Govt has already executed measures suggested by Manmohan: Vardhan

Govt has already executed measures suggested by Manmohan: Vardhan

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:20.04.2021

Former PM Manmohan Singh’s five-point advisory to PM Narendra Modi on Sunday on how to fight the Covid-19 pandemic drew a sharp response from health minister Harsh Vardhan who said the ex-PM was being misled by his advisors as the government has already implemented the steps suggested by him.

“It does seem that those who drafted your letter or advised you have done a great disservice to your standing by misleading you regarding material that is already in public domain. For example, take the point that you have mentioned about allowing import of vaccines that have already been approved by credible foreign authorities. You made this suggestion on April 18 but a decision on this was taken a week ahead of your suggestion, on April 11,” Vardhan said.

“The same is the case with your suggestion regarding providing funds and other concessions to augment vaccine manufacturing. This decision was also taken many days before receipt of your letter and multiple vaccine manufacturing entities have been funded by the government to immediately enhance production,” the minister added.

In his response, released hours before Singh tested positive for Covid-19 and had to be admitted to AIIMS, Vardhan agreed with the former PM’s emphasis on vaccination as a defence against the pandemic, but said the government had already rolled out the world’s biggest vaccination drive.

Full report on www.toi.in

SHARP RESPONSE: Health minister Harsh Vardhan said former PM Manmohan Singh was being misled by his advisors

Modi urges top doctors to dispel rumours about Covid treatment

Modi urges top doctors to dispel rumours about Covid treatment

Meets Pharma Industry Leaders, Lauds Their Role In Covid Battle

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:20.04.2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged the country’s leading doctors to educate people against rumours on Covid-19 treatment and prevention.

“In these difficult times, it is very important that people do not become a victim of panic. Along with proper treatment, emphasis must also be on counselling of patients admitted in hospitals,” the PM said while interacting with doctors via video conferencing on the Covid-19 issue and vaccination. Modi also encouraged doctors to use tele-medicine for treatment of other diseases, in case there was no emergency.

Prominent doctors including Devi Shetty, Shashank Joshi, Naresh Trehan, Sushila Kataria and IMA president J A Jayalal, along with several others, attended the interaction with the PM.

The PM said the pandemic was spreading rapidly in Tier 2 and 3 cities as well. He called for accelerating efforts to upgrade resources in such places. He urged doctors to connect with their colleagues working in Tier 2 and 3 cities and give them online consultations to ensure that all protocols are followed correctly.

“During the same time last year, it was due to our doctors’ hard work and the nation’s strategy that we were able to control the coronavirus wave. Now that the country is facing the second wave, all doctors, our frontline workers, are confronting the pandemic with full force, and are saving the lives of millions of people,” the PM said, adding that vaccination was the biggest weapon in the fight against coronavirus.

Later, the PM interacted with leaders of the pharmaceutical industry via video conferencing. He noted the crucial role of the pharma sector in the fight against the pandemic and appreciated reduction in the price of drugs like remdesivir. To keep the supply of medicines and medical equipment smooth, he urged the pharma industry to ensure seamless supply chains.

Full report on www.toi.in

NO ALTERNATIVE: In a virtual interaction with doctors, PM Modi said vaccination was the biggest weapon in the Covid fight

Remdesivir no magic bullet: AIIMS chief

New Delhi:

Amid rising concerns about shortage of medicines and oxygen while the country reels under a massive surge in Covid-19 cases across the country, AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria emphasised on the need to follow the ‘right time and right usage’ of drugs, steroids and oxygen in treatment of hospitalised patients.

Underlining that most patients in home settings do not require these medicines and are recovering with proper care and clinical management, Dr Guleria said the drugs being used in treatment of Covid-19 are ‘investigational’ and therefore need to be used properly as per the protocol. “It’s important to understand that remdesivir isn’t a magic bullet and isn’t a drug that decreases mortality. We may use it as we don’t have an anti-viral drug. It’s of no use if given early to asymptomatic individuals or ones with mild symptoms. Also of no use, if given late,” Dr Guleria said. TNN

Tour operators hit as people cancel trips

Tour operators hit as people cancel trips

Devanathan.Veerappan@timesgroup.com

Madurai:20.04.2021

Tour operators in Madurai are witnessing large-scale cancellation of trips following the second Covid-19 wave. Operators say that this comes at a time when domestic tourism just started picking up demand.

There are around 50 tour operators in Madurai district, who handle organized trips to domestic and foreign locations. All sorts of tours including leisure, medical and corporate have come down ever since the pandemic broke out.

Domestic tourism started picking up a few months ago after states relaxed restrictions and normalcy returned. People from southern districts were planning tours for recreation to destinations such as Kashmir, Goa and north eastern states this summer. But they have started cancelling them as Covid-19 cases are touching new heights.

“Our members had a considerable number of bookings to destinations such as Kashmir and a few north east states. But they are receiving requests for cancellations at the last minute,” Forum of Tour Organisers president A Satheesh Kumar said.

“Tourism was the first industry to be affected and will be the last industry to be revived due to Covid-19. Tour operators are struggling to cope with the situation. Air ticket bookings has also come down drastically.

“Many flights are also getting cancelled throughout the nation due to less demand,” he said.

Travel Club president (Madurai) G Raveendran said that tourists from other states who were planning holidays in tourist destinations in southern districts are also cancelling. Apart from tour organisers, hoteliers too are affected. “A prominent hotel in Kodaikanal has seen cancellation of 600 rooms booked for this week alone. Some of the corporate companies, which planned holidays for its employees have cancelled them at the last minute,” he said.

The situation looks grim for international tourism in the next couple of years as business travel abroad has come to a standstill.

However, lakhs of money paid by tour operators in advance for ticketing has been locked up with airline agencies.

