Heena Sharma Blog

  India remains badly placed to tackle the rapid spread of coronavirus despite several reforms and the unprecedented crisis has highlighted the need to increase investments in the healthcare sector, Fitch Solutions said on Friday. "The continued lack of medical funding and healthcare infrastructure inform our view for the potential epidemic to be worse if it is not adequately contained," it said. With 8.5 hospital beds per 10,000 populations and 8 physicians per 10,000, the country's healthcare sector is not equipped for such a crisis. Moreover, the significant inefficiency, dysfunctioning and acute shortage of the healthcare delivery systems in public sector do not match up with the growing needs of the population. In addition, said Fitch, more than 80 per cent of the population still does not have any significant health insurance coverage and about 68 per cent of the population has limited or no access to essential medicines. Read More

  India saw72,330 new coronavirus infections being reported in a span of 24 hours, the highest single day rise so far this year, taking the COVID-19tally of cases to1,22,21,665,according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The single-day rise in cassis the highest recorded since October 11, 2020, while the death toll increased to 1,62,927 with459daily new fatalities, the highest in around 116 days, the data updated at 8 am showed. Registering a steady increase for the 22nd day in row, the active cases have increased to5,84,055comprising 4.78per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 93.89 per cent, the data stated. As many as74,383new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours on October 11. The active caseload was at its lowest at1, 35,926 on February 12 comprising 1.25 per cent of the total infections. Read More

  Maharashtra has emerged as the leader in the COVID-19 vaccination drive as it has administered vaccine doses to 43,42,646 people, an official said on Thursday. The state surpassed Rajasthan in the vaccination drive on March 24, he said. Rajasthan now ranks second as it has vaccinated 43,27,874 people, the official said. "Maharashtra tops the list of states in the country in terms of the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered," Dr Pradeep Vyas, principal secretary of Maharashtra Public Health Department, said. The state has also administered the second dose of vaccine to 6,72,128 people, thereby reaching the cumulative vaccination figure of 50,14,774. "Maharashtra is also the first state to cross the 50- lakh doses benchmark. We will further scale up the vaccination," he said. Read More

  India recorded 47,262 fresh coronavirus cases in a day, the highest single-day rise so far this year, taking the nationwide COVID-19 tally to 1,17,34,058, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday. The active caseload registered an increased for the 14th day in row and was recorded at3,68,457, comprising 3.14per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate further dropped to 95.49 per cent, the ministry data updated at 8 am said. The daily rise in infections was the highest recorded in 132 days, while the country's COVID-19 death toll increased to1,60,441, with 275 new fatalities, the highest in around 83 days. As many as47,905 new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours on November 12 last year, it said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,12,05,160, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.37 per cent, the data stated. Read More

  India saw 46,951new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, the highest so far this year, taking the nationwide COVID-19tally to1,16,46,081, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday Registering an increase for the 12th day in a row, the total active caseload has increased to3,34,646, which now comprises 2.87per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 95.75 per cent, the data stated. The daily rise in infections was the highest recorded in 130 days, while the death toll increased to 1,59,967with 212 daily new fatalities, the highest in 72 days, the data updated at 8 am showed. As many as47,905 infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours on November 12. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,11,51,468, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.37 per cent, the data stated. Read More

  As many as 35,871 new COVID-19 cases and 17,741 recoveries were reported in India in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Thursday. With the addition of fresh cases, the total number positive cases in the country reached 1,14,74,605, including 2,52,364 active cases and 1,10,63,025 recoveries. The death toll stands at 1,59,216 including 172 in the last 24 hours. As many as 3,71,43,255 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered so far in the country. As per the India Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 23,03,13,163 samples up to Wednesday have been tested for the coronavirus. 10,63,379 were tested yesterday. Maharashtra which is the worst affected state in the country administered a total of 2,74,037 doses (2,22,771 - Covishield and 51266 Covaxin ) for coronavirus in 2,908 vaccination sessions. Read More

India recorded 22,854 cases of coronavirus infection in a day, the highest in around two-and-half-months, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to1,12,85,561, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. Thedeath toll increased to1,58,189 with 126 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The total active cases have increased to1,89,226which now comprises1.68per cent of the total infections. Thenumber of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,09,38,146which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of96.92 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.40 per cent, the data stated. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7,30 lakhonAugust 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and50 lakh onSeptember 16.It went past60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh onOctober 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29,90 lakh onNovember 20 andsurpassed theone-crore mark on December 19. According to the ICMR, 22,42,58,293 samples have b...

