their storage temperature, digital certificates, she said.

  • Over 12,000 students to be tested for Covid in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri

    By PTI

    JAMMU: Ahead of reopening of schools in Jammu and Kashmir, over 12,000 students will undergo the COVID-19 test in Rajouri district, an official spokesman said.

    The decision was conveyed by Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, Rajesh K Shavan on Monday while chairing a meeting to review arrangements made by the education department for reopening schools in the district, he said.

    The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday allowed reopening of higher educational institutions and schools for Classes 10 and 12 with certain conditions and decided to retain most of the COVID-19 containment guidelines, including the night curfew.

    The DC Monday directed the heads of the schools to ensure strict adherence to Covid standard operating procedures to ensure the safety of students.

    He directed the authorities concerned to ensure that all the students are tested ‘at the earliest’ and make sure that the schools are reopened in two days.

    He said random testing of the students would also be done regularly by the special teams to avoid the risk of infection.

    The meeting was informed that after a prolonged closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in Jammu and Kashmir are set to reopen for Classes 10 and 12 students with 50 per cent capacity, spokesman said.

    The schools, except for relaxations as provided for students of Classes 10 and 12, shall continue to remain closed for on-site and in-person teaching, he said.

    According to the guidelines, classes for students of the 12th standard would be permitted with in-person attendance not exceeding 50 per cent capacity on a given day.

    There are more than 12,000 school-going students of Class 10 and 12 in the district.

    The DC asked the chief education officers to ensure that all the schools of their respective zones have functional toilets and drinking water facilities.

    It was made clear that the private schools would be allowed to hold classes after all the students are tested for COVID-19.

    The DC issued instructions to college principals for the 100 per cent vaccination of all the college-going students.

    Special vaccination camps would also be organised to inoculate the students and no student shall enter the college until and unless he or she possesses a vaccination certificate with them, according to the guidelines.

    The principals were also asked to tell the students to motivate their family members to get inoculated for COVID-19 at the earliest.

    The Deputy Commissioner emphasised on the need to take care of students’ health, safety and psychological aspects after the resumption of physical classes.

    He also asked the heads of institutions to ensure proper cleanliness and sanitation in the educational institutions.

  • For 3rd time in 11 days, India’s daily COVID-19 vaccination crosses 1 crore doses

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: For a third time in the last 11 days, India administered more than one crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine in a day on Monday taking the total number of doses given in the country to over 69.68 crore, the Union Health Ministry said.

    “September has started on a high note as India touches 1 crore COVID-19 vaccinations today. Under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership, world’s largest vaccination drive is scaling massive heights,” Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted.

    A total of 1,05,76,911 doses were administered on Monday, officials said, adding that the figure is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night.

    Citing data collated till 7 pm, the ministry said the country has so far vaccinated 53,29,27,201 beneficiaries for the first dose and 16,39,69,127 for the second dose. Cumulatively, 27,64,10,694 people in the 18-44 age group have received their first dose and 3,57,76,726 the second dose since the start of Phase-3 of the vaccination drive.

    “Safety to those who keep us safe. The first dose of vaccine has been administered for the complete vaccination of the security forces deployed in Kutch and to protect their families from Covid. The government has achieved this important achievement in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic,” Mandaviya said in another tweet.

    The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, the ministry said.

  • Uttar Pradesh reports one fresh Covid death, 18 cases

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Sunday reported one COVID-19 death and 18 cases, taking the overall numbers to 22,856 fatalities and 17,09,445 infections, according to an official statement.

    The lone death was reported from Rae Bareli, the UP government statement said. Of the 18 fresh cases, three each were reported from Guatam Buddh Nagar and Jalaun, while two were from Rae Bareli.

    In a 24-hour period, 31 patients recovered from the disease, taking the total number of patients discharged from health facilities in the state so far to 16,86,354. The count of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 235, the statement said. In the 24 hours, more than 2.34 lakh samples were tested in the state, taking the total number to 7.34 crore samples, the statement said.

  • Mandaviya meets health ministers of UK, Brazil, Italy on giving priority in travel to vaccinated Indian students

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday said he had an interaction with his Italian counterpart Roberto Speranza on giving priority in travel to vaccinated Indian students enrolled in educational institutions in Italy and on enhancing bilateral cooperation in the field of health and medicine.

    Mandaviya is in Rome, Italy, for the G20 health ministers’ meeting. In a series of tweets, he said, “Had an interaction with Mr Roberto Speranza, Health Minister, Italy to enhance the bilateral cooperation between the two nations in the field of health and medicine.”

    “Discussed giving priority in travel to Indian vaccinated students enrolled in Italian educational institutions. Also, invited Italian pharmaceutical companies to invest and expand their business in India,” he added.

