JOIN USWith the end of Lockdown 4.0 just days away, Shemin Joy speaks to Reetika Khera about what lies in store for migrant workers who have now returned home.
Karnataka reports 101 new cases today and the ICMR backtracks on its decision regarding the price of lab tests for Covid-19.
The daily update with Suraksha Pinnu.
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Hello. This the daily Covid update from Deccan Herald. I’m Suraksha.
On the bulletin today:
Karnataka records 101 new cases ...ICMR finds itself in a controversy...
and Reetika Khera speaks to Deccan Herald about the future of migrant workers who have now returned home
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But first, a look at the daily figures
At the time of this recording, India has over 81,000 active cases in the country right now and has recorded over four thousand deaths. Numbers from Maharashtra and Gujarat among the high caseload states are awaited.
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The ICMR has tested more than 31 lakh samples for the novel coronavirus so far and more than 92,000 samples in the last 24 hours.
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Staying with news from the ICMR, the nodal agency for medical research in the country, the Council has waded into controversy by backtracking on the fixed rate of Covid-19 tests at private labs. The Council has earlier defended the charge of 4,500 rupees in the Supreme Court but has now said it is too high and has asked states to negotiate a lower price.
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And the muddle spills over to the use of HCQ…the World Health Organisation has stopped the trial of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine against Covid-19 amidst rising safety concerns on the medicine. However, days earlier the ICMR as well as the Union Health Ministry had advised the use of the anti-malarial drug not only for high risk individuals but also for the contacts of asymptomatic COVID-19 positive patients despite studies in the Lancet and British Medical Journal showing that the medicine does not offer any additional benefit for COVID-19 patients, rather it increases the death rate in such patients.
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Despite the confusing signals,the government today said that the fatality rate among Covid-19 patients in India is among the lowest in the world at 2.87%. According to the government this could be on account of early detection of cases and strict adherence to clinical management protocols.
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On the other hand, the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown has cost the Indian economy over 30 lakh crore. The losses so far are close to 43% more than the Centre’s stimulus package which was 20 lakh crore.
According to a research report from the SBI, the top five states including Maharashtra and Karnataka account for nearly 50% of total gross domestic product loss.
The loss is maximum (around 50%) in the red zone, where almost all the big districts of India are located.
The combined loss of Orange and Red zones is around 90% of total loss.
The loss in Green zone is the least, as 80% of population in this zone is located in rural areas which is almost open for all activities.
The report projects that the GDP growth in 2020-21 would now be around (-)6.8%.
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Moving on to the numbers from Karnataka…
101 cases were reported from the state today of which 82 cases have an interstate travel history. 4 new cases reported today have a travel history to Qatar.
The source of infection is being traced for 2 patients - one in Bengaluru Urban and the other in Ballari. 2 patients have presented with Influenza like Illness and 1 with SARI. The others are contacts of previously diagnosed patients.
Chitradurga has reported the highest number of cases in the state today - all 20 new cases have recently returned from Tamil Nadu.
All 14 new cases in Yadgir district, 13 in Hassan and 10 in Bidar, have returned from Maharashtra.
Of the 13 new cases in Belagavi, 12 have returned from Jharkhand and 1 from Maharashtra. Dakshina Kannada and Bagalkote have reported cases from those who have returned from Qatar.
With this, the state has reported 2,283 cases in total of which more than 1,400 are active cases. 748 patients have recovered, 18 are currently in the ICU while 44 have died. The state has tested just over 3,500 samples in the last 24 hours.
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Ever since the lockdown was announced, India has seen an exodus of workers desperate to return home. It was hoped that the easing of lockdown restrictions would stem the exodus, but it has not.
In our series of conversations looking at the post Covid world, Shemin Joy speaks to Reetika Khera, a development economist at IIT Delhi, about the future that awaits these migrant workers who have now returned home...and who stare at joblessness and possibly, increased incidence of hunger.
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That's all from us today. For the latest updates, log on to deccanherald.com. Stay safe and we’ll see you tomorrow.