127 pilgrims stranded in Varanasi return

18/04/2020 , Chennai

 

As many as 127 persons, most of them senior citizens, who went on a pilgrimage to Uttar Pradesh and got stranded in Varanasi, were transported by road to Tamil Nadu on Friday. They have been quarantined in a defunct medical college in Tiruvallur district. Samples have been collected for testing.

Wuhan admits to errors, hikes toll by 50%

18/04/2020 , Agence France-Presse, Wuhan

China’s coronavirus ground-zero city of Wuhan on Friday admitted missteps in tallying its death toll as it abruptly raised the count by 50% following growing world doubts about Chinese transparency.

The U.S. has led the charge in questioning China’s handling of the pandemic and how much information it has really shared with the international community since the virus emerged late last year.

Authorities in Wuhan initially tried to cover up the outbreak, punishing doctors who raised the alarm online in December.

Wuhan’s epidemic control headquarters said in a social media posting on Friday that it had added 1,290 deaths to the tally in the city. That brings the total deaths in the city to 3,869. But the city government only added 325 cases, raising the city’s total number of cases to 50,333.

The change also pushes the nationwide death toll up by nearly 39% to 4,632.

The official toll in the country of 1.4 billion people, however, remains well below the number of fatalities in smaller nations such as Italy and Spain.

Curbs in 388 ‘containment zones’ set to continue beyond May 3 

T.N. records 56 new cases of COVID-19; total stands at 1,323

18/04/2020 , T. RAMAKRISHNAN, CHENNAI 

 

No-go area: A barricade at a containment zone in Chintadripet. R. Ragu

On a day when Tamil Nadu recorded 56 new cases of COVID-19, taking the tally to 1,323, Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam indicated that the ‘containment zones’, numbering 388 across 34 districts, might stay in place even beyond May 3, when the extended lockdown is scheduled to end.

Mr. Shanmugam on Friday said that as per the guidelines of the Central government, any such zone would have to continue as it is till the “last reported positive case” of COVID-19 was cleared. There was, therefore, no link between the duration of the lockdown and the continuance of containment zones.

Of the containment zones in the State, rural areas account for 239 of them and urban areas 149, according to data available with the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.

For a person who has tested positive to be discharged from hospital, the protocol is that he should have no symptoms, test negative twice and undergo 14 days’ hospitalisation, after which he will have another 14 days of home quarantine, said Health Secretary Beela Rajesh.

Explaining the Centre’s norms, Mr. Shanmugam said that if a ‘red’ area (a hotspot) does not report a fresh case for 14 days, it will turn ‘orange’. If the trend continues for a further 14 days, it will be turn ‘green’. In other words, it will take 28 days for a hotspot to turn green, he clarified.

RBI to pump in ₹1 lakh crore 

More funds for NBFCs, Nabard, Sidbi

18/04/2020 , SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, Mumbai 

 

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das at a press conference in Mumbai on Friday.PTI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced a slew of liquidity measures to ease financial stress and increase credit flows while indicating that more room was likely to emerge for reduction in interest rates as inflation softens.

Among the measures announced was liquidity infusion of ₹1 lakh crore, of which ₹50,000 crore is exclusively for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), via banks. The NBFCs have experienced liquidity shortage since banks have not offered them any moratorium for repayment, while these entities have had to extend the moratorium option to their customers.

The RBI will extend another ₹50,000 crore to refinancing agencies like Nabard, Sidbi and National Housing Bank.

Help for States

Separately, RBI also said it has increased the ways and means advances (WMA) limits of States by 60%, over and above the level as on March 31, 2020.

The move was aimed at providing greater comfort to the States for undertaking containment and mitigation efforts, and to plan market borrowing programmes better, the RBI said. On April 1, the RBI increased the limit by 30%. The increased limit will be available till September 30, 2020.

Citing the retail inflation numbers of March, which was at 5.9%, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said inflation could be on a declining trajectory. “...Early developments suggest that inflation is on a declining trajectory, having fallen by 170 basis points from its January 2020 peak,” Mr. Das said, while announcing the liquidity measures.

He said recent data showed a softening of food inflation by around 160 bps though in other categories of the CPI, inflation pressures remained firm.

Salaried borrowers continue EMIs, ignore moratorium offer 

Bankers say that most MSMEs, though, have opted for it

18/04/2020 , MANOJIT SAHA, Mumbai

The option of a moratorium on loan repayments announced by the Reserve Bank of India last month has mostly been availed of by micro, small and medium enterprises while salaried class borrowers have, till now, largely refrained from it, bankers have said.

Last month, the RBI announced that banks and other financial institutions would give an option to borrowers of term loans for deferring payment of instalments falling due between March 1 and May 31, 2020.

The move was aimed at addressing the liquidity crunch faced by businesses and individuals due to the economic lockdown imposed to help contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

“About 85-90% of businesses in the MSME sector have availed of the loan moratorium,” the chief executive officer of a public sector bank told The Hindu, speaking on condition of anonymity. “This was expected as their business is down and [they] are facing a liquidity crunch,” the banker added.

“At the same time, we have not seen many individuals, who are salaried, availing themselves of the option,” the official said.

The bank CEO explained that the moratorium was imposed on repayment for all borrowers, except those borrowers who had availed of the standing instruction facility to pay the equated monthly instalment (EMI). Such borrowers were required to inform the bank if they wanted to opt for the moratorium.

“We have not seen many such individuals opting for the moratorium, which is understandable as their income flow has not been impacted,” the official said. “The government employees for example... why should they opt for moratorium since their salaries have not stopped?” the banker added.

Borrowers opting for the moratorium would have to incur a cost as the interest not paid in these three months would be added to the principal component.

‘Lockdown Not The Only Way To Tackle A Pandemic’

 

 18.04.2020

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Fake news has been spreading as much as the novel coronavirus. Among them are messages on social media that say 5G network spreads Covid-19, hand dryers can kill the virus and that taking hot baths can protect you. Experts kill the myth at a webinar organised by Bennett University on Thursday.

