Prof Agarwal claimed that by October, the number of cases in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh will reach unit digit…reports Asian Lite News
Senior Scientist, IIT Kanpur, Prof Manindra Aggarwal has claimed that the possibility of a third wave of corona infection is now negligible.
Releasing his new study based on his mathematical ‘model formula’, he has said that vaccination has further reduced this risk. “The vaccination has ensured the reduction in the infection to a great extent. He said that states like UP, Bihar, Delhi are on the way to become almost infection free. However, the active cases in the country will remain close to 15,000 till the month of October as there will be infection in the Northeastern states and also Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala,” he told reporters.
Prof Agarwal claimed that by October, the number of cases in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh will reach unit digit.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, two more patients of Corona in Kanpur became infection free in home isolation.
The number of new infections has been zero.
In Kanpur, 82,906 people had been infected with corona of which 80,991 patients have been cured. Among the cured patients, 69,616 found health benefits at home and only 11,375 patients got treatment in the hospital.
Chief medical officer Dr Nepal Singh said that now only 11 corona active cases are left in the city.
India logs 25,072 new Covid cases, lowest in 160 days
India on Monday reported a substantial decline in fresh Covid cases with a total of 25,072 detected across the nation in the 24 hours. In the same duration, 389 deaths were reported pushing the toll to 4,34,756, said the Covid bulletin released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
On Sunday, a total of 30,948 new cases and 403 deaths were reported.
Less than 50,000 daily cases have been reported in the past 57 consecutive days now.
India’s recovery rate from Covid infection has increased to 97.63 per cent, the highest since March 2020.
The active caseload also registered a major decline of 19,474 in the past 24 hours, and cumulatively stands at 3,33,924, the lowest in the last 155 days.
The active caseloads constitute 1.03 per cent of the total cases, the lowest since March 2020, as per the bulletin released by the health ministry.
A total 44,157 patients were discharged from the hospitals and health centres in the last 24 hours, taking the number of cured to 3,16,80,626 in India.
The weekly positivity rate remains below 3 per cent for the last 59 days and currently stands at 1.91 per cent. The daily positivity rate continues to remain below 3 per cent for 28 continuous days and currently stands at 1.94 per cent.
India has administered 58.25 crore doses of vaccine so far under the mass vaccination drive against coronavirus. A total of 50.75 crore total tests have been conducted so far.
People wearing face masks cross a street in downtown Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 9, 2021
By Sunday, 16,717,681 people have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the country, while 5,830,650 have taken two doses….reports Asian Lite News
Iran’s daily Covid-19 death toll hit a new high on Sunday at 684 new fatalities, taking the country’s overall toll to 102,038.
The pandemic has so far infected 4,677,114 people in the country, after 36,419 new cases were registered in the past 24 hours, according to Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Xinhua news agency reported.
A total of 3,932,472 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 7,662 remain in intensive care units, the ministry said.
By Sunday, 16,717,681 people have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the country, while 5,830,650 have taken two doses.
The official report added that 27,855,470 tests have so far been carried out across the country.
A member of the Health Commission told official news agency IRNA that Bahram Eynollahi, nominee for next health minister, has repeatedly stated in his meetings with the commission that providing Covid-19 vaccines and vaccinating the population will be his top priority.
Earlier on Sunday, Gandhi took a dig at the alleged deficiency of Covid vaccines and slammed the government for not providing adequate stocks to the states and UTs….reports Asian Lite News
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandviya on Sunday advised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi “to feel proud at the tireless efforts” of health workers who have administered over 13 crore vaccine doses in July.
In a series of tweets, he also said that the vaccination drive will get accelerated from August and “we must feel proud of our health workers” for this feat, asking the Congress leader to express similar sentiments.
Earlier on Sunday, Gandhi took a dig at the alleged deficiency of Covid vaccines and slammed the government for not providing adequate stocks to the states and UTs. In a tweet in Hindi, he said: “July is gone, and vaccine shortage hasn’t gone away” and used the hashtag ‘WhereAreVaccines’.
To this, Mandviya responded: “India has administered over 13 crore vaccines in July. The vaccination drive against corona will be expedited from this month. We are proud of our health workers for this achievement. You also feel proud of India and health workers’ achievement.”
