<p>Karnataka reports 18 new cases today and 9 from a single locality in Bengaluru. Scientists attempt to find out if the loss of smell is an indicator of the virus and the Karnataka government relaxes restrictions in some more sectors. All this and more on the daily update with Akhil and Suraksha.</p>.<p>Full Text:</p>.<p>This the daily Covid update from Deccan Herald.<br />On the bulletin today:<br />Karnataka reports 18 new cases of Covid-19…9 are from Bengaluru and BBMP will start to monitor cold and flu symptoms Maharashtra urges the Centre to send migrants home and Scientists examine if a loss of smell is an indication of infection. But first, a look at the national numbers.<br />After a month of lockdown, India has been able to flatten the curve of spread of Covid-19 according to the ICMR. The growth of the infection has been linear, and not exponential, and the lockdown has given authorities time to add to health infrastructure. ICMR has refrained from predicting the peak of the spread of infection.<br />---<br />Almost 23,000 cases have been reported from the country so far. More than 17,000 people are active <br />carriers of the virus. Almost 5000 patients have recovered since they were first tested and...<br />The country has registered 719 covid-related deaths so far.<br />---<br />The Indian Council of Medical Research has collected more than five lakh samples for testing from across the country so far from more than four lakh eighty thousand individuals. Multiple samples are taken from the same individual to determine the presence of the virus.<br />----<br />Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of COVID-19 tests per a million population and with 961 tests per 10 lakh it has surpassed Rajasthan’s average of 877 tests. The state has so far tested more than 48,000 samples. However in absolute numbers, Maharashtra has tested more 82,000 samples, Rajasthan over 60,000 and Tamil Nadu over 59,000 samples.<br />----<br />Moving on to the numbers from the state, Maharashtra recorded 778 numbers today, the highest ever so far. The state has more than 5000 active cases. Gujarat added 217 cases and has over 2000 active cases. Delhi added 128 cases and over 1500 active cases.<br />Madhya Pradesh reported 100 cases today and has over 1400 cases.<br />Among the Southern states, Andhra Pradesh reported 85 cases, Kerala 10 cases and are at the 9th and 10th spots respectively....Karnataka remains in the 11th spot.<br />----<br />18 new cases have been reported in Karnataka today. With this, the number of active cases stands at 283. Among these, 5 are in ICU and no new deaths have been reported.<br />Of the 18 new cases, 10 are from Bengaluru. All of them, barring one, are the contacts P419. These 9 cases have been reported from a slum pocket at Hongasandra, where one daily wage labourer had tested positive on Wednesday.<br />The new patients lived in the same premises as patient 419, who was working as a labourer. The whole area has been sealed down and is being sanitised by BBMP. Security has been increased. The rest of the cases hail from Hubli, Mandya, Kalaburgi and Dakshina Kannada...and are all contacts of previously diagnosed patients. <br />Contact tracing is under way for 1 of the 2 cases reported from Vijayapura.<br />----<br />A lot remains unclear about the spread of the virus, but one of the after-effects being reported is the loss of smell. <br />After several Covid-19 positive patients reported the loss of smell, a Global Consortium of Chemosensory Researchers will analyse the connection between the chemical senses and the disease.<br />Bengaluru-based scientists at NCBS, who are part of this consortium, will be starting a survey to determine if loss or change of smell or taste is a reliable symptom to indicate infection. <br />Tests conducted until now have resulted in divergent findings, due to the presence of many variables like other diseases, medicine-use, genetics etc, which can impact the senses in question. For India, the survey has been translated into more than 20 regional languages, including Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, and Urdu. The survey is open to confirmed or suspect Covid-19 cases.<br />----<br />After the ICMR suspended the use of the rapid antibody test kits that it received earlier this week from China, one of the companies Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech Company Limited, defended its product. The company has said that the test is expected to give accurate results only after the “incubation period” of the virus. The company also reiterated that the rapid tests should be used “as a supplement to nucleic acid detection testing or virus culture identification method.<br />The ICMR had cleared the kit produced by the Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech Company Limited for import to India in the first week of April.<br />The government is expected to take a call on further imports. <br />The State Government of Haryana, has already dropped its plan to import 1.1 lakh rapid test kits from China and has instead opted to procure it from SD Biosensor Inc of South Korea.<br />The South Korean company started producing the diagnostic equipment at its facility at Manesar in Haryana itself and the first batch was rolled out last Sunday.<br />----<br />According to a new report released by the World Bank, the nationwide lockdown in India has impacted the livelihoods of nearly 4 crore internal migrants. It pointed out that the magnitude of internal migration is about two-and-a-half times that of international migration.<br />The report says that around 50,000–60,000 people moved from urban centres to their rural home towns in the span of a few days, prompted by loss of employment due to the lockdown. It added that the containment measures might have contributed to spreading the epidemic as government policy responses to the crisis have largely excluded migrants and their families back home.