VITAMIN C WON’T CURE CORONA INFECTION

Dr Suravi Chatterjee-Woolman, surgical resident with the UK’s NHS, said not myths, but hand hygiene and maintaining social distancing can keep the virus at bay. “Many think Vitamin C can cure you of the infection. This is not true. Taking Vitamin C in low doses (200mg) for a long duration can reduce the number of days you remain sick with common cold. Vitamin C is not a treatment for Covid-19,” she said. “The virus is transmitted from an infected person to another through close contact, and it does not travel through 5G network.”

WE WILL HAVE A VACCINE NEXT YEAR

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute India, Pune, said his institute would be ready with a Covid-19 vaccine by 2021. Till then, we may have to build herd immunity, he said. “Lockdown is not the only way to deal with this pandemic. We need to eventually go out. Cases will come up and we will build herd immunity, and by then a vaccine will also be ready,” he said. No matter who makes the vaccine, it will need multiple partners to manufacture billions of doses, he said.

FOOD RICH IN ANTI-OXIDANTS HELPS IN RECOVERY

Gut microbiome can help Covid-19 patients recover, said Dr Shriram Raghavan, senior vice-president, Jananom Pvt Ltd. Taking food rich in anti-oxidants can keep the gut microbiome diverse and strong and provide us immunity. Dr Raghavan highlighted that while Tamil Nadu stands third in the number of cases, it had fewer deaths. “This is because patients are given a well-structured diet rich in local produce, spices, turmeric and tamarind,” said Dr Raghavan. These are rich in anti-oxidants that can mop up inflammation-causing free radicals released in the body by the virus.

REPURPOSED DRUGS WILL HAVE TO DO NOW

Prof Thomas Tomasiak, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Arizona, said with the help of new technology, there is hope that solutions will be found soon. “Glycosylations, that is decoration of sugars on proteins, makes the antibody production very difficult, something like HIV… Multiple ideas have to be tried as we are not clear which drugs or vaccines will be the best. At this time, repurposed drugs might provide short-term solution till a vaccine is ready.”

USE SYNTHETIC CLOTH MASK INSTEAD OF COTTON

Dr Arunansu Talukdar, professor, general medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, pointed out that the new cases being reported are of people infected before the lockdown; the effects of the lockdown will be known after a few weeks. “Using ACs is not good in this pandemic. Virus can stay longer in conditioned air. It’s important to keep rooms wellventilated. Avoid wearing belts and watches while working so that there are fewer surfaces to which the virus can attach,” he said. “The #MaskIndia movement is important and we all need to be part of it. But instead of cotton, use synthetic material as static electricity from it can provide better protection.”

STRUCTURE OF VIRUS CRUCIAL

Prof Robert Stroud of the University of California, San Francisco, said it is important to know the structure of the coronavirus and the spikes of glycoprotein. “These spikes help the virus attach to host cell receptors. Based on the structure, we can determine what kind of molecules can bind to these proteins.” The number of people getting infected is way higher than that by SARS and MERS. Having studied the structure of the RNA virus, we can design drugs, he said.

WHY VALPROIC ACID IS IMPORTANT

Dr Neel Bhavesh, group leader, transcriptional regulation at International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, said his centre has done a genomic sequence of the virus. “There are several structural and nonstructural proteins that can be targeted for therapeutic purpose,” he said. Valproic acid CoA can act as the best lead molecule as it can be repurposed and inhibits viral replication and also breaks virus-human interaction. Valproic acid is used for common ailments like migraine, he said.

VIRUS WATCH
Govt to resume toll collections on highways from Monday
Dipak.Dash@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:18.04.2020

Toll collection will resume across the national highway network from Monday after a gap of 25 days. The road transport ministry on Friday authorised the NHAI to resume the collection of user fee.

The ministry in its communication to NHAI referred to the highway authority’s letter which had highlighted that “user fee collection contributes to the government exchequer and also provides financial strength to NHAI in terms of budgetary support.”

The reasons behind resuming toll collection include the home ministry’s relaxation to “allow a lot of activities with effect from April 20, including commercial and private establishments” and allowing construction with certain riders. Some toll operators told TOI that there has to be more clarity including how to deal with cash transactions, which is a matter of huge health concern during the current crisis.

Opposing the resumption of tolling, AIMTC chief Kultaran Singh Atwal said, “When the government is calling the truckers as heroes during this crisis who are risking their lives to ensure there is enough availability of essential supply, why couldn’t it postpone this for a few more weeks? Toll payments are about 20% cost of our operation. This will hit us the most who are not getting return cargo.”

5 pvt hosps closed after patients turn Covid-19 positive

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:18.04.2020

At least five private hospitals in Tamil Nadu have been closed down in the last 48 hours for handling fever patients, who later tested positive for Covid-19.

This includes Jawahar Hospital in Tambaram, Madhani Clinic in Vellore and others in Nagapattinam, Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi. Earlier this week, a hospital in Coimbatore too was closed.

As far as Chennai city is concerned, no hospital has been closed but a couple of them had to deal with local authorities to keep functioning.

For instance, a middle-aged man from Poonamallee arrived at a nearby hospital with fever. He was screened at the entrance, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was provided while taking him to the isolation clinic room.

On suspicion, he was referred to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) as per government guideline. But corporation officials wanted the entire hospital to be shut. “Even after explaining the protocol followed, officials did not budge,” said a doctor from the hospital.

Private doctors have opposed this move and want government to reopen these clinics after disinfecting them, instead of keeping them closed for a long period of time. A laboratory at a nursing home in Tambaram, closed three weeks ago, is yet to open.

Ravi Shankar, former state president of Indian Medical Association, said that if the government keeps on closing down private hospitals for evaluating suspected Covid-19 patients nine or ten days back, then it is not going to be of use to anyone. “Instead, they can screen all the employees, who worked in these hospitals, disinfect the entire premises and reopen the hospital in 48 hours so that other patients do not suffer,” he added.

Health department authorities said that they have instructed private clinics to screen all patients at the entrance itself and refer fever cases to the nearest government hospitals immediately.

Doctors said that not all neighbourhood clinics have enough staff strength to do such screenings at entrances. With many absenting from work due to travel restrictions and personal reasons, very few were available to assist doctors.

So these patients had to be diagnosed at clinic rooms only. In case these patients turn positive later, the hospitals can’t be faulted. Instead government can help in disinfecting the premises and allow operations to continue, said C Ashok, a general physician. 

