VA-SenaSeptember 18, 2020
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4min4938

 

Geneva, Switzerland

Geneva, Switzerland: Too many doctors and nurses are paying the ultimate price while battling Covid-19, the World Health Organization said Thursday as it launched a charter aiming to boost safety for health workers.

The UN health agency said that the pandemic had exposed health workers and their families to “unprecedented levels of risk”.

While the coronavirus crisis has taken a heavy toll overall, data from many countries and regions show that healthcare workers have been infected at a far higher rate than the general population.

Health workers represent less than three percent of the population in most countries and less than two percent in low- and middle income countries, but account for around 14 percent of all Covid-19 cases reported to the WHO.

In some countries, the proportion has been as high as 35 percent, the body said.

On Wednesday, the International Council of Nurses said thousands of nurses had likely died in the pandemic, pointing to numbers from just 44 countries showing 1,097 deaths by mid-August.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has reminded all of us of the vital role health workers play to relieve suffering and save lives,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing.

“We all owe health workers an enormous debt, not just because they have cared for the sick, but because they risk their own lives in the line of duty.”

The risks are not only physical. The WHO pointed to “extraordinary levels of psychological stress” on health workers, who have been asked to work long, draining hours battling Covid-19, living in constant fear of being infected.

Many are also living separated from their families, and facing social stigma amid fear they are carrying the virus. – Depression, anxiety –

These strains are increasing the likelihood of depression among medical professionals, who were already more at risk of suicide than the general public in a number of countries prior to the pandemic.

One in four health care workers surveyed for a recent study said they were struggling with depression and anxiety amid the pandemic, while one in three said they had suffered insomnia, the WHO said.

In its charter presented Thursday, the WHO emphasised the legal and moral obligations governments have to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of health workers.

The charter among other things calls on countries to develop programmes that better protect the health and safety of medical workers, and to combine them with patient safety policies.

It also calls for better policies for protecting health workers from violence in the workplace, and for improving access to mental health support.

And it demands that minimum standards for patient safety, infection prevention and control, as well as for occupational safety are implemented across all care facilities.

Access to personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as sufficient training in how to use such equipment safely should also be guaranteed, it said.


VA-SenaSeptember 11, 2020
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4min4757

China’s only nasal spray vaccine against the coronavirus is expected to start phase I clinical trials in November, and it is recruiting 100 volunteers.

COVID-19-Vac

Beijing: China has approved for trials its first nasal spray vaccine to combat the novel coronavirus that has claimed over 904,000 lives and infected more than 27 million people globally, official media reported.

China’s only nasal spray vaccine against the coronavirus is expected to start phase I clinical trials in November, and it is recruiting 100 volunteers.

It is the only vaccine of its type approved by China’s National Medical Products Administration, the state-run Global Times reported.

The vaccine is a collaborative mission between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland that involves researchers from the University of Hong Kong, Xiamen University, and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy.

Microbiologist from the University of Hong Kong, Yuen Kwok-yung, said the vaccine stimulates the natural infection pathway of respiratory viruses to activate the immune response.

The nasal spray vaccination could generate double protection for vaccine recipients – influenza and the novel coronavirus – if it also contains influenza viruses including H1N1, H3N2 and B, Yuen said, adding that it would take at least another year to finish the three clinical trials.

A Beijing-based immunologist told the daily that compared with injections, a nasal spray vaccination is easier to administer and would also be easy to mass-produce and distribute as it adopts the mature influenza vaccine production technology.

The nasal spray vaccine uses live attenuated influenza vaccine; the other four technical routes China is using to develop the coronavirus vaccines are inactivated vaccines, adenoviral vector-based vaccines, and DNA and mRNA vaccines. The inactivated vaccine is estimated to be the earliest to be in the market, the report said.

The immunologist said the new vaccine may not cause systemic side effects, but side effects may occur in the respiratory system such as asthma and shortness of breath.

Ideally, scientists do not expect side effects except for minor nasal obstruction or rhinorrhea, Yuen Kwok-yung said.

It is not yet clear whether immunity generated from nasal spray vaccinations will last longer than for injected vaccines, the report said.

China has approved three COVID-19 vaccine candidates for clinical trials. It has also authorised emergency usage of COVID-19 vaccines developed by some select domestic companies.

“We’ve drawn up a series of plan packages, including medical consent forms, side-effects monitoring plans, rescuing plans, compensation plans, to make sure the emergency use is well regulated and monitored,” Zheng Zhongwei, head of China’s coronavirus vaccine development task force told the official media here last month.

