The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday approved a home-based rapid antigen testing (RAT) kit for COVID-19, which it advised should be used only on symptomatic individuals and on immediate contacts of laboratory confirmed positive cases.
The country's apex health research body said that the home-based rapid antigen testing kit manufactured by Mylab Discovery Solutions Ltd, Pune, has been validated and approved.
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Vaccines stop variants but overseas travel still not safe: WHO
Progress against the coronavirus pandemic remains "fragile" and international travel should be avoided, a World Health Organization director warned Thursday, while stressing that authorised vaccines work against variants of concern.
"Right now, in the face of a continued threat and new uncertainty, we need to continue to exercise caution, and rethink or avoid international travel," WHO's European director Hans Kluge said, before adding that "pockets of increasing transmission" on the continent could quickly spread.
The so-called Indian variant, which might be more transmissible, has now been identified in at least 26 of the 53 countries in the WHO Europe region, Kluge said during his weekly press conference.
But he added that vaccines authorised by the WHO are effective against the new strain.
"All Covid-19 virus variants that have emerged so far do respond to the available, approved vaccines," Kluge said. - AFP
Two AstraZeneca COVID shots 85-90% effective: U.K. real-world analysis
Two doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is around 85% to 90% effective against symptomatic disease, Public Health England (PHE) said on Thursday, citing an analysis of real-world data from the rollout of the shot.
Britain has suffered one of the worst death tolls globally from the pandemic, but has also had one of the fastest rollouts of COVID-19 vaccines, generating a lot of data about the use of the shots in real world settings.
In a weekly surveillance report, Public Health England said that the estimated effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine, invented at the University of Oxford, was 89% compared to unvaccinated people.
That compares to 90% estimated effectiveness against symptomatic disease for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
"This new data highlights the incredible impact that both doses of the vaccine can have, with a second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine providing up to 90% protection," vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said.
PHE said there was a "small reduction in vaccine effectiveness" from 10 weeks after the first dose. Britain extended the gap between doses to 12 weeks, though Pfizer warned there was a lack of evidence of its efficacy outside the three-week gap used in trials.
Last week, Britain cut the gap between doses down to 8 weeks for the over 50s, aiming to give maximum protection to more vulnerable people in light of concern about the B.1.617.2 variant first found in India.
Britain has been rolling out the shots manufactured by Pfizer and AstraZeneca since December and January respectively, and in April also started rolling out Moderna's vaccine. - Reuters
Blood donation after COVID recovery
Individual can donate blood after 14 days of either receipt of Covid-19 vaccine or testing RT-PCR negative, says Union Health Ministry spokesperson Lav Agarwal.
Covid 19 vaccination is recommended for all lactating women, there is no requirement of screening of vaccine recipients by RAT prior to vaccination.
Based on scientific evidence, NEGVAC has recommended vaccination for individuals having lab test proven COVID illness be deferred by three months after recovery, the same for patients given monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma (three months after date of discharge from hospital), vaccination for those who were vaccinated with 1st dose but contracted Covid before completion of the dose schedule will also be deferred by three months from clinical recovery. Persons with other serious general illness requiring hospitalisation or ICU care should also wait for four to eight weeks before vaccination, the recommendations have been accepted by the Home Ministry - Devesh K. Pandey
Active cases declining: Union Health Ministry
Health Ministry spokesperson Lav Agarwal, during a media briefing said there has been a decline in active cases in the past 15 days. On May 3, the active cases were 17.13%, now 12.1%. The recovered cases have increased from about 80% to 86.7%.
Eight States have more than one lakh active cases, nine have 50,000 to 1 lakh and 19 States have below 50,000 active cases.
Karnataka has the maximum of 5,58,911 active cases, followed by Maharashtra with 404229, Kerala with 332226, Tamil Nadu with 253576, Andhra Pradesh 209736, Rajasthan with 153126, West Bengal with 131491 and UP with 123579.
Decline in active cases in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Rajasthan UP and Gujarat noticed. However, in Tamil Nadu, still there is an increased growth rate on day-on-day basis.
22 States/UTs have more than 15% positivity, including Lakshadweep, Goa, Puducherry, West Bengal, Karnataka, Sikkim, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Manipur, Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Haryana, J&K, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
13 States have 5 to 15% positivity, while one has below 5%. In April 28-May 4, 531 districts were reporting more than 100 daily cases, they are now reduced to 430 districts in May 12-18. There has been a progressive increase in districts reporting decline in case positivity, from 210 in April 29-5, to 214 in May 6-12 and 303 in My 12-19.