    In another tweet, the minister said he invited UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid to visit India and discussed with him a roadmap for a new health dialogue between the two countries.

    “UK appreciated India’s management of COVID & congratulated on administering first #COVID19 vaccine dose to more than half the population,” he stated.

    “Our discussions included ways to promote digital health & enhancing access to new models of telemedicine,” Mandaviya said of his meeting with Javid, adding that he highlighted various areas of cooperation in the field of healthcare.

    Mandaviya also met his Brazilian counterpart. “Had an excellent discussion with Mr Marcelo Queiroga, Minister of Health for Brazil, for better cooperation in healthcare. We spoke about One Health & the introduction of Nano-Urea for better results. Also, offered India’s full support to aid Brazil’s fight against TB,” he tweeted.

  • Nagaland reports more COVID-19 recoveries than fresh cases

    By PTI

    KOHIMA: Nagaland reported more COVID-19 recoveries than fresh infections as 66 patients got cured while 54 new cases pushed the tally to 30,356 on Sunday, a health official said.

    A total of 28,084 people have recovered from COVID-19 so far in the state and the COVID-19 recovery rate is 92.51 per cent, the official said.

    “54 positive cases detected today are, Mon: 15, Kohima: 13, Dimapur: 11, Phek: 6, Mokokchung: 5, Wokha: 3 and Zunheboto: 1,” said State Nodal Officer for Integrated Disease Surveillance Project, Dr Nyanthung Kikon in the daily COVID-19 bulletin.

    “66 positive patients, Mokokchung: 20, Dimapur & Wokha: 15 each, Kohima: 10, Kiphire: 4, Mon: 2 during the last 24 hours,” he said.

    Nagaland currently has 736 active COVID-19 cases, he said. The COVID-19 death toll remained at 626 as the state has not reported any new fatality due to the disease in the last two days, he said, adding that altogether 910 COVID-19 patients have migrated to other states.

    So far a total of 3,39,900 samples have been tested for COVID-19. A total of 8,76,866 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to 6,60,726 persons in Nagaland as on Saturday, said State Immunization Officer Dr Ritu Thurr.

  • Parameters to identify fake COVID-19 vaccine shared with states and UTs

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Centre has shared a set of parameters with all states and UTs to enable service providers and monitoring teams under the national COVID-19 vaccination programme to identify any fake COVID-19 vaccines so that they are not administered in the country.

    This comes days in the backdrop of concerns flagged by the World Health Organization (WHO) over counterfeit/falsified Covishield vaccine being identified in the South-East Asia and Africa region of WHO.

    Currently, the Serum Institute of India’s Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Russian vaccine Sputnik V are being administered to eligible beneficiaries under the ongoing COVID-19 inoculation drive in the country.

    “It was requested that the vaccines need to be carefully authenticated before use the information on genuine COVID-19 vaccine labels and additional information of the COVID19 vaccines in use is being enclosed for reference of program managers and service providers under the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program.

    “The service providers and monitoring teams for COVID-19 vaccination may be informed about these details and to ensure due diligence towards recognition of counterfeit vaccines,” Additional Secretary Manohar Agnani said in a letter to additional chief secretaries and principal secretaries (Health) of all states and UTs on September 2.

    A genuine Covishield vial bottle will have the parameters like the SII product’s label shade in dark green, the brand name with the trademark mentioned on the original vaccine and dark green aluminium flip-off seal.

    The font of the generic name is un-bold, (Recombinant) is printed at the end of the generic name, overprinted with CGS NOT FOR SALE.

    The SII logo is printed on the adhesive side of the label and at a unique angle and position which can be identified by only a select few who are aware of the exact details. The lettering is printed in special white ink to be more clear and readable.

    According to the parameters, the entire label has been given a special texture honeycomb effect which is visible only at a specific angle.

    At strategic locations, the honeycomb design has been altered slightly and certain additional special elements added to the texture design such that it is not visible to the layman, but people who know the subtle changes can easily check and verify the authenticity of the label and vial.

    The anti-counterfeit features in the Covaxin label include invisible UV helix (DNA-like structure) which is only visible under UV light, micro text hidden in label claim dots, which is written as COVAXIN, green foil effect in X of “Covaxin” and holographic effect on COVAXIN.

    As for Sputnik, imported products are from two different bulk manufacturing sites from Russia and, hence, there are two different labels for both these sites. While all the information and design are the same, only the manufacturer name is different.

    For all the imported products till now, the English label is only available on the front and back of the carton of 5 ampoule pack, while for all other sides, including the primary label on the ampoule, it is in Russian.