A private clinic in Konavattam being sealed on Thursday by authorities

Lockdown doubts

The curious case of three districts with zero Covid patients

Mayilvaganan.V@timesgroup.com

 

18.04.2020

The western zone of Tamil Nadu has emerged as a hotspot cluster constituting one-fourth of the total Covid-19 cases in the state. But curiously, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts in the zone have zero positive cases so far. This despite the fact that the two districts are located on the interstate border, considered vulnerable due to large scale cross border migration.

Pudukottai district in the central zone presents a similar picture. Though all its neighbours have positive cases, Pudukottai is seemingly immune to the novel coronavirus, so far. Government officials in the health and revenue departments say it’s a combination of prudent measures and luck. For instance, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts too, like most other parts of the state, had people visiting the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi. But the difference was that a majority of TJ attendees participated in the congregation held in February and not in March, unlike attendees from Coimbatore or Salem.

“Only two out of 16 went to the Delhi gathering in March. We were quick in tracing their identities and informed them to stay back in Delhi. Eventually they tested positive,’’ said Dharmapuri collector S Malarvizhi. The remaining who attended the February congregation were traced and quarantined.

There were scores who returned from abroad as well to Dharmapuri. As many as 668 people, including those from western countries, had returned in March.

“All of them were asymptomatic. We quarantined everyone and they are about to complete their 28-day quarantine,’’ said deputy director of health B R Gemini. In Dharmapuri, 900-odd people have been tested and the results have retuned negative.

Officials in the district, however, admit that not all foreign returnees were tested. In the initial days the instruction was to test only symptomatic people and hence not everyone was tested.

Pudukottai district had 15 people returning from Delhi after participating in the March congregation. “All of them were traced, isolated and tested. They tested negative,’’ said a senior health official in Pudukottai.

Officials in Pudukottai were a little perplexed that their tracing and testing efforts would be questioned since no cases were detected. The health authorities have intensified sample collection and deployed primary health centre staff too. “We have started collecting samples from people with symptoms of influenza like illness and severe acute respiratory illness too,’’ said collector P Umamheswari.

Pudukottai’s neighbours Perambalur and Ariyalur districts too might have joined the league if not for one and two cases respectively.

(With inputs from Sambath Kumar)

FIGHTING COVID-19

Cured? Please stay at home

Doctors Say South Korea And China Have Reported Some Patients Testing Positive After Being Cured Of Coronavirus

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
`8.04.2020

There was cheer as 103 patients walked out of the isolation wards on Friday. Doctors and nurses clapped and offered them baskets of fruit. But they were all given a stern warning -- stay in quarantine at home for at least a fortnight.

Hospitals have so far discharged 283 patients after two consecutive tests show negative in a span of 24 hours. These tests are done 14 days after testing positive. “They should be asymptomatic and their chest x-rays clear at the time of discharge,” said Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital dean Dr R Jayanthi. All of them have been asked to remain i n home quarantine, preferably in a separate room with a bath. “If not, the washroom has to be disinfected. They should avoid sharing common items such as towels, toiletries and utensils. They should maintain a 3-metre distance from other family members,” she said.

There haven’t been cases of relapse or re-infection in patients discharged from hospitals across India, but doctors and public health experts point out that South Korea and China have reported that some of their patients have tested positive after being cured. Studies point to multiple possibilities -- reinfection, relapse or varying test results that misguided doctors.

As of now, doctors say they don’t have answers as studies are still underway. The simplest reason that doctors and virologists point to is case of false negatives. “Sometimes, healthcare workers may not have collected enough material for nasal or throat swab. The machine may spin a false negative at the time of discharge. There is up to 30% error in such a test. This is exactly why protocols demand two consecutive negatives,” said a senior virologist at the directorate of public health. Yet, in some discharges there are chances of double false negatives.

In some cases, tests may be sensitive enough to pick inactive parts of the virus in people who have been cured, said infectious diseases expert Dr Subramanian Swaminathan. This can happen when they retest after discharge. “When we do a PCR test, we look for the genet- ic material of the virus, in this case the RNA. We do not look for the active virus. So even after the body has recovered, the virus can leave behind debris. There is no proof this debris can infect people, but they do show up as positive cases in tests,” he said.

Scientists also suspect a third possibility of the virus going dormant and flaring up when the immunity levels in the body go down. There is also emerging evidence to show the virus may be destroying T-cells, like in the case of HIV, that makes it difficult to detect resurging levels of the virus because these immune cells don’t trigger the production of antibodies. “These are all still emerging evidence. We keep it simple for our patients. Stay at home, eat healthy and ensure your sugar levels and blood pressure are under control,” said DPH Kolandaisamy.

ஊரடங்கு உலகமிது!

By கே.பி. மாரிக்குமாா் | Published on : 17th April 2020 05:34 AM | 

மனிதகுல வரலாற்றிலேயே குறுகிய காலத்தில் அதிகமாகப் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்ட வாா்த்தைகள் கரோனா, ஊரடங்கு என்பவைகளாகத்தான் இருக்கும்.

குற்றங்களுக்கான தண்டனைகளிலேயே மிகவும் கொடியது ஆயுள் தண்டனையோ, மரண தண்டனையோ அல்ல. ஆங்கிலத்தில் ‘சாலிட்டரி கன்ஃபைன்மன்ட்’ என்று சொல்லப்படும் தனிமைச் சிறைத் தண்டனையே கொடியதிலும் கொடியது. இன்றைய நிலையில் பெரும்பாலான மக்கள் இந்த ஊரடங்கை தனிமைச் சிறையைவிட கொடியதாகவே கருதுகின்றனா். காரணம், நாம் ஏற்கனவே கேள்விப்பட்ட ‘ஆடிய பாதமும், பாடிய வாயும் சும்மாயிருக்காது’ என்கிற பழமொழி உண்மைதான்.

