the BBMC bed scam and how did Tejasvi Surya's communal plan fail this time??? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC5RRPNhcg4 Tejasvi Surya | How to stop Communalism amidst a Pandemic? | The Deshbhakt with Akash Banerjee

- how does one stop hatemongers and bigots - by being polite or by calling them out brutally and bluntly. Let's find a way to stop people who will play communal politics - even in the middle of a pandemic. 

https://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/livelihoods-of-worlis-koli-community-impacted-by-coastal-infra-projects-further-battered-by-covid-19-crisis-9608591.htmlaccording to Worli’s Kolis, disappearing fish is the direct result of the city’s coastal infrastructure projects and climate change, rather than unsustainable fishing. Films: Netflix Seaspiracy

It was reported in April 2020 that the government of India will be compensating fishers in the country for the losses incurred ‘through direct benefit transfer to bank accounts’. But even after a two-month curfew on fishing activities, not one family at Worli Koliwada has received any benefits from the government, said fishermen. They added that the distribution of this state compensation was “haphazard and overdue”.

With COVID restrictions re-imposed by the Maharashtra government in April 2021, transportation and sale of seafood and storing ice have taken a hit again. With fewer restaurants and hotels running and more people buying fish online now, prices have also taken a dip.

Tying itself in knots-II
The more procedures and conditions you attach to the vaccinations, the more staff and time and dangerous movements at the vaccination centres. 

A very meticulous friend of mine in Bangalore got the virus and the only exposure he seemed to have was at the vaccination centre. Now if the goal is everyone above 18 is entitled to vaccine: then: why ave such painful procedures to re-check identities. Cant we go on "trust"? 

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/to-get-vaccinated-in-up-proof-of-state-residency-required/articleshow/82540134.cms Even if a person is from out of State, wouldn't we all be safer if the person was vaccinated?  This State says that if Aadhaar is from outside the State, they need other domicile documents.. thus adding another layer perhaps because they feel that such an "infiltrator" from another State will not be contagious!  Perhaps they would want to used other notions like those who are not entitled to citizenship under CAA.. And therefore another layer of documents bureaucracy.. just for

Mumbai bold move to have drive in vaccinations..https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/city/mumbai/covid-19-vaccine-mumbais-first-drive-in-vaccination-centre-opens-in-dadar-west/videoshow/82391895.cms
https://www.livemint.com/news/india/covid19-vaccine-mumbai-to-get-drive-in-vaccination-in-every-zone-centres-to-avoid-overcrowding-11620311862521.html
However, by asking for a driver, you have ensured that only those who have chauffeurs can use this facility. And more importantly you have double the number of people in the vaccination zone.  All you have to do is appoint a few parking valets, to drive you from the spot of vaccination to the lot for observation and then in case of distress to the nearest cab or ambulance!

Extract from Earlier post

The 'tied myself in knots' excuse. Just pass an ordinance, saying that the input tax credit, is still eligible for refund and may be adjusted in your advance Tex payment. And if there are cash flow issues find a way to get banks involved.  https://taxguru.in/goods-and-service-tax/fm-replies-mamata-banerjee-letter-pm-gst-exemption.html

The issue is not so much the tax exemption, it is the delay and bureacracy!

. Instead of an age criteria, the vaccination should have been prioritised for full families, in crowded areas in slums, and should have been planned in-situ. So how you had a containment policy you can have a "liberated" (vaccinationated) zone policy!

This twitter thread, shows that we need more under 45 ministers! https://twitter.com/AUThackeray/status/1391773746898227202?s=08

Aaditya Thackeray @AUThackeray
Looking at the need for adequate vaccines to ensure that vaccination is swift & efficient, after discussing the issue with CM Uddhav Thackeray ji, as guardian minister of Mumbai, we have asked @mybmc to explore possibilities of global procurement of vaccines. (1/n)

We are also working on a method to ensure that the non tech savvy citizens and those who can’t operate the CoWin app with ease, and for their access to vaccines in time. (2/n)

Our efforts to increase vaccination centres are constantly on going and the @mybmc shall be having a centre in every municipal ward, along with a drive in vaccination centre across all zones of Mumbai, on my humble request to @mayor_mumbai

Today the @mybmc has also issued guidelines for vaccination policy of housing societies partnering with hospitals for vaccination within society complexes. (4/n)

For other posts on the issue: http://emeets.lnwr.in/index.php/covid 

Maharashtra Set To Import Vaccines: Aaditya Thackeray https://youtu.be/47ARQehm3d4  Target to finish vaccination: three weeks.. Seperate state Co-win app?

Can India Increase Its Present Rate Of Vaccination? | Left, Right & Centre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ivawQDziro  Aditya Thackeray..

Covid Mismanagement Worry In RSS-BJP? | Trending Tonight https://youtu.be/8Qf90BJ0aig The RSS and BJP are concerned about what kind of impact the handling of the COVID-19 crisis will have on the party's prospects. This even as another BJP leader writes to the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on mismanagement of Covid crisis in the state.