  • J-K administration issues new COVID-19 guidelines, allows reopening of schools for classes 10, 12

    By PTI

    JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday allowed the reopening of higher educational institutions and schools for students of classes 10 and 12 with certain conditions.

    The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary A K Mehta. It was also decided to retain most of the COVID-19 containment guidelines, including night curfew.

    In a series of measures aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19, the Jammu and Kashmir administration on April 18 had ordered the closure of all educational institutions, including universities and colleges, till further orders.

    In an order issued after a review of the COVID-19 situation, Mehta, who is also the chairperson of the State Executive Committee (SEC), said classes for students of 12th standard would be permitted with in-person attendance not exceeding 50 per cent of capacity on a given day.

    “Consent shall be obtained from the parents of all students who are willing to attend the school. The school premises should be thoroughly sanitised, proper screening regarding vaccination should be done on the school gate.

    “If any student or teacher or other school staff shows symptoms of cough, cold, or fever, they will not be allowed to enter the school. The head of the school must ensure that the guidelines related to social distancing and Covid protocols are strictly followed,” the order said.

    The Deputy Commissioners can allow in-person classes for students of 10th standard following all protocols.

    “The schools, except for relaxations as provided for students of 12th and 10th classes, shall continue to remain closed for on-site/in-person teaching,” the order said.

    It said the coaching centres for civil services or engineering or NEET examinations would be permitted with limited in-person teaching for fully vaccinated staff and students. “All other coaching centres shall continue to remain closed for onsite/in-person teaching,” the order said.

    It said the higher educational institutions would be permitted to commence limited in-person teaching subject to 100 per cent vaccination of staff and students and specific permission of the Deputy Commissioners.

    “Such institutions can organise special vaccination camps in consultation with district administration,” the order said. The order said the night curfew would continue to remain in force in all districts from 8 pm to 7 am, while all deputy commissioners shall intensify testing by making optimum use of available RT-PCR and RAT capacities.

  • Worry of IQ, expenditure, genuinity of test reports starts as Covid cases rise in Karnataka

    By Express News Service

    BENGALURU: As the number people coming from Kerala to Karnataka and testing positive is rising, the worries of management and health officials also climb up.

    While the management of the educational and professional institutions are worried about institutional quarantine, health checks, payments and responsibilities associated with it, health officials are worried of the laxity and attitude, which is leading to rising in Covid19 cases and the formation of clusters in the state,

    “Cases are not just rising in Dakshin Kannada and Kolar, but now have started to rise in Bengaluru also and the first in line is the Christian College of Nursing in Mahadevapura. This we got to know because of students started showing symptoms and some of their contacts were staying in other places who told neighbours and the word spread. But there are many other colleges and institutions of which data has not yet been shared, despite government orders,” said a senior BBMP official not wanting to be named. 

    Health department officials have also expressed their worry and have said that those who come from Kerala, do not want to go in for institutional quarantine and assert that they have a negative report. “The management tell us that they believe the reports their students and employees are carrying, but if the government does not believe it and are insisting on IQ, then the government should make all arrangements for it and not put the onus on the management. They are wanting to shun this task under the guise of additional and additional expenditure for them,” said a health department official.

    The BBMP and the health department has identified and listed hotel rooms for those coming in from Kerala to undergo IQ. If need be, some are also being sent to Covid care centres. 

    Another BBMP official said the management does not understand that even if they carry negative test reports, the virus can start acting after 5-7 days. So IQ and an additional test is no harm. This exercise also ensures that the virus does not spread and cases do not rise. They must look at it as a social exercise and not as an obligation. “We also do not know if they have got a genuine test report or a fake report as the cases are rising in Kerala and the same should not happen in Bengaluru or Karnataka,” the official added.

  • Mizoram reports 886 new COVID-19 cases, single day positivity rate 10.33 per cent

    By PTI

    AIZWAL: Mizoram’s COVID-19 tally surged to 56,642 as 886 more people, including 186 children, tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, a health department official said on Saturday.

    The single-day positivity rate was 10.33 per cent as the fresh cases were detected from 8,576 samples, the official said.

    The new cases were reported from various districts with Aizawl reporting the highest at 383, followed by Lunglei at 118 and Kolasib at 98, he said.

    Of the 886 fresh cases, 112 were confirmed through RT-PCR test, 739 were detected through Rapid Antigen Test and 35 through TrueNat tests.

    Five patients have travel history, while the rest 881 were found to have locally contracted the virus, the official said.

    Mizoram currently has 8,100 active COVID-19 cases, while 48,336 people have recovered from the infection, including 256 people on Friday.

    At least 206 people have succumbed to the infection so far. The COVID-19 recovery rate in the state now is 85.33 per cent and the death rate is 0.36 per cent. The state has tested more than 8.37 lakh samples for COVID-19 to date.