SRINAGAR: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Sunday said one-day shutdowns to contain the spread of coronavirus is a “meaningless tokenism” which can lead to complacency, and called for allowing more people to take vaccine against Covid-19. The Madhya Pradesh government had on March 19 announced Sunday lockdowns in Bhopal, Indore and Jabalpur till further orders in view of the spurt in coronavirus cases. “With a rampaging virus that has a 2-14 day incubation period this one-day lockdown is meaningless tokenism. All it will do is create a misplaced sense of complacency,” Abdullah tweeted. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said vaccines were the answer to the spread of Covid-19 and called for opening up the vaccines to more people. “Vaccines are the answer not one day lockdowns. Open up vaccines to more people,” he added. His statement came as India recorded 43,846 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the highest single-day rise so far this year. India is currently vaccinating people above 60 and those aged between 45-59 years with 20 identified comorbidities.
NEW DELHI: India saw 40,953 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, the highest single-day rise recorded in 111 days, taking the nationwide Covid-19 tally to 1,15,55,284, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday. Registering an increase for the tenth day in a row, the total active caseload has reached 2,88,394, which now comprises 2.49 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 96.12 per cent, the data stated. The daily rise in infections (40,953) was the highest recorded in 111 days, while the death toll increased to 1,59,558 with 188 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. On November 29, 41,810 new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,11,07,332, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.38 per cent, the data stated. India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. According to ICMR, 23,24,31,517 samples have been tested up to March 19 with 10,60,971 samples being tested on Friday.
Superspreader events like weddings might have led to the recent resurgence of Covid-19 cases in India, a preliminary assessment by the Union government suggests adding that people were found becoming less careful in the recent months when the daily cases were low.
“That (role of superspreader events) is what it looks like, as people have become lax in their behaviour. We must understand that there is still a large section of population that is vulnerable, especially in villages. We cannot afford to lower our guard at this stage, and should avoid mass gatherings as it can become superspreading events,” Dr VK Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog reportedly said, according to Hindustan Times.
India on Friday recorded around 40,000 new coronavirus infections, the highest single day rise recorded so far this year, taking the nationwide COVID-19 tally of cases to 1,15,14,331, according to Union Health Ministry data.
The daily rise in infections (39,726) was the highest recorded in 110 days, while the death toll increased to 1,59,370 with 154 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Dr Paul said that testing, especially RT-PCR testing needs to be increased in districts reporting high positivity rate.
Some experts also said that the country is in midst of second Covid wave and it could witness even more cases in the coming weeks.
“We are in the midst of second wave of Covid. 1,00,000 new cases could be added in the next 6-8 weeks if specific steps aren’t taken,” Dr NK Arora, Head, Operations Research group of National Covid-19 Task Force told CNBC TV18.
Punjab authorities said that they had found at least 30 super-spreader instances, where more than 10 cases were recorded from a single event.
“In around 75-80 percent of the cases, patients were found asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. Contact tracing, after one person from the event was found, led to detection in these functions,” a nodal officer reportedly said.
Doctors in Delhi also blame weddings, social outings and get-togethers for the current surge in cases.
“I have personally seen several cases where groups of people got the infection at a wedding. There are cases where five to six people in one group who travel for a destination wedding get it. Then, there are kitty parties where four to five people have contracted the infection. We need to change our behaviour, there is no other way to control the spread of the infection,” Surajit Chaterjee, senior consultant at Apollo hospital said.
Recently, a large gathering of people in a funeral turned into a superspreading even in Telangana where 33 people got infected after attending a funeral on February 18.
Maharashtra and Punjab, which are recording a surge in new COVID-19 cases, tightened curbs on Friday and the chief minister of the western state said lockdown is an option, as India added close to 40,000 cases in the biggest daily increase in nearly four months. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, meanwhile, told Parliament that the COVID-19 vaccination drive will be extended in the coming days, and asserted there should not be any misconceptions about the two Indian vaccines being administered inthe country. He also said it is not necessary, scientifically, to administer the vaccine to each and every person in the country.
