Stay Home, Stay Safe To Tide Over 2nd Wave

Stay Home, Stay Safe To Tide Over 2nd Wave

Kolar & Shahpura hunker down for life behind barricades, again

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bhopal:10.04.2021

As lockdown was imposed in Kolar and Shahpura localities of the city confining more than 2.5 lakh residents in their homes till April 19, unlike first lockdown which was completely new, residents are mentally prepared for life behind barricades in these 10 days.

“My March closing ended recently, so a break was desperately needed, however this was also sudden, I will now be with family for at least 2-3 days. Probably on Monday I would think how to and what to do from home,” says Kolar resident Vineet Chowdhary who works as a regional head of an insurance company.

Another resident who is a government employee says that it was troublesome in the evening and it took more than 2 hours for him to reach home from office but compared to previous lockdown, he feels, “people at ease with the concept of staying at home”.

“I had a lot of trouble reaching home as it took more than 2 hours. I left office at 6.10 pm and reached home at 8.10 pm, otherwise it is hardly half an hour journey as roads were blocked. We had also completed our March closing and we as government employees have been issued passes, I had to go to office on Saturday too, lets see what is the condition. On Monday, there is no way I will have to go to office. However I feel that now we are more at ease with the concept of staying at home, during initial days of first lockdown it felt as if we would loose our mental calm and stability by remaining confined, but it taught us to be at ease while staying at home,” says an railway official, Arun Hota, a resident of Kolar area.

Traders from the lockdown areas, however feel that this lockdown was also unexpected and sudden.

“We receive supplies from other states, we supply to various education institutions but now everything has stopped. Thankfully we were able to complete the March closing. Visits of marketing officials was also scheduled, but everything has to be planned again. I will think about ways to workout after a couple of days, probably from Monday or Tuesday. Today it should have been more planned, it seemed that the entire planning was done in hurry and haphazardly which led to traffic bottlenecks”, says Rakesh Sharma, a Shahpura resident who supplies, laboratory equipment in educational institutions.

Majority of the residents however think that the announcement was sudden and surprising.

“I was in my home town in Vidisha district, my wife and kids were in Bhopal. When I came to know about the lockdown today morning, I had to rush leaving behind my work there. Anyhow reached home before 6 pm. Now there is nothing to do as of now. Will repair cycles and do cycling if allowed, or will read books, lets wait and watch”, says Pramod Yadav, manager with a private energy company and resident of Kolar.

Heavy traffic on Kolar Road before the nine-day lockdown in the area came into force on Friday

With 1800 active cases, Kolar hit hard by 2nd wave; MP Nagar, Govindpura close behind

Bhopal:

Jehangirabad, Aishbagh, Hanumanganj and Ashoka Garden — they are not the Covid-19 hotspots in the second wave of Coronavirus in the city but now, it’s Kolar, Shahpura, Trilanga, Bawadia Kalan and Gulmohar.

These areas have 1800 active Coronavirus cases and that is why 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh population living in the area are now under lockdown.

All the areas under the lockdown are under the jurisdiction of SDM, Kolar. Next in line could be MP Nagar and Govindpura. Caseload in areas under the jurisdiction of SDM, MP Nagar and Govindpura is quite close to Kolar.

ADM , Bhopal, Sandeep Kerkatti, when asked which are the other Coronavirus hotspots in the city, said after Kolar, it’s MP Nagar and Govindpura.

When asked how close the areas under the jurisdiction of SDM, MP Nagar and Govindpura are to Kolar in terms of number of active patients, he said “Among 4800 active cases in the city, these areas also have almost the same number of Coronavirus active cases as Kolar.”

Kerkatti, when asked whether there could be lockdown in areas under the jurisdiction of SDM, MP Nagar and Govindpura, he said “It depends on the caseload. We hope the situation will improve and lockdown will not be required.” TNN

Why are women missing from health leadership?

Why are women missing from health leadership? 

A key reason is that they are less likely to have mentors than men

10.04.2021

Sandhya Venkateswaran

At the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, there is evidence of progress towards greater representation of women in different spheres of life; yet, their under-representation in decision-making positions in most spheres stands out.

It is not that women’s contribution in leadership roles is not recognised. Studies have demonstrated that women in leadership positions in government organisations implement different policies than men; policies that are more supportive of women and children. A global study on publicly traded companies across 91 countries found women’s presence in top positions of corporate management to correlate with increased profitability. The impact of women’s leadership is not limited to financial outcomes alone, but equally to greater innovation in teams, the development of more creative solutions to problems, a more inclusive culture and improved employee engagement and satisfaction.