“I have heard that you are one in those 13 crores people who were vaccinated in July. But you did not speak a word for our scientists, did not appeal to the public to vaccinate. It means you are doing petty politics in the name of vaccination.”
“Actually there is no lack of vaccines, you lack maturity,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, Health Ministry data showed that a total of 60,15,842 Covid vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hrs, taking the total to 47,02,98,596 so far. In a tweet, the Health Ministry said that India has achieved the landmark in vaccination drive against the Covid pandemic, successfully having administered the vaccine to over 47 crore people across the nation.
The passenger also alleged that the room where the passengers are made to stand in queue is a tiny one where no Covid protocols are followed….reports Asian Lite News
International travellers from Europe, the US and the Middle East, who are landing at the Chennai international airport, have to wait for hours in long queues to get their swab samples tested.
Even for passengers who are reaching the country after taking two doses of vaccine are not exempted from swab test in Chennai. The passengers complain that they have to stand in two queues, one to make the payment and the second for the swab sample.
Mohammed Aslam, a passenger who reached Chennai on Tuesday from Europe, told IANS, “I had to wait for more than two hours in the queue. One queue is to make payment for RT-PCR test and the second one is for giving the swab.”
The passenger also alleged that the room where the passengers are made to stand in queue is a tiny one where no Covid protocols are followed.
At the Chennai international airport, at least five flights are arriving daily from abroad, leading to large queues.
Swab test done by the Chennai Corporation as there is a gradual increase in the COVID positive cases in Tamilnadu
While other airports like in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi have adequate space, the Chennai airport does not have proper space for the passengers to stand in queue.
Basheer from the air travel agents’ association told IANS, “The solution is to increase the number of counters. While there are four counters at the Chennai airport, these are not enough to cater to the large flow of passengers to the airport. The number of passengers arriving from Europe is also more and hence the queues are also long. We got information that the Airport Authority of India will take effective measures to solve the issue.”
Officials in the Airport Authority of India (AAI) said that there are around 20 staff members who collect swab samples from the passengers. The officials, however, said that crowd control is in place and that the department would look into the complaints, if any.
The AAI is also planning to increase the number of counters at the airport to ensure smooth exit for the passengers.
The G20 Energy and Climate Joint Ministerial Meeting 2021 was held under the Italian Presidency on July 22 and 23 at Naples…reports Asian Lite News
India has pushed for stronger action by rich countries for bringing down per capita emissions at the G20 climate ministerial that concluded in Italy on Saturday, but experts back home are sceptical and have demanded matching action on ground.
The G20 Energy and Climate Joint Ministerial Meeting 2021 was held under the Italian Presidency on July 22 and 23 at Naples, and saw Energy and Environment Ministers from the G20 nations deliberate upon the pressing issue.
The Indian delegation was represented by Ministry of Power and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, with the ministers participating virtually.
At the end, India issued a statement: “We have noted the pledges made by some countries to achieve ‘Net Zero GHG emission’ or carbon neutrality by or around mid-century. However, this may not be adequate in view of the fast-depleting available carbon space. Therefore, and keeping in view, the legitimate need of developing countries to growth, we urge G20 countries to commit to bringing down per capita emission to global average by 2030.”
Pic credits TWITTER@g20org
Ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference to be held at UK’s Glasgow in November this year, this is India’s stand against the developed, rich countries that occupy about 70 per cent of carbon space.
“India has always said that developed countries are changing the goal posts, they should cut their emissions more, India and BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) have been saying so since Copenhagen (COP15, the UNFCCC climate conference at Copenhagen in 2009). There has been no dramatic change in India’s stand,” think tank International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iForest) CEO Chandra Bhushan said.
Pointing out that India needs to recognise that the original grouping for BASIC doesn’t hold any ground now, he said: “China alone now accounts for 1/3rd of the global emissions. It does not make sense for India to defend China. And because we are bracketed together, China is able to pass itself as a developing country. This is the biggest mistake we are doing, this grouping of India and China together in climate negotiations is doing more harm to India than good.”
