COVID

'Not Practical': Cambridge Immunology Prof Questions Centre's Covid Guidelines | Karan Thapar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM55ryPyHTg  Prof. Lalita Ramakrishnan, Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, raised questions about three particular aspects of the recent Covid guidelines – first, the government’s reiteration that aerosols can carry the infection up to 10 metres, second, the stress on frequently cleaning door handles, light switches, tables and chairs and, third, the need for double masking. In all three cases her views clash fairly sharply with the government’s recent guidelines.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/pune-news/loss-of-biodiversity-forces-microbes-to-hitchhike-on-humans-researchers-101621610569654.html Declining biodiversity and emerging zoonoses sheds light on the role of declining biodiversity and emerging diseases on humans which has led to new diseases like Covid-19 being passed on to humans. ..Gurudas Nulkar, Madhura Bedarkar of Symbiosis International University (SIU) "“The connection between nature conservation and human wellbeing is well known, however, the role of declining biodiversity and emerging diseases is relatively less studied. The presence of a thriving biological diversity is known to have therapeutic effects on human health, but economic activities have contributed to a sharp decline in species, resulting in poor ecosystem health. Several studies have shown how microorganisms have switched from animals to humans, leading to novel diseases and we have presented studies on zoonotic diseases and biodiversity, with examples from India,” 

Ivermectin prophylactic study from India

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYv30g7TKVM

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are vulnerable to getting infected withSARS-CoV-2. Preventing HCWs from getting infected is a priority to maintain healthcare services. The therapeutic and preventive role of ivermectin in COVID-19 is being investigated. Based on promising results of in vitro studies of oral ivermectin,. this study to look at prophylactic role of oral ivermectin

https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-208785/v1/d6ff79a3-d354-4aba-a6b0-4bc123bbd225.pdf

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-208785/v1

WHO advises that ivermectin only be used to treat COVID-19 within clinical trials:  https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/who-advises-that-ivermectin-only-be-used-to-treat-covid-19-within-clinical-trials

https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/antiviral-therapy/ivermectin/

Chidambaram supporting compulsory licensing of the 2 Covid vaccine. He feels there are several vaccines manufactureers who can produce immediately in India. Does not give list. Said it 5 days back?
https://youtu.be/zPuLHgpByVk 

In an interview with Mitali Mukherjee, Rajya Sabha Member and Former Finance Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, Mr P Chidambaram said the Modi government had completely missed the arithmetic on vaccine requirements in India.

He also hit out at the dual pricing policy saying it was complete nonsense to push states out on their own and ask them to negotiate prices with manufacturers. Mr Chidambaram said while he was a believer of free market principles, the government’s defence in the Supreme Court of dual pricing by saying it created “liberalised, market driven” rates

COVID-19 Vaccine] Differential pricing to incentivise pvt manufacturers to increase production, attract foreign players: Centre to Supreme Court
The Central government also said that judicial intervention in such policy matters, though well-meaning, might lead to unforeseen consequences and it should be left to the government to discharge its executive functions. https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/central-government-covid-vaccine-price-supreme-court

Na Khaoonga, Na Khane doonga, he said.. 

SS
Let the Covaxin - partnered by the GoI, via the ICMR, technology be shared with all the capable vaccine producers in the country - whether public or private. There's no need for reverse engineering and all that.
Let all these units be pressed into service. The government must actively facilitate.
Maybe in another eight-ten months the production would be very significantly scaled up. 

'Peak Reached But Plateauing at High Level; Total Cases Could Hit 32M by June With 1 L More Deaths'  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsRZxmqtK8I

In an interview that contains both good and depressing news, one of America’s foremost epidemiologists, who has closely monitored the trajectory of Covid-19 in India since the start of the pandemic last year, says it does seem that the present Covid surge has reached its peak but, thereafter, we are plateauing at a very high level of cases per day. Bhramar Mukherjee, Professor of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Global Public Health at Michigan University, says that two weeks from now (i.e. end May/early June) India’s daily increase in Covid cases will be between 150,000 and 200,000. At that point the daily increase in deaths will be 3,000 a day. At the moment the daily increase in cases is 325,000 and daily deaths are just under 4,000.

