Heena Sharma Blog

The number of coronavirus infections continues to rise worldwide, with more than 1,015,877 people diagnosed so far, and death toll surpassing 53,220. India, more than 2,500 people have been infected and 72 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University on Friday. The coronavirus pandemic cases soared to 2,567 in India, with Mumbai's Dharavi reporting its third Covid-19 case today. At 416, Maharashtra has seen the highest number of coronavirus positive cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (309), Rajasthan (140). Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged India's 1.3 billion citizens to switch off the lights at their homes, stand at their doorsteps, and light candles and diyas at 9 pm on Sunday for nine minutes, in a symbolic attempt to dispel the darkness of the coronavirus pandemic and give hope, especially to the poor, who are the most impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown. Coronavirus world update: Over 245,193 are infected in the US till now, with 6,088 dead. Ital...

Michael Levitt, an American-British-Israeli biophysicist who received the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing complex models of chemical systems, has an optimistic take on the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic . In his view, the fast-spreading disease is likely to come to a halt, but gradually. Levitt, whose specialty is not in epidemiology, cited the slowing rate of increase in the number of deaths in China to support his hypothesis. Levitt said that just like China, the United States too will get through the worst of the coronavirus outbreak sooner than many specialists anticipate, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday. The laureate had already started studying the number of coronavirus cases around the world back in January this year. According to him, the world needs to control the panic, and abide by the reasonable social distancing measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Read More

The Health Ministry on Tuesday issued guidelines that have been formed for the management of dead bodies infected with novel coronavirus (Covid-19) to define a set of protocols in handling such cases. In a press briefing, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry Lav Aggarwal gave details about these. Guidelines for dead body management towards precautions, infection prevention and control measures, handling of body and environmental disinfection have been formed. Lav Aggarwal also said that all tests for coronavirus at private laboratories should be offered when prescribed by a qualified physician according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines. "Private labs testing is to ensure real time reporting to Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and the ICMR," he said. Read More

The government on Tuesday banned the entry of passengers from Afghanistan, Philippines and Malaysia to India with immediate effect, according to an additional travel advisory. In continuation of the travel advisory issued on March 11 and March 16, the following additional advisory has been issued. ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: 64-year-old dies in Mumbai, India Covid-19 toll reaches 3 "Travel of passengers from Afghanistan, Philippines and Malaysia to India is prohibited with immediate effect," it said. No flight shall take off from these countries to India after 1500 hours Indian Standard Time (IST). The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure, according to the advisory. This instruction is a temporary measure and shall be in force till March 31 and will be reviewed subsequently. Read More

Coronavirus , officially known as Covid-19, that started spreading from China's Hubei province, has now affected over 150 countries across the globe. China has the most number of cases recorded and most number of deaths. Italy has seen a shocking and sudden rise in the number of cases and deaths. The country has been in total lockdown as the death toll increased. Iran has reported several deaths and has been trying to contain the impact of Covid-19. India is gradually seeing the impact of the virus. Worried about the influx of people carrying the virus from abroad, India suspended all visas till April 15. Worldwide, a number of sporting events, conferences, meets, summits and gatherings have been cancelled. Threat looms over Tokyo Olympics 2020 as well. Read More

With the coronavirus reaching tech parks, campuses of multinational companies and even schools and colleges in Bengaluru, the IT city is gearing up to shoot the trouble with the help of technology. The city has so far reported four positive coronavirus cases . As more employees opt for work from home in this time of crisis, start-ups are launching a suite of products to support collaboration and communication among workers. Ozonetel, a city-based start-up, for example, has rolled out a cloud-based solution for call centre companies to switch to work-from-home, in order to contain the spread of the virus. Using the solution, a company can route calls to mobile phones or even landlines, instead of them taking calls via desktop. Human resource management software start-up Kredily has started providing its attendance management app for free to companies. Unlike a contact-based biometric system, the web-based authentication system rules out the possibility of spreading the virus th...

Coronavirus LIVE updates : The number of coronavirus-related fatalities in China rose to 2,592 on Monday, after the National Health Commission reported 150 more deaths. Monday's death toll was a jump on the 97 deaths reported Sunday. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in mainland China is now 77,150. The World Health Organization on Monday said the new coronavirus epidemic had "peaked" in China but warned that a surge in cases elsewhere was "deeply concerning" and all countries should prepare for a "potential pandemic". WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the peak in China occurred between January 23 and February 2 and the number of new cases there "has been declining steadily since then. "This virus can be contained," he told reporters in Geneva, praising China for helping to prevent an even bigger spread of the disease through unprecedented lockdowns and quarantines in or near the outbreak's epicentr...

Financial firms operating in Singapore and Hong Kong are delaying hiring as the coronavirus outbreak disrupts their businesses. Both domestic and foreign institutions have slowed recruitment, according to headhunters in the financial hubs. They’ve been impacted by quarantines, restrictions on travel to and from China, remote working arrangements and decisions not to conduct face-to-face interviews. It’s another aspect of the fallout from the virus, which has also caused factory closures, disrupted supply chains and initiated the world’s largest work-from-home experiment. Recruiting has become less of a priority as firms including DBS Group Holdings Ltd. have highlighted the revenue impact of worsening business conditions. “ Everybody is distracted,” said Gurj Sandhu, a managing director at Morgan McKinley Group Ltd. in Singapore. Hiring is falling down the “pecking order,” he said, while adding that nobody is canceling roles yet. Read More

The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in mainland China rose to 1,868 as of the end of Monday, up by 98 from the previous day, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday. The central Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, reported 93 deaths, while in the provincial capital of Wuhan, 72 people died. Across mainland China, there were 1,886 new confirmed infections on Monday, bringing the total so far to 72,436. Read More

Three persons with a travel history to China have been kept under observation at an isolation ward of the RML Hospital here for a possible exposure to novel coronavirus , officials said on Tuesday. The three -- all men aged between 24 and 48 -- were admitted on Monday and their samples have been sent for testing to ICMR-NIV Pune laboratory, Dr Minakshi Bhardwaj, Medical Superintendent of RML Hospital, said. While two of the men are residents of Delhi, one hails from NCR. All the three patients have respiratory problems like cold and cough along with fever and they self-reported at the designated health facility to deal with such cases. According to Bhardwaj, two of the patients had returned from China about a week ago while the other about a month back. Till Monday, a total of 33,552 passengers arriving in India from China in 155 flights have been screened As per data received on Jan 14, total 17 samples have been received by the ICMR-NIV Pune Lab, out of which 14 have...