States with decline in cases and decline in positivity in last three weeks: Maharashtra, Rajasthan, UP, Haryana, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Jharkhand.
States with rise in cases and rise in positivity in the past three weeks; Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Mizoram.
State wise districts showing decline in cases in the past two weeks: A&N Islands (1), Andhra Pradesh (1), Arunachal Pradesh (1), Bihar (21), Chhattisgarh (13), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1), Delhi (8), Gujarat (10), Haryana (5), Himachal Pradesh (1), Jharkhand (10), Kerala (6), Lakshadweep (1), MP (36), Maharashtra (24), Mizoram (1), Puducherry (1), Rajasthan (13), UP 43), West Bengal (3).
Districts showing continued decrease in cases and positivity since last three weeks: Pune, Thrissur, Kottayam, Gurugram, Thane, Satara, Nagpur, Indore.
Districts showing continued increase in cases and positivity since last three weeks: Malappuram, East Godavari, Coimbatore, Kollam, Anantapur, Chengalpattu, Belagavi, Tiruchirappalli.
- Devesh K. Pandey
Govt urges States to make black fungus notifiable disease
The Union Health Ministry has urged states and union territories to make black fungus or mucormycosis a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, stating that the infection is leading to prolonged morbidity and mortality amongst COVID-19 patients.
The ministry, in a letter, said that in the recent times a new challenge in the form of a fungal infection namely mucormycosis has emerged and is reported from many states amongst COVID-19 patients, especially those on steroid therapy and deranged sugar control. "This fungal infection is leading to prolonged morbidity and mortality amongst COVID 19 patients," Joint Secretary in the health ministry Lav Agarwal said in the letter.
Challenge will remain as long infection remains: Modi to DMs
At a virtual interaction with District Magistrates and field officials, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the challenge will remain as long infection remains even at minor levels. He noted that the cases have been coming down in several districts.
You made good use of existing resources to fight this biggest disaster (COVID) in 100 years, he told the officials.
Coronavirus is invisible, keeps changing variants;our approach should be dynamic and upgraded continuously, he said.
Noting that the mutant versions of coronavirus could affect the younger generation, Mr. Modi asked the DMs to collect data on COVID infection and its seriousness among youth, kids in their districts. - PTI
Priyanka asks U.P. CM to regulate treatment cost
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday wrote a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, offering suggestions to provide relief to the people who are fighting the second wave of COVID-19 .
Ms. Vadra, who is the Congress in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, has demanded that the State government regulate the cost of COVID-19 treatment at private hospitals.
“Apart from government sector health services, hospitals from the private sector have played an important role and set a fine example of honestly serving the people. However, there are also several complaints of fleecing,” she wrote, adding that “people have been forced to take loans to pay hospital bills”.
3rd wave possible if vaccination not ramped up: scientist
If the vaccination drive against coronavirus is not ramped up and COVID-19 appropriate-behaviour is not maintained, there is a possibility of a third wave of the pandemic in 6-8 months, said M. Vidyasagar, a scientist involved in the Sutra Model which uses mathematics to project the trajectory of COVID-19.
He, however, stressed the Sutra Model has not predicted any third wave and it is working on it.
The Indian Institutes of Technology-Hyderabad professor cited a paper by Italian researchers on infected people with decreasing antibodies, which give some sort of immunity, in six months.
"If the antibodies are lost, then there is a chance of immunity going down. In this case, vaccination has to be ramped up and COVID-19 appropriate-behaviour must be practiced. If not then there is a possibility of a third wave in 6-8 months," Dr. Vidyasagar said.
"We are also adding the aspects of immunity and vaccination in our model for our future forecasts," he added. According to a study by the San Raffaele hospital in Milan, antibodies against coronavirus remained in the blood of patients with COVID-19 for at least eight months after they were infected. — PTI
A year after NZ's first lockdown, discrimination and racism are on the rise
More than two in five New Zealanders (41%) say incidents of racism have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a national survey carried out in February and March this year.
The experience of racism is skewed towards Maori, Pasifika and people of Asian descent, about half of whom say racism has been on the rise, compared with about a third of European New Zealanders.
Of the 1,083 survey participants, more than half (52%) say racism has remained the same and 7% say it has decreased.
Discrimination and racism The pandemic has led to a global increase in anti-Asian hate. At the same time, ethnic minorities are also disproportionately affected by severe disease and deaths due to COVID-19. Death rates among minority ethnic groups were two or more times greater than for the white population in the United Kingdom. In New Zealand, Maori and Pasifika were about two times more likely to die of COVID-19.
