India Should Show The Way To Deal With COVID-19: WHO

The executive director of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Michael J Ryan has strong belief that India can show the way to control the novel coronavirus. He said that India had a tremendous capacity to deal with the situation arose due to COVID-19outbreak.

WHO looking forward towards India for help

India had experience of eradicating two pandemics, namely small-pox and polio said Michael J Ryan. He revealed his views on the potential of India to deal with the virus during a daily press briefing on COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that India was a very populous country hence needed more labs where a surge is seen. He further said that the future of that virus would be considered in a very highly and densely populated country like India. It led the world in eradicating small-pox and polio.

There were no easy answers. It was exceptionally important that countries like India showed the way to the world as they had done before said Ryan.

The number of coronavirus cases in the world are over 3,30,000 and the number of deaths has surpassed 14,000 according to the World Health Organization.

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COVID-19 Treatment Nearing Production Says Winnipeg Biotech Company

Emergent Biosolutions, a Winnipeg company, is working on finding treatment for those suffering from COVID-19. Also, it is working on a COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with two American companies.

Emergent Biosolutionsfind a cure for COVID-19

The company is working hard on developing two oral vaccines in partnership with clinical-stage vaccine company Novavax and biotech company Vaxart.

Senior vice president of therapeutics Dr Laura Saward told that they started right away to have an impact. They used some of their proven technologies like platforms that had supported several licensed drugs and put those to work on COVID-19.

She further said that when most researchers were focussing on a vaccine that could develop immunity against coronavirus, they focussed on therapeutics to those affected with COVID-19.

She explained that when a vaccine was used, it developed antibodies over time. That was a way to administer a dose of antibodies that would help in fighting the infection.

She further said that they had used this approach with many other infectious diseases where patients isolate those antibodies from plasma sources. And there was hundreds of years research behind that type of approach. It tool some of the risk out and their focus was to get that as fast as possible.

Dr Laura Saward gave hope that a solution to the illness could be quicker than people could think of. She was confident because they used proven technologies. She said that would work together with regulators to ensure they were doing that in the way that was safe.

Source: https://bit.ly/2UsX5lS

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Guidelines issued For Private Labs To Test COVID-19, Price Fixed At Rs. 4,500

The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has released guidelines for private laboratories to starting conducting tests for novel coronavirus. Also, the central government has fixed the maximum price for the test.

ICMR guidelines for COVID-19 testing by private labs

 

Labs notified by the Union Health Ministry and with NABL accreditation for real-time PCR SA for RNA virus would be allowed to conduct COVID-19 tests said ICMR in its guidelines.

The private labs were asked to ensure appropriate biosafety and biosecurity precautions while collecting respiratory samples of suspected patients. ICMR suggested home collection of samples that will prevent suspected persons from travelling and infecting others.

Commercial kits for real-tome PCR-based diagnosis of coronavirus are also allowed to use but they should be either US FDA approved or European CE certified or both. These kits could be used for in-vitro diagnosis of COVID-19 in emergent conditions. But it is necessary to intimate the Drug Controller General of India before using these kits.

Laboratory test of a suspect should be performed only when a qualified physical prescribes the test. And the lab staff should be trained in good practices to perform real-time PCR. Also, the laboratories must follow national guidelines on disposing the biomedical waste.

COVID-19 test cost and reporting

ICMR will give registration numbers to private labs. Also, the labs are asked to report the details of a test to ICMR headquarters data base. The price determined for COVID-19 test is 1,500 for preliminary screening and additional 3,000 for confirmation test. But the overall cost shouldn’t exceed to Rs. 4,500.

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World Water Day 2020 Observed On March 22 Under The Scare Of Deadly Novel Coronavirus

March 22 is World Water Day. The day is observed to spread awareness on sustainable management of freshwater resources. Every year, a theme is given to highlight the cause. The theme for World Water Day 2020 is “Water and Climate Change”.

World Water Development Report (WWDR) 2020

The WWDR published a report “Water and Climate Change” in which it stressed the to help the water community manage the challenges of climate change. It also highlights the opportunities that the climate change community has to improve water management offers in terms of adaptation and mitigation.