Des Ki Baat - May 10, 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yecXqZMPzWE Bloated, decomposing bodies washed up this morning on the banks of Ganga at Bihar's Buxar in frightening new visuals that expose the scale of India's Covid crisis. Dozens of bodies were seen floating in the river at Chausa town - on Bihar's border with Uttar Pradesh -- and later piling up on the banks, to the horror of residents. People woke up early this morning to the grotesque sight and raised an alarm. The local administration believes the bodies floated down from Uttar Pradesh and belong to Covid patients whose relatives may have been unable to find space to cremate or bury them. (Audio in Hindi)

PR Over Lives | After State Failure on COVID, Attacking Journalism & Western Media | Barkha Dutt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvrj8GU_hm4

Supporters of the Modi government, led by key party functionaries are lashing out at sections of journalists for reporting from cremation grounds and burial grounds.

https://www.moneylife.in/article/mumbai-model-how-the-city-stayed-a-step-ahead-of-the-coronavirus/63785.html

a ‘decentralised fight is the key’, even while he is clearly in control and works with a core team of dedicated people that is accessible and quick to respond.

At a time when retired generals are asking for the army to fight the virus, it is interesting that Iqbal Chahal, a marathoner, and engineer, who comes from a defence services background, has worked through ‘war rooms’ to control the virus.

On taking charge, visiting hospitals and COVID hotspots like Dharavi, Mr Chahal worked on three strategies: 1) eliminate the panic; 2) decentralise war rooms to cut response time; 3) build adequate infrastructure.

One of Mr Chahal’s first decisions was to abolish the central control room and order each of the COVID testing laboratories not to share test results directly with patients. They had to be shared with the BMC only.

BMC invited doctors and medical support staff specifically to handle the war rooms (especially fresh graduates from medical colleges and nursing schools across the state), provided them with a hefty stipend (Rs50,000 per month) and hotel accommodation at walking distance within the ward. It could hire over 900 doctors as well as 600 nursing students to accompany the ambulances in each ward.

Future Ready: Apart from setting up multiple facilities and reviving those what were shut down after the first COVID wave, the BMC is preparing for a possible third COVID wave around July on a war footing. Mr Chahal says he has 5,500 beds including nearly 3,000 oxygen beds vacant and available today. These include nearly 2,000 ICU beds with oxygen and ventilators. Four more jumbo centres are being set up which will further enhance patient capacity by 2,000 beds including 200 ICU beds.

Personal Post: For me the most important part of the model, on learning of my positive tests, BMC helplines, assured me that I can take care of myself at home, since I could easily self isolate. My doctor friends then advised me what to do.. and the treatment lines was more or less similar, and the advise to care givers, what to look for at what levels was more or less consistent.  It was easy to distinguish between the scary fake news and good advise, as one could check with all the FAqs in WHO, CDC, and official websites.  The usual caveats from traditional medicine, like ayurveda including doing pranayama, imbibing Khadha, salt water gargles, saying clearly that one should follow doctor prescribed treatment, clearly helped along with proning. 

This brings me to my earlier post: http://emeets.lnwr.in/index.php/community-based-services  The CBR process emphasises that care givers are the immediate family, neighbourhood groups and all these do it out of love, at no cost to the exchequer. It is prudent for the government to spend on resources to educate and provide support services, perhaps even monetary compensation to such care givers.  Systematising such support on the lines of the Civil Defence Model will go a long way in, preparing this army of care-givers the tools they need for similar situations.  The CBR model has proven successful in the case of disability support. There is no reason why it cannot be adapted for health emergencies like this one.  This alongwith the AAP maholla Clinic should be a good model to follow in future.

For earlier documentation and Conversations on COVID, see http://emeets.lnwr.in/index.php/covid

Indian Medical Association Asks Health Ministry to Wake up from Slumber to Mitigate COVID Challenges  https://www.moneylife.in/article/indian-medical-association-asks-health-ministry-to-wake-up-from-slumber-to-mitigate-covid-challenges/63819.html   "It is unfortunate, the health ministry has failed to make the necessary required roadmap and ensure vaccine stock, resulting in most of the places where vaccination could not be rolled out for people above 18 years," the IMA says, adding, "When the Prime minister notification is not implemented scrupulously, who is to be blamed?"

For earlier documentation and Conversations on COVID, see http://emeets.lnwr.in/index.php/covid

May 10, 2021 'Delhi Still Short of Oxygen Due to Centre's Apathy': AAP's Raghav Chadha 

Out of those 18 states, 17 states got almost as much oxygen as they had demanded. The only state whose demands were not met was Delhi’s. And that is very unfortunate. These are times of pandemic, I don’t wish to play politics but what it certainly appears is that this unfair treatment towards Delhi is probably due to Centre’s apathy towards the NCT.

The second problem is logistics. Delhi, not being an industrial state, does not have its own steel plant or cryogenic tankers. Therefore, it is incumbent on the Centre to provide both oxygen and tankers to ply that oxygen. Without tankers, the allotted oxygen has no meaning.

For earlier documentation and Conversations on COVID, see http://emeets.lnwr.in/index.php/covid