An emergency use authorisation, which is based on Chinese vaccine management law, allows unapproved vaccine candidates to be used among people who are at high risk of getting infected in a limited period.

The Global Times has previously reported that employees of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) preparing to go abroad and the frontline medics have been offered two choices of domestic inactivated vaccine candidates developed by Sinopharm for urgent use.

The novel coronavirus, which originated from China”s Wuhan city in December last year, has claimed 904,485 lives and infected 27,902,002 globally. The US is the worst affected country with 190,887 deaths and 6,363,729 infections, according to the Johns Hopkins University data.

 


VA-SenaSeptember 9, 2020
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2min4955

The top medical research has made these revelations to investigate the effectiveness of plasma therapy for the treatment of COVID-19 after conducting a study in 39 hospitals across India.

COVID-19-2

The Convalescent Plasma (CP) therapy didn’t help in reducing death due to the coronavirus, the India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) revealed in a study.

The top medical research has made these revelations to investigate the effectiveness of plasma therapy for the treatment of COVID-19 after conducting a study in 39 hospitals across India.

For this, the ICMR researchers did an open-label, parallel-arm, phase II, multicentre, and randomized controlled trial from April 22 to July 14 this year. The trial was registered with the Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI) for the purpose, it said.

1,210 patients (moderately ill, confirmed COVID-19 cases) admitted across 39 trial sites were screened. Of these, 29 were teaching public hospitals and 10 were private hospitals spread across 14 states and Union Territories representing 25 cities.

The study was conducted on 464 randomly enrolled participants who were hospitalized and were moderately ill, confirmed COVID-19 patients. 235 participants were put in the intervention arm while 229 subjects were in the control arm.

According to the study, participants were randomised to either the control or the intervention arm. Two doses of 200 ml CP was transfused 24 hours apart in the intervention arm.


VA-SenaSeptember 8, 2020
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2min4138

First Batch Of Russia’s Covid Vaccine Sputnik V Released Into Public

COVID-19

The Russian health ministry registered the first vaccine against COVID-19, named Sputnik V, on August 11.

Moscow: The first batch of Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus, developed by Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has been released into civil circulation, regional deliveries are planned in the nearest future, the Russian Health Ministry informs.

“The first batch of the ‘Gam-COVID-Vac’ (Sputnik V) vaccine for the prevention of the new coronavirus infection, developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Ministry of Health of Russia, has passed the necessary quality tests in the laboratories of Roszdravnadzor (medical device regulator) and has been released into civil circulation,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Russian health ministry registered the first vaccine against COVID-19, named Sputnik V, on August 11.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin expressed hope on Sunday that the majority of the Russian capital’s residents will be vaccinated against the coronavirus within several months

According to the health ministry, the delivery of the first batch of the Russian vaccine to the country’s regions is planned in the nearest future.

 


VA-SenaAugust 27, 2020
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3min2464

भारत में पिछले 24 घंटे में सामने आए सबसे ज़्यादा 75,760 नए COVID-19 मामले, 1,023 की मौत

स्वास्थ्य मंत्रालय द्वारा गुरुवार सुबह जारी किए गए आंकड़ों के अनुसार, देश में कोरोना संक्रमितों की संख्या 33,10,234 हो गई है.

Covid-Newscasesupdated

भारत समेत दुनियाभर के 180 से ज्यादा देशों में कोरोनावायरस का खौफ देखने को मिल रहा है. अभी तक 2.41 करोड़ से ज्यादा लोग इस संक्रमण की चपेट में आ चुके हैं. यह वायरस 8.25 लाख से ज्यादा संक्रमितों की जिंदगी छीन चुका है. भारत (Coronavirus India Report) में भी हर रोज COVID-19 के मामले बढ़ रहे हैं. स्वास्थ्य मंत्रालय द्वारा गुरुवार सुबह जारी किए गए आंकड़ों के अनुसार, देश में कोरोना संक्रमितों की संख्या 33,10,234 हो गई है. पिछले 24 घंटों में (बुधवार सुबह 8 बजे से लेकर गुरुवार सुबह 8 बजे तक) कोरोना के 75,760 नए मामले सामने आए हैं.

इस दौरान देश में 1,023 कोरोना संक्रमितों की मौत भी हुई है. 25,23,771 मरीज ठीक हो चुके हैं और अब तक 60,472 लोगों की जान गई है. रिकवरी रेट की बात करें तो यह मामूली बढ़ोतरी के बाद 76.24 प्रतिशत पर पहुंच गया है. पॉजिटिविटी रेट 8.19 प्रतिशत है. 26 अगस्त को 9,24,998 कोरोना सैंपल टेस्ट किए गए. अभी तक कुल 3,85,76,510 सैंपल टेस्ट किए जा चुके हैं.