The numbers are not accurate. Each state needs to be evaluated different. The absolute numbers are still quite astounding..

Maharashtra: yes, as it is doing a lot of tests, and the positivity rate is going down. Delhi is also though it is less clear as it is doing less testing.. there is a genuine decline.

Rural India: appalled at the quality of data.. very hard to say what is the situation without data.

India denying community transmission saying it is only cluster transmission - no semblence of science in this statement. Cases coming down at a reasonably good rate.. It will take a long time for hospital requirements to go down to earlier levels...Need to plan a nuanced exit plan of  the Lockdown.

https://epaper.thehindu.com/Home/ShareArticle?OrgId=G6U8I2LSN.1

As the World Health Organisation warns that the COVID Crisis in India continues to be "hugely concerning", the WHO Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan speaks to Barkha Dutt. As bodies are dumped in the rivers of rural India there are now fears of a new public health crisis even as the COVID fires continue to simmer through India's villages https://youtu.be/N2lNIYXrLlA?t=550

Bodies in Prayagraj: https://youtu.be/N2lNIYXrLlA?t=119

The NHRC must ask every state to submit figures of death certificates issues last year… from 50,000 death certificates to 1 lakh death certificates is an unexplained increase.: Shri P Chidambaram  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYhaiaYjGJc

Global Media Blames Pm For India's 'Covid Hell' | Reality Check  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFn1zxtxz-Y "We do see a lot of pushbacks from PM Modi's supporters and their machinery, but I have been taken aback by what seems to be this outpouring of anger on social media towards the government," said Amy Kazmin, South Asia bureau chief of Financial Times, on people's reaction to the government's handling of the pandemic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_XukG6T8m0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_XukG6T8m0

At #Varanasi's Harishchandra Ghat in Uttar Pradesh, #cremation workers continue to demand exorbitant sums for conducting funeral rites despite the local administration having capped the rates. To address this and to ease pressure on ghats as bodies continue to pour in, the administration has also opened another cremation site.

At the temples, meanwhile, ghant, an earthern vessel used for worshipping the departed soul, are growing in number, telling their own story of how #Covid is devastating the holy city.

Gangotri Dham portals open amid Covid-19 pandemic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrvMvJUf81k

https://youtu.be/YRlHf-OoPDA Prime Time With Ravish Kumar - May 14, 2021: फरवरी में जब मोदी सरकार (Modi Government) ने अपना बजट पेश किया, तब वित्त मंत्री निर्मला सीतारमण ने कहा कि कोविड के टीके (Covid Vaccine) के लिए इस साल 35,000 करोड़ का प्रावधान किया गया है और इसके अलावा भी पैसा दिया जाएगा. तो इस बजट के रहते राज्यों से क्यों कहा जा रहा है कि वे अपने बजट से टीका खरीदें. क्या राज्यों को टीका खरीदने के लिए कोई पैसा दिया गया. 'इंडिया स्पेंड' की श्रेया रमण और श्रीहरि पलियथ की रिपोर्ट में बताया गया है कि 8 गरीब राज्यों को अपने स्वास्थ्य बजट का तीस प्रतिशत टीका खरीदने पर खर्च करना पड़ेगा. बिहार, छत्तीसगढ़, झारखंड, मध्य प्रदेश, राजस्थान और उत्तराखंड शामिल हैं. जब दुनिया के बड़े देश टीके के रिसर्च और विकास में पैसा लगा रहे थे, कंपनियों से खरीद रहे थे और मुफ्त बांटने की रणनीति बना रहे थे, तब सोचिए मोदी सरकार ने भारत की ही दो कंपनियों में एक नया पैसा नहीं लगाया लेकिन टीके के वितरण से लेकर हर चीज़ पर ऐसे नियंत्रण रखा, जैसे सब कुछ मोदी सरकार कर रही है. न तो रिसर्च में पैसा लगाया और न खरीदने में.