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Domestic cargo flights empowering India’s fight against COVID-19

New Delhi (NVI): Efforts at policy and ground level are being taken to add substantially in the country’s fight against Covid-19 by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The cargo that is being delivered to various parts of the country includes COVID-19 related reagents, enzymes, medical equipment, testing kits & PPE, masks, gloves & other accessories and cargo requisitioned by State and UT Governments and other postal packets.

The continous delivery of such essentials like medical kits has enabled testing of patients on time across the country. Similarly, delivery and parcel of masks and gloves has enabled doctors to protect themselves and others.

In addition to this, medical supplies delivered to North-East and remote areas ensures that no region of the country is left behind in this fight against Covid-19.

The ministry also announced that hub & spoke lifeline services have been started so that simultaneously, different and far located parts of the country can be catered to and resources are utilised optimally.

With regards to international collaboration, the ministry announced an air bridge between Shanghai and Delhi. “The First cargo flight of Air India on April 5.Air India will be operating dedicated scheduled cargo flights to China for the uplifting of critical medical equipment,” the ministry added.

Face Mask production initiative by SHGs

New Delhi (NVI): In response to rise in COVID-19, face mask production has been initiated by Self Help Groups (SHGs) members in 24 States covering 399 Districts of the country.

The initiative is being covered under the Ministry of Rural Development’s National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).

Around 21,028 members of 4281 SHGs in 5 districts of Andhra Pradesh and 10,780 members of 1927 SHGs in 32 districts of Tamil Nadu produced 25,41,440 and 26,01,735 masks respectively in 10 days.

The members of SHGs of various states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and many North Eastern states are involved in producing masks.

However, total 65,936 SHG members from 14,522 SHGs are involved and together they have manufactured 132 lakh masks.

Three new cases of COVID-19 in Nepal

New Delhi (NVI): Three new coronavirus positive cases were reported in Nepal today, raising the number of such patients in the country to nine, according to local media reports.

All three new cases reported are from Sudurpaschim province, the far-western part of the country, the reports said, quoting officials of Ministry of Health.

The three new cases include a 21-year-old male of Kailali who returned from Mumbai in India and 41-year-old male of Kanchanpur who returned from Uttarakhand in India. Both of them have been quarantined.

The third patient is a 34-year-old female from Kailali who is known to be a relative of one of the earlier infected persons. This is the first case of local transmission in the country.

Among the nine cases of Nepal, eight are active and one has recovered. Except for one case confirmed today, all eight cases had recently returned to Nepal from other countries.

The Nepal government also imposed lockdown until April 7 halting flights, ordering vehicles off the roads, shutting businesses and shuttering major markets.

DRDO develops sanitisation equipments

(Image source: @DRDO_India)
New Delhi (NVI): As India prepares to fight against coronavirus pandemic, Defence research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has come up with technologies for sanitising areas of different sizes.
The Centre for Fire Explosive & Environment Safety (CFEES), Delhi, with the help of its industry partner, has developed two configurations of sanitising equipment. These are spin-offs from technologies developed for fire suppression applications.
It includes one portable sanitisation equipment for spraying decontamination solution consisting of one per cent Hypochlorite (HYPO) solution for sanitisation of suspected area.
The portable system can be mounted as a ‘backpack’ and can be carried by the operations personnel. This system incorporates low pressure twin fluid. It is capable of disinfecting up to 300 square metre area.

Advisory issued asking people to wear ‘homemade masks’: Health Ministry

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): As India is witnessing a spike in the coronavirus cases, an advisory on homemade protective covers and face mask was issued today by the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs.

In the advisory, the government recommends that healthy people can wear homemade face masks, especially outside their homes, for better personal hygiene.

This will also protect the communities during the coronavirus pandemic. Certain countries have claimed benefits of homemade face cover for the general public.

Homemade face masks are recommended for such people  who are not suffering from medical conditions or having breathing difficulties may use the handmade reusable face cover, particularly when they step out of their house.

These masks and face covers are not recommended for Covid-19 patients or those involved in their care including healthcare workers and medical professionals.

The government also advises making two sets of these covers and masks so that while one is in use, the other can be washed.

In the manual, few steps have been laid down to make such homemade face covers and masks at home using cleam strips of cloth and a sewing machine.

In order to make a temporary face cover, the manual also shows ways to use a handkerchief and a couple of elastic bands for making a face mask.

An urgent need to facilitate the transfer of LCT to developing countries

New Delhi (NVI): Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees is possible with existing low-carbon technology, if it is deployed on a massive scale to developing countries, according to the World Bank.

“There is an urgent need to facilitate the transfer of technology to developing countries,” said Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, at the World Bank Group.

Technology Transfer and Innovation for Low-Carbon Development observes that the cost of low-carbon technology (LCT) is on decrease while investment, trade, and innovation in this sector are rising.

The benefits of that progress have largely avoided the world’s poorest countries, which play little role in LCT markets as buyers, sellers or innovators despite being the most vulnerable.

As global transfer and deployment of LCT from developed to developing economies is a necessity but also an opportunity, according to the World Bank report.

Actions that promote LCT absorption, use and production, such as investments in human capital, infrastructure and firms. These investments can increase a country’s competitiveness, output, and employment while producing other benefits that improve the lives of citizens.