पिछले कई महीनों से दुनियाभर में आतंक मचा रहे कोरोनावायरस और उससे फैलने वाली महामारी, यानी COVID-19 के पहले 1,00,000 पुष्ट मामले भारत में 110 दिन में सामने आए थे, लेकिन फिर रफ्तार बढ़ती गई, और अब देश में एक लाख केस सिर्फ एक-दो दिन में जुड़ते जा रहे हैं… भारत को 33 लाख पुष्ट मामलों का आंकड़ा पार करने में कुल 210 दिन लगे हैं…
तिथि कुल मामले समय लगा
19 मई 1,01,139 110 दिन
3 जून 2,07,615 15 दिन
13 जून 3,08,993 10 दिन
21 जून 4,10,461 8 दिन
27 जून 5,08,953 6 दिन
2 जुलाई 6,04,641 5 दिन
7 जुलाई 7,19,665 5 दिन
11 जुलाई 8,20,916 4 दिन
14 जुलाई 9,06,752 3 दिन
17 जुलाई 10,03,832 3 दिन
20 जुलाई 11,18,043 3 दिन
23 जुलाई 12,38,635 3 दिन
25 जुलाई 13,36,861 2 दिन
27 जुलाई 14,35,453 2 दिन
29 जुलाई 15,31,669 2 दिन
31 जुलाई 16,38,870 2 दिन
2 अगस्त 17,50,723 2 दिन
3 अगस्त 18,03,695 1 दिन
5 अगस्त 19,08,254 2 दिन
7 अगस्त 20,27,074 2 दिन
9 अगस्त 21,53,010 2 दिन
10 अगस्त 22,15,074 1 दिन
12 अगस्त 23,29,638 2 दिन
14 अगस्त 24,61,190 2 दिन
15 अगस्त 25,26,192 1 दिन
17 अगस्त 26,47,663 2 दिन
18 अगस्त 27,02,742 1 दिन
20 अगस्त 28,36,925 2 दिन
21 अगस्त 29,05,823 1 दिन
23 अगस्त 30,44,940 2 दिन
24 अगस्त 31,06,348 1 दिन
26 अगस्त 32,34,474 2 दिन
27 अगस्त 33,10,234 1 दिन

बता दें कि कोरोना के पहले एक लाख मामले 110 दिन में सामने आए थे. अगले 100 दिनों में यह 33 लाख हो गए. देश के लगभग सभी राज्यों से कोरोना मरीज सामने आ रहे हैं. कई राज्य ऐसे भी हैं, जो इस महामारी से मुक्त हो चुके थे लेकिन प्रवासियों के राज्य में दाखिल होने से वह फिर से इस संक्रमण की जद में आ गए.

 

 

 


VA-SenaAugust 25, 2020
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4min45010

India coronavirus numbers explained: Drop in number of tests during weekends results in discovery of fewer cases

India Coronavirus Cases Numbers Explained: Since the reports of RT-PCR tests usually take a day or two to arrive, the drop in new cases is most visible on Mondays. This has been a trend that has been going on for quite some time.

TableChart-Vishwasena

India Coronavirus Cases: Thanks to the weekend effect, there was a significant drop in the number of new cases of novel Coronavirus reported on Monday. In fact, it was one of those rare occasions that the new cases were outnumbered by those who were declared to have recovered from the disease.

Weekends usually see a big drop in the number of tests that are being conducted. That results in discovery of fewer number of new infections. Since the reports of RT-PCR tests usually take a day or two to arrive, the drop in new cases is most visible on Mondays. This has been a trend that has been going on for quite some time.

The graph of daily tests in India, therefore, shows a very noticeable periodic sharp dips (see graph). These represent the lower number of testing on the weekends.

Graph-EverydayGraphs-Vishwasena-01

 

On Monday, the number of tests went back to over 9.25 lakh. It is likely to result in a corresponding increase in the number of new cases on Tuesday.

Monday also saw the highest number of recoveries being reported so far, over 66,000. Coupled with the drop in the new cases, it led to a situation when the recoveries exceeded the new infections. This is not the first time it has happened. A similar situation had arisen last week as well, because of the same weekend effect.

