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Yemen’s failing health system amid Covid-19 has put millions at risk

(Source: UN/Twitter)

New Delhi (NVI): Covid-19 pandemic has made life tougher for people in Yemen which has been devastated by five years of war. The humanitarian situation in Yemen, in its sixth year of conflict, is still the worst in the world.

COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across Yemen. About 25 per cent of Yemenis confirmed to have the disease have died. That’s five times the global average.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), some 24 million people, which is 80 per cent of the country’s entire population, require some form of assistance or protection.

As of June 18, 906 COVID-19 cases have been recorded, including 245 deaths. However, there are thousands of people in the country suffering from non-COVID-19 diseases, who are at risk of being de-prioritized due to attention being diverted to the coronavirus.

In Yemen, people are not only in the world’s worst crisis but also face having life-saving aid being cut back. There is lack of adequate testing and treatment facilities in the war-torn country. The actual incidence of COVID-19 is almost certainly much higher. Aid agencies in Yemen are operating on the basis that community transmission is taking place across the country.

According to the UN report, nearly 18 million people in Yemen do not have regular access to clean water, and the conflict has destroyed health-care facilities and left people with some of the lowest levels of immunity and highest levels of acute vulnerability in the world.

Apart from that, major UN programmes in Yemen face reduction or closure, with devastating impact on efforts to prepare for COVID-19. Of the UN’s 41 major programmes in Yemen, 31 have reduced or closed down their activities. Up to 1 million displaced people will not be able to receive critical supplies – including hygiene items that help protect against diseases such as cholera and COVID-19.

As per the report, nutrition programmes will also be cut, affecting 260,000 severely malnourished children and 2 million more children with moderate malnutrition. At least 80 per cent of health services provided through the response could stop at the end of April. This could mean disbanding local health teams that have been and would be essential in detecting COVID-19 and containing past disease outbreaks such as cholera.

Besides that, Yemen’s currency could collapse as the global economy grapples with the impact of COVID-19. The country’s health system is on the verge of collapse. Nearly half of health facilities are non-functioning or partially functioning. Equipment and medical supplies are inadequate or obsolete, and health workers have gone without pay or received irregular pay for more than two years, says the report.

Malnutrition rates among women and children in Yemen remain among the highest in the world. More than 1 million women and 2 million children require treatment for acute malnutrition.

Civilians, mostly children, are bearing the brunt of the violence. In the first quarter of this year, civilian casualties have risen every month, with more than 500 people killed or injured. One in every three civilian casualties has been a child.

-ARK

India gave a befitting reply to those who eyed its territory in Ladakh: PM

PM Modi
PM Narendra Modi (File photo)

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that the world has seen India’s commitment to protecting its borders as a befitting reply was given to those who eyed her territory in Ladakh.

While paying tributes to the fallen soldiers in Galwan Valley clash with the Chinese troops in his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio address, the Prime Minister said that our soldiers have shown that they will not leave any stone unturned in ensuring the country’s safety and security.

“If India knows how to respect friendship, it also knows how to give a befitting reply while looking in the eye,” the PM said in his address.

20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in the violent face-off with Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley at Line of Actual Control (LAC) on June 15. While China still claims its sovereignty over Galwan Valley, India has reiterated its stand that the matter must be resolved through military and diplomatic level talks.

Apart from that, in the 66th edition of his radio address, PM Modi urged citizens to be more careful in ‘Unlock 1’ than lockdown. He also appealed people to wear masks, maintain two meters distance, and following other Covid protocols to keep themselves and their families safe.

He said that India is unlocking its potential in sectors like coal, space, agriculture and more. “It is time for us to work together to make India self-reliant and technologically advanced,” he said.

He said that the agriculture sector has also been unlocked recently which gave farmers the freedom to sell their produce anywhere, to anyone. They are able to get more and better loans now, he added.

During his address, the PM also remembered former prime minister Narasimha Rao. He said the late former prime minister was connected with Indian ethos and well-versed with western thoughts. He said Rao was India’s most experienced leaders.

-ARK

Covid-19 global cases near 10 million, 4.97 lakh deaths reported

World Covid cases

New Delhi (NVI): Almost half a million people have been killed in the past seven months since the outbreak of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic. 9.94 million total confirmed cases have been reported with 5.01 million recoveries so far.