The Maharashtra government issued a notification asking drama halls/auditoriums to operate only at 50 per cent of their capacity till March 31, and warned they will have to remain closed for a period until the pandemic stays notified as a disaster by the Centre if there is any violation. Private offices, except those related to health and other essential services, have been asked to function only at 50 per cent of their capacity, it said.
A day after Maharashtra witnessed the highest one-day spike of 25,833 COVID-19 cases, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said lockdown is an option but he trusts people to follow the norms on their own. On Friday, the state recorded 25,681 cases, a health official said, adding Mumbai reported the highest spike of 3,062 new infections. Talking to reporters in Nandurbar, Thackeray also appealed to people to get vaccinated against the virus without fear.
The chief minister acknowledged that the COVID-19 situation has become grimmer as the number of new cases on Thursday crossed the earlier highest rise which was recorded in September. “I see lockdown as an option going ahead. But I trust people of the state to cooperate (and follow the COVID-19 norms voluntarily) like the last time.” After a review meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ordered a slew of restrictions beginning Saturday which included closing of all educational institutions till the month-end and curbs on cinema and mall capacities.
States likeMaharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Chhattisgarhare reporting a surge in the daily COVID-19 cases, accounting for over 80 per cent of the new infections, the Union Health Ministry said. Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 25,833 which is 65 per cent of daily cases. It is followed by Punjab with 2,369 while Kerala reported 1,899 new cases, the ministry said in its morning update. The new cases in Punjab rose by 2,490 on Friday, according to a state medical bulletin.
According to the ministry data updated on Friday. India reported 39,726 new coronavirus infections in a day, the highest single-day rise recorded so far this year, taking the nationwide COVID-19 tally to 1,15,14,331. The daily rise was the highest recorded in 110 days, while the death toll increased to 1,59,370 with 154 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. As many as 41,810 new infections were registered during a 24-hour period on November 29 last.
Registering an increase for the ninth day in a row, the total active caseload has reached 2,71,282, which now comprises 2.36 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 96.26 per cent, the data stated. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,10,83,679, while the case fatality rate has further to 1.38 per cent, it said.
Eight states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryanaare showing an upward trajectory in daily new cases. The notification issued by the Maharashtra government said that in case of government and semi-government offices, the head of the office will take a decision regarding the staff attendance and ensure adherence to COVID-19 protocols.
As per the notification, drama halls and auditoriums will not be used for religious, political, cultural and social gatherings. On March 15, the state government had notified that cinema halls, hotels, restaurants and offices, except those related to health and essential services, will function at 50 per cent of their capacity.
But the Friday’s order has included drama halls and auditoriums as well. The order, however, allowed the manufacturing sector to function at full capacity, but advised that the workforce be reduced to ensure adequate social distancing on the production floor.
For the purpose of maintaining social distancing, manufacturing units may be allowed to increase working shifts as approved by local authorities. to check COVID surge. In the 11 worst-hit districts in Punjab, a complete ban has been ordered on all social gatherings, except for funerals and weddings, which will be allowed with only 20 persons in attendance. This will be enforced from Sunday.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh appealed to people to keep social activity at their homes to the bare minimum for the next two weeks to break the transmission chain, according to an official statement released in Chandigarh. Not more than 10 visitors should be entertained in homes, he urged chairing a meeting of the COVID task force.
“All educational institutions, other than medical and nursing colleges, will remain closed till March 31,” the official statement said. The chief minister also ordered compulsory wearing of face mask, directing police and the health authorities to take all those found in public areas without it to the nearest testing facility to ensure they are not asymptomatic cases.
The situation will be reviewed after two weeks, he said. Dr K K Talwar, who heads the state government’s expert team on coronavirus, told the chief minister that the surge in cases appeared to be the result of the opening of schools and colleges, with young asymptomatic people appearing to be spreading the virus.