World Water Day 2020 events postponed

All events planned for observing the World Water Day on March 22 were postponed amid the scare of coronavirus. The global launch of the report “Water and Climate Change” organized in Geneva was also put on hold. But the alternative way of access the report through official website of the World Water Day Organization is available. People can access the report and meet and get-together on the website.

Highlights of World Water Day 2020 campaign

• Water should be at the heart of every action plan. The world can’t afford to wait for policymakers to make decision.

• The world can fight climate change with sustainable, affordable and scalable water and sanitation solutions.

• Everyone can play a role in controlling climate change. There are surprisingly easy steps people of all ages can take to address climate change.

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Trump Feels COVID-19 Be Treated With Hydroxychloroquine

President Donald Trump has gut feeling that a malaria drug could work to treat people with COVID-19. But his advisor Dr Anthony Fauci is politely denying Trump’s claim. Fauci is top infectious disease expert of the government.

Trump’s claim about a malaria drug

Donald Trump, during a television interview, claimed that he had gut feeling that that malaria drug hydroxychloroquine could be an answer to coronavirus that had been shutting countries down across the globe. But his advisor Fauci countered his claim by saying that the drug Trump was referring to was anecdotal.

Dr Anthony Fauci denies Trump

As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, Fauci has 30-year experience in dealing with diseases including HIV, SARS, MERS, Ebola and the novel coronavirus. Fauci said that there was no medicine available to treat COVID-19.

Fauci said that Food and Drug Administration was looking for a way to use the said drug for emergency use but in a controlled manner to get data about its safety and efficacy. He said that for any drug to be qualified for a specific use must pass some clinic trials to substantiate to substantiate his claim on chloroquine.

Treating COVID-19 with chloroquine

Hydroxychloroquine is a drug widely used for treating malaria. Doctors in US prescribe this drug off-level. The good thing is that studies conducted in test tubes revealed encouraging signs that chloroquine could interfere with coronavirus. But it will be too early to make any opinion on the drug.

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FIR Lodged Against Singer Kanika Kapoor For Being COVID-19 Positive

The Chief Medical Officer of Lucknow accused singer Kanika Kapoor of negligence in his First Information Report (FIR) to the police. The singer has been tested positive for COVID-19.

Accusation against Kanika Kapoor

She attended a dinner in Lucknow where there were several senior politicians including state minsters and parliamentarians. The FIR reads that the singer was advised to go on home quarantine after she was detected positive for coronavirus. But she disregarded the advice.

Kanika Kapoor’s answer to FIR

The 41-year old singer said in a social media post that she developed coronavirus symptoms a short time before and was isolated. She claimed that she came to Lucknow on March 11 after landing at Mumbai airport on March 9. She came from London that has high number of COVID-19 cases.

She further said that she was screened at both the airports but no virus was detected and she was unaware that she was carrying coronavirus. The singer is presently admitted to a hospital in Lucknow.

Politicians susceptible to be COVD-19 patients

Vasundhara Raje was swift to respond to the Kanika Kapoor’s post. The former Rajasthan CM said that she attended the dinner party with her son Dushyant Singh and that she and her son had self-quarantined.

Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh was one of the guests to the dinner that the singer attended. He admitted to lapses at Lucknow airport and ordered an inquiry into the incident. He has also gone into self-quarantine. Meanwhile the President Ram Nath Kovind also met Dushyant Singh.

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Narendra Modi Appreciated Bhutanese And Nepalese Contribution Towards COVID-19 Fund

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to thank Bhutan and Nepal for their contribution to the COVID-19 emergency fund to help SAARC countries in battling coronavirus outbreak.

PM Modi proposed emergency funds

On March 15, Prime Minister Modi proposed setting of an emergency fund for SAARC members. Also, he donated USD 10 million for the purpose. He suggested setting of COVID-19 fund while addressing the SAARC leaders and representatives via video conferencing.

