After Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians to stay at home, wherever they are, in a bid to contain the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government seems to have had its own plans to push the country into chaos. In a video shared by BJP leader Kapil Mishra, one can see announcements being made in colonies where UP-Bihar migrants are staying in Delhi informing them that Delhi government-run DTC buses will take them to the Anand Vihar bus terminal.
दिल्ली में इस तरह बस्तियों में रात को माइक से अनाउंसमेंट किये गए थे
आनंद विहार के लिए बस जा रही हैं, वहां से आगे यूपी बिहार के लिए बस मिलेगी
सोते हुए लोगों को उठा उठाकर बसों से बॉर्डर पर भेजा गया
In the video, one can hear that the person making the announcement is saying that from Anand Vihar ISBT, they will be able to get the buses to take them further to UP and Bihar. This, when most of the state governments have sealed their borders and banned commercial vehicles to ply.
Earlier it was reported that Kejriwal-government run DTC buses dropped off the UP-Bihar migrant workers at the Ghaziabad and Noida borders. Following which, lakhs of migrant workers took foot journeys to their homes as the UP state government had closed state transport buses. On humanitarian grounds, after the lakhs of migrant workers were found walking home, the UP government on 28th March announced that it will ply buses to drop off these people to their homes safely. This was done to ensure people do not have to suffer anymore than they already have to owing to the pandemic.
On 28 March, 2020 it was reported that the UP authorities had accused the Delhi authorities of disconnected the water and electrical energy connections of individuals, forcing them to leave their homes in Delhi and head back to their villages. “Throughout lockdown, individuals weren’t even supplied meals and milk in Delhi,” stated a report quoting UP govt sources.
Editor’s Note: The article was written by a BJP spokesperson of party’s Maharashtra unit and it contained criticism of the current state government’s handling of the situation arising in wake of Coronavirus pandemic. The article was aimed at alerting the state administration to improve some aspects, lest the situation worsens. However, Devendra Fadnavis, the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and a senior leader of BJP advised the author to forget criticism for the time being and work together with the government to take on this unprecedented challenge of Coronavirus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown the way how political differences can be set aside in time of this national crisis, and the same can be done by every BJP supporter. As a result, the author requested to withdraw the article, and OpIndia has accepted the request.
India is currently in the midst of its fight against the novel coronavirus. PM Modi, leading the country’s battle against COVID-19 had announced a nationwide strict lockdown in order to mitigate the menacing spread of the virus. The ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus, though necessary, has adversely affected the poor, daily-wage workers and those belonging to the lower rung of the economic ladder, who are now struggling to even feed themselves.
The central and various state governments have taken a slew of measures, aimed at alleviating the sufferings of the poor. NGOs have also joined in and extended their support in feeding the most vulnerable members of the society. In addition, prominent individuals like Mannargudi Jeeyar Swami- A Hindu Acharya have also come forward to provide food for the homeless amidst the lockdown. Jeeyar Swami, who is camping at Srirangam is operating with a small staff of 2 people and gets food cooked on contract. As of now, he is getting food cooked for 200 people at the Matham’s premises and uses his personal vehicle to travel and distribute food.
With the budget of Rs 1.5 lakhs, Swami reckons that he could help at least 200 people tide over this period of lockdown without going hungry. According to him, a plate of fresh rice and sambar or puliyodarai or curd rice can be served to 200 people, twice a day at an average cost of 17.5 rupees per plate. This includes cost of rice, tamarind, pulses, vegetables, staff salaries, packing material.
Sri Chendalankara Sampath Kumara Ramanuja Jeeyar is a Sri Vaishnava sannyasi and the pontiff of the Mannargudi Chendalakara Shenbaka Mannar Matha. Pontiffs of Sri Vaishnava Mathas are referred to by the title ‘Jeeyar Swamigal’. Jeeyar Swamigal is popularly known as the Mannargudi Jeeyar, after the town the Matah operates out of.
The line of succession at the Mannargudi Matha was broken and the pontiffhood was vacant for 125 years before the current seer was ordained.
In his pontiffhood, along with his regular religious and cultural duties, the Mannargudi Jeeyar has taken it upon himself to reach out to Dalit communities and the most marginalized groups such as the Arundhatiyar, who very often live in segregated colonies in villages. Many of them are landless and work as casual labourers in agriculture and small industries. A good number are also employed in traditional occupations of public conservancy, leather and in cremation grounds. Swami is also actively involved in cow protection. He runs a goshala, taking care of 51 cows under his supervision.
