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MHA issues advisory urging states, UTs to provide food, shelter to migrant labourers to stop mass exodus amid coronavirus lockdown

OpIndia Staff
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MHA issues advisory urging states, UTs to provide food, shelter to migrant labourers to stop mass exodus amid coronavirus lockdown

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday asked state governments and UTs to prevent a mass exodus of students, migrant agriculture labourers, industrial workers and unorganised sector employees from their workplaces to hometowns amid the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of Wuhan Coronavirus.

In an advisory to all states and Union territories, the MHA said they should also make arrangements for uninterrupted supply of essential commodities to hotels, working women hostels etc so that they continue to live in existing facilities.

The advisory issued by MHA

The states and UTs have also been advised to make these vulnerable groups aware of measures taken by the government, including the provision of free food grains and other essential items through PDS, and streamline the distribution system. This would help prevent avoidable movement of such people, according to the advisory.

The home ministry has also advised the states and UTs to ensure that hotels, rented accommodations, hostels etc., continue to remain functional and delivery of essential items is streamlined, so that students, working women hostel inmates etc., are allowed to continue in existing facilities observing precautions.

While ensuring the supply of essential goods and services, States/UTs are being repeatedly directed to enforce the lockdown strictly and take action against violators under various provisions of law. This is imperative to contain the spread of COVID-19, said the MHA.

The MHA guideline was issued after several cities and states had witnessed a mass exodus of migrant labours to their native places before and after the lockdown was announced. The govt wants to ensure that such people stay in the places where they are currently located, so that they do not spread the virus to more places in case of them are infected.

A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court today, seeking food, water, shelter, medical aid and ‘urgent indulgence to the plight of migrant workers and their families, including women, kids, elders and divyangs, who are walking on foot to their villages. The petition was filed by the apex court lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastava.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown, which began on the intervening night of March 24 and March 25, to prevent the Wuhan coronavirus from spreading any further.

From Ventilators, N99 masks to bodysuits, DRDO steps us its fight against the Wuhan Coronavirus: Here are the details

OpIndia Staff
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From Ventilators, N99 masks to bodysuits, DRDO steps us its fight against the Wuhan Coronavirus: Here are the details

On Friday, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which has been closely monitoring the spread of the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus informed that it has manufactured multi-layered N99 masks, bodysuits for health workers, critical-care ventilators and hand sanitisers to fight the pandemic.

A senior DRDO official was quoted as saying, “In the first week of March, the DRDO took a call to enhance efforts to create countermeasures to stop the spread of the disease in India, as by then, the number of affected people in India had crossed 30. The DRDO also started focusing on creating mass supply solutions for critical medical requirements.”

Approximately 4,000 litres of hand sanitiser had been sent to the Armed forces while 1,500 litres had been handed over to the Ministry of Defence. 300 litres had been dispensed to the Parliament whereas 500 litres had been provided to various security establishments and high offices. Hand Sanitisers produced by the DRDO had also been distributed to the Delhi Police at 40 outposts.

DRDO has also produced critical-care ventilators on a large-scale using existing technologies such as breath regulators, and pressure/flow sensors. The government agency is also innovating a multi-patient ventilator that can provide pulmonary support to several patients at one time.

DRDO has also produced N99 masks that comprise of five-layers, including two layers of nanomesh. Besides protective masks, the government agency has also developed a full bodysuit for doctors and other medical staff to protect them from being contaminated by COVID-19. The protective suit is washable and has been found suitable after being widely tested by various other agencies.

With India entering a crucial phase in its fight against the Wuhan Coronavirus, the Indian Railways came up with a remarkably ingenious solution to support the country’s public health system. It has decided to convert its coaches into quarantine wards for the treatment of Coronavirus, (also known as COVID-19) patients. Furthermore, the Indian Railways has also offered to prepare 3 lakh patient beds if the need arises in future.

On Friday, the official Twitter handle of the Indian Railways informed that more than 1,00,000 wagons of essential items had been readied in the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak. The essential supplies included the likes of foodgrains, fruits, vegetables, sugar, salt, dairy products, coal and petroleum products. The feat was achieved within 4 days wherein workers toiled 24 hours round the clock.

