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High Covid-19 testing positivity rates in Maharashtra, Telangana, Delhi raise concerns

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The crucial indicator from these states also signals that the epidemic is far from being over in spite of the very high incidence of the infectious disease already.

NEW DELHI:  Considerably high Covid-19 testing positivity rates (TPR) in Maharashtra, Telangana and Delhi have raised concerns that the disease is silently spreading through the population at a much more alarming rate than acknowledged by the governments, and these states are yet to reach optimal testing rates to contain the contagion. 

The crucial indicator from these states also signals that the epidemic is far from being over in spite of the very high incidence of the infectious disease already. According to the government figures, the seven-day average TPR for Telangana — at 19 per cent — is the highest in the country. It means that 19 of every 100 people being tested for the infection have been found positive over the past week.

This rate is 18.2 for Maharashtra and 16.1 for Delhi — the two other states that have seen a very high disease burden. This indicator for all other states, on the other hand, is well below 10 per cent, while the country’s overall TPR is less than 9.

Epidemiologist Dr Jammi N Rao, who has worked with the ICMR-Hyderabad in the past, said: “The reasons could be either there are a greater number of cases in the community so that, all other things being equal, more tests are correctly identifying the greater number of cases or more of the tests are now being done on people with obvious symptoms of Covid-19.” 

India’s Foreign secretary reaches Dhaka with Modi’s message to Hasina

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Sources said that the proposal for travel bubble for business, official and medical travel was discussed along with the Rohingya issues.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla (L) and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina

NEW DELHI:  Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday reached Dhaka for a two-day visit to Bangladesh which is aimed at enhancing ties with the neighbouring country. The foreign secretary is likely to meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to deliver a ‘special message’ from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is Shringla’s second visit to Bangladesh within five months. He had last visited Bangladesh in March.

According to local media reports, Hasina is likely to meet Shringla at her official residence after which the foreign secretary will hold talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Masud Bin Momen and Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.

The visit is being seen as New Delhi’s attempt to check  Dhaka’s growing proximity to Beijing in the aftermath of the June 15 violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh. India, as a retaliatory measure, had banned 59 Chinese apps citing security concerns. Later, China had responded by exempting import duty on around 100 Bangladeshi products.

The trip is also being perceived as a reconciliatory measure after reports of a tiff between the Bangladesh government and the Indian High Commissioner and the alleged questions over the ‘quality’ of the 10 Indian locomotives given to Bangladesh. Recently, India had described its relationship with Bangladesh as “exceptionally close”. 

CT Ravi pushes for another heritage institute in Mysore

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Meanwhile, Fisheries Minister Kota Srinivas Pujar was also in New Delhi to meet Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday.

BENGALURU: A minister from Karnataka is pushing for setting up of the Indian Institute of Heritage and Conservation in Mysuru, cheerfully unaware that the heritage city is home to the Oriental Research Institute for decades. And neither did he check with his party colleague from the area about the grand plan.

Mysuru-Kodagu MP Prathap Simha, left quite out of the loop, said that digitising of the manuscripts has already been taken up. “We were not informed by the minister. We don’t know about the meeting in Delhi,” Simha said.

Asked whether he knew about the Oriental Research Institute, Ravi said the new heritage centre will give the state national status. “The Indian Institute of Heritage and Conservation was announced in the Union budget by FM Sitharaman. Many states are also trying to bag this institute, which comes under the tourism department. It will provide job opportunities for locals. Mysuru is a heritage city and having the institute in Mysuru will be apt,” he said.

He will also be meeting Tourism Minister Pralhad Singh Patel to urge him to set up the centre in Mysuru. Since Nirmala Sitharaman is a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka, the memorandum was also submitted to her. Ravi said that land was recently allotted for a Kannada Classical Language study centre.

He also reportedly met Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, and appealed for the construction of a full-fledged stadium at Chikkamagaluru, his hometown. He appealed to Sitharaman to announce a special package for distressed cardamom and pepper growers of Chikkamagaluru. The FM reportedly assured him that she would hold a webinar with the growers and take a decision.

Meanwhile, Fisheries Minister Kota Srinivas Pujar was also in New Delhi to meet Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday. He discussed the proposed sea food park at Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru, and sought grants for the same.

COVID-19 India reports spike of 64,531 cases, 1092 deaths in last 24 hours

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The COVID-19 tally in the country rises to 27,67,274 including 6,76,514 active cases, 20,37,871 discharged/migrated & 52,889 deaths.

coronavirus, PPE, COVID 19

With 64,531 people testing positive in a day, India’s COVID-19 tally increased to 27,67,273 on Wednesday, while the recoveries crossed the 20-lakh mark pushing the recovery rate to 73.64 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The death toll climbed to 52,889 with 1,092 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The Centre on Tuesday cautioned against pinning too much hope on the Covid-19 vaccines, saying everyone wants them to succeed but there is no guarantee, they will. At a press briefing on the outbreak management, Dr V K Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog, who also heads the National Expert Group on Covid- 19 Vaccine Administration, said “it won’t be appropriate to assume any vaccine under trial will emerge as successful”.

Muslim leaders to Pant: Punish those really involved in Bengaluru riots

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They urged the commissioner to release innocents if they have been picked up by police.

BENGALURU: A delegation of Muslim leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain, Shantinagar MLA N A Haris, MLC C M Ibrahim, Narasimharaja MLA Tanveer Sait, KPCC working president Saleem Ahmed and 28 other organisation heads submitted a memorandum to Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant on Tuesday, petitioning that “innocents” should not be punished in connection with the Kaval Byrasandra riots.

They urged the commissioner to release innocents if they have been picked up by police.People there are living in great difficulty and are unable to get their daily needs because of the curfew-like situation. Police should provide details of those arrested to the families. No innocent person should be picked up.’’ MP Hussain said, “We condemn the vandalism and have asked police to take action against those who are really involved, and also relax curfew. We urged the government to probe the delay in registering an FIR.”

Tata Group likely to submit bid for Air India this month

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Now, as per a report published in a financial daily, the Tata Group has already started due diligence and could submit it close to the official deadline at the end of this month. 

NEW DELHI:  In what may come as a relief to the Government of India, the Tata Group is likely to make a formal bid for debt-laden national carrier Air India by the end of the month, according to reports. The government has been trying to divest its stake in the loss-making carrier since last year, with a new divestment process for the firm initiated on January 27. 

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has extended the deadline for the submission of initial bids a couple of times. In June, the Centre extended the deadline to submit an EoI (expression of interest) till August 31 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, as per a report published in a financial daily, the Tata Group has already started due diligence and could submit it close to the official deadline at the end of this month. At present, the Tata Group runs two airlines in India—the premium Vistara and budget carrier AirAsia India—in partnership with foreign carriers.

While there have been multiple reports that Tata may merge its stake in AirAsia and Air India into a single entity, the Group hasn’t confirm on the speculations yet. Tata is already said to have engaged top legal firms and consultants to seek their opinion before making a formal bid for Air India, but many experts believe the privatisation process could be time consuming. 

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.

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