Wearing mask a must even while driving alone: Delhi HC

Wearing mask a must even while driving alone: Delhi HC

New Delhi  08.04.2021 

Wearing a mask while driving alone in a private vehicle is compulsory as it is a public place in the context of Covid-19, the Delhi high court held on Wednesday and described face covering as a ‘suraksha kavach’ or protective shield against the spread of the infection.

Justice Prathiba M Singh refused to interfere with the Delhi government’s decision to impose challans for not wearing a mask while driving a private car alone, saying a vehicle even if occupied by one person would constitute a public place.

“There are several possibilities in which while sitting alone in the car one could be exposed to the outside world. Thus, it cannot be said that merely because the person is travelling alone in a car, the car would not be a public place. Wearing of a mask therein would be compulsory in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the court said. Masks are necessary irrespective of whether a person is vaccinated or not, it added.

Justice Singh’s ruling and observations came while dismissing four petitions by lawyers who challenged the imposition of ‘challans’ for not wearing a mask while driving alone in a private vehicle.

“The wearing of a mask is like a ‘suraksha kavach’ for preventing the spread of Covid-19,” the court said, noting that a mask protects the person wearing it and also those exposed to him or her.

The wearing of a face mask was “one measure which saved millions of lives” during the pandemic, it pointed out. PTI

Mexico approves Covaxin vaccine for emergency use

Mexico approves Covaxin vaccine for emergency use

Swati.Bharadwaj@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad  08.04.2021 

: Mexico’s health regulator COFEPRIS (Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios) has granted approval for emergency use to India’s Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin.

The news of the approval was tweeted by Mexico’s foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard. “Very timely decision by COFEPRIS to authorise the emergency use of the COVAXIN vaccine manufactured in India. The options for vaccination against COVID-19 in Mexico are expanded,” said the post by Ebrard, a translated version of which was retweeted by the Twitter handle of the Indian Embassy in Mexico.

Covaxin now becomes the sixth Covid-19 vaccine to be approved in Mexico after Russia’s Sputnik V, the Pfizer & BioNTech vaccine, AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccie, Sinovac’s Coronavac and CanSino’s vaccine.

Mexico joins other countries like Zimbabwe, Nepal, Iran and Mauritius, among others, to have approved the use of the desi vaccine. The nod by the Mexican health regulator comes over a fortnight after neighbouring country Nepal granted emergency use approval to Covaxin and about a week after India shipped about 1 lakh doses of the vaccine to Paraguay.

Work output of govt officials went up with WFH: Jitendra

Work output of govt officials went up with WFH: Jitendra

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi  08.04.2021 

Work from home (WFH) protocol developed by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) for functioning of central government offices during the Covid-19 lockdown was so successful that many a time, the work output was even more than in normal circumstances because government functionaries were working online even on weekends and holidays, minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday.

Singh recalled that during the last one year of the pandemic, DoPT had developed a set of guidelines to be followed in government offices, which not only sought to contain the spread of Covid-19 but also aimed to carry on office functioning effectively and without interruption.

Singh, who reviewed the measures taken by DoPT to contain Covid-19 spread, particularly in the wake of the recent spike in cases, said the government was monitoring the situation very closely and based on the strategy adopted for prioritising vaccination, those above the age of 45 years could participate in the exercise. He said it was imperative for all government employees to get vaccinated in order to ensure their own safety as well as of those who come in their contact.

The minister also called upon state and Union territory governments to adopt the guidelines/advisories issued for central government employees. He said it was essential not only for the well-being of government functionaries but also to minimise the loss of man-days on account of government employees contracting Covid-19.

Full report on www.toi.in

AstraZeneca sends legal notice to SII over delays in vax supply

AstraZeneca sends legal notice to SII over delays in vax supply

Rupali.Mukherjee@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:08.04.2021 

The UK-headquartered drug firm Astra-Zeneca has served a legal notice to its manufacturing partner, Pune-based Serum Institute of India, over delays in the supply of its Covid-19 vaccine. The notice comes after Serum Institute delayed shipment of vaccines to the UK, and later did not meet its obligations to other countries that are part of the Covax programme.

Serum Institute has attributed the delay to the Centre’s decision to halt vaccine exports, while its CEO, Adar Poonawalla, according to media reports, said SII would prioritise domestic needs temporarily. In mid-March, the Centre decided to go slow on vaccine exports amidst a huge surge in Covid-19 cases. Demand for vaccines has also jumped after the government broadened its immunisation drive, relaxing the eligibility criteria for the 45-years-plus age group from April 1. A majority of vaccines being administered in India are Covishield (manufactured by SII); the remainder are Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

Serum has so far supplied around 100 million doses to the Centre, while it has exported 60 million doses.

