News Analysis India

Tag: Pandemic

  • Gujarat to set up over 75 oxygen plants in view of possible third wave

    By PTI
    AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government has initiated the process to set up more than 75 oxygen plants to produce additional 300 MT of the life-saving gas if the demand for it goes up during the possible third wave of COVID-19, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said on Sunday.

    At present, 800 to 900 MT of medical oxygen is available at any time in the state, he said.

    “The state government has started working on the scenario when there is a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 patients requiring medical oxygen in the third wave of the pandemic,” he told reporters in Mehsana.

    “In the worst situation during the second wave, Gujarat required over 1,200 MT oxygen,” he said.

    With the aid from the PM Care Fund, grants of MPs and MLAs, and funds from charities, Gujarat has started working on setting up more oxygen plants, Patel said.

    “Our first target is to produce 300 MT of oxygen for us to become self-reliant even when the number of daily patients go past the 14,000-mark,” he added.

    The government has formed a committee to see to it that there is no shortage of medical oxygen even during the worst pandemic situation, unlike in the second wave when the government had to press hard to meet the demand, Patel, who also holds the health portfolio, said while on a trip to Mehsana to inspect various health facilities.

    “We have 800-900 MT of medical oxygen available at any time in Gujarat. To meet the demand in the possible third wave, when the number of daily patients may go beyond 14,000, we need an additional 300 MT oxygen.

    “We have already started working on setting up oxygen plants for the purpose and identified more than 75 locations for large oxygen plants. They are at different stages of development,” he said.

    Priority is being given to large government hospitals, district-level hospitals, community health centres, large private hospitals, charitable-trust run hospitals, he said.

    Facilities are also being set up to refill oxygen cylinders to be supplied to the patients getting home treatment, the deputy CM said.

    Funds for the purpose is being raised from MP-MLA grants, as well as government fund, donations of private companies, and PM Care Fund, Patel said.

  • Sikkim reports 340 new COVID-19 cases, five more fatalities

    By PTI
    Sikkim’s COVID-19 caseload has mounted to 17,111 after reporting 340 new infections in the past 24 hours, a health department bulletin said on Sunday.

    The Himalayan state has reported five more coronavirus deaths, taking the toll to 273, it said.

    Sikkim at present has 4,306 active cases, 236 others have migrated out of the state, while 12,296 patients have recovered from the disease.

    Of the new cases, East Sikkim registered 123 infections, followed by South Sikkim (117), West Sikkim (98), and North Sikkim (2).

    The state has tested 2,548 samples for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours to take the total number of tests done to 1,35,818.

  • Gujarat, MP, Uttarakhand cancel class 12 board exams, others states to take a call soon

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Following the Centre’s decision to cancel class 12 CBSE board exams in view of the Covid pandemic, several states including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand called off their board exams on Wednesday while few others said they will take a call soon.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asserted that the decision to cancel the exams has been taken in the interest of students and the anxiety among students, parents and teachers must be put to an end.

    Soon after, CISCE and the Haryana government also announced cancellation of their respective board exams.

    Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa and Uttar Pradesh are among the states which said they are soon going to announce a final decision in this regard.

    “The state government decided to scrap the exams for class 12 of the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Board (GSHSB) after taking into consideration the Centre’s decision to cancel the exams for class 12 students of the CBSE given the coronavirus pandemic,” Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said.

    Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad, who has been advocating the “non examination route”, said a proposal has been sent to the disaster management authority regarding the state board exams for Class 12 students and a decision on the issue will be taken in a couple of days.

    In West Bengal, the authorities cancelled a press conference to announce the schedule of class 10 and 12 board examinations in the state amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

    No reason was given for the cancellation.

    An official of the School Education Department said a committee of experts has been formed to check how to conduct the exams and evaluate papers during the present situation.

    Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in a video statement posted on Twitter, “The class 12 board exams (organised by the MP Board of Secondary Education) for the year 2020-21 will not be held this year.

    The life of students is precious for us. We can take care of their career later.”

    According to Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozh, the government will make known its decision on holding the plus two board exam in the state in two days’ time, after conferring with experts.

    Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar said an appropriate decision will be taken soon on holding board exams in the state.

    “Regarding holding SSLC (class 10) and second year Pre-University (class 12) exams, an appropriate decision will be taken at the earliest,” the minister said in a statement.

    Uttarakhand intermediate board examinations were also cancelled on Wednesday in view of the prevailing Covid situation in the state.

    State Education Minister Arvind Pandey said the decision has been taken in the interest of students, teachers and guardians after consulting the chief minister.

    Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said his government will go through decisions taken by other states and also consult the Union Education Ministry before taking a call on Class 12 board exams.

  • Madhya Pradesh: 32 die of black fungus at Indore hospital in 20 days

    By PTI
    INDORE: As many as 32 patients have died of mucormycosis in the last 20 days at a government-run hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city, an official said on Wednesday.

