Docs say cold, cough on the rise, warn of second wave

Docs say cold, cough on the rise, warn of second wave

Sunitha.Rao@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:  23.02.2021 

Cases of flu, common cold and cough are on the rise in Bengaluru and while doctors attribute it to sudden showers and a dip in temperature, they do not rule out the possibility of Covid-19 infection.

Flu clinics in private hospitals, that were empty for the past couple of months, are seeing a spike in patients with typical Covid symptoms. Doctors say if the fever persists for more than three days and is accompanied by body pain, people must get a Covid test done. They say it is important to consult a doctor rather than resort to self-medication.

Dr Ramana Rao, a physician, said there has been a 10% rise in fever cases. “This is over the past week. These are not Covid cases, but it’s a warning to be additionally careful. Two out of 30 fever cases I saw tested positive for Covid,” Dr Rao said.

Some doctors say it could be a sign of a second Covid-19 wave. Dr Rao said the scenario was similar in February 2020. “Since most healthcare workers have been vaccinated, hospitals should be able to manage a second wave better,” he said.

Vikram Hospital has reopened its flu clinic which was shut for the past month. “We see 10-12 cases of fever, cold and cough daily,” said Dr Pramod V Satya, consultant, internal medicine, Vikram Hospital. “A change in weather can lead to allergies presenting with cough, cold, but fever suggests an infection. These are typical influenzalike-illnesses (ILI), but the time of taking the Covid test also matters.”

Dr Satya said Covid presents on the 5th or 6th day of infection. “We have seen 10 cases with fever but were Covid negative. In many cases, RT-PCR test is repeated after 48 hours. It was a similar trend last year and this could be the beginning of a second wave.”

He said the severity of Covid-19 infections may have decreased. “Those with symptoms must self-quarantine to prevent spread of the virus,” Dr Satya said.

Dr Ravindra Mehta, chief of pulmonology, Apollo hospitals, concurred. “They look like viral infections, but we’ve never done tests for all viral infections so it’s impossible to say,” he said.

Dr Carolin Elizabeth George, head, community health and research division, Bangalore Baptist hospital said there is a significant rise in both allergic and influenza cases, but not Covid. “However, we should be vigilant,” said Dr George.

The trend is apparent at Bowring and Lady Curzon hospital too. Dr CN Reddy, associate professor, paediatrics, Bowring hospital, said: “There is an increase in patients with cold and cough over the past week. All such cases have been referred to Victoria hospital for Covid-19 testing as well.”

RAMPING IT UP: Healthcare workers collect swab samples from people arriving on interstate buses in Bengaluru on Monday

Napkin-vending machines at metro stns

Napkin-vending machines at metro stns

23.02.2021 

Chennai metro rail will on Tuesday inaugurate sanitary napkin-vending machines at 39 stations and the CMRL administration building at Koyambedu. Industries minister M C Sampath and Pradeep Yadav, MD of CMRL, will attend the event. TNN

No more govt ads in newspapers, TV: TN to HC

No more govt ads in newspapers, TV: TN to HC

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:23.02.2021 

The Tamil Nadu government will not issue advertisements in newspapers and televisions any more, as all such advertisements had been stopped since February 18, the government informed the Madras high court on Monday.

The submission was made by advocate-general Vijay Narayan, in response to a plea by the opposition DMK taking exception to the AIADMK government spending crores of rupees of public funds ‘to lure voters’ through advertisements in almost all television channels and newspapers.

“The advertisements were issued only to showcase the performance of the state government for the past four years. All such activities will be stopped once the Election Commission Of India (ECI) notifies election for the state,” advocate-general Vijay Narayan said. Actually, the matter has become infructuous since the government has stopped issuing such advertisements from Thursday, he added.

Earlier, representing DMK, senior advocate P Wilson said, free and fair elections and purity in elections are basic features of the constitution. The chief minister of the state is indulging in advertising in all TV channels, newspapers and all websites commercial internet sites pampering and projecting him for the past two months.

On October 7, 2016 ECI issued directions to all political parties to resist from indulging in such acts and clarified that it would attract freezing of election symbols. DMK has made representation citing violation of the direction in January and February 2021 but so far, the ECI has not taken any action, Wilson said. To this, the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said these are the advantages of being a ruling party and DMK would also get the advantage once it comes to power.

Senior advocate G Rajagopal, appearing for the ECI, submitted that the commission had called for remarks from AIADMK and was awaiting reply. He further sought time for filing a status report. Granting time till March 2, the bench adjourned the hearing.

Flyover is covered with posters 1 week after inauguration

Flyover is covered with posters 1 week after inauguration

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:23.02.2021 

Within a week of inauguration of Keelkattalai flyover along Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road, pillars and parts of the one arm of the flyover open for traffic have been defaced with posters, including that of the ruling party.

The AIADMK workers pasted posters wishing former CM J Jayalalithaa ahead of her 73rd birth anniversary on Wednesday. The pillars are wrapped in political, wedding and advertising posters.

“What irks us the most is miscreants were able to do this despite the presence of traffic police personnel most of the times at the Echangadu intersection,” said K Swaminathan, of Kilkattalai. With the election nearing, the menace is only going to increase. “It won’t be a surprise if parties take over all flyovers and use them for poster campaigning,” said R Nirmal, another resident.

A highways department engineer said they have not received a complaint and would clean up the flyover.

The courts have time and again come down heavily on the political parties for defacing streets and walls. In 2015, while hearing a PIL on the issue, the Madras high court had said, “The government must collect the cost of cleanup from those who deface public places.”