The number of recoveries relative to the new cases every day is an important indicator to follow. If the recoveries exceed the new cases being discovered, and this trend continues for at least two weeks, this can possibly signal a stablisation and the beginning of a decline of the epidemic. This is what has been observed in Delhi where, on most days in the last one month, the recoveries have exceeded new detections. It has happened in some other states as well, but the trend has been short-lived. Delhi is the only place where it has held on for a prolonged period

Don’t miss from Explained: Covid-19 vaccine tracker, August 25: China has reportedly started vaccinating its people

A decreasing trend is also being seen in the number of deaths being reported. After a high of 1,092 deaths reported on August, the number has been coming down steadily. On Monday, 848 deaths were reported. The death count in the country has risen to 58,390. Only the United States, Brazil and Mexico have recorded more Coronavirus deaths than India.

 

 


VA-SenaJuly 22, 2020
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4min44200

1 In 4 Infected By Coronavirus In Delhi; Monthly Sero-Surveys In City Now

Corona-Covid19-News

Surveys to check the prevalence of coronavirus among the general population of Delhi will now be held every month, the state’s health minister Satyendar Jain said today, announcing the beginning of the first of this series of surveys from August 1 to 5.  The decision of the Delhi government came as the numbers of infected people dropped way below the last few weeks’ average of 2,000, but a sero-survey indicated that at least one in five persons in Delhi had contracted the disease. The survey also indicated also indicated that a large number of infected persons remained asymptomatic, increasing the chances of the spread.

“The government has decided to conduct sero-survey every month to understand the spread of virus in the national capital,” said Dr  Satyendar Jain.

A sero-survey is where doctors test the blood of a section of the general population to check the presence of anti-bodies to any disease. Antibodies develop only when the person had contracted the disease in the past. It not only indicates how far among the general population the disease has spread, but whether the people are moving towards herd immunity.

The results of the last sero-survey held in Delhi indicated that six months into the pandemic, 23.48 per cent people had contracted coronavirus in the city, which has recorded more than 1.2 lakh cases so far. Both the government and experts cautioned that 77 per cent people are still vulnerable to the disease and all preventive measures still need to continue.

“More than 75 per cent of the people do not have antibodies. So we cannot be laid back in our approach,” Dr Richa Sareen, a consultant at the Pulmonogy and Critical Care Medicine at Fortis Hospital

“All measures of hygiene and social distancing need to continue. Everybody should still wear masks all the time and sanitise themselves. It has been observed in western countries that when cases decrease, people become lax and it leads to a second surge of cases. We have to prevent that kind of a situation in Delhi,” she added.

Dr Jain, however, reminded that the survey gave the status of the city gave a status of the city till 15  June, since anti-bodies take 15 days to develop. This means there is a possibility that more people contracted the virus and recovered by now, he added.

Delhi has a population of nearly 2 crore. Eight out of Delhi’s 11 districts have more than 20 per cent of sero prevalence, Dr Sujeet Kumar Singh of the National Centre for Disease Control Director said yesterday.

The study, which was conducted from June 27 to July 10 by the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) in collaboration with the Delhi government, was one of the biggest, with a total of A total of 21,387 samples being tested. In the coming surveys, the researchers will take a bigger sample size, the health minister said.

On Tuesday evening, records showed Delhi had 1,349 new cases of coronavirus against Monday’s 954. It took the total number of cases in the national capital to 1,25,096. With 27 deaths, the total number of fatalities stands at 3,690.

 

 

 

 

 

 


VA-SenaJuly 20, 2020
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3min43680

BuildTemple-sharad-pawar

 

Veteran opposition leader Sharad Pawar on Sunday urged central and state governments to “pay more attention” to coronavirus and the economy hit by the lockdown. For Maharashtra too, these are the priorities, he said, even though “some people might think that corona will go away after a temple is built”.

Though the 79-year-old did not go into specifics, the timing of his words carried a hint.

On Saturday, the Ram Mandir Trust — set up on the directions of the Supreme Court to facilitate the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya — met to set a date for the beginning of the construction. The tentative date for the groundbreaking ceremony could be either on August 3 or 5 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to attend.

PM Modi had announced the formation of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust on February 5 but the plans for temple building were delayed by the outbreak of coronavirus.

“We always think about what should be prioritized. As of now, our priority is to help those infected with coronavirus recover. Some people think that coronavirus will go away after temple is constructed. That’s why they would have organised the programme. I am only getting to know about this from you people,” Mr Pawar said.

“For us, fighting coronavirus is very important. Because of the virus, lockdown had to be enforced. We are concerned about the economic crisis, the impact it has had on small businesses. That’s why I request the state government and the Centre to pay special attention to it… There should be discussion in Delhi on how to help people to come out of the economic crisis,” he added.