    Of late, several cases of mucormycosis, also known as the black fungus, a serious infection, have been found in people who have recovered from COVID-19.

    The Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital (MYH) in the state’s industrial hub Indore has been treating a number of black fungus patients not only from here, but also from various other districts.

    “The first patient of black fungus was admitted in the MYH on May 13 and since then, a total of 439 patients have been admitted till now in the hospital. Out of them, 84 people were discharged after treatment, while 32 patients have died so far,” MYH superintendent Pramendra Thakur said.

    The present black fungus mortality rate in the hospital is 7.29 per cent, he said, claiming that the fatality rate was lower than other hospitals in the state.

    “We have carried out more than 200 surgeries in the last 20 days to save the lives of patients suffering from the black fungus,” he said. At present, 323 patients are undergoing treatment for the fungal infection in the hospital, the official said.

    Out of them, 14 contracted the fungal infection along with COVID-19, while 301 people got mucormycosis after recovering from the coronavirus infection, he said.

    The eight other patients suffering from the black fungus have no record of contracting COVID-19, he informed.

    The statistics show that 93 per cent of the patients contracted the black fungus after recovering from COVID-19.

    Indore, having a population of nearly 35 lakh, has been the worst affected by COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh.

    Since the outbreak of COVID-19 here on March 24, 2020, the district has till now reported 1,50,516 cases and 1,347 deaths due to the disease.

  • Class 12 boards: Challenge to decide fair evaluation criteria, must be done soon, say experts

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Education experts and stakeholders believe the bigger challenge before the CBSE now is coming up with a fair evaluation criteria for class 12 students whose exams have been cancelled and demanded that the policy is notified soon.

    The experts hailed the decision to cancel the board exams which were earlier postponed in view of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Given the current situation, it is the right decision to cancel the CBSE Board exams.

    There is no way we could have held exams without compromising the safety of children. While we welcome the decision, we hope the modalities would be worked out quickly in consultation with stakeholders, they said.

    “Since class marks are important factor that affects students’ career, we expect CBSE to ensure students don’t get affected with the methodology of awarding marks,” said Praveen Raju, Co-Chair, FICCI ARISE, a collegium of stakeholders aimed at promoting quality education.

    In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, it was decided that the CBSE will take steps to compile the results of class 12 students as per a well-defined objective criteria in a time-bound manner.

    “The next step is equally critical and crucial in terms of deciding the process and criteria based on which the children’s performance will be gauged.

    This should be done keeping in mind that many of them make that extra effort during the last mile and hence, should be given due advantage,” said Charu Wahi, Principal, Nirmal Bhartia School.

    According to Vishnu Karthik, CEO, The Heritage Schools, the decision on cancellation of board exams has provided some clarity and assuaged stress levels among students and parents but the challenge now is for the CBSE to arrive at an alternative criteria to determine grade 12 marks.

    “Any delay or any confusion on the new grading criteria will lead to more confusion and stress among students. Clear directions should also be provided to Indian universities to modify their admissions criteria so meritocracy and fairness are not compromised,” he said.

    Shishir Jaipuria, Chairman of Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions believes deserving students must be allocated grades or marks corresponding to their yearly performance.

    “It’s a challenge that will require a great deal of meticulous thinking for arriving at a just criterion for academic assessment. I’m sure the schools and boards will rise to the challenge and deliver what’s best for the students,” he said.

    Rajiv Bansal, Director-Operations – Global Indian International School (GIIS), said admission in undergraduate courses, across India and internationally, are dependent on class 12 results, therefore, the sooner these details are announced, the better it would be for the students, their parents, and the entire academic community.

    Pallavi Upadhyaya, Principal, DPS-RNE Ghaziabad said schools further await the mode of result tabulation and assessment guidelines by the CBSE for fair scores as Class 12th remains a crucial exam in a student’s lifetime.

    The CBSE had on April 14 announced the cancellation of Class 10 exams and postponement of Class 12 exams in view of the surge in coronavirus cases.

    Amid continuing demands for cancellation of exams by a large section of students and parents, the ministry had called a high-level meeting last Sunday to deliberate on the issue which was also attended by state education ministers and education secretaries.

    The CBSE had proposed two options — conducting regular exams for only major subjects at notified centres or holding shorter-duration exams at the school where a student is enrolled.

    Majority states opted for the second option which included conducting 90 minutes exams for major subjects at students’ home schools. Few states also insisted on vaccinating students before going ahead with the exams.

  • If vaccine drives can be held in housing societies, why not at homes for senior citizens: Mumbai HC

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday said when COVID-19 vaccination drives are now being held in several housing societies, why authorities cannot take a step further and go to the homes of senior citizens, specially-abled and bed-ridden people to inoculate them.

    The court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyers Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari, seeking a direction to the Union and state governments to start door-to-door vaccination for senior citizens above the age of 75, specially-abled, bed-ridden and wheelchair-bound people.