  India's COVID-19 tally rose to 1,12,62,707 with 17,921 fresh cases being reported in a day, while the recoveries surpassed 1.09 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday. The death toll increased to 1,58,063 with 133 new fatalities, according to the ministry data updated at 8 am. The number of active cases reduced to 1,84,598 which now comprises1.64per cent of the infection count. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,09,20,046, which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 96.96 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.40 per cent, the data stated. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7; 30 lakh on August 23; 40 lakh on September 5 and50 lakh on September 16. It went past60 lakh on September 28; 70 lakh on October 11; crossed 80 lakh on October 29; 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed one crore on December 19. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),22,34,79,...

  New cases of coronavirus infection in India were recorded above 18,000 for the third consecutive day taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to1,12,29,398, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The active cases also registered an increase for the sixth consecutive day and the COVID-19 active caseload increased to1,88,747whichnow comprises1.68per cent of the total infections. The recovery rate has dropped further to 96.91 per cent,the data stated. A totalof 18,599new infections were registered in a day, while thedeath toll increased to1,57,853with 97daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. On January 29,18,855 new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours. Thenumber of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,08,82,798which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 96.91 per cent, while thecasefatality rate stands at 1.41per cent. Read More

  Pfizer on Friday said that it has withdrawn it's application for emergency use authorization for the Covid-19 vaccine in India. The US based drug major said that it would submit the additional information as it becomes available in the near future, The company met the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on February 3. "Based on the deliberations at the meeting and our understanding of additional information that the regulator may need, the company has decided to withdraw its application at this time. Pfizer will continue to engage with the authority and resubmit its approval request with additional information as it becomes available in the near future," a company spokesperson said. The firm had missed appearing before the SEC thrice before. It had said that short notice and time zone difference were the reasons behind it. Pfizer has not conducted any bridge trial on Indian population for its mRNA vaccine. The Indian regulator has asked foreign vaccine makers lik...

  The number of people who have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 has climbed to 82 in India, the health ministry said on Friday. The number of such people stood at 73 till January 6, it added. "The total number of cases infected with the new strain of the novel coronavirus, first reported in the UK, now stands at 82," the ministry said. All the people who have tested positive for the new variant of the virus were kept in single-room isolation at designated healthcare facilities by the respective state governments, the ministry had earlier said. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. A comprehensive contact-tracing exercise has been initiated for their co-travellers, family members and others and genome sequencing on other specimens is going on, the ministry said. Read More

  A dry run to assess the readiness for the COVID-19 vaccination drive will be held in 21 districts of Chhattisgarh over the next two days, a senior state health official said on Wednesday. Last week, a similar mock drill was held in Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur and six other districts out of the total 28 districts in the state. Now, it will be held in the remaining 21 districts for the assessment of preparation for the imminent coronavirus vaccination drive, mission director for National Health Mission in Chhattisgarh, Priyanka Shukla, told PTI. The dry run will be conducted in Balrampur, Bijapur, Dantewada, Jashpur, Kanker, Kondagaon, Korea, Narayanpur, Sukma and Surajpur districts on Thursday, and in Balod, Raigarh, Balodabazar, Bemetara, Dhamtari, Gariaband, Janjgir- Champa, Kawardha, Korba, Mahasamund and Mungeli on Friday, the official said. Read More

  Bharat Biotech has claimed that amongst all the vaccine platforms such as an mRNA-based vaccine, DNA-based vaccine, vector-based vaccine, or live attenuated vaccines, etc., the inactivated vaccines being developed by it for Covid 19 are safest, and hence, the adverse reactions are lesser. In a series of frequently asked questions (FAQs) for its trials, Bharat Biotech said BBV-152 is a whole-virion inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Amongst all the vaccine platforms such as an mRNA-based vaccine, DNA-based vaccine, vector-based vaccine, or live attenuated vaccines, etc., the inactivated vaccines are safest, and hence, the adverse reactions are lesser. It said about 755 participants have been vaccinated in phase 1 & 2 clinical trials. No serious adverse events have been reported to be related to the vaccine in phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. It said vaccination with BBV-152B may protect the participants only after 14-days post-second dose of vaccination. Hence, the particip...