Coronavirus outbreak: Centre asks states to put a 3-month moratorium on electricity bill payments amidst total lockdown

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus outbreak: Centre asks states to put a 3-month moratorium on electricity bill payments amidst total lockdown

As India enters the 6th day of total lockdown amidst the coronavirus outbreak, the Central Government has issued a notice to all the state governments, asking them to put a 3-month deferment on electricity bill payments.

In addition, the Union Ministry has issued directives to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission(CERC) to provide 3-months moratorium to generation and transmission companies, reduce the payment security amount by half for future power purchases and charge no penalty on late payment. This comprises payments by distribution companies to private power plants and transmission projects as well.

In their statement, the central government has said that due to the lockdown, many people are unable to pay their dues to the discoms which are facing, severely affecting their liquidity position and impairing their ability to pay to the generating and transmission companies. The statement added that the generating and transmission companies will continue the supply and transmission of electricity even to discoms which have large outstanding dues.

“In view of the lockdown imposed to blunt the spread of coronavirus pandemic, the whole workforce of the power sector-generation, transmission, distribution and systems operation- are working tirelessly to keep all the homes and establishments lighted,” the statement said.

Media used a ‘not a doctor’ to fear monger about Lockdown, now furthers a contradictory report by him as that by John Hopkins University

OpIndia Staff
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Media used a ‘not a doctor’ to fear monger about Lockdown, now furthers a contradictory report by him as that by John Hopkins University

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 Covid-19. A screenshot of the cover of the report was widely spread on social media, which showed the logos of CDDEP and JHU 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.

Although the JHU didn’t directly comment on the report, presumably because the tweet they were responding to didn’t contain the content of the report, it makes it clear that John Hopkins University has denied any official associated with the report, by terming that use of their logo as unauthorised.

When we looked at the website of The Center For Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, we found that they indeed have published the report, but surprisingly, it has no mention of collaboration with JHU. They say that they have prepared the Covid-19 report based on evidence from InidaSIM Model, which is “a well validated agent-based model of the Indian population”, according to them.

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.

Moreover, the PDF version of the report available on CDDEP website does not contain the JHU logo as seen in the screenshots. Therefore, it is not sure how IANS concluded that the prestigious university had collaborated in the study, when CDDEP itself does not mention that. The CDDEP website mentions some other studies where it had collaborated with JHU, but the Coronavirus study is not among them.

The CDDEP report dated 24th march argues against national lockdown, but on 21st, the CDDEP director had said, “We should lock down now”

A very important point to be noted that while the report published on 24th argues against national lockdown, just 4 days earlier CDDEP’s founder and director was stressing on the need of a national lockdown.

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.

It is important to note that Dr Ramanan Laxminarayanan 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. According to BJP leader Vijay Chauthaiwale, Laxminarayanan while working with PHFI in India, had launched two private companies without taking appropriate PHFI permission. Later, PHFI did not renew his contract in 2016 and also sued him for stealing the NGO’s intellectual property.

Read- The truth behind “expert” Ramanan Laxminarayanan, who is being promoted by media to create Coronavirus panic

Laxminarayanan also ventured into commercial activities by starting a company called Health cube, which according to him works in the area of diagnostics. Another venture set up by the so-called health expert is “Public Health Technologies Trust”. The websites of both Health Cube and Public Health Technologies Trust suggest that Ramanan Laxminarayanan is into the business of health solutions. 

In the interview with Barkha Dutt, Laxminarayanan had elaborated with their InidaSIM Model they are using to study the coronavirus outbreak in India, and had not mentioned about any collaboration with John Hopkins University.

Therefore, it is clear that a report published by a questionable organisation with contradictory stand on lockdown is being peddled as a study by a US-based university.

Sri Lanka returned man ‘mentally disturned’ about being on home quarantine runs out of house naked, bites old woman to death

OpIndia Staff
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Sri Lanka returned man ‘mentally disturned’ about being on home quarantine runs out of house naked, bites old woman to death

In a bizarre incident, a 34-year-old man hailing from Tamil Nadu’s Theni district reportedly ran out naked from his house on March 27 (Friday) night and killed a 90-year-old woman by biting her throat. According to a Times of India report, the textile trader had become “mentally disturbed” after being home quarantined on returning from Sri Lanka a week ago to arrest the spread of Coronavirus.