    The petition said such people would not be in a position to step out of their homes and travel to vaccination centres.

    A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni on Wednesday noted that several housing societies are now tying-up with private hospitals and holding vaccination drives in the society premises itself.

    “If this is being done, then you (government and other authorities) can take a step further and go to the homes of such people (who are not able to go to vaccination centres),” Chief Justice Datta said.

    Kapadia on Wednesday told the court though the Centre’s policy says door-to-door vaccination was not possible, the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (in neighbouring Palghar district) has started it in its area.

    The court had last month directed chairman of the ‘National Expert Group for Vaccine Administration of COVID-19’ (NEGVAC) set up by the Centre to consider the issue of introducing the door-to-door vaccination drive.

    On Wednesday, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the Centre, sought further time following which the court posted the matter for next hearing on June 8.

    Singh told the HC that by July-end, the availability of vaccines, both Covishield and Covaxin, will increase.

    “Currently, there are 90 lakh Covaxin doses available. By the end of July, the number will increase to 5.5 crore. Similarly, the supply of Covishield vaccine will also increase to approximately two crore each month by July,” he said.

    The court then asked Singh by when does the Union government expect the entire population of the country to be administered the first dose of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine.

    Singh said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said it would be done by December 2021.

  • Over 1.64 crore COVID-19 vaccines still available with states: Centre

    The Centre has so far provided, both through the free of cost and through direct state procurement categories, more than 23 crore vaccine doses to states and UTs.

  • Aurangabad records 157 new COVID-19 cases; seven casualties

    By PTI
    AURANGABAD: As many as 157 fresh cases of coronavirus and seven deaths were reported in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district, an official said on Wednesday.

    The latest cases and casualties recorded on Tuesday have taken the tally of infections to 1,42,889, while the toll reached 3,214, the official said.

    A total of 1,36,463 patients have recovered from the infection so far, leaving the district with 3,212 cases, he said.

    The district has conducted 11,57,953 tests so far, he said, adding that on Tuesday, the positivity rate in the district stood at 2.75 per cent.

    At least 108 ventilator beds and 2,204 oxygen beds are available in Aurangabad, the official said.

  • Supreme Court seeks information on Centre’s scheme for kids orphaned by COVID

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Tuesday took note of the Centre’s welfare scheme to provide relief to children who have lost parents to COVID-19 pandemic, and sought details of the plan along with the mechanism devised to monitor it.

    A bench comprising justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose also directed states and Union Territories (UTs) to appoint nodal officers of level of Secretary or Joint Secretary who will interact with its amicus curiae Gaurav Agrawal for providing all the information on orphans, their identification and about the welfare measures for them.

    The bench said it would hear on Monday the cases of ten states first Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand where more kids have lost bread winning guardians.

    The top court has been hearing an application, in a pending sup motu case on spread of COVID-19 in children homes, filed by the amicus curiae highlighting the woes being faced by kids orphaned by the deadly virus.

  • Nearly half of Haryana’s total COVID-19 deaths recorded in May

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Nearly half of the number of Covid-linked fatalities in Haryana were recorded in May as the state also registered a sharp spike in the cases last month, state health department data showed.

    On April 30, 2021, Haryana had a total 4,216 COVID-19 deaths, which climbed to 8,303, as on May 31. During the same period, the virus count rose from 4,87,978 to 7,56,635.

    Gurugram, Faridabad and Hisar remained the districts hardest hit by the pandemic. Between April 30 and May 31, coronavirus-related fatalities in Gurugram increased from 476 to 813, while the number of cases in the district, which falls in the National Capital Region, rose from 1,22,948 to 1,79,960.

    In Faridabad district, the death toll from COVID-19 climbed from 512 to 708, while the infection count jumped from 72,768 to 98,945.

    In Hisar district, fatalities doubled from 440 to 870 while the infection tally went up from 29,755 to 52,966 between April 30 and May 31.

    The cumulative Covid positivity rate in the state went up from 6.63 per cent to 8.39 per cent while the fatality rate increased from 0.86 per cent to 1.10 per cent during the past one month.

    As on May 31, Nuh district had the lowest number of fatalities and COVID-19 cases in the state with 93 deaths and 4,862 infections, followed by Charkhi Dadri with 110 deaths and 4,915 cases.

    The number of active cases, which was around one lakh a month ago, has now come down to nearly 18,000 at present.

    The Covid recovery rate improved from 79.14 per cent, as on April 30, to 96.45 per cent on May 31. The tests per million population increased from 2,91,694 to 3,57,014 while the vaccination coverage also increased during the period from April 30 to May 31 from 38,13274 doses to 57,12,100 doses being administered.

    To contain the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Haryana, the state government had initially imposed a lockdown on May 3 for a week till May 10, which was later extended four times and is currently enforced till June 7.

    The state government has termed the lockdown “Mahamari Alert/Surkshit Haryana (Epidemic Alert/Safe Haryana)”.