Villages in India, with women leaders in local governance institutions have shown to have a higher availability of public goods than other villages. Studies in India have shown the availability of women physicians in districts to be associated with higher maternal healthcare utilisation. Women’s leadership has been known to contribute to strengthening women’s voices, influencing career aspirations and educational attainment of adolescent girls. Clearly, the benefits of women’s leadership are wide.

Yet, gender-related gaps in leadership remain wide. Women constitute 70% of health workers, but constitute less than a quarter of the senior roles in health institutions globally; the pipeline for leadership positions is disproportionate to the wide base of women in lower positions. In India, women constitute about 46% of the health workforce overall, much of it as nurses, where almost 80% are women. This dwindles to less than 30% in the case of doctors and others, comprising pharmacists, physiotherapists, diagnostic and other technicians.

The question of why women’s participation in health declines on the path to decision-making roles has a complex set of answers, ranging from lack of confidence, women’s multiple roles including unpaid work, the absence of agency to navigate institutional structures, gender discrimination, sexual harassment and the dearth of networks and support/ mentoring structures, to name a few. Promotion of women’s leadership requires all of these to be addressed, by enabling access to the tools and resources – social and political – that can help overcome constraints.

Studies have highlighted trust as key to moving up the decision-making ladder; trust in turn requiring ability, affinity and integrity (building on work by Roger Mayer, James Davis and David Schoorman). Affinity, an intangible but significant factor on hiring decisions, is invariably built through networks, which are not prioritised by women in the same way as men; nor do women have the same opportunities to ‘network’. With men dominating leadership roles, opportunities for women to connect with men in informal settings may be lower.

As Oliver Wyman’s 2019 report on women in healthcare leadership points out: “Because they have a harder time expanding their networks and implicitly building more affinity – and because few executives truly appreciate the impact that affinity has on trust and decisions women have essentially defaulted to over-relying on ability and delivering results to get ahead.” The ambiguity in defining ‘ability’, entailing different assumptions of leadership by different people, further reinforces the role of affinity as a decisive element.

It is also suggested that women are less likely to have mentors than men, to help them navigate the institutional ecosystem. Upward movement, when it entails disruption for the family, is often harder for women to undertake, due to their roles as family caregiver and their hesitation to uproot children.

Despite large numbers of young women interested in health as a profession, a gender balance across levels will remain elusive unless proactive measures are taken to remove obstacles for women reaching leadership positions. This imbalance can be addressed: Kerala has a female health minister, several women technical directors and eight times the female doctor density than several other Indian states.

Women’s leadership in healthcare is not only possible but imperative: For themselves, to realise their full potential, and equally for the health sector, so that gender responsive policies and technology are aimed at women’s needs. A better job of hiring, promoting, enabling networks and mentoring will bring many more women in leadership roles. As Anne-Marie Slaughter states: “Only when women wield power in sufficient numbers will we create a society that genuinely works for all women.”

The writer is Fellow, Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System

Affinity, an intangible but significant factor on hiring decisions, is built through networks, which are not prioritised by women in the same way as men; nor do women have the same opportunities to ‘network’

No empty beds, doctors treat inside ambulances in queue

No empty beds, doctors treat inside ambulances in queue

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Rajkot:10.04.2021

Nine ambulances had to wait outside the Covid ward of PDU hospital with patients on Friday, as all the beds in the government hospital were full. The civil hospital staff had to attend to some of the patients inside the ambulances itself.

After 590 Covid beds in the PDU hospital got filled up, the administration arranged more 200 more beds in the trauma and other departments by shifting some of the general patients to the railway hospital. Ambulances continued to bring in patients leading to a queue of nine ambulances outside the gates at one point tin time. Medical superintendent of PDU hospital, Radheshyam Trivedi said, “We have all the beds full and are admitting patient on bed basis. There was a queue of ambulances and a team of our doctors wearing PPE kit had to go inside the ambulances and treat the severe patients. They identified the severe patients and processed to admit them first.”