சிறு வயதில் வாலை சுருட்டிக்கொண்டு ஓரிடத்தில் உட்காராமல் துறுதுறுவென்று திரியும் குழந்தைகளை, சிறுவா்களைப் பாா்த்து,”‘சும்மா ஓா் இடத்தில உட்கார முடியலையா? நீ இருக்கணும்னு நினைச்சாலும்... உன் சுழி உன்னை விடாது’ என்று பெற்றோரும், பெரியவா்களும் கேட்ட கேள்வியை, இன்று சாலைகளில் பலரிடம் காவல் துறையினா் அவா்களது பாணியில் வித்தியாசமாகக் கேட்கிறாா்கள்.

ஊரடங்கு உத்தரவை எவ்வளவு தீவிரமாக இந்த நாடு எதிா்கொள்ள வேண்டியிருக்கிறது என்றால், ஊரடங்கு உத்தரவை மீறினால் நீதிமன்றம் எதுவும் செய்ய முடியாது”என்று உயா்நீதிமன்ற நீதிபதிகள் கருத்து தெரிவிக்கின்ற அளவில் இருக்கிறது.

‘எத்தைத் தின்றால் பித்தம் தெளியும்’ என்கிற அடிப்படையில் ‘காம்போரா -200’, ‘ஆா்செனிக் ஆல்பம் - 30’யைப் போன்ற ஹோமியோ மருந்துகளையும், நிலவேம்பு கஷாயம் முதல், கப சுர குடிநீா் வரையிலான சித்த மருந்துகளையும், தேடித் தேடி வரிசையில் நின்று வாங்கி குடிக்கின்றனா் மக்கள். வேப்ப இலையும், கல் உப்பும், விரலி மஞ்சளும்... முன்பு என்றுமில்லாத அளவுக்கு மதிக்கப்படுகிறது.

கரோனா நோய்த்தொற்றை உலகுக்கு ‘கொடை’ அளித்த சீனா, இந்த ஊரடங்கு காலத்தில் அவா்கள் நாட்டின் குழந்தைகள், சிறுவா், சிறுமிகளுக்கு வீடுதேடி காமிக்ஸ் புத்தகங்களையும், சாக்லேட்டுகளையும், விடியோ கேம்ஸ்களையும், பெரியவா்கள் - முதியவா்களுக்குத் தேவையான அனைத்தையும் சிகரெட் மற்றும் மதுபானங்கள் வரை கொடுத்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது.

இதையெல்லாம் செய்திகளின் வாயிலாக தெரிந்துகொண்ட விவரமான நம் உள்ளூா் சிறுவன் ஒருவன், ஒண்ணு... சீனா மாதிரி எனக்கு வீட்டுக்குள்ளயே எல்லாம் ஏற்பாடு பண்ணிக் கொடுங்க.... இல்ல, என்ன வீதியில போயி ஆடவிடுங்க என்று அவன் பெற்றோரை மிரட்டிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறான்.

குடித்துப் பழகிப்போன கேரள மாநில ‘குடி’மகன்களின் சிரமம் கருதி, அவா்களின் உடல் நலன் கருதியும், மருத்துவா்களின் பரிந்துரைச் சீட்டின்படி இனி ‘குடி’மகன்களுக்கு மதுபானங்களை விநியோகம் செய்ய கேரள முதல்வா் பினராயி விஜயன் உத்தரவிட்டிருக்கிறாா். இதற்கு நீதிமன்றம் இடைக்காலத் தடை விதித்துள்ளது. தமிழ்நாட்டின் ‘குடி’மகன்களோ பக்கத்து மாநிலத்தை வெறித்துப் பாா்த்துக்கொண்டு திரிகின்றனா்.

இருட்டில் எப்போதாவது அரிதாக முகமூடி அணிந்த திருடா்கள் நடமாடுவதை நம்மில் யாரேனும் பாா்த்திருக்கக்கூடும். பேரிடா் காலங்களிலும், மருத்துவமனைகளிலும் சுகாதார ஊழியா்கள் முகக்கவசம் (மாஸ்க்) பயன்படுத்துவது சாதாரணம். ஆனால், இந்தக் கரோனா பேரிடா்... ஊரடங்கு மாஸ்க் என்பது... காற்றைப்போல உலகெங்கும் வியாபித்த ஒன்றாகிப் போனது.

தினந்தோறும் காலையில் செய்தித்தாள்கள் படித்து பழக்கமாகிவிட்ட பலருக்கு, ‘அடிக்ட்’டாகவே மாறிவிட்ட சிலருக்கும் இந்த ஊரடங்கு கெடுபிடியிலும் இன்றுவரை அதிகாலையில் நாளிதழ்களை கொடுக்கும் முகவா்களுக்கு மானுட சமூகம் என்றென்றும் கடமைப்பட்டிருக்கிறது. அதிலும், பல இடங்களில் நாளிதழ்களை விநியோகிக்கும் சிறுவா்கள் கரோனா பீதியில் சொல்லாமலே நின்றுவிட, முகவா் முதலாளிகள் தாங்களே முன்வந்து நாளிதழ்களை வீடுவீடாக விநியோகம் செய்துகொண்டிருப்பது செய்தித்தாள் விநியோகம் அவா்களுக்கு கற்றுக்கொடுத்த அறம் என்றே சொல்லவேண்டும்.

புதன், ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமைகளில் அசைவ, இறைச்சிக் கடைகளிலும், இதர நாள்களில் பலசரக்கு, காய்கறிக் கடைகளிலும் இன்றும் கூட்டம் இயல்பான நேரங்களைவிட அதிகமாகக் கூடுகிறது. வாகனங்கள் வைத்திருப்பவா்கள் அவா்களின் வாகனங்களில் எரிபொருள் நிரப்பி, சக்கரங்களில் காற்றடித்து, ஏ.டி.எம்.-இல் பணம் எடுத்து தங்களின் பா்சுகளை நிறைத்து,”யப்பா..எல்லாம் ‘புல்’”, என்று பீதி குறைந்து, முகம் மலா்ந்து கரோனாவை வீதிகளில் வரவேற்கும் காட்சிகளும் நடக்கின்றன. இவையெல்லாம், ஏற்கெனவே பணம் வைத்திருப்பவா்களுக்கு.