To contribute to Mannargudi Jeeyar Swami’s initiative, you could click here.
As India spent the fourth day of the 21-day lockdown, central and state authorities are taking several provisions to contain the spread of Covid-19. Though Assam has not yet recorded a single positive Covid-19 case, the state government has stepped up its preparations to fight highly contagious Wuhan Coronavirus.
The health authorities in Assam, led by CM Sarbananda Sonowal and health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma have dramatically raised the efforts in this regard in the last week. The state government had already announced a complete lockdown from 6 PM on 24 March, on the same day that PM Narendra Modi announced nationwide lockdown from the next day.
On 26th March, Health Minister Himanata Biswa Sarma announced several measures that the government is taking to prepare for Covid-19. The state government has already started building a quarantine centre at the Sarusojai Sports Complex in Guwahati with capacity for about 700 people. He visited the site earlier today and said that the facility would be ready in a week’s time. The minister also said that there was enough space in the Sarusajai Sports complex to set up an isolation centre for another 1,000 persons. The state government will also rent an apartment complex close to the facility to accommodate at least 200 doctors. If required, another quarantine centre with similar capacity can be built at the Nehru Stadium, he said.
A large quarantine centre will be established at the Sarusojai Sports Complex, Guwahati with capacity for about 700 people. This morning visited the site to take stock of preparedness and the facility. It shall be ready in a week’s time. pic.twitter.com/bolVMafOsE
The state is also going to build five temporary hospitals, each costing Rs 40-50 crore, which shall be met with the help of donations from govt agencies, MPs and public and state resources, and will be up and running in two months. “The life of these hospitals is five years as they will be made from prefabricated building material,” he said.
We are planning 5 pre-fabricated hospitals in collaboration with private companies to meet this emergency situation. The project might cost around Rs 40-45 crore, which shall be met with the help of donations from govt agencies, MPs & public and state resources. #COVID2019pic.twitter.com/ePTE8f1Sdn
Although govt had initially planned to hand over the task to Larsen and Turbo, they later decided for an open bid and a notification inviting expression of interest for the same was issued on 28th March. Sarma said that the contracts will be awarded within the next 5 days for building five 300 bed hospitals in 5 different places in Assam, with ICU and ventilator facilities. The hospitals are planned to be completed in 2 months using prefabricated units, and later on, permanent structures will be built for them. He also said the state government was looking to set up hospitals in places where there was no medical college. A site has been already identified at Dibrugarh, while the local admins are looking for suitable places at Guwahati, Silchar, Bongaigaon and Lakhimpur for the remaining hospitals.
Sarma also informed that his government is reserving the medical colleges in the state and the govt hospitals in Guwahati exclusively for coronavirus patients. The state health ministry yesterday signed MoUs with 36 private hospitals and nursing homes in Guwahati, to divert other patients to them. The Guwahati Medical College and Hospital have stopped admitting any patient from today, other than maternity and cancer patients as these units are physically separated from the main hospital. Similarly, Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital in Guwahati and Sonapur Civil Hospital near the city have been reserved exclusively for coronavirus patients, except maternity and emergency cases. The private hospitals will treat patients diverted from govt hospitals free of cost under Ayushman Bharat and Atal Amrit Abhiyan schemes.
“We have extended Ayushman Bharat Scheme of cashless coverage to all persons in Assam going to any of the 36 private hospitals in the city. This will immediately relieve the stress on the government hospitals. Also, all hospitals attached to medical colleges in the State, seven in all, will be converted for COVID-19 treatment only,” he said.
A similar MoU was signed with 27 private hospitals and nursing homes in Dibrugarh today, as the Assam Medical College and Hospital will be reserved only for Coronavirus patients. Other medical colleges will also be reserved in the same way, after agreements are signed with private hospitals in the respective towns to treat the patients of govt hospitals.
New ICU unit set up at GMCH withing a few days
The Guwahati Medical College and Hospital has also readied a new 30 bed state-of-art ICU with ventilation within the last few days. Himanta Biswa Sarma took to Twitter to share pictures of the unit, which have been installed at the new super speciality unit of the GMCH which is still under construction. These beds shall be kept reserved exclusively for COVID-19 patients, tweeted Sarma. Around 20 more ICU units with ventilator are being installed at the GNCH withing next 1-2 days, he informed local media.
