There’s no confirmed treatment for Covid yet: Health ministry

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:1.5.2020

The health ministry on Thursday said there was, so far, no confirmed treatment protocol for Covid-19 and nothing conclusive had come up as far as vaccines were concerned.

“Multiple organisations in the government are engaged in multiple vaccine trials for Covid-19. Besides, we are also part of solidarity trials with the WHO. Some candidate vaccines have been identified. But, nothing conclusive has come up,” said the health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal.

Briefing the media on the current Covid-19 situation in the country, he said, “Multiple stages have to be passed to conclude safe and efficacious use of a vaccine by human beings. As far as India is concerned, we have identified Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to begin with as a prophylaxis (preventive treatment).”

The ministry had in March issued a detailed advisory on the use of HCQ as prophylaxis for SARSCoV-2 infection.

Responding to a question on US study on Remdesivir antiviral, Agarwal said, “As of now, there is no confirmed treatment protocol for Covid-19. Remdesivir is one protocol which is being examined world over. Even the study on Remdesivir by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has not conclusively proved its effectiveness. We are waiting for larger evidence to be generated for us to take meaningful action at the field level.”

Kurnool remains a worry as AP records 71 new infections

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Vijayawada:1.5.2020

Authorities battling coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh said Kurnool has emerged as the new hotbed after the district reported 43 of the 71new positive cases on Thursday.

So far, 386 cases have been reported in Kurnool, the highest for any district in the state so far. Nine people have also died from the virus there. “So far all these cases seem to be the primary and secondary contacts. But we are watchful,” said a senior district official.

The Covid-19 tally in AP also went up to 1403 but no deaths were reported for the fifth day in a row. The virus has so far claimed 31 lives in the state.

Krishna district reported 10 new cases, Guntur and Kadapa districts four each, Anantapur and Chittoor districts three each and East Godavari and Nellore districts two each. On a positive note, 34 patients recovered on Thursday and officials sent them home. So far, 321 patients have been discharged from hospitals.

Special chief secretary (health) KS Jawahar Reddy said the aggregate number of tests conducted in the state has increased to 94,558 with 6,497 tests in the past one day. Of them, 1,403 tested positive.

Other than Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts have so far reported eight deaths each. The virus has claimed four lives in Anantapur district and two lives in the Nellore district The other hotspot districts in AP - Guntur and Krishna - too continued to register fresh Covid-19 cases in double digits for the past few days. Guntur district stood second with 287 cases and Krishna district third with 246 cases. Barring Vizag, Srikakulam, Prakasam and West Godavari districts, other Covid-19 affected districts in the state reported fresh cases on Thursday. Vizianagaram district continued to remain the only Coronavirus-free district in AP with zero cases.

Cops sanitise their hands

Varsities to modify academic schedules

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad:1.5.2020

State and central universities across the state are set to modify exam and academic schedules, guidelines for which were issued by University Grants Commission (UGC) on Wednesday.

The University of Hyderabad (UoH) announced that they will issue a modified schedule — including pending end semester exams and entrance exams —after May 7. UoH clarified that its attempt will be to align its contingency plans with the UGC guidelines.

“The plan is to stagger the return of students and complete semester work in phases, in a manner that is empathetic to the current situation, even while ensuring that we do not compromise on the high academic standards of the university,” reads a UoH press release.

The Telangana State Council of Higher Education has also sought views of all state universities on the UGC guidelines and is likely to finalise a modified academic calendar by the end of this week.

“As per the report, UGC aimed at central universities and centrally funded colleges. They did not focus on state universities. Different state universities have their own almanacs and common entrance test dates,” said Prof Sriram Venkatesh, controller of examination, Osmania University, adding that state universities may partially follow UGC guidelines, final decision of which shall be taken by TSCHE and state government.

PLANNING AHEAD

‘Fresh varsity session from Sept, pending exams in July’

MPhil And PhD Students Get 6-Month Extension From UGC

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

1.5.2020

New Delhi:

The new academic session will begin in universities from September 1 and from August 1for those already enrolled, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has said in its guidelines on examinations and academic calendar in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pending university exams are to be conducted in July.

The admissions for the 2020-21 session will be conducted between August 1-31, according to the guidelines issued on Wednesday. It has also been recommended that universities may adopt alternative and simplified modes and methods of exams to complete the process in a shorter period of time like reducing the time from 3 hours to 2 hours as well as offering flexibility of both online and offline exams. The guidelines, based on the recommendations of two expert committees, are suggestive in nature and universities can adjust as per their requirement and prevailing situation.

The University Grants Commission said in case the situation does not appear to be normal in view of Covid-19, grading of students could be composite of 50% marks on the basis of internal evaluation and 50% marks on the basis of performance in previous semester (if available). In case of unavailability of previous semester marks, it said, “100% evaluation may be done on the basis of internal assessment.” In such a situation, students may be allowed to improve their grades in special exams during next semester.

The UGC has also granted extension of six months to students of MPhil and PhD.

It stated that universities may follow a six-day week pattern, develop virtual classroom and video-conferencing facilities; prepare e-content/ e-lab experiments and upload on their websites; and train faculty in information and communications technology (ICT) for use of online teaching tools so that they complete about 25% of the syllabus through online teaching.

In view of the uncertain situation, higher educational institutions have been given the freedom to adopt/ adapt and implement these guidelines by making alterations, additions or modifications to deal with any particular situations in the best interest of students, the institution and the entire education system.