Late on Friday, the man ran out naked from his house and bit the old woman, named Natchiammal, who was sleeping outside his house. Hearing the woman wailing in pain, the neighbours came out of their houses and got hold of the man and handed him over to the police.

The woman was rushed to the Theni government hospital, where she succumbed to her injury.

In another such bizarre incident, a 38-year-old man allegedly committed suicide at Thavanur near Kunnamkulam, Kerala on March 27 (Friday) after he failed to get liquor during the countrywide lockdown.

According to the reports, the deceased has been identified as Sanoj, a native of Thuvanoor in Kunnamkulam. The relatives of the deceased said that he was upset for the past two days following the non-availability of alcohol.

Sanoj, who worked as a painting worker was found hanging in his room in his house on Friday morning.

The Liquor outlets in the southern states have been closed till April 14 as part of the 21-day lockdown across the country put in place to ensure social distancing to check the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Modi addressed the country for the second time regarding the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic on the 24th of March. The most important announcement made by the Prime Minister during his address was the declaration of a national lockdown. From the midnight of the intervening night between the 24th of March and the 25th, a national lockdown was imposed across the country to prevent the virus from spreading any further.

The national lockdown had been announced for twenty-one days. The Prime Minister said that according to health experts, 21 days are essential to break the cycle of transmission of the Coronavirus.

In India, the number of Coronavirus cases has reached a total of 906 with 20 deaths as of 1.35 pm, March 28 (Saturday).

Indian Railways converts train coaches into ‘Isolation Wards’ to shore up country’s fight against Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic

OpIndia Staff
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Indian Railways converts train coaches into ‘Isolation Wards’ to shore up country’s fight against Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic

With India entering a crucial phase in its fight against the Wuhan Coronavirus, the Indian Railways came up with a remarkably ingenious solution to support the country’s public health system. It has decided to convert its coaches into quarantine wards for the treatment of Coronavirus, (also known as COVID-19) patients.

Furthermore, the Indian Railways has also offered to prepare 3 lakh patient beds if the need arises in future.

According to North Central Railway (NCR) General Manager Rajiv Chaudhary, a train coach at the coaching depot in New Delhi has been converted by the Railways into isolation wards in consultation with medical professionals. “A sleeper coach of a train is being transformed and improvised into isolation wards for patients suffering from Covid-19. Such measures will help us in keeping ourselves ahead of the curve in combating the novel coronavirus,” he said.

In addition, all Railway divisions have identified a ward or building for setting up isolation beds for Covid-19 patients. Similarly, Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is fleshing out a plan to provide meals in different parts of the country and hospitals if the need arises. Pantry cars will be disinfected and converted into the mobile kitchen so as to ensure a healthy and adequate supply of food at stations where there are no base kitchens.

Following the total lockdown announced by PM Modi, passenger train services have been completely suspended across the country. Instead of letting trains idling at the railway yards, the idea to have them transformed into quarantine facility was first discussed with the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal with the Chairman of Railway Board, Vijay Kumar Yadav, General Managers of all the zones and Division Railway Managers over video conferencing. PM Modi was also consulted over this idea before proceeding to convert railway coaches as isolation wards.

Chairman of Railway Board, Vijay Kumar Yadav had then said, “Railways coaches and cabins can be converted into makeshift hospitals on the wheels, equipped with consultation rooms, medical stores, ICU and pantry. These coaches can be sent to those parts of the country which are witnessing an uncontrollable rise in the number of coronavirus cases. As per WHO, India has just 0.7 beds per 1000 people. While it has targeted to increase it to two beds per 1000 people but the WHO mandated at least 3 beds per 1000 people in the country.”

Over 300 dead in Iran because of fake news claiming a ​novel cure for Coronavirus: Here are the details

OpIndia Staff
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Over 300 dead in Iran because of fake news claiming a ​novel cure for Coronavirus: Here are the details

Due to overwhelming misinformation on social media, Iranian citizens resorted to consuming spurious alcohol in a bid to cure the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus infection. Indiscriminate drinking accompanied by methanol poisoning has made a 1000 people sick in Iran and has claimed 300 lives. Another report claimed that as many as 480 people could have died due to this and over 2850 people could have fallen sick.