I am very proud of our incredible team at #GMCH which worked very hard to creat this new ICU, with 30 beds in matter of few days, since my last visit here. Happy to see the state-of-art ICU with ventilation which shall be kept reserved exclusively for #COVID2019 patients. pic.twitter.com/bMzSqhgMPM
The Chabua-based Tata Referral Hospital has already been handed over to the health authorities by its management to run corona-specific treatments. “The challenge for us is to build capacity during this lockdown period, for equipment and hospital beds as well as quarantine facilities,” he said.
The health minister also informed that the final year medical students shall be given a 7-day intensive training on treatment of COVID-19 patients. Final-year nursing students shall be deployed across 6 medical colleges. The government of Assam shall take care of their food, lodging etc.
Himanta Biswa Sarma informed that the govt is preparing enough healthcare workers so that after positive coronavirus case emerged in Assam, each batch of workers can be sent for mandatory 14-day quarantine after working for 7 days. He informed that apart from readying the final year students, the government can also call around 700 doctors serving mandatory 1-year rural posting in various villages in the state to the coronavirus hospitals. The minister said that although many people had suggested, it has been decided not to induct retired doctors for active duty in Coronavirus management, as they belong to the vulnerable group for Covid-19. He said that retired doctors will be asked to provide guidance, training etc, but they will not be involved in treatment.
Explaining how the government is working on a war footing to be ready for the upcoming epidemic, Sarma said that they had sent minister Pijush Hazarika to Delhi to fetch 1,000 masks, so that they are not stuck in the lockdown. Sarma informed that the state has 10,000 personal protection units, nearly 1 lakh N95 masks, and around 13 lakhs three-layered masks in the state.
Earlier in the day, Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal visited Tezpur Medical College where isolation ward has been set up for coronavirus patients.
Though so far, Assam has not reported any case of coronavirus, its neighbouring states like West Bengal and Manipur have reported 15 and 1 case respectively. Mizoram too has reported 1 case so far. There are 4 ICMR laboratories in the state equipped to test for Novel Coronavirus, which are located at Medical Colleges at Guwahati, Jorhat and Silchar, and Regional Medical Research Center at Dirbuargh. These labs have tested more than 300 suspected samples from the state so far, and all of them have been found negative. Apart from them, the state also have collection centres of some private laboratory chains which have been allowed to to Covid-19 test by ICMR.
The total number of positive cases in India as reached 918 with 19 people succumbing to the infection.
While India is girding itself to tackle the menace of Wuhan Coronavirus, the contagion that is responsible for ravaging many countries, including developed nations across the globe, some of the ungrateful Indians are exploiting this global crisis to push their anti-Modi animus on western news dailies. It is of little concern for them that their animosity for PM Modi often imperceptibly segues into their hatred for India.
In one such instance, the feature image of the article titled- “The Callousness of India’s COVID-19 Response“, penned by Vidya Krishnan in ‘The Atlantic’, shows a distorted version of the Indian flag in which the much hallowed Ashok Chakra in the Indian flag was replaced by the artistic image of deadly pathogen- Novel Coronavirus. The article attempts to belittle the Modi government’s efforts to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus that has left powerful nations floundering as the tally of those afflicted by the pathogen hit the 530,000-mark worldwide, with the fatalities of more than 25000 people.
Everything that’s wrong with #India‘s #COVID19 response flows from Jan/Feb.
Instead of stockpiling, like all nations, Modi govt was tearing apart the social fabric with a pogrom & police brutality that set the tone for it
The sanctity of a nation’s flag is inviolable. However, the hatred for PM Modi amongst some individuals like Vidya is so intense that they have no qualms in eroding the sanctity of the national flag if it helps their propaganda of showing the Modi government in the bad light. The insult to the Indian flag is also a punishable offence under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which prohibits the desecration of or insult to the country’s national symbols, including the National Flag.
In the article, Ms Vidya tries to stitch two mutually independent events- the demonstrations following the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the country’s response to the novel coronavirus to peddle her propaganda against the Modi government. Ms Vidya uses the opportunity to once again rant against the Citizenship Amendment Act, accusing the government of engineering a “pogrom” in Delhi which she claims witnessed dozens of deaths, many of whom were Muslims. According to Ms Vidya, the Centre was too engrossed in stamping out the anti-CAA protests that it missed acting on the emerging threat from the coronavirus.