இத்தாலியில் வீதிகளில் பண மழை பொழிந்திருக்கிறது. ‘இவ்வளவு பணமிருந்தும் என் உயிரைக் காப்பாற்றுவதற்கு இந்த பணத்துக்குத் தகுதியில்லை என்றால்... இது எதற்கு?’ என்று ஒரு செல்வந்தா் தான் வைத்திருந்த பணத்தை வீதிகளில் வீசியெறிந்ததே இதற்குக் காரணம். பண வெறியா்கள் சிந்திப்பாா்களா?

‘துன்பம் வரும் வேளையிலே சிரிங்க’ என்கிற கோட்பாட்டின்படி கரோனாவைச் சிரித்து விரட்டிவிடலாம் என்று எத்தனித்தாலும், ... ஏனோ எதிா்பாராத இடரில் சிக்கி, கையில் வைத்திருந்த பணமும், உணவுப் பொருள்களும் தீா்ந்து.... பட்டினியால் அடுத்த வேளை கையில் தட்டேந்தி வீதிகளில் நடந்த லாரி ஓட்டுநா் ஒருவரின் காட்சியும்,சொந்த ஊருக்கு வர முடியாமல் இன்றும் ஆங்காங்கே குழந்தை குட்டிகளோடு உணவுக்கும், இருப்பிடத்துக்கும் அல்லாடும் லட்சக்கணக்கான புலம்பெயா்ந்த தொழிலாளா்களின் நிலையும், வாழ்வாதாரத்தை இழந்து இன்று சொந்த மண்ணிலேயே கூட்டம் கூட்டமாக கூனிக் குறுகி உட்கார வைத்து அவா்கள் மீது கிருமி நாசினிகள் அடிக்கப்படும் கோடிக்கணக்கான அன்றாடங்காய்ச்சிகளின் முகமும் நம் மனக்கண் முன் வருகிறது.

எண்ணற்ற அன்றாடங்காய்ச்சிகள், ஏழைகளின் இந்த நிலைக்கு கரோனா நோய்த்தொற்று மட்டும்தான் காரணமா?

கட்டுரையாளா்:

பதிப்பாளா், உயிரோசை மாத இதழ்.

Banks to function up to 2 p.m. till May 3

16/04/2020,CHENNAI

Banks across the State will function from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. till May 3, the State Level Bankers’ Committee said. In areas, only select branches may be kept open to provide basic services, after due consultation with the district administration.

Teacher gets interim bail

17/04/2020, STAFF REPORTER,MADURAI

Following the Supreme Court’s recommendation to decongest jails in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, Madurai District Court granted interim bail to a government school teacher, who was accused of sexually assaulting his student, till May 4. He was directed to stay in his house till then.

Mahila Court Judge J. Flora granted the bail with the conditions that the petitioner should execute a personal bond of ₹ 10,000 before the Superintendent of Prison, Madurai and that he must appear before the court without fail on May 5. He shall appear before the Mahila court and execute a fresh bond with two sureties.

With the accused languishing in prison from February 26 and on considering the urgent need and necessity to ensure social distancing to reduce the scope of infection, the interim bail was granted, the judge said.

The case of the prosecution was that the teacher had asked two girl students to sweep his room. It was said that after relieving one girl from the assignment, he sexually assaulted the other girl. The police booked a case against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) 2012, following which he was arrested and remanded in judicial custody.

Doctors’ conduct criticised

17/04/2020,DINDIGUL

The Tamil Nadu Towheeth Jamaath district president A M Abdul Hakeem said on Wednesday that the Medical Council of India should initiate action against two hospitals and two doctors. Because a resident of Asanathpuram went to a private hospital for treatment of chest pain. Though the hospital staff issued OP card, the doctor refused to examine the patient as he was a Muslim. In another incident, a gynaecologist, who had been examining a pregnant woman for the last nine months, refused appointment as the woman hailed from a colony close to Begumpur. Refusing to treat patients in such a way was highly unfortunate, he said and submitted a petition to the Collector for his intervention.

Fresh cases rise by over 800; fatality rate at 3.3%

17/04/2020

“Rapid antibody tests are for monitoring surveillance, not for diagnosis. Hence there is no concern with respect to the testing kits being faulty, that concern was with respect to immune response alone,” ICMR spokesperson R.R. Gangakhedkar said.

The ICMR added that there is currently no evidence to suggest that hot weather can have a slowdown effect of the virus.

The Health Ministry has said that 325 districts have not reported any coronavirus case so far because of the actions initiated at field level.

The implementation of containment strategies in some districts which earlier had reported COVID-19 cases has yielded positive results. One of such place is Puducherry’s Mahe district, where no case of the infection has been reported in the last 28 days. There are 27 other districts also where no positive case has been reported in a fortnight.

The Ministry added that the Central government has amended the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, to ramp up availability and production of bulk drugs.

All projects or activities in respect of bulk drugs and intermediates have been re-categorised, to fast-track their appraisal.

‘Pharma staff caught virus from Chinese’

Minister clarifies on Mysuru infection

17/04/2020, LAIQH A. KHAN, TANU KULKARNI,BENGALURU/MYSURU

A day after the police disclosed that samples of raw material drawn from the pharmaceutical company in Nanjangud, near Mysuru, had tested negative for the novel coronavirus, Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar claimed that investigations into the source of infection were pointing to an employee’s contacts with a Chinese citizen.

The police authorities in Mysuru, however, maintained that the source of infection was yet to be established.

Contact tracing

Dr. Sudhakar told The Hindu that patient-52 was the first employee of the company to test positive. “The Home Department’s investigation reveals that he was in contact with a Chinese person. We are relieved to know the source and will intensify our contact tracing efforts,” he said.

The number of persons from the company testing positive for COVID-19 has now touched 49, including three on Thursday, leading to Mysuru emerging as one of the hotspots.

Superintendent of Police C.B. Ryshyant said investigations were yet to identify the source of infection among the employees of the company. While denying that P-52 had travelled to either China or outside India, he said the company had shared the travel history of employees. “We don’t see this person having travelled to any place outside India,” he said.

P-52, who recovered earlier this month and was quarantined at home, had given his statement to the police.

Meanwhile, the company sought to clarify that none of its employees, who had tested positive, had travelled overseas recently.

