Tag: Covid 19

News & Politics Viral

PM Hints Lockdown To Stay Post May 17

HT News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hinted that the nationwide lockdown could be extended beyond May 17 but with some relaxation. Yesterday, he had a meeting with chief ministers over video conferencing where he asked the CMs to send their suggestions on easily lockdown by May 15.

PM talked to CMs

The meeting concluded with CMs getting time to give their suggestions as many states want to resume economic activities after a long lockdown. But at the same time, they agreed to keep certain areas under restrictions as the cases of novel coronavirus aren’t showing any sign of easing.

Exit formula for lockdown

There is no clear strategy on easing restrictions but it is agreed upon that the lockdown will be lifted in a phased manner with restrictions lifting one by one depending on the number of cases coming from different areas.

The lockdown 1 stopped all activities across the length and breadth of the country but some restrictions were eased in lockdown 2. The lockdown 3 saw more freedom in certain areas. But the time isn’t ripened to life the lockdown completely. The states will give their suggestions on easing out the lockdown.

Coronavirus in India

In India, the number of COVID-19 patients have crossed 67,000 mark on Monday and it is expected to increase in the coming days. AIIMS director Dr. Randeep Guleria had already said that the peak of coronavirus had yet to come. According to him, the coronavirus peak would come in June or July.

Source: https://bit.ly/3boxYqM

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Today's Special

Celebrating International Nurses Day 2020 In Lockdown

HT News

Today is International Nurses Day. Every year, on this day, the world community commemorate the contributions of these paramedics in saving lives of others and these unsung heroes even risk their family and personal life to help others. Someone has rightly compared the nurses as angles in white coats and caps.

International Nurses Day

These are unsung heroes but their contribution is no less remarkable than others. They ensure health and wellness of community and they serve people without any personal benefit or interest. They are with the needy and those that are suffering due to diseases all the time. Also, they were always at the forefront of the fight against pandemics.

Theme for International Nurses Day

“Nursing The World To Health” is the theme for the International Nurses Day 2020. According tothe International Council of Nurses (ICN), the focus of the theme is to highlight the true value of nurses to the world. The people are invited to come forward and give a big salute to these unsung heroes that are playing a crucial role in battling the deadly virus.

Celebration of International Nurses Day

The world is under lockdown for a long time and the lockdown is expected to continue for a long time. And the nurses are among the frontline warriors in the fight against COVID-19. It is time that the world recognizes their contribution in tiding the increase of coronavirus. Today people are sending messages, quotes, WhatsApp messages and social media posts to boost the confidence of the nurses.

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International Viral

Did US Buy Substandard Drugs For COVID-19?

HT News

Bayer AG made a hefty donation of chloroquine drugs after the President Donald Trump touted the tablet as a “gamechanger” in their fight against COVID-19. But the chief of staff of the US Food and Drug Administration, Keagan Lenihan, was found alerting the government about the need for 3-4 days of testing of the drugs.

FDA alerts the US government

Reuters reviewed the emails among federal health officials in which the FDA chief was seen alerting the administration. Bayer had since donated 3 million tablets of Resochin to add to the US stockpile of COVID-19 drugs. Also, the US government approved use of those medicines on an emergency basis. But three US government sources raised serious concerns about the quality of the drugs.

Concerns raised by US officials

The drug Resochin is made in India and Pakistan and according to the sources, the FDA dropped its quality-standards to get the drugs. But the fact is that the plants that make Resochin in India and Pakistan have never been registered or inspected by FDA.

Drugs Regulatory Authority of Pakistan noticed gross failure in manufacturing process of Resochin in a Pakistani plant in 2015. In India, Resochi is made in Indore. The US agency that inspected that plant found serious deficiencies including falsification of records during 2014 to 2019.

On questioning about the email messages by Reuters, the FDA spokesperson Michael Felberbaum said that the agency didn’t respond to the leaked emails. Also, the spokesperson said that the donated drugs met the quality standards of FDA.

Source: https://bit.ly/2Vhs5XF

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News & Politics

Lockdown To Continue Till May 3 But Restrictions Could Be Eased After April 20

HT News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extension of lockdown till May 3 but hinted possible relaxations in areas that show restraint to the spread of COVID-19 after April 20. PM Modi took the decision of extension to extend lockdown after consulting chief ministers of 13 states through video conferencing on Saturday.

Highlights of PM Modi’s speech

• PM said that the country should ensure that new hotspots didn’t spring up. The lockdown measures will be enhanced at hotspot areas till April 20.

• Each district in each state will be closely monitored to check whether the lockdown is followed. The decision on relaxations will be determined on the results of lockdown.

• The PM said that easing difficulty of poor was his top priority.

• He said that the country had benefitted from lockdown and social distancing. Also, he admitted that the people had to pay a price.

• India didn’t wait for the crisis to aggravate and took early steps to contain the virus.