The opposition, especially the Congress — a ruling ally of Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra – has repeatedly accused the Centre of not doing enough to help the country cope with the outbreak and ruing the economy to ground during the lockdown.

PM Modi has been ridiculed for his initiative of lighting lamps and clanging utensils — which were meant as tribute to corona warriors — in the early days of lockdown.


VA-SenaJuly 15, 2020
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4min47820

Global Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates: As many as 7.33 million people have recovered from the infection.

 

corona-global-Update

Over 13.2 million cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported worldwide, with at least 5,75,000 deaths. As many as 7.33 million people have recovered from the infection.

The United States has the maximum number of cases at 3.48 million, followed by Brazil with 1.93 million cases, India with 9,36,000 cases, Russia with 7,40,000 confirmed cases and Peru with 3,34,000 cases.

Moderna Inc’s experimental vaccine for COVID-19 showed it was safe and provoked immune responses in all 45 healthy volunteers in an ongoing early-stage study, US researchers reported on Tuesday.

Volunteers who got two doses of the vaccine had high levels of virus-killing antibodies that exceeded the average levels seen in people who had recovered from COVID-19, the team reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

No study volunteers experienced a serious side effect, but more than half reported mild or moderate reactions such as fatigue, headache, chills, muscle aches or pain at the injection site. These were more likely to occur after the second dose and in people who got the highest dose.

In Europe, France will make it compulsory for people wear masks in shops and other enclosed public spaces from next month. And Spain’s Catalonia region put an area in which 1,60,000 people reside under lockdown to stem the latest surge in coronavirus cases.

Meanwhile, Canada said it would make it easier for foreign students to study online from abroad and to qualify for a work permit after graduation amid strict border closures.

 

corona-global-Update-Tokoy

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike says the spread of infections in the Japanese capital has escalated to levels tantamount to issuing an alarm, and requested residents and business owners to step up preventive measures.

Koike specifically urged restaurants, shops and nightclub operators to fulfill safety measures and urged customers to stay away from places that don’t comply with guidelines.

Koike also asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government to revise the law to authorize local governors to penalize business owners who violate requested safety measures. She appealed to residents to avoid non-essential out-of-town trips, and to the government to think carefully if it’s an appropriate timing to push Abe’s unpopular tourism campaign.

Experts on the Tokyo task force said infections are no longer limited to younger generations linked to nightlife districts. The number of serious cases is not rising rapidly but hospital beds are quickly filling up and more are needed. Tokyo has had 8,189 confirmed cases and 325 deaths.


VA-SenaJuly 15, 2020
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3min43970

Covid-19: Mumbai has lesser number of active cases than Pune, Thane districts

Corona-Pune-15July

There is a silver lining for Mumbai, as it is no longer the epicentre for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak in Maharashtra, as both Pune and Thane districts have overtaken it.

The state health department data showed that Mumbai has 22,773 active Covid-19 positive cases, as compared to 23,738 and 34,006 in Pune and Thane districts, respectively.However, Mumbai is gradually inching towards the one lakh Covid-19 positive cases mark and the tally stands at 95,100 until Tuesday.

So far, 66,633 Covid-19 patients have recovered from their viral infection in the city, but 5,405 have also succumbed to it.The densely populated Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) continues to contribute a lion’s share to the daily spike in Covid-19 positive cases.But, Mumbai has reported significant lower Covid-19 positive cases over the past 10-odd days.MMR, excluding Mumbai, has been accounting for around 41% daily rise in Maharashtra’s viral load.But that figure fell to 28.76% on Tuesday, including Mumbai’s fresh 954 cases, or 14% of Maharashtra’s tally.State officials attributed the dip in Mumbai’s viral load because a lesser number of tests were conducted over the past weekend.The local administration in MMR, which has nine civic bodies under its jurisdiction, has enforced fresh lockdown restrictions until Sunday (July 19).

State officials said areas such as Borivali, Kandivli, Mulund, etc, which are located adjoining to MMR, are reporting more Covid-19 positive cases of late.Besides MMR and Pune district, Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Dhule, and, Solapur have seen an uptick in Covid-19 positive cases that have increased the state’s tally.

The local urban bodies have clamped lockdown restrictions in a bid to rein in the viral outbreak amid the state government’s call to ramp up healthcare infrastructure in the districts.Maharashtra has reported 267,665 Covid-19 positive cases to date, including 149,007 have been discharged after recovering from their viral infection.At present, there are 107,665 active Covid-19 positive cases in the state.