He said that it was wonderful to see SAARC leaders taking initiatives that were adding strength to the collective fight against coronavirus. He further said that it shows their commitment to the collective fight against the pandemic.

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Myths Surrounding The Intensity Of COVID-19

COVID-19 became a known thing to science within a few months of coming into the world. It arrived from oblivion and spread like a wildfire. Today, it has taken the entire world in its grip but there seems to be no end to this pandemic.

Some most important and unanswered questions about COVID-19

Q.How does it spread?

The SARS-CoV-2 has infected over 2 million people in the world and resulted in over 10,000 deaths. It is passed through tiny droplets from coughing and sneezing.

Q: Is there any fear of reinfection

It is largely unknown but some people in China and Japan got re-infected from the virus. But it could be a low level of infection from the earlier infection.

Q: What is the number of coronavirus cases in the US?

Until the US start mass testing for COVID-19, determining number of infected cases could be anybody’s guess. There could be people with mild infection or the number could be scary.

Q: How deadly COVID-19 is?

Presently, some countries are facing higher deaths than others. Wuhan, the epicentre of infection, has a death rate of 1.4% but it was 5.8% in late February. On the contrary, South Korea’s due to COVID-19 is less than 1%.

Q. Is it seasonal?

Some viruses become less transmissible in high temperature and it is expected that COVID-19 will also become less intense in the coming months but it would be too early to say anything about this deadly virus.

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India Shuts Down To Battle Coronavirus Outbreak

The government banned international flights for a week staring this Sunday in order to escalate measures to fight coronavirus. Also, PM Modi urged children below 10-years and people above 65-years should stay inside. Meanwhile 18 new COVID-19 cases took the total number of coronavirus cases to 173 on Thursday. The pandemic has claimed over 8,000 lives globally.

Highlights of the story

• People above 65-years are advised to stay indoors until necessary. Only public representatives, doctors and government employees should come outside.

• All concessional travel except for students, patients and people with special needs are suspended by railways and airlines.

• Private sector employees are urged to work from home across all states, except for emergency and essential services.

• Fourth COVID-19 death of a 70-year old man with travel history to Germany was reported from Punjab. The earlier three deaths were from Delhi, Punjab and Karnataka.

• Punjab suspended public transport services in addition to restricting public gathering to less than 20 from Friday night. It became the first state to do so.

• The centre has sent 50% of his employees to work from home in addition to staggering working hours for the staff.

• India is on the Stage 2 of the outbreak. It suggests that the transmission is local and traceable. The health ministry said that there was no sign of community transmission.

• Schools, colleges, theatres, malls and shopping areas have been shut down and religious gatherings and weddings have been put off across the country.

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Chloroquine Prices Sliced To 2015 Level To Fight Global Coronavirus Pandemic

A New Jersey based drug company Rising Pharmaceuticals doubled the price of its chloroquine phosphate tablets in late 2019. But the increased price was soon rolled back after the medicine is touted as a promising coronavirus treatment.

Treating COVID-19 with chloroquine

The publishing and analytics company Elsevier compiled a report on price increase by the said pharma company. The report said that the price of chloroquine phosphate tablet was increased by 98% between December 2019 and January 2020. The data provided to STAT revealed that cost of a 250-miligram tablet was increased from $3.87 to $7.66.

The company increased the cost of the drug months before the COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and much before the tablet was perceived as an effective medicine in the fight against the novel coronavirus. Chloroquine phosphate is usually given in malaria treatment but its demand increased in the past two weeks due to COVID-19 pandemic.

CEO of company explained price decrease

Ira Baeringer said that the price of the drug was reduced to 2015 level for all customers once the whole issue of COVID-19 pandemic started to explode. Even the President Trump said that the drug chloroquine was an effective treatment against coronavirus and that it was “approved for prescription.”

Food and Drug Administration contradicted Trump

Stephen Hahn interrupted to correct Trump almost immediately saying that any opinion on the efficacy of the drug should be made only after conducting clinical trials. Chloroquine phosphate has been manufactured since late 1940s and used as an antimalarial drug.

Source: https://bit.ly/2U4P3AA

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