The misinformation stemmed from a tabloid story published in early February which claimed that a British man cured himself of Coronavirus infection by drinking whiskey with honey. Many believe that using alcohol-based sanitizer to ward off germs is akin to drinking alcohol to cure Coronavirus infection.

Health Ministry Adviser Dr Hossein Hassanian said, “Other countries have only one problem, which is the new coronavirus pandemic. But we are fighting on two fronts here. We have to both cure the people with alcohol poisoning and also fight the coronavirus. “

Read: The Coronavirus crisis could fundamentally change the course of the Iranian Republic: Read how

Consumption of alcohol is banned in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is mandatory for manufacturers of methanol to add artificial colour to their products for public convenience. Bootleggers, however, add bleach to these products such that it dilutes the artificial colour. Due to a growing demand for alcohol, bootleggers often sell methanol to its customers instead of ethanol. This explains the steep rise in cases of methanol poisoning.

“The virus is spreading and people are just dying off, and I think they are even less aware of the fact that there are other dangers around. When they keep drinking this, there’s going to be more people poisoned”, Knut Erik Hovda, a clinical toxicologist in Oslo was quoted as saying.

Earlier this month, 44 people in Iran had died due to consumption of bootleg alcohol due to the rumours that it can cure coronavirus infection. Also, hundreds had been hospitalized after consuming the methanol in an effort to curb the disease. Seven bootleggers had been arrested in connection with the incident.

Read: Shekhar Gupta’s The Print publishes article denigrating India’s efforts to curb Coronavirus pandemic: Here’s why it’s completely off the mark

Iran has been largely affected by the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. Reportedly, 32000 people had been affected while over 2,300 lives had been lost. Owing to the massive casualties, two vast trenches of 100 metres that are now visible from space were dug at the Behesht-e Masoumeh complex in Qom. The evacuation work in Qom, a city located about 130km south of Tehran, began around February 21 but it was expanded rapidly to keep with the rising number of deaths

After Spain and Czech Republic, now Turkey discards faulty Chinese Coronavirus testing kits over inaccurate results

OpIndia Staff
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After Spain and Czech Republic, now Turkey discards faulty Chinese Coronavirus testing kits over inaccurate results

After exporting the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus to the world, China has now been caught dumping faulty Corona testing kits to various countries, which are now responsible for delivering misleading results during the tests, reports Middleeast Eye.

Reportedly, the Turkish government has now discarded Chinese-made coronavirus rapid testing kits after finding out that they gave inaccurate results.

“We have received some samples from the company,” a Turkish official said to Middleeast Eye. “We didn’t find them viable and ordered some other testing kit models from a separate Chinese company,” he added.

The Turkish official, however, did not reveal the exact numbers of the faulty kits but noted that they had not yet been used with the wider public.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca confirmed later on Friday that Turkey had tried some rapid antigen tests arrived from China, but authorities “weren’t happy about them.”  “We didn’t release them for public use,” the minister informed.

The decision by Turkey to discard Chinese faulty kits comes after Spain had taken a similar measure to withdraw at least 9,000 Chinese-made kits after realising that they had only 30 per cent accuracy.

Spain, which is one of the worst-hit countries across the globe by the Wuhan Coronavirus with the total number of deaths surpassing 4000, had bought  5.5 million rapid test kits from China recently, which turned out to be faulty.

Similar results have emerged from the Czech Republic. It was reported that as much as 80 per cent of the 150,000 portable Wuhan Covid-19 rapid test kits “donated” by China were faulty, forcing healthcare workers in the country to rely on conventional laboratory tests. While China tried to give the impression that it had ‘donated’ the test kits, in reality, it was bought and paid for by the Czech government. Czech health ministry reportedly paid about USD 568,000 for 100,000 of the kits while the country’s interior ministry paid for the rest.

Kerala man commits suicide after failing to get alcohol during the nation-wide coronavirus lockdown

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala man commits suicide after failing to get alcohol during the nation-wide coronavirus lockdown

A 38-year-old man allegedly committed suicide at Thavanur near Kunnamkulam, Kerala on Friday after he failed to get liquor during the countrywide lockdown.