During the Question Hour in Lok Sabha, Vardhan said India has vaccinated 3.5 to 4 crore people so far and side effects of the vaccines have been recorded at 0.000432 per cent. “Every vaccine doesn’t require universal immunisation and all these priority groups whom we are vaccinating today like healthcare staff first and then senior citizens and people aged between 45 and 59 years, it will be extended in the coming days all these are based on experts’ opinion.
“Not only Indian experts, but we have also consulted WHO guidelines regarding priority groups.” Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin have been currently approved for restricted emergency use in India. Replying to a question by NCP MP Supriya Sule on whether the government is aiming at universal immunisation of COVID-19 vaccine, Vardhan said it is not scientifically necessary to administer the vaccine to each and every person in the country.
“Not each and every person in the world will be vaccinated. The prioritisation process is a dynamic process. “The behaviour of the virus is also dynamic. All things are based on scientific facts, scrutiny and vision of the overall scientific and health community,” he said.
With the COVID-19 numbers gradually rising in Bihar amid apprehensions over a second wave of the pandemic, the State Health Department has cancelled the leave of all doctors and health workers till April 5 with immediate effect.
The order cancels leave of all Medical Officers, Principals, Superintendents, doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, and other technicians and assistants.
Health workers on leave have also been asked to report to duty as soon as possible. However, those on maternity and study leave have been excluded from the purview of the order. “The leave of doctors and health workers has been cancelled to maintain special vigil and surveillance to contain the spread of second wave of the pandemic,” said the order issued by Anil Kumar, Joint Secretary, State Health Department.
On March 17, following an interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the COVID-19 situation across the country, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had said that the “situation in the State is under control but we should be careful”.
“Bihar government is alert and has decided to increase the number of daily COVID-19 tests. We will soon hold a meeting at the district-level, too, on the situation of COVID-19, and it has been decided to take the number of daily tests to 70,000 again,” said Mr. Kumar. He also added that “since Holi (festival) is round the corner, people will be visiting the State from different places. We have to be careful”.
Earlier, the State government had made it mandatory for those travelling to Bihar from Kerala, Punjab and Maharashtra to show their RT-PCR test report. “Passengers without report will be required to undergo a rapid antigen test upon arrival and anyone testing positive for the disease will be sent to isolation centres,” said the government’s order.
On Thursday, 107 new cases of COVID-19 had been reported in the State. Bihar, so far, has reported 2,63,265 COVID-19 cases with 1,555 deaths and a recovery rate of 99.26%
IRDAI has asked insurers to make special arrangements to facilitate eligible category among their policyholders to get vaccinated as a group or individually.
Nudging insurance companies to join the COVID-19 vaccination drive and create awareness among policyholders, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) on Friday directed them to make special arrangements to facilitate inoculation of the eligible people at government or private hospitals.
IRDAI had sent instructions to the insurers on March 3. However, it communicated to them again on Friday (March 19 ) through a press release on its website.
The government’s national programme for vaccination against COVID-19 for 60 years old and above and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities started on March 1, 2021.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued guidelines for vaccination of eligible citizens.
All the insurers are requested to join this national effort, IRDAI said in a communication to all the insurance companies.
IRDAI had issued instructions to insurers to facilitate vaccination programme for their policyholders through a communication on March 3, 2021.
In the letter, IRDAI asked them to make special arrangements to facilitate eligible category among their policyholders to get vaccinated as a group or individually either at a government facility of private facilities as per the option of the policyholders.
“First, insurers may create awareness about vaccination among the policyholders through effective communication via SMS or email. Secondly, they may assist the policyholder as a group to get vaccinated in an orderly manner by assisting them and making advance arrangement through pre booking slots,” the letter said.
Thirdly, the policyholders may be reminded for the second shot of vaccine in time, it added.
