News Analysis India

Tag: Pandemic

  • COVID-19: Chorus grows louder for cancellation of class 10, 12 board exams; no decision by CBSE yet

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The chorus for cancellation of upcoming board exams for class 10 and 12 grew louder on Tuesday in wake of the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases even as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) said it has not taken any decision yet in this regard.

    Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia appealed to the Centre to cancel the exams saying the examination centres can become super spreaders and alternative methods for assessment need to be explored.

    CBSE officials denied any change in plan “yet” and reiterated that the arrangements are being made to ensure social distancing by increasing examination centres by over 50 per cent. The exams are scheduled to begin from May 4.

    “The exams cannot be cancelled, these are subjective exams which are crucial in nature and cannot be conducted online. The board is taking all necessary measures as per COVID-19 guidelines.

    The exam centres have been increased and all COVID protocols will be followed strictly,” said a senior board official.

    While sources indicated that the board may consider postponing the exams if the situation worsens, the official, maintained, “there has been no decision yet”.

    The board had earlier this month announced that if students fail to appear for ongoing practical exams after they or any family member testing positive, the schools will conduct re-tests for them at an appropriate time.

    The CBSE official also did not comment on whether the same relaxation will be given to students in theory exams as well.

    Earlier in the day, Kejriwal said that conducting the exam can contribute to large scale spread of the virus.

    “Six lakh children in Delhi are going to write CBSE exams. Nearly one lakh teachers will be a part of it. These (the centres) can become major hotspots leading to large-scale spreading of corona. Children’s lives and health are very important to us. I request the Centre to cancel the CBSE exams,” he said at a press conference.

    “Several countries have done it, some states in India are doing it too. Some alternative methods could be thought of. Children can be promoted this time on the basis of either an online method or internal assessment. But the exams should be cancelled,” he added.

    Sisodia, who is also Delhi’s Education Minister, took to Twitter saying, “It is time that board exams be cancelled in view of increasing cases of coronavirus across the country. When whole year teaching learning did not happen the old way, then why we are adamant on conducting the exams the old way?” “If exams will not be cancelled then examination centres will turn into super spreaders,” he added.

    Last week, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi had urged Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal to intervene and direct CBSE to reconsider its decision to go ahead with the board examinations in May despite the “massive and uncontrolled” rise in COVID-19 cases.

    The Shiv Sena had also written to the education ministry, requesting the government to develop a national consensus and possibly reschedule Class 10 and 12 CBSE and other board exams.

    Over 2 lakh students have signed an online petition demanding cancellation of board exams and the hasthtag “cancelboardexams” has also been trending on Twitter since a week.

    States including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab have already announced changes in plans for board exams.

    Schools across the country were closed in March last year to contain the spread of COVID-19 ahead of a nationwide lockdown.

    Several states started reopening the schools partially from October last year, but physical classes are again being suspended in view of the exponential rise in coronavirus cases. Last year, the board exams had to be postponed mid-way in March.

    They were later cancelled and the results were announced on the basis of an alternative assessment scheme.

    India registered a record single-day spike of over 1.61 lakh new COVID-19 cases and 879 new fatalities due to the virus, according to Health Ministry data.

  • Russia expects India to produce 5 crore Sputnik V vaccines per month

    By PTI
    HYDERABAD: The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) on Tuesday said it expects over 50 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine to be manufactured in India by this summer.

    The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) on Monday registered the vaccine under the emergency use authorization procedure, based on results of clinical trials in Russia, as well as positive data of additional Phase III local clinical trials in India conducted in partnership with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

    READ MORE: TN officials say they have adequate doses of COVID-19 vaccine, await arrival of Sputnik V

    RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev, in a virtual press conference, said besides five drug companies that the Russian firm had ties ups with, they are looking at a couple of more firms for the possible production pacts.

    “We almost think Sputnik V is an Indian-Russian vaccine, because lots of production of sputnik V will be done in India. We publicly announced five production partnerships in India with some of the largest Indian pharmaceutical companies,” Dmitriev said.

    According to an earlier release, RDIF has agreements with India’s Gland Pharma, Hetero Biopharma, Panacea Biotec, Stelis Biopharma and Virchow Biotech aimed at production of more than 850 million doses per year.

    “We believe more than 50 million doses a month (to be manufactured) in the summer (in a couple of months). This is our plan. By summer we expect to manufacture 50 million doses or more of Sputnik V a month in India. This isbased on the very strong vaccine manufacturing capability thatIndia was able to build,” he said.

    Replying to a query, he said some of the Indian firms have already started production of the vaccine under strict quality checks.

    In September 2020, Dr. Reddys and RDIF entered into a partnership to conduct clinical trials of the Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the rights for distribution of the first 100 million doses in India.

    Later it was enhanced to/ 125 million. “We do not intend to buy equity stakes in those production companies, but we do obviously finance some of the working capital so that they can ramp up production very quickly, Dmitriev said, to a query on investments inthe Indian firms to ramp up the vaccine production.

