Heena Sharma Blog

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

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...

The coronavirus outbreak which spread from central China has now spread to more than 78 countries — from South Korea to Italy, Iran, Japan and the United States. At least 11 people have died of the COVID-19 disease in the US. In India, a new case of COVID-19 was reported after Paytm in a statement said that one of its employees in Gurgaon office had tested positive, taking the number of confirmed cases in India to 29. With concerns mounting over the spread of the virus, the Delhi government has decided to form a task force and set up isolation wards in 19 government and six private hospitals. Three schools in Noida and adjoining areas were also shut as a precautionary measure. President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders have cancelled Holi gatherings over the coronavirus scare. The PMO also organised an inter-ministerial meet to review preparedness and response to Coronavirus. South Korea's total number of novel coronavirus infections — the...

Two more positive cases of the novel coronavirus -- one in Delhi and another in Telangana -were reported, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday. The person from Delhi had travelled to Italy, it said adding he is being diagnosed at RML hospital. The other person with the coronavirus infection has a travel history to Dubai, the ministry added. The number of deaths globally in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak crossed 3,000 on Monday, as China reported 42 more deaths. The total number of confirmed Coronavirus cases worldwide is around 80,000 now. The new fatalities were all in the virus epicentre Hubei province of China, the National Health Commission said. In China, the number of reported new cases has gradually been declining and there were only six confirmed new infections outside Hubei. However, South Korea today reported 476 new Coronavirus cases, taking its national tally to 4,212, while the US reported its second death from the virus. Infections have nearly double...

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