Climate activist from Public Advocacy Initiatives for Rights and Values in India (Pairavi), Soumya Dutta said: “This is just a statement from India, there is no matching action on the ground – at policy level, at the government’s economic level; everything is counter to that (India’s statement).”
Most of the new infrastructure which is carbon-intensive is coming up in developing countries and the funding for it comes from rich countries, he added.
Echoing the sentiment, senior researcher at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) Kanchi Kohli said: “India cannot step back on its own responsibility to cut down carbon emissions while demanding the G20 countries free up carbon space.”
Pic credits TWITTER@g20org
“The post-Covid economic expansion in India relies heavily on fossil fuel expansion and leniency towards carbon emitting projects like coal-based power generation. Our commitment to address climate change should be our own commitment, rather than a reaction to, or in comparison of what other G20 countries are proposing,” she added.
At the meet, Indian Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav had underlined the need to cut absolute emissions rapidly while taking into account the Paris Agreement, which emphasised on respective historical responsibilities, delivery of promised climate finance and technologies at low cost keeping in perspective per capita emissions, differences in per capita GDP, and the unfinished agenda for sustainable development.
Asserting that common but differentiated responsibilities to combat climate change, as per respective capabilities and national circumstances, lies at the heart of the UNFCCC & its Paris Agreement, Yadav said: “We should not be shifting goalposts and setting new benchmarks for global climate ambition.”
Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R.K. Singh apprised the delegates from the G20 countries of the significant progress made by India in meeting its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets while staying committed to meeting its climate goals under the Paris Agreement.
Against the targeted emission reduction of 33-35 per cent by 2030, India has already achieved emission reduction of 28 per cent over 2005 levels and at this pace, it is all set to exceed its NDC commitments before 2030, the meeting was informed.
NDCs are at the heart of the Paris Agreement which requires each country to outline and communicate their post-2020 climate actions.
Pic credits TWITTER@g20org
The G20 communique concluded: “Mindful of the interconnectedness of poverty, health, economic and environmental challenges, we commit to a just and equitable transition to sustainable economies, leaving no one behind, whilst taking into account the different levels of development and capacity of countries. We encourage the provision of financial, technological and capacity building support to developing countries especially to the least developed countries, making the best use of existing governance frameworks and working to identify new and innovative solutions. Recalling the principles of the Rio Declaration and recognising that we face different challenges, we will strengthen our international cooperation towards sustainable development.”
But Bhushan reminded that climate of today is not the climate of 1991 when UNFCCC was signed and that the developed countries have postponed their actions for a long time. “(But) what has happened to India over the last 10 years is devastating our economy, it is killing people. So, it is in India’s interest to move to modern technology. Why should India remain in polluting technology? India should not be afraid of ‘Net Zero’.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global carbon emissions should decline by about 45 per cent by 2030 to restrict the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (compared to the pre-industrial temperatures from the 1880s). If the countries cut emission, net zero is likely to be achieved around 2050.
Dutta offered a hope in the context of very different circumstances. In view of the massive floods in Germany, and extreme weather events such as increasing number of hurricanes along the US coast, there is some public pressure building in both the US and Europe. “I hope some kind of pressure will be on those leaders from their own voters. That might change their actions to much greater extent than what Modi or India says,” Dutta added.
India is popularly known as the world’s largest manufacturer of Covid-19 vaccines…reports Asian Lite News
India is among the five member states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that will account for three-quarters of the entire global output of COVID-19 vaccines this year, said Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Wednesday.
“Production remains highly centralised – about 75 per cent of this year’s vaccines appear set to come from five WTO members – China, India, Germany, the United States, and France,” the WTO Director-General said at a high-level dialogue on “Expanding COVID-19 vaccine manufacture to promote equitable access.” He was quoted as saying by a news agency.
India is popularly known as the world’s largest manufacturer of Covid-19 vaccines. The country has helped its foreign friendly nations with vaccine supply at the time of need.
The country has also set an aim to manufacture over 2 billion doses of vaccines in house by December. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India’s entire adult population will be vaccinated by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, Okonjo-Iweala said discriminatory access to vaccines is a root cause of the unequal recovery of the global economy, in which developed economies are rebounding quickly while the rest are lagging behind.
