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New Zealand extends Auckland lockdown as coronavirus cluster grows after 102 days of lull

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The outbreak has grown to 30 people and extended beyond Auckland for the first time.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s government on Friday extended a lockdown of its largest city Auckland for another 12 days as it tries to stamp out its first domestic coronavirus outbreak in more than three months.

The outbreak has grown to 30 people and extended beyond Auckland for the first time. Until the cluster was discovered Tuesday, New Zealand had gone 102 days without infections spreading in the community. The only known cases were travelers quarantined after arriving from abroad.Health authorities believe the virus must have been reintroduced from overseas, but genome testing hasn’t found a link with any of the quarantined travelers. That has prompted authorities to investigate whether shipping workers were a source, after several employees at a food storage Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said extending the Auckland lockdown, which began Wednesday, would give authorities time to get a handle on the viruscluster and isolate those infected

“Together, we have got rid of COVID before,” Ardern said in a highly anticipated address. “We have kept it out for 102 days, longer than any other country. We have been world-leading in our COVID response, with the result that many lives were saved and our economy was getting going faster than almost anywhere else. We can do all of that again.”

All of the new cases in the outbreak appear to be linked through family or work connections. The only known infections outside Auckland are two people in the central North Island town of Tokoroa who were visited by infected family members from Auckland. Officials said they thought the chances were low the virus would spread further in Tokoroa.

Several of those infected work at an Americold food storage facility in the Auckland suburb of Mt. Wellington. Officials are looking at the possibility that workers on a freight ship or at the port may have spread the infections, despite physical distancing requirements at those sites and orders preventing ship workers coming ashore.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said they were doing rigorous testing at Auckland’s port “as part of our investigation just to follow that chain of the Americold goods that might have come in through the port and been transported to that Mt. Wellington depot.”

Officials are also investigating the possibility the virus could have survived from abroad on chilled or frozen food boxes and then infected workers in New Zealand, a scenario they consider unlikely.

Bloomfield said they completed a record of more than 15,000 tests Thursday and they were getting a clearer picture of the outbreak’s contours.

“All of the cases so far, at this point, are connected. They are all part of one Auckland-based cluster,” said Health Minister Chris Hipkins. “And that is good news.”

The outbreak has cast doubt on whether New Zealand’s general election will go ahead as planned next month and has halted political campaigning Ardern said she would decide by Sunday on whether to delay the election, which she can by up to about two months under New Zealand law. Opinion polls indicate Ardern’s Labour Party is favored to win a second term.

Coronavirus growth rate on downward spiral

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Titled ‘Covid Management: Karnataka is bouncing back’, the report refers to a 30-day MGR. “The MGR is commonly used to smooth out short-term fluctuations and highlight long-term trends. This is generally used in conjunction with time. In a pandemic, a decrease in MGR indicates a downtrend in the disease,” the report reads.

The report uses data between July 4 and August 8. The 30-day moving positivity growth rate for Karnataka starts at 216%, increases to 400% and declines to 189%. The 30-day moving active cases growth rate for Karnataka starts at 287%, moves to 725% and declines to 118%.  The 30-day moving fatality growth rate for the state starts at 309%, hikes to 552%, and declines to 148%.

The MGR figures for positivity, active cases and fatalities show a similar declining trend for Bengaluru, Mysuru and Bidar. Dr Babu, Head of Lifecourse Epidemiology at Public Health Foundation of India, said, “Karnataka’s 30-day moving positivity growth rate has come down from 400 to 189, which is a positive sign. This indicates that testing has been increasing, isolation of patients is quick, and contact tracing is happening too.

As compared to the rest of India, Karnataka is doing well.” For example, for 30-day moving positivity growth rate, Bengaluru starts at 1,188%, jumps to 1,467%, and declines to 144%. The same figures for Mysuru starts at 91%, rises to 1,110% and reduces to 353%. For Bidar, it starts at 107%, increases to 146% and comes down to 113%.MGR for active cases in the city starts at 2,172%, reduces to 1,960% and then drops to 50%. In Mysuru, it begins with 730%, grows to 937% and comes down to 342%. For Bidar, the figures are 32%, hike to 601% and drop to 60%.

Congress, BJP trade charges over Bengaluru violence

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Congress and BJP leaders on Friday blamed each other’s parties for the violence in Bengaluru earlier this week. Congress spokesperson M Lakshman alleged that Tuesday’s violence was the handiwork of high-profile BJP leaders, aimed at unseating Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and covering up allegations of corruption in Covid-19 spending against his government.