Covid patients wait for treatment outside civil hospital in Rajkot

Some will get Covid even after vaccination, and that’s normal

Some will get Covid even after vaccination, and that’s normal

No vaccine guarantees 100% immunity from the novel coronavirus, so a small percentage of people who have received a vaccination will still get sick, but experts say that their symptoms are likely to be mild

Abhilash.Gaur@timesgroup.com

10.04.2021

On March 18, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan took his first dose of a coronavirus vaccine made by the Chinese company Sinopharm. On the 20th, he tested positive for Covid. Vaccine-sceptics felt vindicated, China-bashers shouted ‘hurray’. Both were wrong. A vaccine is like a trainer. It needs several weeks to train your immune system to fight a germ. Khan’s first dose got hardly two days to work. In fact, Khan most probably had the virus for several days before he took his shot.

So, Imran Khan’s positive test does not mean his vaccine failed, but are there other cases where a coronavirus vaccine has ‘failed’ to do its job?

Is it possible for you to get Covid after vaccination?

Yes, a small percentage of properly vaccinated people are expected to get sick with the coronavirus. Now that many millions have been vaccinated around the world, such cases are becoming common. Why does this happen, and is it fair to describe it as a failure of the vaccine?

Breakthrough Cases

An infection that occurs after vaccination is called a ‘breakthrough case’. But there’s a condition: it should occur at least 14 days after you are “fully vaccinated”. In India, it would mean two weeks after your second dose of Covishield or Covaxin.

Amesh A. Adalja at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security tells Prevention magazine that this time-frame is necessary because “your body should have enough time to develop antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus).”

In a Forbes column, scientist William A. Haseltine mentions Israeli research that found vaccinated and unvaccinated people were equally likely to get infected in the first 12 days after the first vaccine dose. Even after 17 days, 60-80% of vaccinated people could get infected.

The Atlantic’s science journalist Katherine J. Wu says breakthrough cases will now “continue to grow in number, everywhere… They are an entirely expected part of any vaccination process.” You might hear of them in your circle. But the important thing is to not get alarmed and start doubting vaccines.

No Vaccine Is Perfect

Actually, there was a vaccine that provided 100% immunity against the virus it was aimed at, says Bloomberg’s pharma industry analyst Sam Fazeli. It was so good that it totally wiped out the smallpox virus. But such ‘sterilising immunity’ – stopping not only sickness but also infection – is rare.

For the coronavirus, scientists last year set the bar low at 50% efficacy. Luckily, all of the approved vaccines turned out to be far better with efficacy rates as high as 95%. Yet, even the best vaccine can’t guarantee you won’t fall ill.

Again, Wu reminds you this is not a failure of vaccines because “the goal of vaccination isn’t eradication, but a détente in which humans and viruses coexist, with the risk of disease at a tolerable low.”

With vaccines, we are mainly trying to prevent severe disease and death, not the infection itself, and all of the approved vaccines seem to be excellent at that. For example, the singledose Johnson & Johnson vaccine showed only 72% efficacy in US trials, but nobody who took it needed hospitalisation or died.

As Fazeli says, “You will never know how bad your symptoms would have been if you had not been vaccinated.”

Reducing Risk

So, the main reason for breakthrough cases is that vaccines are not perfect. Haseltine says, “we need to draw a distinction between infection and disease” while talking about coronavirus vaccines. As none of the present vaccines claims to protect you from infection, breakthrough cases aren’t surprising. But what makes some vaccinated people more susceptible to the virus than others? Wu says there could be many factors, from your immune system’s response to the virus variant you are exposed to. As the existing vaccines are based on last year’s coronavirus variant, they might be less effective against the newer variants.

Haseltine says a study from China found that “sera from those infected by the original Wuhan strain last year have little to no ability to protect against either the UK (B.1.1.7) or the South African (B.1.351) strains.” Also, your immune system could buckle under the force of a big virus dose, for example inside a room where many Covid patients are present. “Large doses of the virus can overwhelm the sturdiest of immune defences, if given the chance,” Wu says.

That’s why continuing to wear a mask even after you have been vaccinated can reduce the risk of breakthrough cases. Especially now, when coronavirus infections are sharply rising across India.

Rlys on migrants’ exodus: No plan to curtail train services

Rlys on migrants’ exodus: No plan to curtail train services

‘Nos. To Be Increased On Demand’

New Delhi:10.04.2021

The railways on Friday said there is no plan to curtail or stop train services and assured passengers that trains will be provided on demand amidst reports of migrant workers rushing to their home-towns, reminiscent of the days following the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.