The lack of full transparency in vaccine supply deals is another reason for concern, she said as the world administered 1.1 billion COVID vaccine doses in June.
“Of those 1.1 billion doses in June, only 1.4 per cent went to Africans, who account for 17 per cent of the global population. Only 0.24 per cent went to people in low-income countries. And both shares declined even further in the first half of July,” she said.
“In developed countries, 94 doses have been administered for every 100 residents. In Africa, the figure is 4.5 per cent. In low-income countries, it’s 1.6 per cent. In Africa, only 20 million people, or 1.5 percent of the population, are fully vaccinated, compared to 42 per cent of people in developed countries. We cannot accept this, for moral, practical, and economic reasons.”
Refuting such allegations, the government said that the guidelines laid down by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in this regard are being followed…reports Asian Lite News
The central government on Thursday questioned reports which claim that the number of fatalities from the virus in the country has been ‘vastly undercounted’.
Refuting such allegations, the government in a release said that the guidelines laid down by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in this regard are being followed and that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has always advised states to conduct death audits in their hospitals to report any cases of death that may have been missed.
“Given the robust and statute-based death registration system in India, while some cases could go undetected as per the principles of infectious disease and its management, missing out on the deaths is unlikely,” the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in an official press release.
“This could also be seen in the case fatality rate, which, as of 31st December 2020, stood at 1.45% and even after an unexpected surge observed in the second wave in April-May 2021, the case fatality rate today stands at 1.34%,” it added.
The center pointed out that media reports quoting findings from some recent studies, US & European countries’ age-specific infection fatality rates, have been used to calculate excess deaths in India based on the sero positivity.
“The extrapolation of deaths has been done on an audacious assumption that the likelihood of any given infected person dying is the same across countries, dismissing the interplay between various direct and indirect factors such as race, ethnicity, genomic constitution of a population, previous exposure levels to other diseases and the associated immunity developed in that population,” it said.
Furthermore, the center said that the sero-prevalence studies are not only used to guide strategy and measures to further prevent the spread of infection to the vulnerable population but are also used as another basis to extrapolate deaths. The studies also have another potential concern that the antibody titers may diminish over time, leading to underestimation of true prevalence and corresponding overestimation of Infection Fatality Rate.
Moreover, the reports assume that all the excess mortality figures are COVID deaths, which is not based on facts and totally fallacious. “Excess mortality is a term used to describe an all-cause mortality figure and attributing these deaths to COVID-19 is completely misleading,” the release said.
Further explaining the method of reporting Covid-19 deaths in India, the central government said that the process follows a “bottom-up” approach, as opposed to a top-down system.
Districts report the number of cases and deaths to the state governments and to the Union ministry on a continuous basis, the press release detailed, adding that the entire system is run according to guidelines laid down by the ICMR since as early as May last year.
These ICMR guidelines are, in turn, issued as per ICD-10 codes recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for monitoring.
Notably, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya refuted allegations that the ministry was hiding Covid-19 deaths.
He said the central government only compiles and publishes data sent by the state governments.
Agarwal emphasized that concerted efforts have been made to manage the evolving situation in the country….reports Asian Lite News
The Centre on Tuesday warned that continued gross violation of Covid appropriate behaviour can nullify the gains made so far.
Addressing the media briefing of the health ministry, joint secretary in the ministry Luv Agarwal shared pictures of crowded markets and tourist places like Sukhna lake in Chandigarh and Bhushi dam in Maharashtra. He said, “Continued gross violations of Covid appropriate behaviour can nullify the gains so far. The third wave may be caused because of this behaviour.”
Agarwal stated: “We talk about the third wave as a weather update. What we fail to understand is that adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour or lack of it is what will prevent or cause any future waves.”
He asked, “The choice is not that difficult to make, is it?”
“Daily new cases in the country continue to show a decline during the second wave. Average daily new cases declined from 3,87,029 cases between May 5 and May 11 to 40,841 cases between July 7 to July 13,” Agarwal said.
Agarwal emphasized that concerted efforts have been made to manage the evolving situation in the country.
“Rs 23,123 crore approved as India Covid-19 emergency package to be used for ICU beds, creating paediatric units, adding hospitals beds, installing liquid medical oxygen storage tanks, and adding additional ambulances to fight against Covid,” Agarwal said.