He claimed that Naveen P, whose derogatory FB post allegedly triggered the violence, was an RSS worker and that his social media posts were proof of his allegiance to the BJP. Meanwhile, MLC AH Vishwanath said, “It is unfortunate that the Congress is attempting to politicise the issue. It is Congressmen who were responsible for vandalising MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy’s house, not the BJP. MLA Zameer Ahmed is visiting the houses of those arrested instead of calling on the legislator whose house was attacked. Did those people go to participate in a freedom struggle?” “Certain leaders are working hard to replace Yediyurappa with their loyalists, and instigated the issue. They are responsible for the wide coverage of the incident in national media to show the CM in a bad light.He also alleged that the BJP and Social Democratic Party of India — which has been blamed for the violence — were working in tandem. “The SDPI, which is the driving force behind the violence, is the BJP’s B team,” he said, adding that the BJP was indirectly promoting the party.

A ‘socially distanced’ Independence Day in times of COVID-19 as celebrations scaled down in Red Fort

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At the main entrance, the limited number of guests invited for the event underwent thermal scanning by security personnel donning PPE kit, while sanitiser dispenser have been kept near security gates.

NEW DELHI: A kit containing a mask, a small bottle of hand sanitiser and a pair of gloves kept on all chairs which were neatly separated to maintain the prescribed distance — Independence Day celebrations this year typified the ‘new normal’ in times of COVID-19.

Known otherwise to witness bustling crowd across many age groups, the annual grand event at the historic Red Fort was scaled down this year in keeping with prescribed safety protocols to contain spread of the novel coronavirus that has wrecked havoc across the world

At the main entrance, the limited number of guests invited for the event underwent thermal scanning by security personnel donning personal protective equipment (PPE) kit, while hands-free sanitiser dispenser have been kept near security gates.

Inside, chairs were placed in a careful matrix across all enclosures.

Each seat had a sanitiser kit, a hand towel kept on the back rest along with the programme pamphlet.

Social distancing norms were also in place on the rampart where the VVIPs were seated.

Every year, a sea of school children add youthful energy to the grand event, but amid the coronavirus scare, they were not present on the occasion this year.

“Today, our children are not here with us. The coronavirus pandemic has halted all of us,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

Colourful carpets in enclosure and aisles contrast seating and walking areas, and posters bearing social distancing norms messages like ‘keep six ft distance’, ‘wear a mask’, dot the venue.

Guests, security staff, VIPs, all were sporting masks as prescribed under the safety norms.

Some guests were even seen sporting designer masks to add to the uniqueness of the event that embraces the ‘new normal’ brought in by the coronavirus pandemic.

Delhi has been one of the worst-affected cities in the country as far as the spread of the virus is concerned.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital has crossed 1.5 lakh, while 4,178 people have died due to the viral infection.

From LoC to LAC, armed forces gave befitting replies to those challenging India’s sovereignty: PM’s message to Pakistan, China

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In his seventh straight Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort, the prime minister said the country is fighting terrorism as well as expansionism with determination.

NEW DELHI: Indian soldiers have given befitting reply to those who challenged the country’s sovereignty “from LoC to LAC”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, in a subtle message to Pakistan and China.

In his seventh straight Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort, the prime minister said the country is fighting terrorism as well as expansionism with determination.

Asserting that the respect for India’s sovereignty is supreme and that the world has seen in Ladakh what India’s brave jawans can do to maintain this resolve, Modi said,”I salute all those brave soldiers from the Red Fort.”

“From LoC to LAC, anyone who casts an eye on the sovereignty of the country, the armed forces of the country have responded in the language they understand,” Modi said, adding the whole country is united in protecting the sovereignty of the country.

The prime minister’s comments came in the midst of India’s festering border row with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and rising incidents of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash with Chinese armies in Galwan Valley.

The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details.

The expansion of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) has been ensured in 173 border and coastal districts and nearly one lakh new cadets will get special traning under the mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

One-third of the one lakh new cadets will be girls, the prime minister said in his Independence Day speech.

“Now, expansion of the NCC has been ensured in 173 border and coastal districts. Under this mission, one lakh NCC cadets will receive special training. Of this, one-third will be girls,” Modi told the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

Mass production of COVID-19 vaccine to begin in India once scientists give nod: PM

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Modi said whenever there is talk of COVID-19, the question that comes to everyone’s mind is that when will a vaccine be ready.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said mass production of vaccine for COVID-19 will begin in India once scientists give their nod, and a roadmap was ready to ensure it reaches everyone in the country in the shortest possible time.

Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on India’s 74th Independence Day, Modi said three vaccine candidates are in different stages of trials in the country, adding the talent of our scientists is like that of ‘rishi munis’.

He said whenever there is talk of COVID-19, the question that comes to everyone’s mind is that when will a vaccine be ready.

“I want to tell people, the talent of our scientists is like that of ‘rishi munis’ and they are working very hard in laboratories. Three vaccines are in various stages of testing. When scientists will give us the green signal, there will be production on a mass scale and all preparations have been made for it,” Modi said.

A roadmap has been prepared to ensure that the vaccine reaches everyone in the country in the shortest possible time with mass production, he said.

Three vaccine candidates are in different stages of human clinical trials in India.

The phase-1 and 2 human clinical trials of two of them, developed indigenously by Bharat Biotech, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), and Zydus Cadila Ltd, are currently underway.

The Serum Institute of India has been permitted for conducting Phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of the third vaccine candidate developed by the Oxford University.

The Pune-based institute has partnered with AstraZeneca for manufacturing the vaccine.

Bengaluru violence: Mobsters were outsiders, MLA Murthy our Anna, say locals

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“There were outsiders in the mob, who gathered before the DJ Halli police station within no time and damaged it. They burnt down Anna’s house.

BENGALURU: Family feud and an alleged conspiracy to sabotage the career of the Pulakeshi Nagar Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy by his party rivals and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) are emerging as the possible reasons behind the burning down of his house, said sources.

The Tuesday attack on the DJ Halli police station and the MLA’s house in Kaval Byrasandra was led by “outsiders”, say residents of Devarajeevanahalli (DJ Halli,) who are yet to recover from the shock of the violence. “There were outsiders in the mob, who gathered before the DJ Halli police station within no time and damaged it.

He is like a family member to a majority of the people in this area,” said Munna, a DJ Halli resident. “We are supporters of ‘Anna’. How can we think of harming him?” asked cable operator Fairoz of Devara Jeevana Halli.

“Anna is a very popular politician. He does not differentiate between people on religion or financial status. We have always voted for him even when he was with the JD(S). We vote for Anna and not the party he represents,” said Fairoz. “On every Eid he stands at the Tannery Road Circle and wishes everyone. On Ganesha (Chaturthi) and St Mary’s feast, you can find him walking inside the narrow lanes, greeting people,” he said. 

As one speaks to more people in DJ Halli, voices in support of Murthy in the Muslim-dominated area get stronger and the alleged reasons behind the attack on his house become less opaque. A former JD(S) leader, he had joined the Congress in 2017 on a call from his mentor and former CM Siddaramaiah, Murthy told TNIE. In 2018, he defeated his predecessor Prasanna Kumar, who had contested the election on a JD(S) ticket.

“Some of his rivals in the party may have joined hands with the SDPI to discredit him even though the latter is the bete noire of Congress Muslim leaders,” said a local leader. The attack on Murthy may have been the handiwork of his rivals within the party and SDPI, which has a stronger organisational skill among the youths in the area. “The police investigation should reveal who funded the mob,” he said.

Surprisingly, regarding Murthy’s nephew P Naveen, who had allegedly posted some highly objectionable post on his Facebook page and said to be the reason behind the arson, the MLA’s supporters said that the latter had nothing to do with Naveen. “Anna is not on talking terms with Naveen. In 2015, Naveen had approached the MLA when he was with the JD(S) for a ticket for the BBMP election, but he refused. JD(S) had fielded Anna’s wife Shailaja from Ward 48. She lost the election.

Naveen has been holding a grudge against his uncle since then but has used his relationship for his vested interests,” said a local leader. Whether Naveen fell into the trap of the SDPI-Murthy’s rival combo and planned the coup against his uncle, or his Facebook post was hacked is being investigated by the police.

The Social Democratic Party of India, Karnataka, has condemned the blasphemous act, police firing and the alleged delaying tactics of the police in arresting the culprit for the post. Abdul Hannan, Gen Secretary of SDPI, Karnataka, claimed that the blasphemous post was by Naveen, the nephew of local Congress MLA Akhanda Sreenivas.