According to the reports, the deceased has been identified as Sanoj, a native of Thuvanoor in Kunnamkulam. The relatives of the deceased said that he was upset for the past two days following the non-availability of alcohol.

Sanoj, who worked as a painting worker was found hanging in his room in his house on Friday morning.

According to Kunnamkulam CI Suresh KG, Sanoj had turned violent on Thursday night as he could not get alcohol. A case has been registered and the post mortem will be conducted, he added.

Earlier, the state govt has listed all beverages as essential items, which meant alcohol was exempted from lockdown announced by the state govt on 23rd March and they were permitted to be sold at state-run Bevco outlets with restrictions. But later the Kerala govt decided to shut all liquor stores and bars in the state after the nationwide lockdown was declared by the prime minister.

The lockdown of Bevco outlets and bars could trigger withdrawal symptoms among alcohol addicts in Kerala, which has the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the country. According to Kerala Excise department, nearly 30 per cent of the male population in the state are habituated to alcohol and the sudden stoppage of drinking may lead to a spike in social issues and domestic violence.

To deal with this dangerous situation, the Kerala government has decided to offer help to people who might go bonkers in the absence of liquor. “We expect such cases. So, we have opened more de-addiction centres in the state. It is a big social issue,” AC Moideen, the state minister who belongs to Thrissur, said.

The Liquor outlets in the southern states have been closed till April 14 as part of the 21-day lockdown across the country put in place to ensure social distancing to check the coronavirus pandemic.

Kerala is one of the worst-affected states due to the Chinese COVID-19 outbreak in the country. The state was already in a lockdown state when on Tuesday evening, the central government announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown beginning midnight.

More than 78,560 persons are under surveillance in the state in the view of suspected exposure to novel Coronavirus. Thirty-nine more persons in Kerala were tested COVID-19 positive in Kerala on Friday alone taking the total number of Chinese virus active patients now to 176 in the state.

Kerala Congress leader diagnosed with Wuhan Coronavirus had escaped quarantine, could be a ‘Super Spreader’

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala Congress leader diagnosed with Wuhan Coronavirus had escaped quarantine, could be a ‘Super Spreader’

On Thursday, a Congress party leader from Idukki district in Kerala tested positive for the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus. He has now been admitted to an isolation ward at the Thodupuzha District Hospital. Reportedly, he came in contact with at least 3 MLAs and a Cabinet Minister during his tour of the South Indian State.

260 people have been quarantined and 2 have been isolated, following the new development. He has now been labelled as “potential super spreader” by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, because he jumped quarantine and kept visiting various places and meeting people, potentially infecting many of them.

The Congress politician had visited several places including Palakkad, Sholayur, Marayur, Munnar, Aluva, Perumbavoor, Mavelikkara, and Thiruvananthapuram, besides the state secretariat building. He had also attended a public prayer in a mosque in Cheruthony on March 13 and 22. Besides, he attended a committee meeting at the party office in Thodupuzha on March 14. Meanwhile, he had also taken part in a protest.

The Congress leader had developed a fever on March 13 but was allowed to go home, after he denied being in contact with anyone infected with Covid-19 or recent travel history to foreign countries. When his fever did not subside, the Kerala Congress politician was instructed to go under quarantine.

This has now sparked a state of panic amongst the elite political circles of the State. Idukki Collector, H Dhineshan, has therefore now directed people who have come in contact with the politician to self-quarantine at their homes.

Earlier, singer Kanika Kapoor became the first Bollywood celebrity to test positive for COVID-19. As per reports, she allegedly tried to hide her travel history, had defied self-isolation protocols and even evaded screening. Kapoor also stayed at a 5-star hotel in Lucknow and threw a dinner party.

Earlier, BJP MP Dushyant Singh, who attended Kanika Kapoor’s dinner party along with his mother Vasundhara Raje had been tested negative in the first sampling taken to test for coronavirus infection. Singh and Vasundhara Raje, the former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, self quarantined themselves when the news of Kanika Kapoor being isolated due to infection by the novel coronavirus came out.

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