• He said that he was aware of the challenges the people faced during lockdown period.

• He said that people’s resolve to fight the pandemic was the true tribute to Baba Saheb Ambedkar.

He asked for seven things

  1. Take care of the vulnerable in the family
  2. Follow the lockdown rules and practice social distancing
  3. Follow guidelines by Ayush Ministry to boost immunity
  4. Download Arogya Setu app
  5. Show empathy towards employees
  6. Respect those at the frontline of the battle
  7. Help poor in arranging food and other necessities

Source: https://bit.ly/3b9gXBz

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Business Media & Entertainment

Traders Ask To Extend Lockdown To April 30 But With Relief Package

HT News

Confederation of All India Traders (CAT) stands with the government in the time of COVID-19 spread. National General Secretary of CAT, Pravin Khandelwal, wrote to the PM to extend the lockdown period to April 30.

CAT supports extension of lockdown

A survey conducted among traders and business leaders of various states, the business community said that they want the lockdown to be extended beyond the 21-day period. They said that the current situation of novel coronavirus spread demands stricter measures to contain the spread of the deadly disease. And the business community was unanimous in the decision to extend the lockdown period.

The CAT assured that the traders would leave no stone unturned to deal with the virus. Also, the confederation assured the PM that India would be victorious in its fight against the spread of novel coronavirus.

Challenges ahead

In a letter to the PM the confederation mentioned the hardships that the small and medium scale traders would have to face in the fight against the pandemic. The lockdown period would result in slowdown of business resulting in big losses. But the increasing number of coronavirus cases demand strict measures to control the spread. Despite the hardships, the merchant class stood with the country in containing the virus spread, said the letter.

Pravin Khandelwal sent memorandum

Pravin Khandelwal wrote in the letter that he had already sent a memorandum to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking financial relief for the merchants of India.

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Viral

COVID-19 Lockdown Prevents Muslims To Stay Indoors During Shab-e-Barat

HT News

Muslim community in the national capital is advised to celebrate Shab-e-Barat in the lockdown state. Delhi Police have appealed to the community that Muslims should avoid venturing out during the celebration.

Delhi Police asked for support

Delhi Police approached Muslim community to get support in their fight against COVID-19. A tweet shared by Delhi Police said that lockdown would remain enforced on the sacred night of Shab-e-Barat on April 8 and 9, 2020.

The police have been successful in keeping people restricted to their homes during lockdown period. They didn’t allow the Hindu community to congregate in temples during the holy festival of Navratri and Ram Navami on April 2. Also, the Hindu community didn’t host any rallies or congregationsduring the festival.

Shab-e-Barat celebrations

In Islam, it is called Night of Forgiveness of the Day of Atonement. For Muslims, it is an occasion when the Almighty forgives sinners, if they pray. During Shab-e-Barat, Muslims in large numbers congregate in mosques and visit graves of their departed loved ones.

Roads leading to mosques and cemeteries see large crowds of devotees. During normal time, the police were deployed close to mosques and cemeteries to ensure law and order in the Muslim community. But this year, the Muslims are asked to remain in their homes due to lockdown orders.

India is under 21-day lockdown announced by PM Modi on March 24. The lockdown will remain enforced until April 14. The government is seriously mulling over lifting lockdown on April 15.

Source: https://bit.ly/34duCEQ

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News & Politics Today's Special

Switch Off Your Lights At 9 PM On 5th April Asked PM Modi

HT News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked people to display a collective spirit in the fight against COVID-19 by showing up on their balconies and gates once again on the coming Sunday.

PM Modi asked people to show up

Narendra Modi wants people to light their balconies and gates with candles, lamps, torches, mobile lights and whatever they can use as light to applaud unsung warriors against coronavirus. And he wants the people to do it just like they did during last month’s “Janata Curfew”.

He said that people should show up sharp at 9 pm on April 5 to mark their fight against COVID-19. But at the same time the PM urged people to stay indoors and maintain social distancing to defeat novel coronavirus.

Highlights of PM Modi’s message

• Social distancing must not break at any cost because it is the only panacea to break the chain of novel coronavirus.

• Never cross the line of social distancing.

• We should defeat coronavirus together and make India win.

• People are at home during lockdown but they aren’t alone as the collective strength of the country is with them.

• He said that he wanted only 9 minutes at 9 pm on April 5. He wanted the people to switch off their lights and light candles and torches.

• The coming Sunday, the country would fight darkness with light.

• PM said there was unprecedented discipline during the lockdown.

• Also, he thanked people for supporting the lockdown and making it a success.

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

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Viral

COVID-19 Treatment Nearing Production Says Winnipeg Biotech Company

HT News

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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Viral

Trump Feels COVID-19 Be Treated With Hydroxychloroquine

HT News

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.

Source: https://bit.ly/2WxH0Ok

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Top Celebrities Viral

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

HT News

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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