India reported 38,792 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, and 624 deaths due to the virus, said the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Wednesday.
This is the 36th consecutive day when India reported less than one lakh new coronavirus cases. But the numbers are higher than Tuesday which stood at 31,443 and was the least recorded new Covid cases in 118 days.
The active cases have now come down below 5 lakh. The country has 4,29,946 active cases presently and has witnessed a total of 4,11,408 deaths so far.
According to the Union Health Ministry, a total of 41,000 people were discharged in the last 24 hours, taking the total discharge to 3,01,04,720 till date.
The Ministry said that a total of 38,76,97,935 people have been vaccinated so far in the country, including 37,14,441 who were administered vaccines in the last 24 hours.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 43,59,73,639 samples have been tested up to July 13 for Covid-19. Of these 19,15,501 samples were tested on Tuesday.
On July 6, India recorded 553 deaths — lowest since April 6. This was after May 23 when India saw a record fatalities with 4,454 deaths in 24 hours at the peak of the second wave.
The northeastern state’s recovery and fatality ratio stood at 90.73 per cent and 0.48 per cent, respectively….reports Asian Lite News
Following a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases, the Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to allow only vaccinated people to enter the bordering state, officials said here on Thursday.
A health official said that Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar during a virtual meeting on Wednesday told Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla that the state has been ensuring that anyone who is keen to visit Arunachal Pradesh must be vaccinated prior to their entry into the state.
Kumar informed the Bhalla that the state government has also undertaken aggressive testing for Covid-19.
Over 68 per cent of the people aged 18 years and above have received their first dose of the vaccine in the state.
The Chief Secretary said that the state has adopted a three-prong strategy to prevent the spread of the virus, which include extensive tracking and testing, enforcement of Covid appropriate behaviour and vaccination.
“The state needs an additional three lakh vaccines in a bid to achieve 100 per cent coverage of beneficiaries in the 18-plus and 45-plus age groups,” Kumar said.
Till Thursday, Arunachal Pradesh reported 38,283 Covid cases, including 184 deaths with 34,736 people have recovered from the disease.
The northeastern state’s recovery and fatality ratio stood at 90.73 per cent and 0.48 per cent, respectively.
The Centre had recently deputed multi-disciplinary teams to Kerala, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and three northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Manipur — in view of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases being reported from these states.
Under the Emirates India Humanitarian Airbridge, Emirates donated cargo capacity to transport essential supplies such as relief tents and thousands of oxygen cylinders…reports Asian Lite News
Emirates SkyCargo flew 100 tonnes of relief materials free of charge from Dubai to India in May to support the Indian community to battle the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the Emirates India Humanitarian Airbridge, Emirates donated cargo capacity to transport essential supplies such as relief tents and thousands of oxygen cylinders and concentrators on flights to Indian destinations.
“Emirates is deeply connected and committed to India. The Emirates India Humanitarian Airbridge was our contribution to assist the Indian community fight the second wave of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. We are heartened that India is overcoming the virus and we are honoured to have supported the efforts of partners by donating much needed air cargo capacity for moving essential goods quickly and reliably into nine Indian cities,” said Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo.
“The Emirates India humanitarian airbridge confirms the important role that is being played by the private sector worldwide, for providing assistance to millions of people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This airbridge done with Emirates, confirms the strong partnership and commitment of the two Dubai entities in facilitating the humanitarian action of the international organisations and United Nations agencies operating within IHC,” said Giuseppe Saba, CEO of the IHC.
“IHC has embraced the Sustainable Development Goal ‘Partnership’ and is very proud to have partnered with Emirates SkyCargo and the International humanitarian community for the extraordinary efforts done for responding to the requirements due to the pandemic in addition to other emergencies,” he added.
Emirates set up the India Humanitarian Airbridge in early May 2021 to boost the transportation of urgent medical and relief items to India by offering cargo capacity on its flights from Dubai to India.
The first shipment under the Airbridge initiative flew from Dubai to Delhi on 13 May and comprised 12 tonnes of multi-purpose tent equipment for field hospitals sent by the World Health Organisation through the IHC.