EYESORE: Posters of political parties on Keelkattalai flyover

Metro rail users struggle as in-train route maps don’t mention new stns

Metro rail users struggle as in-train route maps don’t mention new stns

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:23.02.2021 

It has been a week since metro rail commenced services in north Chennai, but electronic route maps in the coaches are yet to be updated to include the new stations on the 9km metro line from Washermenpet to Wimco Nagar. This has left commuters in the trains peering through glass panes to see which stop’s next.

Though recorded announcement about the approaching station is played, commuters say it is not audible enough, especially during crowded peak hours.

While the 42 trains run on the 45km phase-1 have both static and dynamic route maps installed above the train doors, they are not updated to include the new stations on the north Chennai route. Static maps are plain maps with only the route and the stations, while dynamic maps are electronic displays where a red light blinks next to the approaching station’s name.

The 10 new trains procured for the north Chennai line have static maps with the new stations, but commuters say it is not helpful as it does not indicate which station the train is approaching. “We are forced to look through the glass to see where the train is every time it nears a station,” said S Kumaran, of Tiruvottiyur.

CMRL has a fleet of 52 trains and operates 42 four-car trains during peak hours and 35 during non-peak hours. The new line in North Chennai has been recording an average 9,000 passengers daily with the maximum on February 21 with 16,058 passengers. This has boosted the total ridership to a daily average of 73,634 passengers.

A CMRL official said they have floated tenders to both upgrade the static and dynamic route maps as well as install LED display screens in all the 52 trains soon. The LED screens will have information on approaching stations, availability of last mile connectivity and the landmarks around a station. “Once we confirm the contract, all trains will be upgraded in six months,” an official said.

NOT CLEAR: The stations on the new 9km line from Washermenpet to Wimco Nagar are yet to be included in the route maps inside trains, making it hard for commuters to know about approaching stations

Bangladeshi gets passport using forged docus, caught

Bangladeshi gets passport using forged docus, caught

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:23.02.2021 

A man from Bangladesh was detained by the immigration officials at Chennai airport after he tried to fly out to Dubai using a passport obtained using fake documents.

A CISF personnel who had served in the north eastern border states, while verifying the man’s documents, noticed that he had a heavy Bangla accent but held an Indian passport with address based in Tirupur and began questioning him. A few minutes into the interrogation, the man confessed to have obtained the passport by submitting forged documents.

The passport identified him as Solaiman Hossain, 29, a Tirupur resident, while inquiries revealed his original name was Miyak, from Bangladesh. The CISF officials cancelled his flight ticket and handed him over to the airport police.

Tamil Nadu ‘Q’ branch sleuths and intelligence officials also interrogated him to ascertain if he had links to any terror organisation.

After questioning him for hours and recording his statement on how and when he entered India and for how long he had been staying in the state, Miyak was handed over to the passport wing of central crime branch sleuths of the city police. Further investigation is on.

CISF personnel intercepted him after he spoke with a heavy Bangla accent, but his passport showed him to be a Tirupur resident

Three women killed by their husbands

Three women killed by their husbands

One Set Afire, Throats Of Two Slit; TN Saw 20,000 Domestic Abuse Cases Reported In 2020

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:23.02.2021 

Three housewives were murdered by their husbands in separate incidents, two in Kancheepuram and one at Kunrathur, on Sunday night.

A 40-year-old woman, Jeeva, was burnt alive by her husband Parthiban, 43, at their home near Achirapakkam because he suspected she was having an affair with an employee of his. The man and the couple’s 19-year-old daughter Pavithra are also in hospital in a critical condition as the fire engulfed them too.

Police said initial reports suggest that Parthiban of Mettu Colony who runs an iron scrap shop believed some acquaintances who told him that his wife fed him sleeping pills at night and was having an affair with an employee of his. On Sunday night he locked the house and set her on fire. The fire spread to Parthiban and his daughter. Neighbours broke open the door and took the trio to hospital where Jeeva died.

A 28-year-old driver Ezhumalai also murdered his wife Sasikala, 26, suspecting she was having an affair. Police said Ezhumalai was addicted to alcohol and used to assault his wife accusing her of having an affair. On Sunday night, he came home drunk and picked a fight with his wife and slit her throat and fled. Neighbours drawn by the cries of the couple’s three children took Sasikala to the Kancheepuram Government Hospital where she was declared on arrival. Later that night Ezhumalai surrendered at the Kancheepuram police station.

The third murder took place at Kunrathur where the woman, Keerthana, died on Sunday after battling injuries for nearly a week. Keerthana had married Panneerselvam, a rice trader, four years ago and the couple lived in Poonamallee. They did not have children and often quarrelled, police quoted relatives as saying. In the first week of February, Keerthana left her husband and returned to her parents’ house in Kundrathur.

On February 15, Panneerselvam reached his in-law’s house on the pretext of reconciling with Keerthana and took her to the terrace for a chat. However, a quarrel broke out between them and Panneerselvam who had a knife hidden in his clothes slit Keerthana’s neck and fled the spot. Keerthana’s family rushed her to a private hospital, but she died without responding to treatment on Sunday. Kundrathur police who had earlier registered a case of assault have altered it into murder and have launched a hunt for Panneerselvam.

The state in 2020 witnessed nearly 20,000 domestic abuse cases. “We used to counsel not less than 10 cases of domestic abuse everyday. In many cases women may be unable to air grievances as their communication is monitored,” said a senior officer attached to Poonamallee all-woman police station.

We used to counsel not less than 10 cases of domestic abuse everyday. In many cases women may be unable to air grievances as their communication is monitored

SENIOR POLICE OFFICER

Poonamallee all-woman station