    He said Sputnik V is one of the only three vaccines in the world with an efficacy of more than 90 per cent, which was confirmed not just in clinical trials, but also based on real world use in Russia, Argentina, Mexico and other countries. Sputnik V will be the third vaccine to be used in India against coronavirus.

    In January, DCGI had given the emergency use authorisation for two COVID-19 vaccines — Covaxin of Bharat Biotech and Covishield of Oxford-AstraZeneca manufactured by Serum Institute of India in Pune

  • COVID-19 vaccines are disease-modifying, reduce chances of severe infection, mortality: ICMR chief

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: COVID-19 vaccines reduce the chances of developing severe infection and mortality, ICMR Chief Balram Bhargava said on Tuesday.

    Responding to a question about people contracting the coronavirus infection even after taking both doses of COVID vaccine, he said these are “disease-modifying” vaccines and there is an 85 percent reduction in hospitalisation after vaccination which is well established internationally.

    “These vaccines are disease-modifying. After two doses are administered, the antibodies develop.  The COVID-19 vaccines reduce the chances of developing severe infection and death due to the disease,” the ICMR Director General said.

    The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is the country’s apex health research body. Currently, two vaccines — Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) — are being used for inoculation in India.

    India’s drug regulator has also granted permission for the restricted emergency use of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V with certain conditions.

  • COVID-19 second wave worrying; some states need to ramp up RT-PCR tests: Centre

    The previous highest surge was 94,372 daily cases in September which is now 1,61,736 every day while the daily deaths are also showing an increasing trend, Bhushan said.

  • Remdesivir not for home use, meant for serious patients, says Government amid rise in demand

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday said doctors should ensure “rational and judicious” use of anti-viral drug Remdesivir, underlining it is to be given only to serious COVID-19 patients in hospitals and is not to be used in home settings.

    At a weekly press conference, NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul said, “Remdesivir is to be used only in those who require hospitalisation and are on oxygen support. That is the precondition. There is no question of its use in the home setting and for mild cases, and it is not to be procured from chemist shops.” 

    Remdesivir is listed for use in serious COVID-19 patients in the Clinical Management Protocols for COVID-19 as an investigational therapy.

    As the shortage of Remdesivir was reported in some areas, its export was banned and the medicine is available in plenty, Paul said, adding that “queuing outside chemist shops to procure Remdesivir is creating distortions”.

    “We appeal to physicians to ensure rational, correct and judicious use of Remdesivir in hospitalised patients,” he said.

    In view of a sudden spike in demand due to the surge in COVID-19 cases, India on Sunday banned the export of injection Remdesivir and Remdesivir Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) till the situation improves.

    To ensure easy access of hospitals and patients to Remdesivir, all domestic manufactures of Remdesivir have also been advised to display on their website, details of their stockists/distributors to facilitate access to the drug, the Union Health Ministry had said.

     Drug inspectors and other officers have been directed to verify stocks and check their malpractices and also take other effective actions to curb hoarding and black marketing.

    The State Health Secretaries will review this with the drug inspectors of the respective states and UTs, the ministry had said on Sunday.

    The Centre has also advised the states that the extant  ‘National Clinical Management Protocol for COVID-19’, which is based on evidence, has been developed after many interactions by a committee of experts and is the guiding document for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

    In the Protocol, Remdesivir is listed as an investigational therapy, i.e. where informed and shared decision-making is essential, besides taking note of contraindications mentioned in the detailed guidelines, the ministry said.

    The states and UTs have been advised that these steps should again be communicated to all hospitals, both in the public and private sector, and compliance monitored.

  • Will support Maharashtra government if it clamps ‘full lockdown’: Pune traders

    By PTI
    PUNE: An umbrella organisation of traders in Pune on Monday said it will extend support to the Maharashtra government if it imposes a “full lockdown” in the state to curb the rising cases of coronavirus.

    The Federation of Traders Association (FTA), Pune, took the decision after a detailed meeting of its representatives with senior government officials from Pune district as well as the civic administration, its president said.

    The decision was taken after considering the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the city and rural parts of the district, one of the worst-hit in the country, federation president Fatehchand Ranka said.

    “After our meetings with the authorities and our own members, we unanimously took a decision to extend our support if the state government takes a decision to impose a full lockdown,” said Ranka.

    He said it has been learnt that the state government is going to take a decision about the lockdown in the next two days.

    “If the state government imposes a full lockdown, on behalf of 40,000 traders in the city (represented by the federation), I want to assure the state government that to solve this crisis, we are with you.

    “However, if the government imposes a half lockdown we will have to take a different decision,” Ranka said.

    He said imposition of a “mini lockdown” did not lead to reduction in movement of people and crowding in the city.

    Ranka appealed to other traders’ bodies to keep their establishments closed till the government takes a decision about the lockdown.

    The federation earlier took a stand that the state government should roll back the fresh curbs, put in place since last week to stem the COVID-19 spread. Traders were miffed over closure of non-essential shops as part of the curbs.

    A police case was registered against Ranka and 55 other traders for forming a ‘human chain’ in Pune to protest the lockdown-like restrictions, which they said, adversely affected their businesses.