However, Ms Vidya is not only being disingenuous about protests that erupted after the legislation of the CAA, but she is also being economical with the facts of the incidents surrounding the anti-Hindu CAA riots in Delhi. Violent hoodlums and vandals ran amok in the name of ‘peaceful’ protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Vandalism, arson, stone-pelting and violence was a hallmark of these so-called non-violent anti-CAA protests. Ms Vidya also doesn’t mention the Shaheen Bagh protests, where anti-CAA Muslim protesters squatted on one of the busiest thoroughfares of the National Capital for more than 90 days, causing grave inconvenience to the commuters and residents. The demonstrators continued protesting at the site despite the Supreme Court’s scathing observation that protesters cannot protest by blocking passage for others. It was only after the threat of the coronavirus became too palpable that the protesters at Shaheen Bagh vacated the site and scampered away, although initially for more than a week they were saying that they will not vacate the site despite the threat of the disease.
Ms Vidya also attempts to disparage PM Modi’s call for a total lockdown amidst the coronavirus outbreak as a “headline-grabbing initiative announced with little warning, but one that will do little to address the myriad problems India faces in dealing with the coronavirus”. She claimed that the Indian establishment has pushed the onus of fighting the coronavirus on the population instead of “instituting an official support system”. In addition, she expressed strong disapproval of the sweeping restrictions imposed by PM Modi, claiming that the people at the bottom rung of the economic ladder will be worst hit by the lockdown while the wealthy and upper-middle-class would manage to make it through unscathed.
Though there is a grain of truth in Ms Vidya’s assertion that the poor stand to lose due to the lockdown, however, Ms Vidya is oblivious to the fact that the coronavirus is an unfamiliar pathogen with the ominous characteristic of being highly contagious. The poor and the underprivileged which Ms Vidya seems to take up the cudgel for are the most susceptible to contracting the infection. In the absence of a blanket lockdown, they remain the most vulnerable lot of the society and may potentially act as a vector of the pathogen, devastating their own lives and of those surrounding them. PM Modi realised this grim fact and therefore placed equal importance on their physical as well as financial health in the country’s battle against the coronavirus.
While calling for a lockdown for 21 days in the country, PM Modi acknowledged the uninviting fact that in the absence of any vaccines and antidotes to cure the infection, social distancing and harsh measures of restrictions are the only way to keep the country’s population safe from the menace of the virus. In fact, PM Modi’s call for a total lockdown was also in accordance with the scientific wisdom and empirical evidence that suggest that imposing sweeping restrictions does play a crucial role in blunting the spread of the virus and in dramatically reducing the mortality rate.
Scientists and doctors across the world are advocating the imposition of grating restrictions to bring the contagion to heel. With a population of 1.3 billion people and the public health system not as robust as in the western countries, several medical practitioners have hailed PM Modi’s decision to call for a total lockdown to avert the imminent explosion of the coronavirus cases and the subsequent overwhelming of the public health system as experienced in countries like Italy and Spain. In fact, American Psychologist Tom Pueyo appears to concur with PM Modi’s strategy to suppress the contagion at the outset at the cost of the economic shutdown. In his comprehensive strategy to effectively deal with the coronavirus outbreak, Pueyo suggested all-encompassing restrictions be imposed as early as possible which would be gradually lifted, preventing the overburdening of country’s public health system and biding country time for the virus to mutate or doctors to come up with an antidote.
The World Health Organisation, the premier body responsible for the international public health lauded PM Modi’s efforts to curb the spread of the virus in India. However, as predicted, WHO’s praise for PM Modi didn’t find any mention in Ms Vidya’s distinctly prejudiced article.
Ms Vidya then goes on to term the relief package of $22.5 billion announced by the finance minister as a “pitiable package”, comparing it with the fiscal stimulus announced by relatively affluent countries of Europe. She ignores the basic fact while the package announced by India just a social welfare package aimed at the poor, the large packages announced by other countries are comprehensive economic revival package which includes large handouts to business and industry. India’s finance minister N Sitharaman announced what is touted by many as first instalment of relief package of $22.5 billion, aimed at providing a safety net for those who are worst-hit by the covid-19 lockdown. Besides, low-income earners as of now used to get 5 kilograms of rice or wheat per month at a heavily subsidized rate. Now, the government will top that up with an additional 5 kg of either rice or wheat per person for the next three months, and 1 kg of pulses per household for that same period — for free.