IRDAI has also asked the insurers to give adequate publicity on the process of registration for vaccination programme and special arrangements made if any for policyholders so that maximum number of people can be immunised.
Further, similar arrangements may be made for all the employees of the insurer and also all the agents so that they can be made immune to COVID-19 infection, IRDAI said.
The regulator has asked the insurance companies to inform it at the earliest about the action taken in this matter.
Those visiting government hospitals for the immunisation are provided the vaccine free of cost. While the designated private hospitals charge it at a rate specified by the government.
The instructions do not apply on AIC and ECGC — the two specialised government owned insurance firms that cater to crop insurance and export credit insurance, respectively.
NEW DELHI: Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said that lockdown could be an option to control the spread of coronavirus as the state continues to witness a worrying surge in cases. Thackeray’s statement comes a day after Maharashtra registered its highest-ever single-day spike of 25,833 Covid-19 cases on Thursday. Speaking about the alarming rise in cases, Thackeray said that the Covid-19 situation in the state has become grimmer as the number of new cases on Thursday breached the previous high which was recorded in September last year. “I see lockdown as an option going ahead. But I trust people of the state to cooperate (and follow the Covid-19 norms voluntarily) like the last time,” he said. However, the chief minister said that unlike the previous wave, now we have vaccines to fight the virus. “When the pandemic began last year, there was nothing to fight the virus with. But now at least we have vaccines as a shield,” he said. Thackeray said the priority now is to ensure that everyone is vaccinated and urged people to come forward to get inoculated without fear. “There have been a few instances where a person caught infection after vaccination, but such cases are not life- threatening,” the chief minister said. Fresh curbs in Maharashtra Meanwhile, the state government has also announced fresh restrictions to curb the rise in infections. According to the new guidelines, all drama theatres and auditoriums in the state will operate on 50% capacity till March 31 and no entry will be allowed without proper wearing of masks. Theatres and auditoriums will not be used for cultural and political events, the order said. All private offices have been asked to function at 50% capacity. If found violating the norms, the premises will be shut down till the time Covid-19 stays notified as a disaster by the Centre, it said. Earlier, the government had ordered cinema halls, hotels and restaurants to operate at 50 per cent capacity till March 31.
New coronavirus infections in the Philippines hit a record high on Friday, health officials said, as pandemic restrictions were tightened in the capital to combat the resurgence in cases. Museums, game arcades and driving schools have been ordered to shut, while church and restaurant capacity has been reduced to 30 percent as authorities struggle to contain the fast-spreading virus.
The temporary measures come as the number of daily new infections in the country hit 7,103 — the highest since the start of the crisis — taking its caseload to more than 648,000, with most of the active cases in the capital.
Experts have warned the figure could reach 11,000 a day by the end of the month, while the Covid-19 task force has called for available vaccines to be deployed to virus hot spots.
On Friday, the Philippines’ drug regulator approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use — the fourth jab to get the green light. Moscow registered the vaccine in August before large-scale clinical trials, but leading medical journal The Lancet has since said it is safe and over 90 percent effective.
The Philippines has received more than a million doses of vaccines developed by China’s Sinovac and British-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca this month. The government hopes to acquire enough vaccines to inoculate 70 million people by the end of this year.
Targeted lockdowns, strict night-time curfews, a stay-at-home order for all children and a ban on foreigners entering the country have been introduced in the past fortnight.
There are growing fears that the entire capital, where 12 million people were forced into a crippling monthslong lockdown a year ago, could be shut down again as hospital beds fill up.
“It’s alarming because there are areas in Metro Manila — Manila, Quezon City, Taguig and Makati — which are already in the high-risk category of more than 70 percent (hospital bed occupancy). Some are at 83 percent,” Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega told reporters.
He said of the roughly 7,000 hospital beds allocated for Covid-19 patients in the capital, 54 percent were now occupied. The resurgence of the virus has been blamed on poor compliance with health protocols and more contagious strains.