  • Bengal records 4,511 new COVID cases, highest one-day spike since pandemic began

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal on Monday registered 4,511 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike since the pandemic started last year, pushing the state’s tally to 6,19,407, the state health department said in a bulletin.

    Kolkata also set a record of 1,115 new cases. The state reported this year’s highest COVID-19 fatalities at 14 on Monday, pushing the death toll to 10,414.

    The bulletin said that 1,947 people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cured people to 5,82,462. The state currently has 26,531 active cases.

    Out of the 14 deaths, 11 were due to comorbidities where COVID-19 was incidental. Kolkata accounted for four deaths, while three each were reported from North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts.

    South 24 Parganas district registered two deaths while Paschim Bardhaman and Paschim Medinipur recorded one fatality each, the bulletin said.

    The fresh positive cases included 1,115 from Kolkata and 1,084 from North 24 Parganas district.

    In the last 24 hours, 37,116 samples have been tested for COVID-19 in the state. On Monday, at least 2,32,734 people were vaccinated in West Bengal, an official of the state health department said.

    At a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, the state government decided that no big celebration will be allowed on the occasion of Bengali New Year falling on April 15 in view of the surge in coronavirus cases, official sources said.

  • Over 37 lakh COVID vaccine doses given on Day 2 of special drive

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: On the second day of the ‘Tika Utsav’ vaccination drive, more than 37 lakh COVID-19 doses were administered on Monday, taking the cumulative doses given in the country to 10,82,92,423 so far, the Union Health Ministry said.

    Many workplace vaccination centres became operational across the country in the government and private sector, the ministry said. “On the second day of Tika Utsav, more than 37 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 8 PM today. “On an average, 45,000 COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) are functional on any given day. Today, 71,000 CVCs were operational, marking a rise of an average of 26,000 operational vaccination centres,” it said.

    The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 10,82,92,423, according to provisional data.

    These include 90,32,665 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 55,56,375 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 1,00,68,531 frontline workers (FLWs) who have received the 1st dose, and 48,91,565 FLWs who have taken the 1st dose.

    Besides, 3,41,01,749  people and  7,55,197 people who are over 45 to 59 years of age have taken the 1st and 2nd dose respectively, while 4,16,45,168  and 22,41,173 individuals above the age of 60 years have taken the 1st and 2nd dose respectively.

    “A total  of37,63,858 vaccine doses were given till 8 PM on Monday, the 87th day of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination. Out of which 32,60,713 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and 5,03,145 beneficiaries received 2nd dose of the vaccine as per the provisional report,” the ministry said adding final reports would be completed for the day by late night.

    The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated and the vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started on February 2.

    The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1 for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. India launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.

  • Punjab sees record single day spike of 3,477 COVID cases

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Punjab on Monday reported 3,477 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike so far, which took the tally to 2,76,223 in the state, according to a medical bulletin.

    The state had earlier seen the highest daily cases at 3,459 on April 9. The death of 52 people took the toll to 7,559 in the state, the bulletin stated. The number of active cases is 27,866.

    Eight people each died in Amritsar and Hoshiarpur and five each in Gurdaspur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala, among the fresh COVDI-related fatalities.

    Mohali saw the highest of 662 infections, followed by 523 in Ludhiana, 366 in Jalandhar, 305 in Amritsar and 281 in Patiala, among districts which are seeing a rise in cases, the bulletin stated.

    It said 3,407 coronavirus patients have ben discharged after recovering from the infection, taking the number of cured persons to 2,40,798 in the state.

    There are 45 critical patients who are on ventilator support while 360 are on oxygen support, the bulletin said.

    It said 63,68,902 samples have been collected for testing so far in the state. Meanwhile, Chandigarh reported 424 cases of the coronavirus, taking the infection count to 31,167.

    The toll reached 400 with the death of a 48-year-old man, according to a medical bulletin. The number of active cases is 3,355 in the union territory, it said.

    The bulletin stated that 375 patients were discharged after they recovered from the infection, taking the number of cured persons to 27,412.

    It said 3,43,981 samples have been taken for testing so far and of them, 3,11,760 tested negative while reports of 225 samples are awaited.

  • Haryana records biggest daily jump of 3,818 COVID-19 cases

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Haryana recorded the sharpest single-day spike of 3,818 fresh COVID-19 cases on Monday that took the state’s tally to 3,20,699, while 14 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 3,282, a health department bulletin said.

    Among the districts that reported a big spike in cases are Gurgaon with 1,132 cases, followed by 472 in Faridabad, 327 in Karnal, 228 in Sonipat, 224 in Panchkula and 180 in Hisar.

    Of the latest deaths, two each were reported from Sonipat, Panipat, Yamunanagar and Fatehabad districts and one each from Faridabad, Rewari, Panchkula, Kurukshetra, Sirsa and Kaithal.

    The number of active cases in Haryana stands at 22,487. So far, 2,94,930 people have recovered from the disease and the state has a recovery rate of 91.96 per cent, the bulletin said.