But Ms Vidya, in her article, was keener in deriving masochistic pleasure in comparing India with the wealthy nations of Europe and the United States. In addition, there were too many ridiculous assumptions made by Ms Vidya here while denouncing India’s preliminary relief package. The underlying assumption that India should match the percentage of GDP expended by the European countries is premised on the fact that India’s reserves are on par with the European counterparts for it to unhesitatingly release a gargantuan fiscal stimulus. Moreover, the situation in European countries is particularly grim, warranting the enormous fiscal stimulus envisaged by their government. The situation in India is so far reasonably under control for the government to announce a comparable relief package. There are other factors such as the size of the country, the population of the nation, the economic prosperity, per capita income and other facets that dictate the government’s decision while zeroing in on the extent of the relief package. But it would be overstretching Ms Vidya’s mental faculties to expect her to process such fine nitty-gritty of a nation’s response to a pandemic.
Moreover, when the sole agenda of the writer is to spew anti-Modi propaganda behind the veneer of “critically analysing India’s response to the pandemic”, one expects her to resort to obfuscation and distortion of the available facts in the public domain to make her case strong. This explains how Ms Vidya perversely inserted seemingly disparate and disconnected issues such as anti-Hindu Delhi riots and Citizenship Amendment Act in an article which was meant to review India’s action to halt the spread of the virus. Ms Vidya has displayed an unflinching determination in advancing her anti-Modi propaganda, no matter if it comes at the cost of insulting the country’s national flag and undermining its efforts in dealing with the pandemic.
The Union Home Ministry has exempted agriculture-farming and allied activities from the ongoing nationwide lockdown to ensure uninterrupted harvesting of crops. In a relief to farmers during the 21-day lockdown, the government has brought agriculture and allied activities under the exempted category in order to maintain the availability of grains in the market.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s welfare said that the step taken will allow unhindered harvesting of crops. The categories which are exempted from the lockdown includes the agencies engaged in the procurement of agricultural products, including MSP (minimum support price) and ‘mandis’ operated by Agriculture Produce Market Committee, farming operations by farmers and farmworkers in the field and Custom Hiring Centers(CHC), farm machinery, manufacturing and packaging units of fertilizers, pesticides and seeds, and intra and inter-state movement of harvesting and sowing related machines.
Agriculture and Farmer’s welfare minister Narendra Singh Tomar has been constantly monitoring issues related to the farmers since the lockdown was enforced Tuesday midnight.
As per reports, the government has issued necessary directions to the concerned ministries and departments and designated officials of the state and Union territories implementation of the decision.
It is said that the decision will facilitate unhindered activities related to agriculture and farming to ensure that the common man continues to get essential supplies and farmers don’t face various difficulties during the lockdown.
The Union ministry earlier announced that people below the poverty line across the country will be given wheat at Rs2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per kg at concessional rates for the next three months. The Modi led government had approved the world’s largest food security scheme that proposed every person will get 27 kg ration per month for the next three months, in which the wheat will be priced at Rs 2 per kg, instead of Rs 27 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per kg instead of Rs 37 per kg.
Uttar Pradesh government will take action against Delhi Aam Aadmi Party MLA Raghav Chadha for spreading fake news of UP govt harassing migrant workers. Media advisor to UP Chief Minister, Mrityunjay Kumar said that UP govt and police will take definite action against a tweet posted by the AAP MLA from Rajinder Nagar.
यह सरासर झूठी ख़बर है, ऐसी महामारी के समय भी इनकी पार्टी गंदी राजनीति खेलने से बाज़ नहीं आ रही है, इतना नीचे कैसे गिर सकती है आम आदमी पार्टी? इस ट्वीट पर उत्तरप्रदेश सरकार और पुलिस निश्चित कार्यवाही करेगी। https://t.co/h0HwKsBFXn
Today evening Raghav Chadha had tweeted that according to sources, Yogi Adityanath is getting those migrant workers chased and beaten who are going to UP from Delhi due to the nationwide 21-day lockdown imposed to combat Covid-19. He said that the UP CM has said them, ‘why you went to Delhi, now you will be never allowed to go to Delhi. He appeals to UP government for not to do this, and not to increase the problems of people during this difficult time.