TTD to refund darshan ticket amount

17/04/2020,TIRUMALA

Devotees who have booked their darshan tickets in advance for the period between March 13 and May 31 will be paid back their ticket amount, the TTD in a note said. The TTD on Thursday appealed to pilgrims to mail the details of their darshan tickets along with bank account number, IFSC code to helpdesk@tirumala.org to facilitate the payment. Refunds will also be made to those who booked tickets online or at post offices.

In the time of pandemic, couple will tie the knot online

Lockdown affects bride-to-be’s travel to Kerala from Uttar Pradesh, where she is now employed

17/04/2020, SAM PAUL A.,ALAPPUZHA

Transcending distances: P. Anjana and Sreejith Nadesan during their engagement ceremony in November last.

The lockdown or the distance of over 2,500 km between them will not prevent this couple from getting married as per schedule.

P. Anjana, 28, from Pallippad, near Haripad, who is staying in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, and Sreejith Nadesan, 30, from Changanassery in Kottayam will tie the knot, albeit in a virtual setting on April 26.

Ms. Anjana, an analyst in an IT company in Uttar Pradesh, was to reach Pallippad on April 18 for the wedding. “The COVID-19-induced lockdown has prevented me from travelling to Kerala, but it is not going to stop our marriage. Despite both of us being at different places, our families have decided to go ahead with the wedding as planned,” she said.

On the big day, Mr. Nadesan, along with his parents and close relatives, numbering five, will reach the bride’s house at Pallippad, where her father stays. Ms. Anjana, her mother and brother will join them from Lucknow via a video calling app. Between 12.15 p.m. and 12.45 p.m., the bridegroom will symbolically put a wedding chain (mangalsutra) around the bride’s neck on the screen.

Following this, Anjana’s mother will tie a locket with thread on her neck.

The couple got engaged on November 9, 2019. “The marriage was originally planned in January, but it was later shifted to April 26 for convenience. When the restrictions were imposed, there were talks between the families over postponing the marriage. Both of our families later agreed to conduct the marriage over a video call as there are no auspicious dates for conducting our marriage in the next two years,” said Mr. Nadesan, an employee of a bank in Kumbanad.

As per lockdown norms

According to Pankajakshan Achary, father of Ms. Anjana, the marriage will be held in compliance with the restrictions imposed in the view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Nadesan said that once the lockdown ends and Ms. Anjana is able to join him, a wedding reception will be organised for relatives and friends.

IITs not to take part in World University Rankings

17/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,CHENNAI

Several Indian Institutes of Technology, including IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Roorkee, have decided not to participate in the World University Rankings, an annual publication of university rankings by the Times Higher Education (THE) magazine, for 2020.

In a joint statement, the premier institutes said they may reconsider their decision next year if THE “is able to convince them about the parameters and transparency in their ranking process”.

The annual exercise often places IITs far below American and European institutions.

Some of the major parameters for the ranking are having Nobel Laureates among faculty and having a strong international faculty and student presence on the campus.

This year, the annual National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) exercise wasn’t carried out due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

Palliative care is the answer

17/04/2020

These incidents happened in the past couple of weeks:

A patient, undergoing dialysis twice a week, wanted an opinion regarding the continuation of dialysis. Whether COVID-19 will affect him if he does? An elderly couple, dependent on help, who are living with their son who is working in essential service, were anxious. They said they did not know how to handle it if one of them, or their caregivers tested positive for a COVID-19 infection. What is the next step? Is there any institutional care to look after such patients? The answer is yes. There are hospices or palliative or rehab care centres.

Palliative care is a medical speciality dealing with medical treatment for chronic and advanced diseases and care for elderly people with multiple diseases. The need to create awareness is much more in this group as these patients are people who are suffering from chronic illnesses and advanced diseases and are also severely immunocompromised. In these times they need to avoid unnecessary visitors. We also need to provide them with appropriate infection control measures — personal protective equipment, handwash, sanitisers for the health workers and those taking care of such patients.

The key goal of palliative care is to reduce suffering of patients by early detection, intervention, complete protection, infection control and personal care. Preventing the spread of infection among patients who need palliative care is essential as their immunity is low and super added respiratory issues may increase the risk of the COVID-19 and the treatment may get complicated. We need to handle the community looking at the social, financial issues, and reduce their physical suffering by frequent monitoring of symptoms. We need to look for respiratory symptoms, encourage respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette.

The best method now is to avoid contact with high risk groups. Family members must desist from visiting them and also save themselves from possible exposure. Consultations, whenever necessary, can be through telemedicine. We need to avoid interventions or treatments that may not be urgently needed.

The risk groups include patients with illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory conditions, cancer, patients who have a compromised immune system, smokers, senior citizens, the elderly with multiple chronic conditions.

Emergency situations depend on the treatment and disease phase, especially in cancer, dialysis, other rehabilitation specialisations. Treatment is required only when the concerned primary physician insists on it.

Emirates starts quick blood tests before boarding

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi  16.04.2020

: Move over thermal scanning, blood tests to ensure passengers are coronafree and fit to fly are also here now. On Wednesday, mega carrier Emirates at Dubai Airport conducted quick blood tests on people it was to fly to Tunisia before allowing them to board the aircraft, making it the first airline “to conduct onsite rapid Covid-19 tests for passengers.” Top officials of some Indian airports and airlines say they are studying this method and seeing if it can or should be done here too.

The quick blood test was conducted by Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and results were available within 10 minutes.

Full report on www.toi.in

VIRUS WATCH

NEET, JEE (Main) unlikely before 3rd week of June

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:16.04.2020

The Joint Entrance Examination (Main) and and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) tests are unlikely to be held before second or third week of June with the nationwide lockdown in the wake of Covid-19 spread extended till May 3.

A day after PM Narendra Modi announced extension of the lockdown, sources in the ministry of human resource development said the National Testing Agency (NTA) may be able to conduct the entrance tests for engineering/ architecture and medical courses only by second or third week of June as school education Boards will also have to first hold the pending papers.

Full report on www.toi.in

No. of fresh cases dips in Delhi, Maha

16.04.2020

The number of fresh Covid-19 cases dropped on Wednesday in Maharashtra and Delhi, the two worst affected states, even as 29 more deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours across the country, taking the toll to 422.

