The Indian Weekender, 14 May 2021

14 INDIA
Friday, May 14, 2021 The Indian Weekender
NEWS in BRIEF WHO says India Covid
Covid will be like endemic flu due to
variant of 'global concern'
variants: Canadian expert
Coronavirus will become a part of the viral ecosystem --
akin to the seasonal endemic flu -- due to the spread of The World Health Organization
several variants of concern, according to a Canadian health (WHO) has classified the
expert, as per media reports.
coronavirus variant first found
To deal with such a spread, vaccine makers will have to
adapt and modify their shots over the coming years, Dr. Alan
Bernstein, an expert on Canada government's Covid-19 Task
Force, was quoted as saying to Globalnews.ca.
Canada is already negotiating with vaccine suppliers for it,
he said.
"We've been in this journey before, of course, with [the] flu,
we all get the influenza vaccine every year and every year is
in India last year as a "variant of
global concern".
It said preliminary studies show the
B.1.617 mutation spreads more easily
than other variants and requires further
study. The variant has already spread to
more than 30 countries, the WHO says.
Three other variants from the UK,
a different vaccine because the influenza virus changes every South Africa and Brazil have been
given the same designation. A mutation shortages continue to be a problem and of the virus. He is also facing criticism
year," said Bernstein.
is elevated from a "variant of interest" have spread beyond the capital, Delhi. for allowing massive gatherings at Hindu
"So those are variants, and some years, of course, the flu
to a "variant of concern" (VOC) when Local media in the southern state of festivals and election rallies to go ahead
variants can be very serious and some years are quite mild --
it shows evidence of fulfilling at least Andhra Pradesh reported that 11 Covid despite rising cases.
the ones that are serious, we don't call them variants of concern,
one of several criteria, including easy patients died overnight in the city of On Monday, Delhi's health minister
but we could.
transmission, more severe illness, Tirupati after an oxygen tanker supplying said the capital had just three or four days
India’s COVID deaths cross quarter million reduced neutralisation by antibodies the hospital was delayed.
of vaccine supplies left.
mark, no sign of peak
or reduced effectiveness of treatment The Indian government says there is Shortages are further disrupting a
I
and vaccines.
evidence of a link between the variant and lagging vaccination programme, with
ndia said a record number of people were killed by the
The variant is being studied to establish India's deadly second wave, but that the just over 34.8 million, or about 2.5% of
coronavirus in the past 24 hours, pushing its overall death
whether it is responsible for a deadly surge correlation is not yet "fully established". the population receiving both doses of a
in India, which is currently overwhelming Several states have imposed localised vaccine so far.
hospitals and crematoriums.
lockdowns, curfews and curbs on The WHO says current vaccines will
India reported 366,161 new infections movement over the last month.
continue to be effective against the Indian
and 3,754 deaths on Monday, down from However, Prime Minister Narendra variant, although the WHO's technical
record peaks. Experts say the actual Modi's government is coming under lead did say there may be some evidence
figures could be far higher than reported. increasing pressure to announce a of "reduced neutralization," at a press
Surging cases have meant that oxygen nationwide lockdown and stop the spread conference on Monday.
toll over a quarter million, while a leading virologist said it was
too early to say if infections had reached a peak.
Deaths from COVID-19 swelled by 4,205, while daily
coronavirus cases rose by 348,421, with India’s overall number
of cases surging past 23 million, according to health ministry
data. Even then, experts believe the official numbers grossly
underestimate the real scale of the epidemic’s impact, and
actual deaths and infections could be five to ten times higher.
India’s COVID-19 infection curve may be showing early
signs of flattening, but the decline in the number of new
infections is likely to be slow, said Shahid Jameel, a top Indian
virologist.
“It is still too early to say whether we have reached the peak,”
he was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper.
“There is some indication of the cases plateauing. But we
must not forget that this is a very high plateau. We seem to be
plateauing around 400,000 cases a day.”
Volunteers collect unclaimed ashes of
India’s COVID-19 dead for final farewell
Volunteer Ashish Kashyap carefully shovels the ashes of
India’s unclaimed COVID-19 dead from a large pile into
sacks at Nigambodh ghat crematorium in Delhi, where the
pyres have been burning round-the-clock because of a surge
of deaths. Kashyap will then take the ashes to be immersed in
the Ganges river. Families of the victims are often too afraid to
come and collect the ashes after cremation because they fear
contracting the virus in crowded sites.B Hindus cremate their
dead and the ashes are scattered over rivers considered sacred
or over some other place of importance to the deceased.