Screenshot of Raghav Chadha’s tweet
The AAP leader was responding to media reports
claiming that the migrant labours in Delhi had rushed to go to their native
places after water and electricity to their houses were cut. It has been reported
that rumours were spread saying that the lockdown will go on for 3 months, and
after that Delhi govt transported the migrants to UP border using DTC buses. According
to Uttar Pradesh government, the migrant workers were told that UP buses were
waiting for them at the border, and had dropped them at the border, where there
was no bus from the UP govt. It later forced the UP govt to work overnight to
arrange around 1000 buses to transport those people stranded at the Delhi-UP
border to take them to their native places.
Basically, to do away with the migrant workers in the
national capital amidst the pandemic, the AAP government allegedly spread the
rumour that buses have been waiting at the UP borders to take them to their
respective households. This impelled the mass exodus of these migrant
labourers, who were forced to camp at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, in an
attempt to return to their respective villages.
After the UP government had accused the Delhi government of
playing petty politics using such tactics, the AAP leader responded to it by saying
that the Yogi Adityanath had got the migrants beaten, which is a complete lie.
Media reports show that UP government had mobilised huge number of buses to
evacuate people stranded at the state border, and no report mentions anything
about those people beaten by UP police.
Therefore, Mrityunjay Kumar asserted that it is completely false, and during such epidemic the Aam Aadmi Party is playing politics. ‘How low the Aam Aadmi Party can descend?’ he asked, and assured action on the tweet.
Even as the nation continues its fight against the Wuhan Coronavirus and tries to stop the spread of the virus, lots of media organisations as spreading panic by claiming that India will face situations like other countries and the current measures are not enough to stop the pandemic to descend into stage 3, which is community spread. Such a report was published by news agency IANS, which was carried by news portals like NDTV and National Herald, which cited a study on Coronavirus done by The Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) in collaboration with John Hopkins University, US. The report claimed that the study has found that the ongoing 21-day national lockdown will not be able to contain the spread of Coronavirus. A screenshot of the cover of the report about India and Coronavirus was widely spread on social media, which showed the logos of CDDEP, JHU and the Princeton University on it.
But when one social media user asked the University whether the study was done by one of their students, the University responded that the use of their logo in the report is unauthorised, and they will be taking the matter with CDDEP. Now, even Princeton University has distanced itself from the report. Taking to Twitter, Princeton Univeristy too said that the use of their logo was unauthotised and they were looking into the matter.
We did not authorize this use of our logo. We’re looking into it to get it fixed. Thank you.
The report was published on 24th March, so presumably, it was published before the national lockdown as it announced by PM Narendra Modi at 8 PM on that day. It disagrees with such a measure and says that border closures at this stage have little to no impact and add further economic disruption and panic. “A national lockdown is not productive and could cause serious economic damage, increase hunger, and reduce the population resilience for handling the infection peak”, the report says.
In an interview with controversial journalist Barkha Dutt for her venture Mojo, CDDEP director Ramanan Laxminarayan had said, “if we have to do a lockdown, it would be now. We should lock down now, for a two-week period”. He had stressed that “we need it immediately.” The interview was published on 21st March, but surprisingly, just three days later, Laxminarayan’s report published a report arguing against the nationwide lockdown to control Coronavirus spread.
It is important to note that Dr Ramanan Laxminarayanan is not a doctor. He has a PhD degree who is recently being projected as a doctor and a health expert by several news organisations.
Ramanan Laxminarayanan is a UPA-era public health entrepreneur and has worked for a little-known not-for-profit organisation named Public Health Foundation of India for the last four years.
It is rather interesting that an unverified report was touted by the media to paint a grim picture of India, from which John Hopkins University and the Princeton University have distanced themselves only days a PhD holding was touted as a ‘Doctor’ to fear-monger against India during the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak. The media’s credibility, which has an ever dwindling credibility, seems at an all-time low when even amidst an epidemic, facts and people who are touted as experts are not even verified before spreading panic amongst the people.
Update: Responding to this report, Princeton University said that they have contacted the researchers at CDDEP, and their logo is being removed from the report as the university didn’t authorise the same.
We've reached the researchers and they are fixing the University's logo in the report as we speak. The work was indeed done at Princeton and is being submitted for peer review.
But Princeton University said that the work was indeed done at Princeton and is being submitted for peer review. This means CCDEP had published a report making sweeping conclusions even before its peer review was done. This is a questionable act by the organisation, as no research report is published without doing peer review.
A 38-year old resident of Munger in Bihar who died on 21 March and had tested positive for Wuhan Coronavirus has found to be infected two members of his family and two employees of the private hospital in Patna where he was being treated. And now it is suspected that a large number of people are in danger of contracting the Covid-19 who had come into contact with the two employees and his family members, and a chain of community transmission may have been triggered.