“Tour operators are in the midst of financial distress. If the money held by airlines is released, we can get some relief. The Central government should intervene and take measures to get us the money. We do not know when we can make use of it as revival is not in sight for now,” he said.

People from southern districts were planning tours for recreation to destinations such as Kashmir, Goa and north eastern states this summer. But they have started cancelling them as Covid-19 cases are touching new heights

Sailing from Chennai to Russia in just 24 hours

TIME IS MONEY

Sailing from Chennai to Russia in just 24 hours

New Sea Link To Vladivostok To Help Avoid Middle East

V Ayyappan & P Oppili | TNN

20.04.2021

If everything goes as per plan, giant oil tanker ships carrying crude oil or LNG may sail into Chennai from Vladivostok in Russia in a year.

Two years after it was first mooted, Chennai Port Trust will start the process to identify a consultant this week to study feasibility of a Chennai-Vladivostok sea link via the Straits of Malacca and South China Sea, covering ports in Malaysia, Philippines and South Korea.

A tender was floated in March and the technical bids will be opened on Friday. The commercial bids or final bids are expected to be opened on April 22.

The consultant will study the route, its revenue potential, the goods that can be transported and other details in around four to five months after the contract has been awarded.

The Eastern maritime corridor is shorter and ships will be able to sail to the destination in Russia in 24hours as against the longer route via Suez Canal and Europe.

The main aim of the route is to import crude oil and LNG as part of the efforts to explore import options from countries other than those in the Middle East, said an official.

ONGC Videsh has already started production in an offshore field off Sakhalin Islands in Russia. There is also scope for bringing coal, timber, machinery, agriculture produce, vehicles, tin, gold, diamond and other materials from Russia.

Sources in the Chennai Port Trust said there are some cargo movements from Chennai to Vladivostok at present. This cargo passes through Visakhapatnam, Kolkata, Myanmar, Malaysia and reaches Suez Canal from there to the east coast of Russia. This also means that the cargo needs to be clubbed with those headed to other ports. So far there is no direct connectivity between Chennai port and the Russian ports. Hence it was proposed to take up the study to explore the possibility of improving the trade between the two nations.

“We feel that if a study on this route is done, it will help in understanding the potential that it will provide to those in the trade. The study will also help in learning about the types of cargo that can be transported from Chennai to Vladivostok,” said a senior official. The route is being prepared after Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed an agreement at Vladivostok in 2019.

The proposed eastern maritime corridor will link ports of Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata with those of ports in Vladivostok, Vostochny and Olga in the east coast of Russia.

City hospital performs rare surgery

City hospital performs rare surgery

Chennai:20.04.2021

Doctors at Rela Hospital have performed a liver transplantation without blood transfusion on a 3-year-old Ukrainian girl.

Milana was referred to the hospital with a critical medical condition. Since her family belongs to Jehovah’s Witness (followers of a Christian faith that prohibits use of blood or blood products during treatment) her parents asked for performing the surgery without blood transfusion, an official release said.

Hospital chairman professor Mohamed Rela said with liver failure blood does not clot and meticulous care was taken during surgery to reduce blood loss.

Rlys, airlines crack down on mask violation

Rlys, airlines crack down on mask violation

Chennai:20.04.2021

Airlines and railways have started to penalise passengers for not wearing masks.

While Southern Railway collected ₹500 fine from 290 passengers each at major railway stations in the city in the last two days, a 44-year-old man was booked for refusing to wear a mask inside a flight that landed at Chennai from Kannur on Monday. Police said airline staff advised the passenger to wear masks by explaining the risks when they spotted him boarding without a mask at Kannur. However, he refused to pay heed. After the airline staff alerted the control room, police detained him when the flight touched down in Chennai at 11.30am. He was booked under the Pandemic Act and also for threatening the airline crew. TNN

City’s 18% positivity rate worries experts, doctors

City’s 18% positivity rate worries experts, doctors

Komal.Gautham@timesgroup.com

Chennai:20.04.2021

The city’s Covid-19 positivity rate of 18% is almost double the state’s 9.7% and the number of its total active cases has crossed 24,000 recorded on July 5, 2020. As on April 18, the city had 25,011 active cases.

City-based Covid data analyst Vijayanand said the doubling period for Chennai stood at eight days. If the present trend continues, there will be 50,000 cases in a week. “For entire TN, the doubling time is nine days and the cases, at this rate, will touch one lakh in the next six days.”

At present, Greater Chennai Corporation has more than 1,500 people in Covid care centres and even if 80% are in home isolation, the numbers in the coming weeks will be ery high and hospitals will be overwhelmed, said experts.

Infectious diseases expert Dr S Subramaniam said the problem is that the state has not upgraded the process, and the protocol used in March 2020 is being followed now. “We need to make quick decisions. Earlier only a few, mostly elderly, were symptomatic. Now, after one person in a family tests positive, almost all his/her contacts are testing positive, most of them youngsters and symptomatic. We cannot give them home isolation as it is risky,” he said.

With the current surge in cases, the trend of oxygen bed occupancy must be monitored, said Dr P Ganesh Kumar, assistant director at National Institute of Epidemiology. Data on proportion of active cases under oxygen support will help project the number of oxygen beds which would be filled with current increase in cases.

Corporation officials said that in the current surge more youngsters are getting affected. “For every positive case, a minimum of six contacts are being traced. The problem is all of them are testing positive. Last year, only symptomatic were tested and most of them tested negative. The entire trend has changed,” said an official.

The civic body has 12,600 beds in Covid care centres and is prepared to scale up the number to 20,000. “But we are aware this won’t be enough,” he said.

Dr Subramanian said bed shortage was far worse than last year because of the number of youngsters requiring hospitalization. “I have two pregnant mothers in ICU now. We have no new protocols on treatment as we are still following the older one.”