“During this pandemic, the relatives of these victims have
abandoned them. However, our organisation collects these
remains from all the crematoriums and performs the last rituals
in Haridwar, so that they can achieve salvation,” said Kashyap,
28. He and his team from the Shri Deodhan Sewa Samiti
volunteer group collect the ashes and bone fragments, carefully
wash them in milk and water and offer prayers.
Vaccination big weapon in fight against
Covid: Harsh Vardhan
Union Health Minister
Harsh Vardhan said that
vaccination is a big weapon in
the fight against Covid-19.
Harsh Vardhan interacted
with the health ministers and
principal secretaries/additional chief secretaries of eight states/
UT in the presence of Union Minister of State for Health,
Ashwini Kumar Choubey. The eight states/UT included Jammu
and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand,
Odisha and Telangana, all depicting a rise in the number of
daily cases with growing positivity rate.
At the meeting, Harsh Vardhan highlighted the trajectory
of Covid in these states/UT and brought to their attention the
consequent stress on the medical infrastructure.
He stressed on the continued need to follow Covid
appropriate behaviour along with renewed and stringent focus
on containment measures for addressing the present surge.
He also noted that stringent adherence to implementation of
micro-containment zones has helped.
PM Modi, Bhutanese PM
Tshering discuss Covid
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
his Bhutanese counterpart Lotay
Tshering discussed Covid-19
pandemic's impact on both the countries
and their efforts against the recent wave
of the virus. Both the leaders discussed
the issued in a telephonic conversation
earlier in the day.
The Bhutan Prime Minister expressed
solidarity with the Indian government and
the people here in their efforts against the
Covid-19 or coronavirus disease which so
far has infected 2,29,92,517 people with
37,15,221 active cases and 2,49,992 deaths.
PM Modi conveyed his sincere thanks to
the people and government of Bhutan for
their good wishes and support.
Modi also appreciated the leadership of
Recent findings in a report in
an Australian daily has yet
again reinforced the call that
international investigators must dig
deeper to rule out whether Covid-19 is a
made-in-China bioweapon.
The controversy about Covid-19
origins has resurfaced after the Weekend
Australian newspaper revealed that
Chinese scientists were thinking about
bioweapons, visualising a Word War-3
scenario.
The daily cited a Chinese government
document which discussed the
weaponisation of SARS coronavirus.
Titled the Unnatural Origin of SARS and
New Species of Man-Made Viruses as
Genetic Bioweapons, the 2015 paper was
authored by Chinese scientists, Chinese
public health officials and members of the
People's Liberation Army (PLA).
Released five years ahead the
COVID-19 outbreak, it nails Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
the Bhutanese Prime Minister in managing
Bhutan's fight against the pandemic and
extended his best wishes to Tshering for the
continuing efforts.
The leaders noted that the present crisis
situation has served to further highlight
the special friendship between India and
Bhutan, anchored in mutual understanding
and respect, shared cultural heritage, and
strong people-to-people links.
China's intent to study bioweapons
reopens Covid origin controversy
coronaviruses as a "new era of genetic
weapons" that can be "artificially
manipulated into an emerging human
'disease virus, then weaponised and
unleashed in a way never seen before".
Covid-19 is part of the SARS family
of Coronaviruses. Specifically, the
COVID-19 pandemic has been caused by
SARS-Co V-2 --a coronavirus that emerged
in December 2019. Coronaviruses are a
large family of viruses, many of whom
target the respiratory system of humans,
causing diseases ranging from common
cold to the deadly SARS. The Chinese
WHO warns against use of
ivermectin to treat Covid-19
A
day
after Goa's Health
Minister Vishwajit Rane
recommended ivermectin to
all above 18 to combat Covid in the
state, the World Health Organisation
has warned against its use. "Safety
and efficacy are important when
using any drug for a new indication.
@WHO recommends against the use
of ivermectin for #COVID19 except
within clinical trials," Soumya
Swaminathan, the global health
body's chief scientist, said in a tweet.
The Goa state government cleared a
new Covid treatment protocol which
recommends all residents above the
age of 18 to take five tablets of the
ivermectin drug, in order to prevent
the steep and sometimes fatal viral
fever, which accompanies a Covid-19
infection.
paper is discussed in an upcoming book
titled What really happened in Wuhan by
The Australian investigative writer, Sharri
Markson.
Robert Potter, a cyber security
specialist who analyses leaked Chinese
government documents confirmed, when
asked by the The Australian to do so, that
the leaked document was genuine. "We
reached a high confidence conclusion that
it was genuine -- It's not fake but it's up
to someone else to interpret how serious
it is," website news.com.au. quoted Potter
as saying.