The World Health Organisation has (WHO) has said that the total global corona cases will reach one crore mark within this week. The US, Brazil, the UK and India are the top four worst-affected countries.

Despite earlier speculations that the virus will slow down in summer, the cases have been increasing all over the world. Nearly two-thirds of the total infections have been reported in May and June.

The disease was at its peak in Italy, Spain and France in March and then the United States turned out to be with the worst affected country where 1,27,000 people have died of the infection and 2.56 million cases have been confirmed. Around 7.83 lakh people have recovered from the virus in the country.

Brazil, which has evolved as the new hotspot of positive cases, has reported 1.32 million confirmed cases and 57,103 deaths. Around 7,16,000 patients have recovered in the country.

The UK has 3,10,000 total confirmed cases with 890 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, while 43,514 people have died due to the infection there. Russia has over 6,28,000 confirmed cases with 8,969 deaths reported so far and 3.93 lakh recoveries

Coronavirus cases in India have crossed 5.28 lakh with 19,906 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours. With 410 new deaths, the number of deaths has now reached 16,095. The country today witnessed the biggest single-day spike in new cases with over 19,000 infections.

-ARK

Over 5.28 lakh Covid-19 cases in India, death toll at 16,095

New Delhi (NVI): Coronavirus cases in India have crossed 5.28 lakh with 19,906 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours. With 410 new deaths, the number of deaths has now reached 16,095.

This is the highest single-day rise in Covid cases so far. India is the fourth worst-hit country in the world by the pandemic after the United States, Brazil and Russia.

There are total 5,28,859 confirmed cases so far, with 2,03,051 active cases and 3,09,712 cured or discharged. Meanwhile, several states have imposed full or partial lockdown, amid surge in cases.

Delhi, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are among the wight states that account for 87 per cent of Covid-19 deaths and 85% active caseload.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today address the nation in his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio address. The Prime Minister is likely to talk about measures taken to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The country is currently in phase one of “Unlock” and the PM in his last interaction with chief ministers had said  “unlock, unlock, unlock” should be the way forward as they fight to control the pandemic.

Globally, 9.94 million cases have been reported with 4.97 lakh deaths while 5.01 million have recovered.

-ARK

Covid-19: J&K tally rises to 6,966 with 204 new cases

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir today recorded 204 positive cases, including 33 personnel from security forces, taking the total number of positive cases in the Union Terrotory to 6,966.

Officials said that among the 204 new cases, 109 were tested positive at SKIMS, 13 at JVC Bemina and rest at other hospitals.

“There are 31 CRPF men, two BSF troopers, two soldiers and 11 minors among the fresh cases,” officials said

Among 204 new cases, 192 belong to Kashmir division while 13 are from Jammu division, officials said, adding that the total number of positive cases in Kashmir division has reached 5,457 including 3,175 recoveries and 83 deaths while the total number of positive cases in Jammu division have reached to 1,509 including 1,050 recoveries and 11 deaths.

The officials said that total number of active cases in Jammu and Kashmir stands at 2,648 including 2,200 from Kashmir division and 498 from Jammu division.

With 145 more recoveries, the tally of total recoveries in Jammu and Kashmir has reached to 4,225 which is 60.65 percent of the total cases.

Cases tested positive in J&K include 08 from Kulgam, 49 from Srinagar, 26 from Shopian, 52 from Baramulla, 6 from Anantnag, 9 from Kupwara, 4 from Bandipora, 13 from Budgam, 20 from Pulwama and 4 from Ganderbal in Kashmir division while as 13 from Jammu division include 3 each from Jammu and Rajouri, 2 each from Udhampur, Ramban and Kishtiwar and one from Samba

As per the officials figures, 844 positive cases including 22 deaths and 250 recoveries are from Srinagar, 800 including 15 deaths and 375 recoveries are from Baramulla, 759 including 501 recoveries and 12 deaths are from Kulgam, 730 including 10 deaths and 532 recoveries are from Shopian, 633 including 06 deaths and 457 recoveries are from Anantnag, 517 including 380 recoveries and 05 deaths are from Kupwara, 429 including 182 recoveries and 04 death are from Pulwama, 371 including 186 recoveries and 07 death are from Budgam, 288 including 250 recoveries and 01 death is from Bandipora, 86 including 62 recoveries are from Ganderbal.