  India will have to spend $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion in the first phase of a coronavirus vaccination programme, even after getting support under the COVAX global vaccine-sharing scheme, according to estimates by the GAVI vaccines alliance. India, which has the world’s second highest caseload of coronavirus behind the United States, plans to inoculate 300 million people over the next six to eight months, likely with vaccines from AstraZeneca, Russia’s Sputnik, Zydus Cadila and India’s own Bharat Biotech. Documents reviewed by Reuters underline the scale of the funding challenge India faces to immunise its vast population, with 600 million shots required in the first wave alone for critical workers and people most at risk from COVID-19. If India got 190-250 million shots of the vaccine under the COVAX facility - a best case scenario - then the government would need to line up about $1.4 billion to make up for the shortfall, according to an unpublished report prepared for G...

  India’s daily coronavirus infections have been cut in half since a peak of more than 97,000 in mid-September, but the significant drop has raised fresh questions over the South Asian nation’s testing regime and whether it reflects the true state of its epidemic. As the country on Thursday surpassed the grim milestone of 9 million total infections, the official daily numbers appear to show a marked slowdown in the spread of the disease. Once poised to overtake the U.S. as the nation with the highest caseload, India for weeks has been reporting fewer than 50,000 new cases a day, while infections are skyrocketing across America. Rather than showing India is gaining control over Covid-19, the slowing momentum may largely reflect spotty testing levels and a heavy reliance on questionable kits. Read More

  The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to issue directions for banning use of disinfectants and ultra violet rays on humans for COVID-19 management. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan asked the government to do the needful in this regard within a month. The bench passed the verdict on a plea seeking directions to the Centre to forthwith ban the installation, production and advertisement of disinfection tunnels involving spraying or fumigation of chemical disinfectants on humans. On September 7, the apex court had asked the Centre why it has not banned the use of tunnels for disinfecting people for COVID-19 despite taking the stand that spraying of chemical disinfectants is physically and psychologically harmful. Read More

  India's COVID-19 tally climbed to 83.64 lakh with 50,210 new cases in a day, while 77,11,809 people have recuperated so far pushing the national recovery rate to 92.20 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Thursday. The total coronavirus cases mounted to 83,64,086 and the death toll climbed to 1,24,315, with the virus claiming 704 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country, the data updated at 8 am showed. The COVID-19 case fatality rate was recorded at 1.49 per cent. There are 5,27,962 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 6.31 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated. According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 11,42,08,384 samples have been tested up to November 4, with 12,09,425 samples being tested on Wednesday. Read More  

  India's COVID-19 caseload went past83 lakh, while the number of recoveries surged to 76.56 lakh, pushing the national recovery rate to over 92 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry's data updated on Wednesday. With 46,253 fresh infections, the total number of coronavirus cases in the country mounted to 83,13,876, while the death toll rose to 1,23,611 after 514 more fatalities were reported, the data updated at 8 am showed. A total of 76,56,478 people have recuperated from the infection so far, pushing the national recovery rate to 92.09 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.49 per cent. The number of active cases of COVID-19 remained below six lakh for the sixth consecutive day. There are 5,33,787 active cases in the country as on date which comprise 6.42 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated. Read More

  For 14 years, Meenakshi Raman (name changed) had been taking her younger sister, 46-year-old Shruti (name changed), for treatment to the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) in New Delhi once a month. The sisters would spend the better part of the day there for Shruti’s treatment, occupational therapy and counselling for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) with bipolar affective disorder and traits of borderline personality disorder. Their monthly routine was abruptly halted in March with the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown. Shruti’s OCD symptoms and compulsive behaviours worsened due to her fear of infection. Without access to therapy and regular dosage of medicines--available for free at IHBAS’ outpatient department (OPD)--Shruti’s health deteriorated. Read More

  India's COVID-19 caseload crossed the 82 lakh-mark, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 75.44 lakh pushing the national recovery rate to 91.68 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The total coronavirus cases mounted to 82,29,313 with 45,231 people testing positive for the infection in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,22,607 with 496 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. A totalof75,44,798 people have recuperated from COVID-19 so far, taking the national recovery rate to 91.68 per cent, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.49 per cent. The number of active cases of COVID-19 remained below six lakh for the fourth consecutive day. There are 5,61,908 active coronavirus cases in the country as on date which comprise 6.83 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated. Read More