The hospital employees- ward boy and the lab technician behaved irresponsibly after coming in contact with the COVID-19 positive patients, and endangered many people, according to a report.
The lab technician is said to have come in contact with around 50 people at multiple locations whereas the ward boy also attended a wedding in Patna where at least 80 people were present.
Among these 130 people, 110 people have been placed under isolation, 44 in Patna and 66 in Munger, while efforts are on to identify and monitor others who may have come into contact with the COVID-19 infected persons.
Doctors, nurses and other staff working at Sharnam hospital are also under isolation. The hospital hasn’t reported any COVID-19 case after that. Moreover, other family members and relatives of the man are also in danger as AIIMS Patna, where the man had died, had handed over the body to the family for his last rites.
The man from Munger who got infected by a novel coronavirus in Qatar and died on March 21 at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, has clearly left behind a trail of infections in Patna and Munger districts.
A doctor in Patna said, “the four cases of COVID-19 in Bihar are indicative of the community transmission of the virus, which is a reason enough for the officials to step up the quarantine measures.” There is a possibility of the number of cases may boost up.
The deceased was first admitted to a private hospital in Munger and later shifted to Sharnam Hospital in Patna. He was later brought to AIIMS, Patna, on March 20 when his health worsened. Because he was already suffering from chronic kidney disease, he was put on dialysis at AIIMS. The AIIMS staff noticed that he had severe respiratory distress.
As he had a history of overseas travel, the AIIMS authorities sent his samples for test on March 20, the day he was admitted.
The hospital released his body when he died on March 21 before the last reports arrived which later confirmed him as the first case of COVID-19 in the state of Bihar. The family had taken the body to Munger for the last rites.
After the carelessness of the two employees of the private hospital, the staff of AIIMS also showed carelessness as they released the body before the arrival of his test reports, potentially endangering the health and life of the family members of the deceased.
After business tycoons like Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, Anand Mahindra, the chairman of Mahindra Group and Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal pledged their support amidst the unprecedented crisis that has triggered widespread lockdowns across many parts of the country, Ratan Tata, the former chairman of the Tata group, has also risen to the occasion to extend assistance to the government in their fight against Wuhan Coronavirus.
Taking to Twitter, the Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata pledged Rs 500 crore to fight Covid-19 pandemic.
Ratan Tata on Twitter wrote: “The Covid-19 crisis is one of the toughest challenges we will face as a race. The Tata Trusts and the Tata group companies have in the past risen to the needs of the nation. At this moment, the need of the hour is greater than any other time.”
The COVID 19 crisis is one of the toughest challenges we will face as a race. The Tata Trusts and the Tata group companies have in the past risen to the needs of the nation. At this moment, the need of the hour is greater than any other time. pic.twitter.com/y6jzHxUafM
The funds will be used for Personal Protective Equipment for the medical personnel on the frontlines, respiratory systems for treating increasing cases, testing kits to increase per capita testing, setting up modular treatment facilities for infected patients, knowledge management and training of health workers and the general public, Ratan Tata said.
Prior to this, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance has announced a slew of measures taken by the conglomerate to shore up India’s battle against the Covid-19. Reliance has decided to step up production of 1 lakh masks per day, free fuel to emergency vehicles carrying Covid-19 patients and free meals to the needy ones in several cities to support the livelihood of those affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
Besides undertaking a slew of measures to shore up India’s battle against the Covid-19, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance had also announced initial support of Rs 5 crores to Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to combat coronavirus spread. It also announced that it has set up India’s first COVID-19 dedicated hospital in Mumbai.
Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the Mahindra group, not only offered resorts under Mahindra Holidays as temporary care facilities for the patients, but he also claimed that his group’s project team would stand ready to assist the government and Army to help set up care facilities and that Mahindra Foundation will be setting aside a fund to help the worst-hit tide over the current crisis.
Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal has pledged an amount of Rs 100 crores to fight the pandemic of coronavirus that has hit the nation.
As India strives to contain the spread of deadly Wuhan Coronavirus which have devasted several first world countries in the world, today prime minister Narendra Modi appealed the citizens of the country to monetarily contribute towards this effort by making donations. Although there is already the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund where people can make donations, the union government has launched “Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund” to receive public donations for the fight against Covid-19.
