The Indian Panorama

Tag: COVID-19 lockdown

  • India now has fifth highest COVID-19 fatality count in the world

    India now has fifth highest COVID-19 fatality count in the world

    Health Ministry flags high human cost of herd immunity

     

    NEW DELHI (TIP): In a densely populated country like India, herd immunity cannot be a strategic option because this will come at a very high cost in terms of human lives lost and will cripple the health care system, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday, July 30th.

    “Herd immunity can only be achieved through immunization and till then COVID-19 appropriate behavior is the only way forward,” said Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty, Health Ministry, at a press conference.

    With 786 deaths registered on Thursday, July 30, India’s death toll reached 35,800. Maharashtra (266 deaths), Tamil Nadu (100), Karnataka (83), Andhra Pradesh (68) and Uttar Pradesh (57) contributed to the bulk of the fatalities.

    India now has the fifth-highest death toll in the world, surpassing Italy with 35,132 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 tracker. The seven-day rolling average for deaths in India is now 735, next only to the U.S. (1,075) and Brazil (1,052).

    The case fatality rate in the country is now 2.18%, which is “among the lowest in the world… 24 States and Union Territories have a lesser fatality rate than that of the country,” according to Mr. Bhushan.

    As many as 54,660 confirmed cases were registered across the country, marking yet another high in daily cases (data from Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh were not available when this report went to press). The seven-day rolling average for cases also crossed the 50,000 mark. The total confirmed cases went up to 16,38,951 with a 64.58% recovery rate (10,58,464 people have recovered while 5,44,687 people are actively infected).

    “16 States have a recovery rate more than the national average,” Mr. Bhushan said.

    Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh registered 11,147 and 10,167 cases each, both daily highs. The latter had also tested 70,068 samples on July 29, among the highest in States. Karnataka with 6,128 cases and Uttar Pradesh (3,705) also had daily highs, while Tamil Nadu’s daily case load dropped marginally from its seven-day average to 5,864.

    To a question on vaccine development and how the government plans to make this available to the general public, he said, the world over, there were three vaccine candidates which were currently in phase III clinical trials.

    “These three vaccines are being developed by the U.S., the U.K. and China. In India, two indigenously developed vaccine candidates are in phase I and II clinical trials. The first is being tested on 11,050 subjects at eight sites, and the second on 1,000 subjects at five sites. India has not signed any agreement with any vaccine manufacturing company so far but we are in discussions on vaccine distribution and the Ministry is in talks with stakeholders,” the official said. He added that there were multiple stakeholders within and outside the government and the Ministry of Health has started actively engaging with them.

    He added that there were multiple stakeholders within and outside the government and the Ministry of Health had started actively engaging with such stakeholders.

    “There has been discussion on prioritizing how a vaccine would be distributed or administered if and when it becomes available. A COVID vaccine, whenever it comes, will have to be administered on a much larger scale compared to the existing vaccines. This is something on which there is near unanimity,” he noted.

    Ayodhya safeguards

    Responding to a question on the proposed religious gathering at Ayodhya at a time when there was a ban on religious gatherings, Joint Secretary in the Ministry Lav Agarwal noted that “SOPs issued for social gatherings during Unlock 2.0 would be applicable for the event”.

    Mr. Bhushan said so far the Central government has received 131 claims under the ₹50 lakh insurance scheme that the Central government announced in March for COVID-19 healthcare workers. “Among them 20 have been cleared; in 64 cases the payments are being processed while 47 claims are still being looked into by various State governments. Maximum claims have come in from Maharashtra, Delhi and Telangana,” he said.

    The Health Ministry added that so far 1,81,90,000 tests for COVID had been conducted, including RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests.

    “There has been a week-on-week increase in average tests per day. India is conducting 324 tests per 10 lakhs population per day,” said Mr. Bhushan.

    (Source: The Hindu)

  • Supreme Court Orders States to provide free food, shelter and travel to migrant workers

    Supreme Court Orders States to provide free food, shelter and travel to migrant workers

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The Supreme Court on Thursday, May 28, ordered states to provide free food and shelter to thousands of migrant workers stranded in various parts of the country due to COVID-19 lockdown.

    A three-judge Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan also ordered that no fare either by train or bus shall be charged for migrant workers and railway fare will have to be shared by states.

    “All Migrant workers who are stranded at various places shall be provided food by the concerned state and UT at places which shall be publicized and notified to them for the period they are waiting for their turn to board a train or a bus, said the Bench — which also included Justice SK Kaul and Justice MR Shah.

    It said originating state shall provide meal and water at the station and during the journey, railways to provide meal and water to migrant workers.

    It emphasized the need for coordinated efforts to deal with the crisis. “There are different mechanisms for different states. How do you ensure that nobody asks the migrant to pay or troubles him? What we are saying is that the migrants should be least concerned with the means of payment,” it said.

    “The state shall oversee the registration of migrant workers and states to ensure that after registration, they are made to board the train or bus at an early date,” the Bench said.

    “We further direct that those migrant workers found walking on the roads, immediately be taken to shelters and provided food and all facilities should be provided to them,” it said, adding, “As and when the state governments put in a request for trains, railways has to provide them.”

    “All necessary details regarding number of migrants, plan for transportation mechanism of registration and other details should be brought on record in the reply,” the Bench said.

    After hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, Colin Gonsalves, Indira Jaising, PS Narsimha and other advocates representing various states, the Bench went on to issue the directions saying, “At present we are looking at the miseries of the migrant workers, we are of the view that some interim directions need to be issued.”

    “We believe that the center and state governments require to be given some time to bring the steps taken by them on record, it said directing them to file detailed replies by June 5 –the next date of hearing.

    During the hearing, the Solicitor General faced a volley of questions from the Bench on food, shelter, transportation and as to who would foot the bill.

    Terming it an “unprecedented crisis”, Mehta said around 91 lakh migrant workers had been transported to their native states since special trains started on May 1.

    However, Sibal, Jaising and Gonsalves contradicted him saying the way migrant workers were being sent back to their native states it would take several months to complete the process.

    At the very outset, Mehta said, “We are immensely grateful to the Supreme Court for taking cognizance of the issue. Due to this, states and Centre have an August forum now to discuss the migrant crisis issue. Some unfortunate things have happened, and it is being flashed again and again.

    “We are not disputing the fact that Centre has not taken steps. But whoever needs help is not getting that help. States are not doing their bit,” the Bench said.

    Mehta assured the Bench that the government will not stop its efforts until every willing migrant laborer is sent to his village. He, however, said many of the migrants didn’t want to go back as lockdown has been relaxed and activities have resumed.

    The Solicitor General said a large number of steps were taken by the government and the Supreme Court was fully satisfied about it earlier. “We have something called prophets of doom who only spread negativity. All these people writing on social media, giving interviews cannot even acknowledge what is being done,” he said.

    Mehta said people are working tirelessly. From the safai karamcharis to the PM… State governments and ministers are working overnight. None of these people acknowledge that. Human race is facing a difficult challenge.”

    On intervention applications, Mehta said, “Don’t let anyone use this platform to become a political platform.”

    He also drew the court’s attention to a letter written by some senior advocates to the CJI on the issue. “See the letter which is doing the rounds.”

    “People who have been part of the institution, if they believe they can run down the institution it is unfortunate. We have to go by our conscience,” said Justice Kaul.