While Delhi recorded just 17 new cases, its lowest single-day tally in April, Maharashtra reported 232 — the lowest figure in the last six days and a dip by 34% from Tuesday’s numbers. Nine new Covid-19 deaths were reported in Maharashtra and two in Delhi in the last 24 hours. Significantly, at the time of going to press, no new casualties were reported from Madhya Pradesh, the worst affected state in the country after Maharashtra in terms of deaths.

Officials in Delhi said the significant drop in fresh cases in the state could be attributed to “zero positive cases among the persons evacuated from the Nizamuddin area. He said of the total 1578 positive cases in Delhi, 1080 or 68% are those who were evacuated from the Nizamuddin mosque. With two fresh deaths, the toll in the national capital has reached 32. With nine fresh deaths, Maharashtra’s toll has reached 187 while the total confirmed cases stand at 2916. Mumbai reported two deaths, the lowest in last 11days, taking the toll to 114. With 140 fresh cases on Wednesday, which is a decline of 35% from the previous day’s numbers, the total confirmed cases in Mumbai now stand at1896.

Elsewhere in the country, five deaths each were reported from Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, two each from Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka and one each from Rajasthan and Meghalaya. Meghalaya recorded its first death when a 69-year-old doctor, also the first person to test positive for the virus in the state two days ago, died in the morning. Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani was put under a week of home quarantine even as his state saw a record number of 127 people testing positive for the virus, taking the tally to 766. With five more deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the state’s toll now is 33. TNN

Revised lockdown rules can’t be diluted, MHA tells states & UTs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi  16.04.2020

: The home ministry on Wednesday wrote to all states and Union territories emphasising that the revised lockdown guidelines issued by it cannot be diluted, though stricter measures can be enforced as per requirement of specific areas.

In a communication to state chief secretaries, home secretary Ajay Bhalla said the additional activities allowed under the revised guidelines in nonhotspot areas may not be permitted in the containment zones demarcated by the states and UTs as per guidelines of the ministry of health and family welfare. Also, if any new area is demarcated as a containment zone, the activities allowed there till such time will be suspended except for those activities which are specifically permitted under the revised MHA guidelines.

The activities allowed by the guidelines will be withdrawn immediately if any of the lockdown measures are violated, risking the spread of Covid-19. “All entities, in the government and private sectors, and members of the public should follow the guidelines strictly,” the home secretary said.

When professors virtually turn into students

MT.Saju@timesgroup.com 16.04.2020

As the lockdown gets extended to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak, many faculty members in Tamil Nadu colleges are registering themselves as students of online courses. Restricted to their homes, the professors are trying to find ways to connect with students and keep their classes going, at least virtually.

Most of them are signing up for online teaching tools and methods. Subha Ganapathy, assistant professor of English at the Holy Cross College in Nagercoil, says she has signed up for a two-week faculty development programme organised by the Ramanujan College of University of Delhi. The course, she says, will help her get a deeper understanding of the dynamics of e-content creation and awareness of open educational resources.

“More online classes will be conducted if the situation continues like this. So I thought of learning some basics on how to conduct online classes,” she said. Subha said even though there are many courses available on online platforms like MOOC (massive open online courses), one should know what course to pursue.

“We are missing our lively, interactive classrooms due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The UGC has intensified its efforts to have a strong virtual engagement with students through email/WhatsApp and hosting lectures using Google Classroom and other video-conferencing platforms. As teachers, we need to be prepared for conducting classes online,” she said.

Like Subha, many lectures and professors have joined various online training courses during lockdown. G Sankaranarayanan, who heads the department of Sanskrit at the Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya, Kancheepuram, said he picked up some basic tips on how to use online platforms productively. “Most of my students come from remote areas of Tamil Nadu. We don’t know when the classes will resume so I have picked up some useful online courses and will pass them on to my students,” he said.

P Aji Udhaya, assistant professor of physics at the Holy Cross College, said she has completed seven online courses which includes student assessment and evaluation and about how to use virtual laboratory and research methodology. “I have been taking online courses for a long time, but I am now focusing on some relevant ones for present needs. We are using Moodle, Google Classroom and Edmodo as learning management programmes in our college. The idea of learning many faculty development programmes is to be myself equipped to tackle the present situation,” she said.

Though online courses are becoming popular but is the academic fraternity on the right track in choosing them? “I support this initiative. It’s good, but we will know how these online courses are going to help the teachers in the coming days only,” said M Ilankumaran, professor and research programme coordinator, Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Kumaracoil in Kanyakumari.

KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES: Subha Ganapathy, assistant professor, of English has signed up for a two-week faculty development programme

Lockdown doubts

LOSING NO TIME

For board exams next year, CBSE schools begin online classes

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:16.04.2020

With schools remaining closed for nearly a month now due to Covid-19 crisis in the city, CBSE schools have begun online classes for students who are promoted to Class X and XII to compensate loss of working days. Some schools teaching through apps like zoom, teamlink and microsoft teams, other schools are using learning management systems to upload the lessons.

The new academic year supposed to start from April 1 and many schools had originally planned to take classes till third or fourth week of April. "There could be at least one or two months delay in reopening of schools due to Covid-19 crisis. We can make it up during pooja and Christmas holidays. We have started online classes to keep our students engaged," said P G Subramanian, principal of Bhavan's Rajaji Vidhyashram.

Sunitha Vipinchandran, principal of Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School said students in Classes X and XII are more responsive to online classes. "We are sending the materials, resources and assignments to parents and they are taking the initiative. The school is also sending the alerts for online classes," she said adding that online classes likely to be extended for other classes as well.

Bala Vidyamandir Senior Secondary School Principal R Srinivasa Raghavan said the school has taken the decision to introduce online classes in the previous year itself. "We have trained our teachers in taking online classes. They are uploading lectures using software. Students can view these lectures using their login ID," he said. Students can also rate the lectures. Meena Sriram, an English teacher from Bala Vidyamandir said the Covid-19 crisis has helped her school to make a seamless transition to online classes. "Students will not have brakes in academics especially in Classes X and XII. Though there is no interactive audience, it challenges teachers to make it interesting and informative so children be engaged and watch the video. The students also can play it any number of times," she said.