For the remaining 2019-20 session, it has suggested that teaching would continue through distance learning and online tools like video-conferencing, social media, emails, etc till May 31. Activities like finalisation of dissertation or project work, internship reports, e-labs, completion of syllabus, internal assessment, assignment and placement drive will be conducted between June 1and 15. The examinations will be conducted between July 1 and 31 and results will be declared on July 31 (for terminal exams) and August 14 (for intermediate papers).

2 TN men drive 3,450km to take youth’s body to his Mizoram home

Aditi R & Shilarze Saha Roy TNN

Chennai:1.5.2020

At midnight on April 24, when he began his 3,450km journey from Tamil Nadu to Mizoram, carrying the body of 28-year-old Vivian Remsanga, ambulance driver S Chinnathambi did not dare tell his family where he was going. “I lied saying I was driving to Tirunelveli. I knew they would not understand why I was taking such a risk in the middle of a pandemic,” says Chinnathambi. “But for me, all I wanted was to give a family the chance to bury their son.”

On April 23, Vivian had died of a heart attack in his apartment, and with the city in lockdown, transporting the body to his hometown looked next to impossible, especially with air routes shut down. But that’s when Chinnathambi and fellow driver P Jeyendhran stepped up to take on the four-day-long journey nobody else was willing to.

After the Chennai Mizo Welfare Association coordinated the paperwork and state permits with health workers at the Royapettah GH mortuary, the two drivers, along with Vivian’s friend Raphael AVL Malchhanhima, began their arduous journey across six states — Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya. “We had to pass through countless checkposts. We were interrogated by policemen particularly at the Tamil Nadu and West Bengal borders, and screened for Covid-19 before we were allowed passage,” says Jeyendhran.

Along the near-deserted highways, says Raphael, most restaurants were shut because of the lockdown.

The three had to travel for long hours before they would spot an eatery that was open.

Raphael AVL Malchhanhima flanked by ambulance drivers S Chinnathambi and P Jeyendhran

MHA gives broad hints of extending lockdown period

New Delhi:1.5.2020

The Centre on Wednesday gave clear indications that the ongoing nationwide lockdown will be extended beyond May 3 but with ‘considerable relaxations’ to people and services in ‘many districts’.

The ministry of home affairs, however, said there was a need to maintain a strict lockdown till May 3 so that the gains are not squandered away. The nationwide lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 in a bid to combat the coronavirus threat. It was further extended till May 3.

In a series of tweets, the Union home hinistry said it has held a comprehensive review meeting on the lockdown situation in the country and has found that there have been tremendous gains and improvement in the Covid-19 situation due to the lockdown till now.

“New guidelines to fight #Covid-19 will come into effect from 4th May, which shall give considerable relaxations to many districts. Details regarding this shall be communicated in the days to come,” the home ministry spokesperson tweeted.

The first guidelines were issued on March 24 immediately after the prime minister announced the lockdown for 21 days. The guidelines, issued under the Disaster Management Act by the Union home secretary, specified the people and services exempted from the lockdown.The home ministry spokesperson also said to ensure that these gains are not squandered away, the lo down guidelines should be strictly observed till May 3.

The home ministry's tweets tagged the Prime Minister's Office, Home Minister's Office and the Ministry of Health with a hashtag “#StayHomeStaySafe”.

The Telangana government has already extended the lockdown till May 7 while the Punjab government extended it for two more weeks beyond May 3.

Several chief ministers, who attended a meeting convened by the Prime Minister on Monday, have sought the extension of the lockdown as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the country.

The number of Covid-19 hotspot districts in India on Wednesday has come down to 129 from 170 a fortnight ago, but in the same period the number of infection-free districts or green zones too decreased from 325 to 307. AGENCIES

The ministry of home affairs, however, said there was a need to maintain a strict lockdown till May 3 so that the gains are not squandered away

41 doctors retire, but will continue for 2 more months

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Thiruvananthapuram:1.5.2020

As many as 41 doctors retired from the government medical college hospitals on Thursday.

The retired doctors and other health workers, however, will continue for two more months on an ad hoc basis.

This is the first batch of doctors who are retiring from the medical education service after the retirement age was increased to 62 from 60 in 2017.

There was hefty lobbying to extend the retirement age for the second time but the state government did not approve the proposal. More number of doctors who retired are from Thiruvananthapuram medical college: 13. In addition to this, joint director of medical education has also retired.

From Kottayam medical college hospital 11 doctors, from Kozhikode MCH five doctors, Alappuzha MCH two doctors, Kollam MCH two doctors, Thrissur MCH seven doctors and from Idukki MCH one doctor got retired.

The retirement age of doctors was increased to 62 from 60 in 2017 when the same bunch of senior doctors were due for retirement that year. However, a proposal was mooted to increase the retirement age to 65 along with the pay revision for the medical college doctors.

The finance department had opposed the proposal to increase the retirement age. The finance department had made it clear that it would affect the prospects of several junior doctors. The health department was also against increasing the retirement age further. The Kerala Government Medical College Teachers Association (KGMCTA) was also against increasing the retirement age.

Volunteers distribute food packets in Kottayam on Thursday

The most number of retirements, 13, were from Thiruvananthapuram Medical College. There were 11 from Kottayam, seven from Thrissur, five from Kozhikode, two each from Alappuzha and Kollam and one from Idukki Medical College that retired on Thursday