In Jammu division, 325 including 259 recoveries and 07 deaths are from Jammu district, 259 including 160 recoveries and 01 death are from Udhampur, 215 including 154 recoveries are from Ramban, 211 including 152 recoveries are from Kathua, 136 including 76 recoveries from Samba, 120 including 96 recoveries and 01 death are from Poonch, 104 including 01 death and 53 recoveries are from Rajouri, 72 including 54 recoveries and 01 death are from Doda, 40 including 26 recoveries are from Reasi and 27 including 20 recoveries are from Kishtwar.

As per the daily information bulletin, 2,72,041 people in Jammu and Kashmir are under observation, 39,403 people have been kept under home quarantine and 2,648 people are in hospital isolation while 31 people are under hospital quarantine.

According to the bulletin, 1,82,444 people have completed surveillance period and 47,422 persons are under home surveillance. So far, results of 3,45,426 samples have been made available.

-CHK

Coronavirus cases exceed 1.98 lakh in Pakistan; death toll tops 4,000

New Delhi (NVI): Pakistan is seeing a decline in coronavirus cases after smart lockdown was implemented in the country and recorded 3,138 positive cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the national tally to 1,98,883.

Meanwhile, 74 people lost their lives due to the deadly contagion in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities to 4,035.

Looking at the breakdown of cases, Sindh province has reported 76,318 coronavirus cases, highest among all the provinces, while Punjab has 72,880 positive cases.

On the other hand, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 24,943 cases, Balochistan is at 10,116, Gilgit-Baltistan at 1,417, Islamabad at 12,206 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is at 1,003 cases so far, according to media reports.

So far, nearly 86,906 people have recovered from the deadly contagion in the country while 2,729 were in critical condition.

-CHK

Scorching heat spells crisis for birds in Delhi-NCR

Raptors such as kites are more prone to heat exhaustion as they fly at higher altitudes.

New Delhi (NVI): As the temperatures skyrocket in the national capital, it’s not only people who have been suffering. Birds in and around Delhi-NCR are facing the brunt of the heatwave gripping the city. After temperatures shot up to 45 degrees Celsius last week, accompanied by very hot winds, over 30 birds suffering from heat exhaustion were rescued by Wildlife SOS.

In the months of May and June, Wildlife SOS has rescued many birds, suffering from dehydration and injuries caused mid-flight and have been safely released into their natural habitat.

Wildlife SOS is conservation non-profit organization, established with the primary objective of rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in distress, and preserving India’s natural heritage.

On a single day, their team has responded to over ten calls regarding exhausted birds that were found in precarious conditions. Among them were black kites, pigeons, asian koyals, barn owls and common mynah birds.

In one such similar incident, a baby mynah had fallen out of its nest in Shankar Vihar and was rescued by a Wildlife SOS team when the family noticed the tiny bird in their garden. It was reunited with its mother soon after.

Summer season is the breeding time for birds, so the conservation organisation has received many calls involving baby birds. Raptors such as kites are more prone to heat exhaustion as they fly at higher altitudes. Planting more trees and leaving earthen water bowls around residential complexes, windows and terraces is helpful in preventing such situations from arising.

CEO & Co-founder Kartick Satyanarayan said, “The most common symptoms we have been observing in these birds are dehydration and heat exhaustion. Every year we get hundreds of calls during the peak of summer regarding birds that have fallen victim to the heat. We are very grateful for these individual acts of kindness and for the people who take the time and effort to care for these birds while help arrives.”

Wasim Akram, Deputy Director – Special Projects, said, “A large number of birds are falling prey to the soaring temperatures due to heat exhaustion and lack of shade. With various parts of North India reeling under the heat wave, such cases are bound to escalate in the months to come. Even the water bowls put out for these birds are drying up in the heat and so are local water bodies. As birds need to bathe themselves in summer to keep cool, this is causing quite a difficult situation. In most cases, immediate medical attention is required to prevent them from succumbing to heat stroke.”

