News Analysis India

Tag: Rajasthan coronavirus

  • With over 100 patients, Mucormycosis declared epidemic in Rajasthan 

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Mucormycosis (black fungus), which is primarily affecting people recovering from COVID, has been declared an epidemic in Rajasthan, officials said on Wednesday.

    Currently, the state has around 100 black fungus patients and a separate ward has been made at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur for their treatment.

    Mucormycosis has been notified as an epidemic and a notifiable disease in the state under the Rajasthan Epidemic Act 2020, according to a notification issued by state’s Principal Health Secretary Akhil Arora.

    He said the step was taken to ensure integrated and coordinated treatment of black fungus and the coronavirus.

    According to experts, people with diabetes are more prone to getting the black fungus infection.

  • COVID-19: Rajasthan announces 15-day lockdown with exemptions

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR: In view of the growing coronavirus cases, a lockdown has been imposed in Rajasthan from April 19 to May 3rd with some exemptions. However, the Ashok Gehlot government has named it ‘jan anushasan  pakhwada’ (Public Discipline Fortnight). During this time, all government offices except the essential services will be closed. Markets, workplaces and cinemas will also remain shut. The construction sector is allowed to carry on in order to stop the migration of labourers.

    During a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday evening, the Ministers suggested imposing a lockdown in Rajasthan. After this, the final decision was left to CM Ashok Gehlot.

    The Chief Minister soon carried out an open review and decided to put a lockdown late in the night. “The government will take strict steps to curb the Corona surge in the state. The way the infections are rising along with the death rate is alarming. People need to follow the guidelines of the government and the instructions of the medical professionals strongly”, said Gehlot in a press release.

    In smaller cities where the infection is less, the weekend curfew can be reduced to two to three days.

    The pandemic situation in the state of Rajasthan is turning grim. As the number of cases continue to surge, the state recorded 10,514  new positive cases on Sunday including 42 deaths. Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Kota have emerged as the major hotspots of Corona infection. The total number of Corona deaths in the state has now risen to 3151 while the number of active cases has gone beyond 67000. 

  • COVID-19 cases spike in Rajasthan but vaccine doses shrink

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR: As the number of coronavirus cases continues to surge, Rajasthan recorded a new daily high of 4,401 cases and 18 deaths on Saturday. The capital city is the worst hit and saw 767 new cases on Friday, the highest number of coronavirus cases that Jaipur has ever seen in a day since the start of the pandemic last year.

    Amid the sharply rising cases of COVID-19 in the state, the Rajasthan government has imposed night curfew from Saturday till April 30 in 10 cities – Ajmer, Alwar, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur and Abu Road. The night curfew in Ajmer, Alwar, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota and Abu Road will stay from 8 pm to 6 am but in Udaipur, the curfew will start from 6 pm and last till 6 am.

    Earlier, night curfew was imposed between 10 pm and 6 am till 19 April. The decision to increase the span of curfew and extend the period till April 30 was taken in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to review the Covid-19 situation in the state. CM Gehlot has also directed officials to create ‘micro-containment zones’ in affected cities and ensure “zero-mobility” in those zones to prevent the rapid spread of coronavirus.

    With 18 deaths reported on Saturday, the total number of pandemic deaths in the state has now risen to 2,916. As a result, the recovery rate has fallen from 96.35% on March 31 to 92.38%.

    While the number of active cases has gone beyond 27,000, Rajasthan government has also  flagged vaccine shortage in the state and asked for an ‘immediate’ supply of doses. Stating that the vaccines will run out of stock in the state in two days, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday requesting for 30 lakh doses.

    Vaccine centres in several districts have been forced to close down. The situation in Jaipur was confirmed by CMHO Narottam Sharma who said, “ we have a severe shortage of doses. As a result, 262 of 380 centres in Jaipur have now been closed down. We only have 10,000 doses left though we need about 60,000 doses per day.” 

    Talking to TNIE, Raghuraj Singh, the Project Director for Immunisation in the State Health Department, remarked, “we are just left with 5 lakh vaccine doses now and the Centre has told us to send only around 4 lakh vaccine doses by evening on Sunday. It is very difficult to cope up since the daily vaccination has gone up to around 6 lakhs a day. Ideally, we should have a buffer for seven days and we don’t know when we will get the next supply”

    Besides vaccine shortage, demand for Remdesivir that is used to treat Covid patients has shot up. Though the state had given 10,000 Remdesivir injections to Punjab three weeks ago, now the Health Department is left with only 20,000 doses and has sent special requests to medical suppliers to provide Remdesivir doses on priority.

    In addition, CM Gehlot countered the Centre’s claim of no shortage of Covid-19 vaccine in the country and even issued a statement to demand that the Centre should clarify the status of vaccine doses in public. “No politics is being done in the work of vaccination but it is clear from the facts that there is a shortage of vaccines in many states. The central government should clarify the status of vaccine doses in public,” Gehlot stated.

    CM Gehlot further stated that PM Modi has called for celebrating ‘Teeka Utsav’ from Jyotiba Phule Jayanti on April 11 to Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14 but the vaccine is not available in many states. Gehlot said that Union ministers Amit Shah and Ravi Shankar Prasad have made factually false claims by saying there is no shortage of vaccines.

     

  • Will take strict measures to tackle coronavirus: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said strict measures will be taken to tackle the surge in coronavirus cases and detailed guidelines will be released soon.

    Gehlot said this after a virtual review meeting here.

    He said it is a priority for his government to stop the infection spread and save lives of people.

    “After the review meeting on coronavirus, it has been decided to take strict decisions for the next 15 days. Detailed guidelines and standard operating procedure will be released in this regard soon,” Gehlot said in a tweet.

  • Schools, colleges to reopen in Rajasthan from January 18

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Schools, colleges and other educational institutions will reopen in Rajasthan from January 18, after remaining closed for nearly nine months due to the COVID-19 lockdown, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday.

    The decision to reopen schools for the students of classes 9th to 12th, those in the final year in colleges, coaching institutes and government training institutes was taken by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during a review meeting.

    Medical College, Dental College, Nursing College and Paramedical College have been directed to reopen from January 11, taking into consideration COVID-19 vaccination.

    The chief minister said social distancing and other health protocols, including using face masks, should be taken care of in all institutions.

    Gehlot was reviewing the COVID-19 situation in the state through video conference.

    He said the cases of new strain of COVID-19 in the country and the state are of concern.

    “Any kind of negligence towards it can create a big crisis. In view of this, special attention should be kept on travellers coming to the state from other countries, including those affected by this virus,” the chief minister said.

    He said that due to the new virus strain, a terrible situation has risen in England and lockdown had to be imposed again.

    “Taking lessons from the UK, precaution should be taken in Rajasthan,” Gehlot said.

    The chief minister said the condition of coronavirus in Rajasthan is “very much under control with the best management and cooperation of the people”.

    The COVID-19 recovery rate has risen to an all-time high of 96.31 per cent, he said.

    Gehlot directed the officials to ensure that preparations for vaccination in the state is completed in a mission mode.

    “The entire database of health workers should be uploaded as soon as possible for vaccination,” the chief minister said.

    He said only authentic and substantive information about the vaccine should be circulated in the media.

    “Unverified information can cause unnecessary misconceptions among people,” he said.