<br />It advices governments to address the challenges facing internal migrants by including them in health services and cash transfer and other social programmes, while also protecting them from discrimination.<br />---<br />The Maharashtra government has requested the Centre to organise special trains to take migrants from Mumbai and Pune back to their home states as the state expects a peak in cases in the middle of May.<br />While Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has urged the Inter-Ministerial Central Team to ensure passage for migrants, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has formally written to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.<br />According to government estimates, nearly 6.5 lakh migrants are staying in camps in the state, a majority of which are in Mumbai, the larger Mumbai metropolitan region and Pune district.<br />The unrest among the migrants was visible when a large number of migrants came to the streets near the Bandra station earlier this month and demanded return arrangements.<br />---<br />Central government employees will not receive their dearness allowance until January 2021 due to the situation arising from Covis-19. The Dearness allowance and Dearness relief due from January this year has also been withdrawn. The move will affect pensioners as well. More than 49 lakh central government employees and 61 lakh pensioners will be affected.<br />----<br />In news from Karnataka...<br />The state has further eased lockdown restrictions and has allowed some more services and activities.The new list includes shops selling dry fruits, ice cream and juice!<br />In urban areas, food processing units such as bread factories, milk processing plants and flour mills have been permitted. <br />Recharge facilities for prepaid mobile connections will be available.<br />Caregivers of senior citizens and bed-side attendants residing at home will now be considered a permissible activity.<br />Shops that sell educational books are permitted to stay open. <br />Shops that sell electric fans can stay open.<br />Non-banking financial institutions including housing finance companies, micro-financials with “bare minimum staff” and credit cooperative societies are allowed to function.<br />---------<br />Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar has ordered 100 samples of Severe Acute Respiratory Illness and Influenza Like Illness patients to be tested every day for three days in Corona-free districts of Karnataka. The order was issued last Friday. <br />The District health officer from Chamarajanagar, has told DH, that after the order came, they were able to collect 100 SARI samples and 118 ILI samples and have sent it to Mysuru for testing. While all the SARI samples tested negative, ILI reports are awaited.<br />Chamarajanagar, Hassan, Haveri, Kolar, Koppal, Raichur, Ramnagar, Shivamogga and Yadgir have not yet reported any Covid-19 cases so far.<br />----<br />The BBMP which was earlier testing those who had returned from foreign travel, will be shifting its focus to test samples from people with any flu symptoms and general fever. The state government has allotted 50,000 rupees to each primary health centres in all the wards to address any medical <br />emergency scenario at the ward level.<br />----<br />The first laboratory for swab testing in Belagavi has been cleared by the ICMR. The lab is located in the National Institute for Traditional Medicine and is equipped to test 90 swab samples per day. The district has recorded 43 Covid-19 positive cases so far and has seen only 3 recoveries. The district has the third highest number of cases in the state so far. The second testing lab will be established at Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences-District Hospital.<br />-----<br />The state government has started delivering ration to every household in villages across Karnataka, in place of the mid-day meal scheme that is not operational currently due to the closure of schools. Karnataka, which is one of the better-performing states when it comes to the mid-day meal scheme, had ration for about a month left when schools were closed due to the lockdown. The government has activated task forces at the gram panchayat and village levels earlier this month, for these to be delivered home....<br />----<br />...On the other hand, in Bengaluru’s Vasanthapura ward, many migrant construction labourers and other workers have said that they have not received any food supplies from the government since the lockdown began. This goes against the government claims that all migrants and non-BPL card holders in the city are being supplied with food. If you know of other areas across the state which are struggling for supplies, let us know in the comments below.<br />---<br />In some bad news for undergraduate and postgraduate students in Karnataka, vacation for the 2020-21 academic year has been cancelled. <br />Varsities have decided to make up for the lost time due to the lockdown, by cancelling the vacation. The regular vacations were scheduled for August and September, after semester examinations. <br />Though classes are being conducted through online mode, the varsity heads wanted to go for zero vacation policy considering the lockdown period as vacation.<br />---<br />Before we go, we’ve all heard stories of nature reclaiming the planet while most of the human population stays locked in. While some of it fake news, here is something that isn’t. Air pollution in India is at its lowest in two decades, according to a study published by NASA.<br />The study shows aerosol particles plummeting over northern India after just a week of reduced human activity. Aerosols are tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in the air that reduce visibility and can damage the human lungs and <br />heart. <br />Some aerosols have natural sources, <br />such as dust storms, volcanic eruptions, and forest fires. Others come from human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and croplands. Human-made aerosols tend to contribute most of the smaller particles that have greater potential for damaging human health.</p>
