Singapore tells Twitter, FB to carry correction notice on strain of virus

Singapore tells Twitter, FB to carry correction notice on strain of virus

Singapore:21.05.2021 

Singapore on Thursday ordered Facebook and Twitter to carry a correction notice to users of the social media platforms in the country over what it says is a false statement about a new virus variant originating in Singapore.

The ministry of health said it was aware of the statement circulating online on media outlets and social media platforms, which implied that a new, previously unknown variant of Covid-19 originated in Singapore and risked spreading to India from the city-state.

The move came after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a Twitter post this week that a new form of the virus that was particularly harmful to children had come to Singapore, and urged for a ban on flights.

Both the Singapore and Indian governments have criticised the opposition politician, saying his comments were not based on facts and were “irresponsible”.

The correction orders were issued under Singapore’s fake news law, or the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act.

Facebook and Twitter confirmed receipt of the order and said they complied as per the local law.

A prompt on users’ Facebook news feeds linked to a government website that said there was no new “Singapore” variant of Covid-19. Neither is there evidence of any Covid variant that is “extremely dangerous for kids”, the health ministry said. It said the B16172 strain found in many new Covid-19 cases in Singapore was first detected in India.

Twitter sent notifications to its account holders based in Singapore, which included a tweet from the Singapore government’s official account @POFMA_Notice. REUTERS

‘2nd wave a humanitarian crisis’

NOMURA REPORT

‘2nd wave a humanitarian crisis’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:21.05.2021 

Japanese investment bank and brokerage firm Nomura has said the second wave of Covid is a humanitarian crisis in India rather than an economic one and expects the impact of localised lockdowns to be less severe than last year.

“The hit to mobility due to the state-wide lockdowns has been steep, and the economic impact is likely to be most severe in May. However, we expect the overall hit to sequential growth in Q2 (April-June) to be much less severe than last year and less than what the drop in mobility suggests, as lockdowns are more nuanced this time and consumers and businesses

have adapted, a view supported by international evidence,” Nomura said in its Asia special report.

“Stronger global growth is also currently a tailwind, which was not the case last year. We expect lockdowns to last for around six weeks and be followed by selective reopening in June, which should result in better sequential growth,” the report said.

The RBI is also of the view that the impact of the second wave on the economy is likely to be less severe this year compared to last year when there was strict lockdown across the country.

Nomura said it expects the pace of vaccinations to accelerate after June. “We expect half of the population to be fully vaccinated by end-2021 and India to reach its vaccine pivot point in Q3, which should boost domestic consumption,” the report said.

French investment bank Societe Generale said that the second wave would have a disproportionately high impact on demand than on supply, which might linger for a few quarters more.

It said this had forced them to revise down their growth forecast for FY22 to 8.5% from 9.5%.

‘Dogs can sniff Covid almost as well as PCR tests’

‘Dogs can sniff Covid almost as well as PCR tests’

21.05.2021 TOI 

Dogs are able to detect Covid-19 in humans, a new study showed, paving the way for the broader use of sniffing canines in a global effort to contain the pandemic. The dogs’ detection reached 97% sensitivity in the French study, meaning that’s how well the canines could identify positive samples. The sniffing was also 91% specific, which rates the dogs’ ability to identify negatives. The sensitivity rating beats that of many 15-minute antigen tests, which tend to be better at ruling out infection than at finding it. The results mean that dogs could be more widely deployed in airports or stations to screen people. Using dogs also means Covid could be identified at just a fraction of a second in a non-invasive manner, and at a low cost. The trial was conducted at National Veterinary School in Maisons Alfort near Paris. There were 335 people tested, of which 109 were positive in a PCR test that served as a control. Nine dogs participated. BLOOMBERG

MBBS graduate on Covid duty gets into IIM-Bangalore

MBBS graduate on Covid duty gets into IIM-Bangalore

Bharat.Yagnik@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad:21.05.2021

Dr Nuhad Bardai’s joys knew no bounds when she received her admission letter from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, one of the top 100 business schools in the world as per Financial Times’ Global MBA Ranking 2021. The letter came on the day of Eid, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims across the world fast from dawn to dusk.

Dr Bardai, who completed her MBBS from BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad, was in Covid duty as a part of her medical internship, when the final results for the Common Admission Test (CAT), 2021, came in.

“I felt as if my prayers were answered. I was doing Covid duty for about a year and found time only between two shifts or during the mandatory quarantine period to study for CAT. Yes, there were apprehensions, but I am happy to make the cut in the end,” Dr Bardai said.

Hailing from Rajkot, where she completed her schooling, Bardai belongs to a family of businessmen.

“I think it is quite out of the box for medical professionals to go on to do an MBA. However, I believe there is a dire need for such people and the pandemic may have shown us why we need better management in healthcare and the medical field," she said. Her goal is to eventually go into healthcare consulting and then start a venture of her own. “So, in all, I will always remain a doctor, but I will utilize my skills a bit differently.”