Coronavirus cases in Germany are rising at a “very clearly exponential rate”, a top public health institute said Friday, as the EU’s biggest country debated tightening a shutdown. The vice president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases, Lars Schaade, told reporters that highly contagious virus variants were getting the upper hand, wiping out progress seen last month in containing the pandemic.
“It is very possible that we will have a similar situation over Easter to the one we had before Christmas, with very high case numbers, many severe cases and deaths, and hospitals that are overwhelmed”. The RKI on Friday reported 17,482 new infections in the previous 24 hours and 226 deaths in Germany, with the seven-day incidence rate soaring to 96 per 100,000 people despite a months-long shutdown of large swathes of public life.
German leaders agreed earlier this month to impose new restrictions in regions where the seven-day incidence rate surpassed 100. The country’s second city of Hamburg said it would pull the “emergency brake” from Saturday after exceeding the 100-mark three days in a row. Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin, also crossed the benchmark on Friday.
“We are in the third wave of the pandemic, the numbers are rising, the percentage of virus mutations is high,” Health Minister Jens Spahn told the news conference. Spahn, who this week faced growing calls to resign amid frustration with the government’s pandemic management, called on Germans to refrain from spring break travel to help curb infections.
The grim news came as Germany resumed administering AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 jabs after the European regulator EMA assessed it was “safe and effective” to use.
‘Short, sharp’ restrictions
Amid a widely criticised sluggish vaccination campaign, Germany decided on Monday, along with most EU governments, to suspend use of the vaccine for the EMA to examine a handful of cases of cerebral vein thrombosis that emerged. Doctors will now have to inform patients about the possible blood clotting risk before giving them the jabs.
Critics had complained that the decision to halt use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine over the last days only served to fuel mistrust over the jabs and further delay Germany’s inoculation programme. By Thursday, only 3.8 percent of the German population was reported fully immunised.
Spahn said the resumption of the AstraZeneca vaccinations combined with expected new arrivals of jabs from other manufacturers in April should speed up the German campaign.
But he admitted that “an honest analysis of the situation shows that there aren’t enough vaccines in Europe to stop the third wave with vaccination alone”. He said it would take several weeks before even those in the highest risk groups were fully inoculated and warned that the country should brace for an extension of current restrictions.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with the country’s 16 state leaders on Monday to set new shutdown rules based on the latest pandemic developments.
Karl Lauterbach, a public health expert from the Social Democrats, junior partners in the government, said there was for now no alternative to keeping restaurants, most shops and entertainment venues closed. “You can look at it any way you want, we have to go back to lockdown,” he said, calling for “short, sharp” restrictions. “The sooner we react, the shorter the lockdown will need to be.”
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, and Stelis Biopharma, the biopharmaceutical division of Bengaluru-based Strides Pharma, have entered into a partnership to produce and supply a minimum of 200 million doses (enough to vaccinate 100 million people) of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus.
The agreement between RDIF and Stelis Biopharma was reached under the aegis of Enso Healthcare LLP (part of Enso Group), RDIF’s coordination partner for sourcing Sputnik V vaccine in India, as per a joint statement.
According to the statement, the parties intend to commence supplies of the vaccine from the third quarter of calendar 2021. Stelis will also continue to work with the RDIF to provide additional supply volumes beyond the initial agreement.
Arun Kumar, Founder of Strides Group said, “We are delighted to partner with RDIF to make a substantial contribution towards providing global supply of the Sputnik V vaccine which is one of the most efficacious approved vaccines commercially available.”
“The Russian vaccine with the efficacy of 91.6% is one of the best vaccines against coronavirus in the world. The significant vaccine volumes which will be produced jointly with Stelis will help to widen access to the vaccine on a global scale,” said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
Sputnik V, the world’s first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection, is now approved for use in over 50 countries. Sputnik V is a two-dose vaccine that uses two different human adenoviral vectors in the course of vaccination.