Company sources expressed confidence that the matter would be resolved soon, and that the government was aware of it. With a limited supply of vaccines, and demand soaring due to rising Covid-19 cases in certain countries, shortages and supply constraints are being witnessed in many parts of the world.

SII asks govt for ₹3k cr to boost vax output

Starved of funds, Pune-based Serum Institute of India has asked the government for Rs 3,000 crore to ramp up capacity of its vaccine manufacturing facility.

The company, which produces around 65 million doses per month, has so far supplied around 100 million doses to the Centre and exported 60 million jabs. With the surge in demand for vaccines amid rising Covid-19 cases, Serum needs funds to ramp up capacity to 100 million doses a month from May. It is providing the shot at a subsidised rate of around Rs 150 to the government, significantly less than what it charges for exports. TNN

At 685 deaths, India records highest daily toll in 5 months

At 685 deaths, India records highest daily toll in 5 months

With 1.25L New Covid Infections, Active Cases Cross 9L Mark

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

08.04.2021 

India recorded another peak in daily Covid-19 cases for the second consecutive day on Wednesday even as active cases breached the nine-lakh mark, just a day after crossing eight lakhs on Tuesday. There was a rapid rise in fatalities as well with 685 deaths being reported in the last 24 hours, the highest since November 4 when 713 casualties were recorded.

The country reported its highest ever case count at 1,26,287 — crossing the 1.25-lakh mark for the first time. Active cases saw the sharpest ever surge in a single day — at 67,401— taking the number to 9,10,281. Nearly three lakh active cases have been added to the tally in last one week alone, signifying the alarming spread of the virus.

Maharashtra and three other states – Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat — registered their record single-day cases since the pandemic broke.

Maharashtra’s count was close to 60,000 (59,907 cases), accounting for 47% of the country’s fresh infections. Active cases in Maharashtra crossed the five-lakh mark on Wednesday, accounting for 56% of the country’s active caseload.

Chhattisgarh reported 10,310 cases — becoming the only state after Maharashtra to cross the 10,000-mark in daily count during the second wave of the pandemic while Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat recorded 4,043 and 3,575 cases, respectively.

Maharashtra continued to top the states’ chart in daily fatalities, recording 322 deaths, the highest in nearly six months. Punjab, too, continued to record high casualties with 63 deaths, followed by Chhattisgarh (53 deaths), Uttar Pradesh (40) Karnataka (35), Gujarat (22) and Delhi (20). Fatalities have significantly gone up in many states in the first week of April compared to the first week of March. For example, Rajasthan saw a nearly five-fold jump in deaths during this period.

A health worker takes a swab sample for testing in Patna on Wednesday

Shortage of buses troubles voters returning home

Shortage of buses troubles voters returning home

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Trichy:08.04.2021 

People returning from their hometowns after casting their votes on Tuesday night faced issues following shortage of buses to return to their respective destinations.

Bus stands were flooded with passengers on Tuesday night where passengers had to wait for hours to get buses towards Chennai, Coimbatore and Bengaluru.

S Saravanan, 40, working in a hotel in Chennai had to wait for a few hours to get his bus. “While additional buses were running on this route, they weren’t adequate. More buses should have been opertional on this route considering the demand,” he said.

Another passenger from Karur, Gurunathan, 35, had to wait in the bus stand until midnight to return to Bengaluru. “Suchcrowdsareseen only during festivals. With limited trains run due to Covid-19, we have to rely on buses,” he said.

As the central bus stand is not sufficient handle the huge crowd, temporary bus stands on Williams Road and at Mannarpuram Junction were created to handle buses on different routes. While the buses started operating from Monday, the stands witnessed a large number of passengers until midnight on Tuesday. Additional buses were operated to manage the swelling crowd.

RUSH HOUR

TN vet univ gets new VC

TN vet univ gets new VC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:08.04.2021 

Dr K N Selvakumar was on Wednesday appointed vice-chancellor of Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Tanuvas) for a period of three years by governor Banwarilal Purohit.

Dr Selvakumar, being the senior most serving professor of Tanuvas, has a teaching experience of about 32 years and is serving as Dean, Madras Veterinary College at present. He had also earlier served as director of distance education, Controller of Examinations of Madras Veterinary College and as Dean, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Orathanadu.

He has also served as Member, Technical monitoring committee, Animal Husbandry department.