The World Bank report noted that, mass deployment of existing technology in just four sectors—energy, industry, transport and buildings, can account for two-thirds of the emissions reductions needed by 2030.

It is also said, technological capabilities in developing countries are improving although slowly, and from a small base.

In year 1992, just 5.2 percent of global LCT exports went from developing to advanced economies. By 2016, this share had increased to 18.1 percent, as per the World Bank report.

China is the said to be the world’s largest importer and exporter of LCT. In 2016, China accounted for 15.9 percent of total LCT imports, ranking ahead of the United States (13.2 percent) and Germany (6.9 percent).

Meanwhile, LCT have certain characteristics that make their adoption and transfer difficult, which include high up-front capital requirements, highly complex production inputs, and intense inertia and competition from the fossil fuel industry.

Apart from that, there are a variety of domestic and international policies that can help promote LCT technology transfer as well.

However, LCT is becoming less expensive, more widely traded and the basis for increasing innovation.

IMTECH to begin testing COVID-19

New Delhi (NVI): The CSIR Institute Microbial Technology (IMTECH) will take up testing of COVID-19 samples as the virus poses several challenges to the healthcare sector with the limited number of test kits.

In the initial phase, IMTECH plans to operationalise capability to test 50 to 100 samples a day, which can be subsequently ramped up.

IMTECH becomes the first CSIR laboratory in Chandigarh region and the third in the country after the Centre for Cellular Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, and the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, to take up Covid testing.

The institution has increased its capabilities to carry out clinical testing for COVID-19 and it has the necessary expertise in molecular microbiology.

Meanwhile, with a limited number of test kits available, India has been testing only those patients having a travel history and is ranked lowest in terms of testing per million people.

Apart from testing of clinical samples, CSIR-IMTECH is also supporting healthcare professionals by providing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to prevent them from contracting any infection.

COVID-19: Deaths top 57,000 globally; total cases cross 1.1 mn

Coronavirus cases

New Delhi (NVI): At least 58,929 people across the world have now died as a result of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Globally, the virus that has now spread to 181 countries, have a total number of positive cases of COVID-19 have now reached 11,00,283, with a total of 2,26,669 people have been cured or have recovered from the deadly virus.

In addition to this, the world’s two leading financial institutions, World Bank and International Monetary Fund, have warned of dire economic disruptions as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread around the globe.

World Bank Group President David Malpass said the health emergency is expected to cause a “major global recession” that would likely hit the poorest and most vulnerable countries the hardest.

Whereas, the International Monetary Fund described the situation as a “crisis like no other”.

UK also confirmed that 684 more people have died in hospitals, bringing the total to 3,605 in the last 24 hours, according to country’s Department of Health and Social Care.

The US now has nearly 7,000 fatalities as the contagion is rapidly spreading, meanwhile New York city recorded 562 deaths. The total number of positive cases in US have reached 2,77, 965.

Meanwhile, Italy remains the world’s worst-hit country, with a total of 14,681 deaths due to novel coronavirus.

Terrorists may take advantage of corona crisis: UN

New Delhi (NVI): The UN has warned that the worst is yet to be seen on the coronavirus front and urged for global peace as it apprehended that terrorist or extremist groups across the world may take advantage of the uncertainty created by the spread of pandemic.

“We need to do everything possible to find the peace and unity our world so desperately needs to battle COVID-19,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.  

He warned that the worst is yet to come and so everything possible needs to be done to find peace and unity.

“Our world desperately needs to battle the pandemic. We must mobilise every ounce of energy to defeat it,” he added.

“We know the pandemic is having profound social, economic and political consequences, including relating to international peace and security,” he said.

“We see it, for example, in postponement of elections or limitations on the ability to vote, sustained restrictions on movement, spiraling unemployment and other factors that could contribute to rising discontent and political tensions,” the UN Secretary General said.

Expressing his deep gratitude for the countries which have responded positively to his appeal for an immediate ceasefire in all corners of the globe to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, he said more than one million people have gathered support for an appeal launched by ‘Avaaz’.

He said a substantial number of parties to conflict in 11 countries— Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Colombia, Libya, Myanmar, the Philippines, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen — have expressed their acceptance for the call for peace.

But there is a huge distance between declarations and deeds — between translating words into peace on the ground and in the lives of people, the UN chief said.

“Conflicts have even intensified in some warring parties in Yemen, Libya and Afghanistan,” he said.

“To silence the guns, we must raise the voices for peace.”

“There is chance for peace but we are far from there and the need is urgent. The coronavirus storm is now coming all these theatres of conflict. The virus has showed how swiftly it can move across borders, devastate countries and upend lives,” he said.

“We know that any initial gains are fragile and easily reversible. We need robust diplomatic efforts to meet these challenges,” he added.

COVID-19 death toll in India rises to 68, total cases 2,902

New Delhi (NVI): The total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 2,902 and 68 people have died from the pandemic, the Union Health Ministry said this morning.

In the last 24 hours, 478 new cases have been reported, the highest single-day spike.

The number of cases has doubled across the country in the last three days from 1,251 on March 31 to 2,547 on April 3.

Of these, over 25 per cent of the positive cases are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi.

At present, the number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 2,650, while 183 people were either cured or discharged and 1 had migrated.

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