'On 26 April, in what can only be described as inadvertent whistle-blowing, a dispute between three private companies over the distribution of antibody kits in India revealed that the centre had allowed the costs of COVID-19 antibody tests to be inflated by nearly 145 percent. In a judgment that favoured none of the companies, it was the Indian Council of Medical Research that suffered the most. The court disclosed that the ICMR offered to pay Rs 30 crore for five lakh test kits, at an inflated price that offered a profit of Rs 18.75 crore to the intermediary companies.
'India could find itself in an acute health crisis over the next few months and the direct cause of it will not be the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Hundreds of thousands of children might already have missed vital immunizations, shows a Mint analysis of the latest health ministry data. Thousands of adults may have missed potentially life-saving medical treatment as the novel coronavirus epidemic spread and a lockdown came into force.
'...Despite her husband’s non-cooperation, every day, Seema wears her light pink sari (ASHA’s formal attire) and visits around 25 households, a target which she has set for herself. “I am supposed to do this. Even if I am scared, I cannot step back,” she says. “More than myself, I am afraid of transmitting the infection to my children and my mother-in-law,” she added. ASHAs have been assigned a number of tasks during the ongoing pandemic. “On a normal day, in addition to distributing posters, we are supposed to trace the contacts of COVID-19 patients.
'While voices on our phones, televisions, and radios don’t tire of telling us to wash our hands frequently, reminding us how important that simple act is in this battle against Covid-19, a simple fact of Mumbai life seems to have escaped all our experts and planners – lakhs of Mumbaikars don’t have access to enough water to do that. According to a survey carried out by Pani Haq Samiti, an NGO involved in fighting for water rights of underprivileged, there are at least 5 lakh slum-dwellers in Mumbai spread across 60 slum pockets who get less than 60 litres of water per family per day.
'Bringing up the recent death of two Tablighi Jamaat members, who were kept at Delhi’s quarantine centre in Sultanpuri, the Delhi Minorities Commission has written to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requesting a probe. The letter which was sent on 24 April states, “Both of the dead belonged to Tamil Nadu and both were diabetic and died due to denial of diabetic medicines and erratic food supply.” While one died on 22 April the other died about ten days before...'
'In this day and age, even the most rational amongst us has entertained the question 'what if I have the novel coronavirus'. Yoga guru and the founder of Patanjali Ayurved, Baba Ramdev has a test that will help assuage your fears. Speaking at an e-Agenda Aaj Tak session Ramdev claimed that anyone who was able to hold their breath for an entire minute was not suffering from the novel coronavirus...'
'At 2 a.m. on Thursday, a young media professional diagnosed with malaria, experienced a sudden spike in fever. But the closest hospital near her Mahim home said told her she should not come in for a consultation till she had a COVID-19 negative report in hand. Scarred by COVID-19 patient encounters that have infected many healthcare workers and have forced some hospitals to shut down, many medical institutions have made it a norm to demand proof of a patient being COVID-19 negative before treatment.
'Patients labelled as ‘suspected Covid’ during admission to hospitals here are not being tested for the novel coronavirus even after death in a bid to dress up infection figures, charged opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday. He said at least 44 bodies of ‘suspected Covid’ patients have been released from the civic-run Nair Hospital — a dedicated Covid-19 facility now — without the coronavirus test. There are several such instances from other hospitals too, said Fadnavis, who tweeted details of the letter he’s sent to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray...'
'...South Asia’s low Covid-19 cases have led experts to offer several theories. One of them is the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine, used against tuberculosis. The BCG vaccination is universal in South Asia and has been connected, by some studies, to low instances of Covid-19. Similarly, some studies also show that heat could adversely affect the virus. Experts, however, advise caution on how much these two factors can be credited for low numbers in South Asia given what is known currently...
'In the Govandi slums of eastern Mumbai, 27-year-old Anjum Shaikh has heard enough about the coronavirus pandemic to know that she should wash her hands regularly to avoid infection. Yet with no running water to the single-storey structure she calls home, she has few options but to pay a neighbour for access to his tap – for 7 minutes, at 4am, three times a week. “If I don’t wake up in time, I will be left with no water. So, the days when it is my turn to fill water, I just don’t sleep,” she said. Such sleepless nights aren’t Shaikh’s only concern, however.
