Covid-19 Wrap-up: States grapple with how to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi safely

Economic lockdowns hurt output, but once they’re lifted, activity usually bounces back, and jobs return. School lockouts, by comparison, may have a longer and more pernicious effect.

The Supreme Court said that courts could not presume that all Covid-19 deaths in the second wave were due to negligence as it refused to entertain a plea seeking compensation for the kin of the victims by treating it as medical negligence. The top court also said that door-to-door Covid-19 vaccinations were not feasible due to the diverse conditions of the country and it could not pass a general direction to scrap the existing policy.

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said that a third pandemic wave had arrived, only to issue a clarification hours later that it had not arrived but was on the threshold of the city.

India logged 37,875 fresh Covid-19 infection cases in 24 hours taking the total case tally over 3.3 crore, according to Union Health Ministry data updated this morning. The active cases fell to 3.91 lakh and comprise 1.18 per cent of the total infections. The national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.48 per cent, the ministry said.

Many states are grappling with whether they should allow Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations amid the threat of the third wave. The Andhra Pradesh BJP sought the intervention of Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan to lift the Andhra Pradesh government-imposed curbs on celebrations. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority said that celebrations in public places would not be allowed in the national capital. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said the state government had imposed a ban on the installation of idols in public places. The Bengaluru civic agency, meanwhile, permitted three days of celebrations in public spaces as against the Karnataka government's order allowing five days of festivities.

The moment the first case of Nipah was identified in Kerala, amidst the battle against Covid-19, the government swung into action and took all necessary steps, including forming committees, setting up a testing lab at Kozhikode Medical College and carrying out intensive tracing of contacts, to fight against the virus, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Out of the 248 oxygen generation plants allotted to Karnataka through various sources, around 120 Pressure Swing Adsorption plants have been installed as of date but only 95 have been commissioned so far.

As India crossed the milestone of administering 70 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses, the shortage of Covaxin eight months into the campaign emerged as a source of concern and raised questions about the ramped-up production claims from the manufacturer and the Centre.

The Kerala High Court directed the Centre to allow scheduling of the second Covishield dose after four weeks from the first for those who want to take it earlier than the present suggested gap of 84 days.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories said it had initiated supply of the first dose component of the Sputnik V Russian Covid-19 vaccine to partner hospitals all over the country.

A common reason to remain unvaccinated is the misconception that waiting for natural immunity by choosing infection over vaccination is an option. But infection-acquired immunity may come at a heavy cost.

The Covid-19 infection does not appear to impair the lung function of children and adolescents, according to a study presented at the virtual European Respiratory Society International Congress.

The pandemic had a "devastating" impact on the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria in 2020, according to a report released by the Global Fund.

Cuba this week became the first country in the world to vaccinate children from the age of two against Covid-19, using home-grown jabs not recognised by the World Health Organization.

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