About two in five respondents said they have witnessed other people discriminate against individuals because of how they looked or spoke English. About a quarter reported experiencing discrimination due to their ethnic origin in a variety of contexts, including at government departments, workplaces, when dealing with the commercial sector and when accessing health care.
Maori and Pasifika reported experiencing discrimination most often when dealing with government departments. People of Asian descent reported experiencing discrimination most often when applying for work, in their workplace, and when shopping or visiting restaurants.
The survey results align with the New Zealand Human Rights Commission’s recent survey. Four in ten (39%) of the 1,904 respondents have experienced discrimination since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. — PTI
U.P. govt should actively help people in rural areas: Mayawati
Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati on Thursday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to extend all possible help to the people in rural areas battling coronavirus rather than making mere announcements.
She also expressed concern over the rising COVID-19 death toll in the country and called for making honest efforts to check it.
In a tweet in Hindi, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, “In rural areas of UP, coronavirus is rapidly infecting people and killing them. People are forced to somehow cremate the dead. For extending every kind of help to such desolate poor and destitute families, the government should immediately move beyond mere proclamations and become active.” She said according to government claims, cases of coronavirus infection are decreasing in the country, which is a matter of some relief, but the number of deaths from coronavirus is increasing.
"Whatever the reason may be, this is a very sad situation for which honest efforts are most important at all levels,"' Ms. Mayawati added. — PTI
India records 2,76,110 COVID-19 cases; daily deaths below 4,000
With 2,76,110 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 2,57,72,440 while the daily deaths were recorded below 4,000 after four days, taking the toll to 2,87,122, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
A total of 3,874 fatalities due to COVID-19 were registered in a span of 24 hours.
The active cases have further reduced to 31,29,878, comprising 12.14 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 86.74 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,23,55,440, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.11 per cent, the data stated. - PTI
Experts now warn against long COVID which shows up after 6-12 months after first infection
“COVID-19 is a recent disease and at times it displays symptoms which no other viral infection does. While we are developing understanding about the short and long-term impact on the body we now know that one may develop new symptoms six months to one year after recovering from COVID. The term given to this is long COVID,” said N.K. Arora, head, Operations Research Group which is part of the National Task force set up by Indian Council of Medical Research in response to COVID-19, speaking exclusively to The Hindu .
ICMR approves kit for rapid COVID-19 home-testing kit
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday approved a home-based rapid antigen testing (RAT) kit for COVID-19, which it advised should be used only on symptomatic individuals and on immediate contacts of laboratory confirmed positive cases.The country's apex health research body said that the home-based rapid antigen testing kit manufactured by Mylab Discovery Solutions Ltd, Pune, has been validated and approved.
Only nasal swab will be required for this rapid antigen testing, it said, adding the process should be conducted as per the procedure described by the manufacturer in the user manual.In an advisory, the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) cautioned people against indiscriminate home testing using Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs), saying it should be used only on symptomatic individuals and on the immediate contacts of laboratory confirmed positive cases.
Domestic workers stare at uncertain future as jobs dry up during COVID-19 pandemic
Suraj is often seeing cycling his way through the bylanes of a residential layout in East Bengaluru, stopping when he finds a resident near his or her car. “Do you need someone to wash the car?”, he asks, in the hope of getting some work. The Nepali national says his wife, who used to work as a domestic help, has lost work during the pandemic, and he too has lost a big chunk of employers.
It is a similar story across many households of domestic workers and related professions — cooks, car washers and the like. If the first wave of COVID-19 and the sudden lockdown was a rude shock for most of the unorganised sector, the second wave has lent another blow.
Foreign medicos to join fight against virus in Tamil Nadu
In a significant order, Tamil Nadu has lifted the restriction on the intake of students for internship at government medical colleges as a one-time measure to handle COVID-19.
“We have decided to rope in the foreign medical graduates [under the Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship or CRRI] as part of the measures to strengthen the health workforce to manage the situation,” Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma. Subramanian told The Hindu .
COVID-19 cases rising in smaller States: Harsh Vardhan
Smaller States are showing an upward trend in new COVID-19 cases and there is a need to be cautious about this, said Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday.
He was interacting with Health Ministers and Principal Secretaries/ Additional Chief Secretaries of West Bengal and the eight States of the North-eastern Region.
The Minister asked these States to focus on increasing testing in a timely manner and upgrade the health infrastructure. He reiterated the need to focus on peri-urban and rural areas significantly, noted a release issued by the Health Ministry on Wednesday. He said the government aimed to provide COVID-19 vaccines to all adults by end of the year.
( With inputs from our Correspondents and agencies)