A number of officials, including Railway Board chairman Suneet Sharma, general manager, Southern Railway John Thomas and the chief public relations officers (CPROs) of the Northern and Central Railways, reached out to the media to deny reports of an exodus of migrant workers to their hometowns via trains.

Sharma assured the passengers that there is no dearth of trains and the railways is ready to put them into service on a short notice.

“There is no plan to curtail or stop train services. We will run as many services as required. There is no cause for alarm. We can run trains immediately on demand if there is any rush. This rush is normal during the summer season and we have already announced trains to clear the rush,” he said.

With the number of Covid-19 cases on the rise, a sudden surge in passenger movement at railway stations was reported from across the country. Many travellers, speaking to the media, said the fear of an imminent lockdown was the reason behind their trips. The Railway Board chairman also ruled out the need for a Covid-negative certificate to travel by train. He said the railways has not received any communique yet from Maharashtra to stop or curtail the movement of trains.

Thomas appealed to the public not to believe in the rumours doing the rounds of social media regarding overcrowding at railway stations. He urged them to avoid sharing old videos and false reports on social media platforms. In Mumbai, the Central Railway CPRO took reporters on a live tour of the Mumbai area stations via livestreaming of visuals from platforms and circulating areas to highlight that “contrary to what has been reported by certain sections of the media, there is no rush at the stations in the Mumbai area”.

In Delhi, the Northern Railway CPRO gave the media a tour of the New Delhi railway station, again to show that there is no “rush”.

Currently, on an average, the railways is running a total of 1,402 special train services per day. A total of 5,381 suburban train services and 830 passenger train services are also operational. PTI

With the number of Covid cases on rise, a sudden surge in passenger movement at railway stations was reported from across the country

Courts not experts to decide if BE is similar to BSc: HC

Courts not experts to decide if BE is similar to BSc: HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:10.04.2021

Courts are not expert bodies to decide that a bachelor’s degree in engineering is equivalent to that of science. It is for bodies like the University Grant Commission to decide, the high court observed while allowing a writ appeal filed by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

The board had challenged the order passed by a single bench on September 3, 2020, directing it to treat a degree in engineering on par with that in science and consider the candidature of seven applicants (all BE degree holders) for the post of assistant/clerk.

However, quoting from the Supreme Court’s directive in the Zahoor Ahmed case, a division bench headed by Justice Satish Chandra Sharma noted that an employer is entitled to prescribe qualifications as a condition of eligibility and there is no role or function of judicial review to expand upon the ambit of prescribed qualifications.

Pointing out that the single bench had erred in law and facts in allowing the writ petition, the division bench said it is purely the employer’s domain to frame recruitment rules and the prescription of qualification for a post is a matter of recruitment policy.

The single bench had said since the word ‘science’ has not been defined anywhere, it cannot be limited to include only a bachelor’s degree in science. However, BWSSB said by no stretch of imagination can a degree in engineering be treated as a graduation in science since engineering and science are two different disciplines.

AIADMK workers maintain low profile

AIADMK workers maintain low profile

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:10.04.2021

AIADMK partymen have been maintaining a low profile, resigned to the long wait for the assembly election results. In the last three days, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami chose to remain mostly indoors in Salem, meeting only a few ministers andcandidates, sources said, adding he was down with acute laryngitis. In an unprecedented move, the party took on the bureaucracy, urging the election commission on Thursday to transfer four senior police officers from the western region, alleging they sided with the opposition DMK during the election.

“The CM is disappointed that grassroot workers did not work as hard as expected in the run-up to the polls. Many functionaries did not campaign like they used to when Amma (J Jayalalithaa) was there. Her presence intimidated many,” said a senior leader. Palaniswami is scheduled to return to Chennai on Saturday evening, after his visit to Theni to condole the death of deputy CM O Panneerselvam’s mother-in-law. Leaders are expected to visit the CM at his Greenways Road residence. Meanwhile, Palaniswami took his second dose of Covid vaccination at the Salem government hospital and urged people to follow Covid norms and the standard operating procedures.

Revenue minister R B Udhayakumar said AIADMK cadres were in an upbeat mood, confident that the party would form a government for the third consecutive term. “It is history repeating itself. In 1977, the DMK went about organising a victory function. But MGR (AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran) won the assembly election that year,” said the minister.

A section in the AIADMK, however, say that the DMK’s anti-BJP narrative in the final stages of the campaign may have influenced the “swinging voters” and the AIADMK leadership failed to counter it effectively.

(With inputs from Padmini Sivarajah)