-CHK

COVID cases in Afghanistan climb to 30,616; death toll at 703

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus cases in Afghanistan saw a rise of 165 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 30,616, according to Afghan media reports.

The death toll due to the virus rose to 703 with 20 new fatalities being reported in the last 24 hours.

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health said that, among the fresh cases reported, the highest count of new positive cases was reported in Paktia with 34, followed by Hera with 27 cases.

Likwise, 21 cases were reported in Ghazni, 19 in Kandahar, 17 in Paktika, 10 in Khost, 8 in Nuristan, 7 in Laghman, 7 in Nangarhar, 7 in Balkh, 4 in Helmand, 3 in Uruzgan and 1 in Samangan.

But no cases were reported in Kabul in the last 24 hours, according to data by the ministry.

In terms to fatalities, 9 the deaths were reported in Khost, three in Helmand, three Paktia, two Samangan, two in Badakhshan, one in Uruzgan in the past 24 hours.

So far, the total number of people recovered from the virus reached 10,674 in Afghanistan.

-RJV

Covid tales: In absence of non-local workers, Kashmiris sow paddy crops on their own

Kashmiris plant paddy saplings in a field on the outskirts of Srinagar.

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): For almost two decades, Kashmiris have been dependent on the non-local work force for a plethora of works especially construction, painting houses and sowing various crop varieties and harvesting the same as well. But this year, Covid has played a spoil sport and has left the Kashmiris with no choice other than to do all these jobs on their own.

Rice across Kashmir is sown in the month of June and today not a single non-local worker is seen working in the fields. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, workers from outside the Union Territory could not come to Kashmir. However, a few who didn’t leave last December continue to stay in the Valley. Their number is too less compared to what it used to be in summers in Kashmir.

“I had been repeatedly calling Ravi, who had been working for us for years now. But he has not been able to book a ticket due to the pandemic. He along with his half-a-dozen friends would sow our rice crops and I would pay them their dues well on time every year,” said Irshad Ahmed, who owns many kanals of paddy land in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Similarly, Gulab Kumar, who would reach Kashmir in the first week of April, said that he has suffered huge losses this year. “I would lead a group of 30 to 40 people, all from my village in Bihar, to Kashmir every year. Majority of them would work in fields both at the time of sowing paddy crop and at the time of harvest as well,” Kumar told NVI over phone from Bihar. He said that they have tried to travel to Kashmir, but all efforts have failed.

Aijaz Ahmed, a resident of north Kashmir’s Baramulla said he had to invite all his relatives for sowing paddy crop this year. “I used to hire non-locals and would monitor the sowing of paddy crop myself. But this year, my family members including females and the close relatives had to play their bit in sowing paddy crops as no non-local labourer was present in Kashmir to do the job,” said Aijaz, who has over 20 kanals of paddy land.

While on one hand, Kashmiris are themselves busy in the fields, non-locals, who would otherwise do the job, have suffered huge losses as they would earn good money during the month of June and also in the month of September, when paddy crop is ready to harvest.

-CHK

International commercial flights to remain suspended till July 15: DGCA

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): All scheduled international commercial passenger flight services to and from India will remain suspended till July 15, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced yesterday.

The restriction, however, will not be applied on international all-cargo operations and other flights specially approved services by the DGCA.

A circular released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stated, “Scheduled international commercial passenger services to or from India shall remain suspended till 23:59 hours IST of July 15, 2020.”

The DGCA official release further stated that, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case to case basis.

Besides this, the government is currently running the third phase of Vande Bharat Mission – one of the largest initiatives to repatriate Indians stranded abroad due to
coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this week, Union Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri had said that a decision to resume international passenger flights will be taken in July, further adding that it would depend on the coronavirus behavior and if the entire ecosystem and state governments are on board.

“I am often asked, when can you start international civil aviation? If you leave it to me, and if the ecosystem works, and if we have the predictability in terms of behaviour of the virus, I think in the coming month we should start taking the decision,” Puri said.

He also said that, these decisions will not be taken by the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry. These decisions will be taken by the governments after looking at their domestic situation.

-RJV/CHK

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