Dr Bardai has been a bright student, always making it among the Top 10 students at BJ Medical college, considered as one of the top medical colleges of Gujarat.

Dr Bardai served nearly seven term duties in the Covid-19 centre as part of her studies. Her stellar performance in academics continued as she scored 96 percentile to not only crack CAT 2021 but get interview calls from top B-schools of the country including IIM-Kozhikode, nine new IIMs, FMS Delhi, and NMIMS, Mumbai. “As a medical science student, I was used to studying for ten long hours. So, it was not a big challenge to study six hours a day for CAT. The bigger challenge was when Covid-19 cases began to rise and we had to step up our efforts and work relentlessly," Dr Bardai said.

Dr Nuhad Bardai studied between shifts while serving nearly seven term duties at a Covid centre

‘Covaxin protection after 1st dose not high as Covishield’

‘Covaxin protection after 1st dose not high as Covishield’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:21.05.2021

The interval between the two doses of Covishield has been increased to 12-18 weeks as the first dose developed strong immunity but the four week gap for Covaxin is unchanged as the immunity after the initial shot is not as high.

Explaining the government decision to make a three month interval mandatory for Covishield, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, Indian Council of Medical Research head Dr Balram Bhargava said the immunity post the first shot was found to be quite strong. He said a three month gap will give the best results.

“On the other hand, the immunity level after the first shot of Covaxin is not as high and this means the second dose should be taken after four weeks to ensure the full level of efficacy,” Dr Bhargava said.

He also said the recommendation that those who had contracted Covid or persons who came down with after the first does wait three months for their vaccination was based on the assessment that patients who recover from the disease have sufficient anti-bodies.

“It is not clear how long the anti-bodies last...six or seven months. So it is advised that vaccination be done or completed after a three month interval,” Dr Bhargava said.

The four-week gap between two doses of Covaxin remains unchanged

Mucormycosis found in 23-year-old Covid-cured Surat patient’s brain

Mucormycosis found in 23-year-old Covid-cured Surat patient’s brain

Jay.Pachchigar@timesgroup.com

Surat:21.05.2021

After getting discharged from hospital following recovery from Covid-19, there’s still a few things that one must look out for — redness in eyes, headache, coughing, bloody vomit among others. These may be a precursor to the dreaded mucormycosis.

Along with MM treatment, doctors advise getting an MRI scan of the brain done. For, condition of brain mucormycosis may go unnoticed until a patient suffers from epilepsy or becomes unconscious.

Surat doctors recently came across a rare case of MM infection in the brain of a 23-year-old patient from Kosamba while his sinus, eyes and lungs, which are usually found infected in MM patients, were completely unaffected. In fact, it was a case study for the doctors too who learnt about MM infection in the brain after conducting a surgery and biopsy.

“The patient started having fits and hence got MRI scans done. It showed brain edema which gradually increased, and his body movements were also slowing down. He was, therefore, brought to Surat,” said Dr Hitesh Chitroda, a neurosurgeon.

The surgeon further said that after CT scans showed that there was midline shift due to pressure, they conducted a brain surgery to decrease pressure. The surgery was done by Dr Chitroda along with Dr Maulik Patel and Dr Rakesh Bharodiya, a biopsy of brain tissues. “Biopsy report suggested mucormycosis infection in the brain, which surprised us as his sinus was unaffected. In usual case, the sinus gets infected first and then brain is affected,” he said.

Doctors suspect that the patient may have dissemminated mucormycosis in which the infection spreads through blood streams and most commonly affects the brain.

“I have never come across or heard of post-Covid isolated brain MM infection. Hence, this could be the first such reported case,” Dr Chitroda told TOI.

Advisory issued by Indian Council of Medical Research for screening, diagnosis and management of mucormycosis does not mention about symptoms like fits and brain edema.

Patient's CT scan image showing brain edema and mid-line shift

Doc to work in govt hosp as bail condition

Doc to work in govt hosp as bail condition

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Vadodara:21.05.2021

A homeopathy doctor who was held in connection with pilferage of rapid antigen testing (RAT) Covid testing kits in Limdi town in Dahod district has been asked to serve in government healthcare facilities as a bail condition. The accused had allegedly taken the kits from a Jhalod taluka health officer.

The homeopath Dr Karan Devda had allegedly obtained the kits from Dr Dharmesh Chauhan. Some of these kits were used for testing his relatives by Devda while the rest were used for testing some patients.

Jhalod police arrested Devda in connection with the pilferage of kits. Devda told the police that he had obtained the kits from Chauhan. After his name cropped up, Chauhan has been on the run and the police is looking for him.

Devda meanwhile applied for bail. He was asked to work 8 hours in a government hospital or health centre from Monday to Thursday as bail condition.