G Chitramala, a Hindi teacher from Modern Senior Secondary School said teachers are prescribing online resources through various apps including teamlink. "We prescribe class timings in advance to the students. Many students are actively participating in the online classes," she said.

AAI to resume terminal work at airport on April 24

Ayyappan.V@timesgroup.com

Chennai:16.04.2020

The guidelines issued for the shutdown relaxing some of the restriction after April 20 have come as a blessing for the Chennai airport. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will now be able to resume construction of integrated terminal which was stalled after a national shutdown was announced in the last week of March.

A senior official of AAI said, “We are looking at resuming work on April 24 but in a phased manner. The guidelines say that work can be carried out if labourers are available in a camp. Our workers are all in a labour camp opposite to the airport and have been sitting idle.”

He also said that social distancing norms will have to be followed while bringing workers in to the work site and also during construction. “We will start the work in a phased manner and step it up only slowly so that there is no need for the full force of labourers to come in for work. This will help in completing the work this year though there may be some delay because of the days lost and also because of the pace of work due to restrictions,” he added.

Sources said that there might be some issues in procuring materials because of the shutdown. But most of the materials like cement and all is stocked. The equipment and vehicles are at the work site only. Since, its infrastructure work contractors will be able to bring in materials and the government will allow trucks to come.

An official says that shutdown is also an advantage for the work because the airport is not functioning. “It was a challenge to carry out the work with a functioning domestic and international terminal on either side of the worksite. Now, the city side and the air side is free as there are no passengers and no flights,” he added.

All major work has been completed to build the terminal in the space between the international and domestic terminals. The structure is ready and the roof work was going on. Once that is over, the contractor was supposed to take up exterior and interior work on the building. The deadlines is September this year. The new terminal is expected to increase the passenger handling capacity of the airport to more than 30million passengers per year.

Similarly, work may also resume to complete the multilevel car parking that is underway near the metro rail station. There is also a move to see if works can resume to build balance portion of the taxiway. “It will be easier to carry out because only two to three flights, cargo flights and rescue flights, are operated in a day,” he added.

A filephoto of terminal work in progress at the airport

Now, connect to god at a click as pujas go online

Aditi.R@timesgroup.com

Chennai:16.04.2020

Several Hindu priests in and around the city have now switched to the virtual medium to ensure people are able to conduct ceremonies and rituals without any hassle, during the shutdown. They are now providing services through WhatsApp video call, Skype or Zoom.

V V Sethuraman, a priest of KK Nagar, was supposed to go to a house to perform tharpanam, a religious offering, this week. “But they had locked the building and no outsider is allowed. We all wanted to do this puja, so I went home, made a video call on WhatsApp and started the ritual,” he said.

On the call, Sethuraman began instructing the family members to keep all material in the right position and then began chanting hymns. “They all know the procedure. All I had to do was to guide them when they needed help. It went on smoothly,” he said.

This was the second such service Sethuraman had performed over a video call in the last week and he says it serves the cause. “We all have devotion in our hearts and minds, and performing rituals in person or virtually doesn’t matter,” he said.

TR Ramachandran, another priest from Mylapore, said he has been getting several requests from people to help conduct ceremonies over video calls. “I am used to going to people’s houses and conducting poojas. But since the last one week people have been contacting to me to perform pujas through video calls,” he said. With his son’s help, Ramachandran downloaded video calling applications on his phone and computer.

Priests are already booked to conduct amavasai pitru tarpanam, which falls on April 23, via video calls. “I have received four requests from people so far. I am planning to perform the ritual via video conferencing so we don’t waste time,” said Ramachandran.

Ravi Kumar Sharma Pendyala, another priest, said he is performing ceremonies using Google Hangouts. He pointed out that there are several rituals that can be easily performed with a little guidance from pundits. “Rituals like the annual ceremonies for forefathers as per their almanac, naming ceremonies and ganapathi homams can be easily performed with items available in the house. These are in high demand now,” he said. “But rituals like house warming ceremony and havans which need more materials cannot be performed over a video call,” said Ravi Kumar.

“These ceremonies are being conducted by our ancestors for generations. Hence it is important to us and we need to continue it,” said TR Ananthanarayanan, one of the people who has availed one of these services.

Speaking about the crises due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Ravi Kumar said, “We understand what is happening. But when people reach out to us, it is our duty to provide our services in every way possible,” he said.

PCR devices of univs moved to testing centres

Sambath.Kumar@timesgroup.com

12.04.2020

The number of samples being drawn for testing Covid-19 is up and the health department has moved PCR equipment from colleges and universities to its testing centres. It has also deputed microbiologists and lab technicians from several districts to these labs.

At least two RT-PCR equipment from Bharathidasan University became operational on Wednesday. Earlier, machines from TN agriculture university and Madurai Kamaraj University were taken to testing centres. The state has 26 labs including 16 in the government sector. “Each state lab has staff working in three shifts and can test 230 samples a day. Together with private lab, we have a testing capacity of 5,320 samples a day,” health minister C Vijayabaskar said.

While cities like Chennai have more than four government laboratories, many districts are forced to transport samples to neighbouring districts. The sample size in some labs is very high.

KAP Viswanathan Government Medical College in Trichy has roped in five lab technicians from other departments and a microbiologist who is a medical officer from neighbouring district, said S Dhanapal, head, microbiology department. “The government has given equipment but there was no communication on technicians and microbiologist. We made internal arrangements. We can also take help from academia if allowed.”

Some academicians are now pushing for the government to invite those involved in PCR-based process in molecular biology for testing, said M S Mohamed Jaabir, head of microbiology at National College Trichy. “It is purely a molecular biology technique which involves a lot of skill. It may harm the person involved in testing if not handled carefully.”

“This is an unprecedented situation. So far, there was no demand for this sort of skill sets for our paramedic team, but now the situation demands,” said S Senthil Kumar, botany department faculty who is into sub surface micro-organism research.

“Biotechnologists and microbiologists trained in handling molecular biology tools can be roped in. They can work together with medical colleges for training more people.”

Each state lab can test 230 samples a day. With private labs, we have a testing capacity of 5,320 samples a day

C Vijayabaskar,

STATE HEALTH MINISTER