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Plasma transfusion promise and unemployment rate: Covid-19 news today
Here are the top stories on Covid-19 pandemic from India today.
A new research says virus-fighting antibodies from people who have recovered from Covid-19 can help cure others. It describes the technique (convalescent plasma therapy) as a promising option to save lives till a vaccine is found. In India, the government appears to be considering suggestions by states to extend the ongoing lockdown even as early estimates of job data suggest Covid-19 may have had a devastating impact on the economy and sent the overall unemployment rate soaring to 23.4% (from 8.4% in mid-March).
Here are the top stories on Covid-19 pandemic from India today.
Centre considering pleas by states to prolong lockdown
The Centre is considering extending the three-week nationwide lockdown over the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak after some states favoured its enforcement beyond April 14, while also weighing the option of lifting the restrictions in a staggered manner, officials said on Tuesday, when the number of cases in the country crossed 5,000. Read more.
Coronavirus: India partially eases restrictions on export of anti-malarial drug
India has partially eased restrictions on export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol, cited by some as key to the fight against Covid-19, to fulfil existing orders and to meet the needs of neighbouring countries, but only after building its own stockpile of the drug. Read more.
Covid-19: What you need to know today
On Tuesday, India removed some restrictions on the export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which some people, including US President Donald Trump, believe to be the miracle cure for Covid-19. There’s no scientific evidence of this yet, but that hasn’t stopped some countries from trying to source more of the drug.Read more.
Jobless rate soars to 23.4% amid Covid-19 lockdown
Early estimates of jobs data indicate that the coronavirus effect may have left a devastating impact on the economy, sending urban unemployment rate soaring to 30.9% . Overall unemployment rose to 23.4%.The latest data for the week ended 5 April was released on Monday evening. CMIE’s estimates on unemployment shot up from 8.4% in mid-March to the current 23%. Read more.
Monitoring worst-hit districts: Smart City war rooms for affected areas
The Union government has discovered a new use for the Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) designed for the Smart Cities Mission -- surveillance and monitoring of Covid-19 affected districts across the country.According to government officials, these centres have been converted into war rooms for real-time data monitoring and to provide the latest information through a central dashboard. Read more.
Maharashtra Covid cases tally crosses 1,000 mark
With 150 new cases, the Covid-19 tally in Maharashtra on Tuesday crossed the 1,000-mark to reach 1,018, the highest for any state. This was the steepest one-day rise in the number of cases in Maharashtra and came on a day when Maharashtra recorded 12 Covid-19 related deaths and took the state’s death toll from the pandemic to 64, state health department officials said. Read more.
More testing to welfare push: Tamil Nadu’s 5-point Covid plan
The first week of April has been brutal for Tamil Nadu in its fight against the coronavirus disease. The number of Covid-19 cases in the state has multiplied by more than 10 times, from 67 at the end of March to 690 as of Tuesday, April 7.Here are five ways in which the Tamil Nadu government has acted to bring the situation under control.Read more.
5-point plan to tackle worst case
India’s health ministry has ordered 107 million tablets of hydroxychloroquine, 16.6 million units of personal protective equipment (PPE), and 48,000 ventilators, and hopes to have everything in place by May 31 -- it’s deadline for scaling up health infrastructure to fight Covid-19. Read more.
Covid-19: Blood transfusion from those who have recovered may help
Virus fighting antibodies from people who have recovered from the coronavirus disease Covid-19 can help cure others, according to a research finding published on Tuesday that describes the technique – convalescent plasma therapy – as a promising option to save lives till a vaccine is found. Read more.
How Sars-CoV-2 is more insidious than Sars virus
People with coronavirus disease (Covid-19) are the most infectious during the first week of symptoms, according to a recent study, which explains why this disease is spreading faster than other coronavirus diseases, like the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) outbreak caused by Sars-CoV-1. Read more.
Covid-19: States reel from revenue loss, salary delays likely
Most Indian states witnessed a decline in revenue of between 30% to 60% for March, and are estimating a bigger dip in April, multiple state government officials said, even as some states want an extension of the national lockdown beyond April 15 to save lives by containing the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Read more.
In absence of lockdown, one patient can infect 406: Govt study
A person carrying the Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is capable of infecting 406 people in 30 days in the absence of a lockdown, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) experts have estimated. That is based on the assumption that R-naught, or R0, a virus’s basic reproductive number (meaning the number of persons an infected patient can potentially infect) is 2.5. Read more.
Covid-19: Govt looks at ways to restart business ops post lockdown
The government is working on getting business activity going again, if only in parts, after the lockdown is relaxed, if only in part, even as companies are itching to get going again , and hoping for a stimulus package.According to officials, a final decision on this matter is expected next week after thorough assessment of the situation on the ground, and elaborate consultations with stakeholders, including state governments. Read more.