He said, “When complaints were filed at 7pm at the DJ Halli police station, the police inspector and ACP had asked them to wait for two hours. Even at 11.30pm, the police didn’t arrest Naveen. This led to the worsening of the situation. The police resorted to firing which took three precious lives. Had the police acted responsibly, the untoward incidents could have been avoided.” “Earlier, when a local youth had commented on social media, the police had arrested him within 10 minutes.

But in this case, the police played delay tactics under political pressure,” he alleged. Abdul Hannan said the SDPI condemns the police for unnecessarily dragging them into the incident. In fact, the SDPI leaders pacified the mob several times in the presence of police and local Ulemas, he said. He said the SDPI demands that Naveen be prosecuted and that ‘irresponsible’ police officers be suspended.

North Korea lifts lockdown in city, rejects flood, coronavirus aid

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Kim said his country now faces a dual challenge of fending off COVID-19 amid a worsening global pandemic and repairing damage from torrential rain.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a ruling party meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Aug. 13 2020.

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lifted a lockdown in a major city near the border with South Korea where thousands had been quarantined for weeks over coronavirus worries, state media said Friday.

But Kim, during a key ruling party meeting on Thursday, also insisted the North will keep its borders shut and rejected any outside help as the country carries out an aggressive anti-virus campaign and rebuilds thousands of houses, roads and bridges damaged by heavy rain and floods in recent weeks.

Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency also said Kim replaced Kim Jae Ryong as premier following an evaluation of the Cabinet’s economic performance and appointed Kim Tok Hun as his successor.

Entering the last year of an ambitious five-year national development plan, Kim Jong Un in December declared a “frontal breakthrough” against international sanctions while urging his nation to stay resilient in a struggle for economic self-reliance.

But experts say the COVID-19 crisis likely thwarted some of Kim’s major economic goals by forcing the country into a lockdown that shut the border with China — the North’s major ally and economic lifeline — and potentially hampered his ability to mobilize people for labor.

During Thursday’s meeting, Kim said it was clear after three weeks of isolation measures and “scientific verification” that the virus situation in Kaesong was stable and expressed gratitude to residents for cooperating with the lockdown, KCNA reported.

Kim said his country now faces a dual challenge of fending off COVID-19 amid a worsening global pandemic and repairing damage from torrential rain that lashed the country in past weeks.

KCNA said 39,296 hectares (97,100 acres) of crops were ruined nationwide and 16,680 homes and 630 public buildings destroyed or flooded. It said many roads, bridges and railway sections were damaged and a dam of an unspecified power station gave way. There was no mention of any information related to injuries or deaths.

Kim expressed sympathy with people who were at temporary facilities after losing their houses to floods and called for swift recovery efforts so that none is “homeless” by the time the country celebrates the 75th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party’s founding on Oct. 10.

“The situation, in which the spread of the worldwide malignant virus has become worse, requires us not to allow any outside aid for the flood damage but shut the border tighter and carry out strict anti-epidemic work,” KCNA paraphrased Kim as saying.

Kim’s public rejection of international aid for flood recovery and his decision to release Kaesong from quarantine are negative indicators for inter-Korean cooperation as South Korea had hoped to restart diplomatic engagement by providing support in these areas, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

Cho Hey-sil, spokesperson of Seoul’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the South remains willing to provide humanitarian assistance to the North.

North Korea in past months has severed virtually all cooperation with the South amid a stalemate in larger nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, which faltered over disagreements in exchanging sanctions relief and disarmament steps.

The North in June blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong, following months of frustration over Seoul’s unwillingness to defy U.S.-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program and restart joint economic projects that would help the North’s broken economy.

“The North Korean economy, while touting self-reliance, is increasingly dependent on China and will struggle to balance sanctions-busting efforts and COVID-19 prevention,” Easley said. “The job of North Korea’s new premier will be to show the country has recovered from recent flooding and has upgraded public health facilities” by the October party anniversary, he said.

In late July, Kim ordered a total lockdown of Kaesong and had the nation shift into a “maximum emergency system” after the North reported it found a person with COVID-19 symptoms.

The North’s state media said the suspected case was a North Korean who had earlier fled to the South before slipping back into Kaesong. But South Korean health authorities say the 24-year-old hadn’t tested positive in South Korea and never had contact with any known virus carrier.

North Korea later said the person’s test results were inconclusive and still maintains it is virus-free, a status widely doubted by outsiders. Some experts said the North was likely trying to shift the blame over a possible spread of the virus to South Korea.

In an email to The Associated Press last week, Dr. Edwin Salvador, the World Health Organization’s representative to North Korea, said the North has told the U.N. agency it quarantined 64 first contacts of the suspected Kaesong case and 3,571 secondary contacts in state-run facilities for 40 days.

Since the end of December, North Korea has quarantined and released 25,905 people, 382 of them foreigners, Salvador said.

Delhi youth suffers kidney malfunction from excessive gymming post lockdown: Doctor

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Gyms are slowly reopening in the city under ‘Unlock 3’ norms and people are “rushing to exercise” after staying at home for months, a leading private hospital claimed.

NEW DELHI: Vigourous gymming by an 18-year-old youth post-lockdown proved a costly affair for him, as it led to a medical condition that caused malfunctioning of his kidneys, doctors said on Thursday.

Gyms are slowly reopening in the city under ‘Unlock 3’ norms and people are “rushing to exercise” after staying at home for months, a leading private hospital claimed.

The case of 18-year-old Lakshay Bindra from Delhi highlights the “adverse health consequences of excessive and aggressive gymming” after months of staying in at home, it said.

“Bindra, an avid gymming enthusiast, wanted to make up for the lost time when his favourite gym reopened after months of lockdown.

He hit the gym over-enthusiastically and exercised for over an hour quite vigorously.

“That same evening, he began to suffer from extreme muscle fatigue, body stiffness, and pain, along with vomiting,” Max Super Speciality Hospital, Patparganj said in a statement.

He was brought to the hospital in a “bad shape” after suffering at home for three days, it said.

Dilip Bhalla, Senior Consultant, Department of Renal & Kidney Transplant, at the hospital, said, “When the patient came to our hospital, he was suffering from acute pain in the abdomen, black-colored urine with reduced urine output, and deranged kidney and liver function.

He was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a health condition in which acute muscle breakdown occurs.” “This, in turn, releases certain types of enzymes in the bloodstream, leading to kidney malfunction,” he said.

The patient was immediately wheeled into ICU and started on IV fluids to maintain hydration and provide nutrients to his muscles.

Gentle physiotherapy was conducted for several days to soothe his muscles, the doctor said.

“In addition, he needed two sessions of dialysis as his kidneys had stopped functioning totally. Slowly, as days passed, the patient started improving.

His muscle stiffness and pain began to subside gradually, even as he slowly regained muscle power,” Bhalla said.

The enzyme myoglobin released due to muscle injury leads to kidney dysfunction.

If not detected in time, it can lead to eventual kidney shutdown and life-threatening complications, he added.

“It was rare for us to see such a young individual suffering from non-functioning kidneys. Luckily, we managed to lead him to full recovery after a week’s stay at the hospital.

His kidneys have revived and are fully functional now,” the doctor said.

Abbas Ali Khatai, Attending Consultant, Emergency Medicine, at the hospital, said aggressive, unaccustomed exercise leads to accumulation of acid in the muscles which leads to the breakdown of muscle protein.

“Lockdown has its own problems, but so does the unlocking phase, as shown by this case. Caution is the key and not overdoing what the body cannot tolerate,” he said.

215 prisoners test positive for COVID-19 in Bihar Araria jail

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All the positive prisoners are asymptomatic and placed under isolation monitored by jail administration and health officials.

PATNA: In a first, more than 215 prisoners tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar’s Araria jail on Tuesday and Wednesday during testing of the prisoners. All the positive prisoners have been isolated in the jail with proper cares so that they could not spread infection among others.

Confirming this, IG (Prison) Mithilesh Mishra said that all the 215 positive inmates have been isolated in the jail following the set norms of WHO and health parameters by jail administration.

Mishra said that 42 inmates were tested positive on Tuesday and 182 on Wednesday.

“Altogether 600 out of total 706 inmates of Araria jail were tested. And among those 600, 215 have been diagnosed positive with the infection of Covid-19,” Mishra said.

He said that all the positive prisoners are asymptomatic and placed under isolation monitored by jail administration and health officials.

The IG further said that more than 300 prisoners have so far tested positive in different jails of state. “A  majority of them, except 215 tested positive in Araria, have recovered while 4 prisoners were found positive after death in Bhagalpur,” he said.

“The prison department of state has made proper arrangement of masks, hand sanitizers and hand washing in every jail. The prisoners are continuously educated on how to maintain social distancing and safety on the Covid-19,” he claimed.

The prisoners of some jails have also made masks in bulk quantity which are distributed among the inmates of other jails depending upon the requirement.

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