State still in Stage 2, says Health Secretary

Beela Rajesh rules out community transmission as only 3 with severe respiratory infection test positive

04/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Three out of 376 persons, who were admitted to hospitals for severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), have tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Tamil Nadu. This shows that the State is still in Stage 2 of COVID-19 transmission, according to Health Secretary Beela Rajesh.

“With more number of positive cases being reported, we lifted samples (throat and nasal swabs and blood) from 376 persons who had SARI and tested them simultaneously. Only three of them, who had contact with COVID-19 patients, tested positive. What this shows is that we are still in Stage 2 and community spread of COVID-19 has not yet happened,” she told reporters on Thursday.

This was why self-isolation and physical distancing should be adhered to, she said. “We are insisting on better care and isolation of vulnerable groups such as elderly persons, immunocompromised persons, persons with diabetes and hypertension.”

Swift action

“What Tamil Nadu is doing differently is that we do not wait for clusters to happen to carry out containment plans.

“As soon as a person tests positive for COVID-19, our focus is on the containment plan.

“Several departments come together to take up the containment plan in full swing,” she said

Dr. Rajesh said the containment plan was centered around the patient’s residence and any of his/her high-risk contacts.

Till Thursday, 5,000 field workers were involved and nearly five lakh population was covered under the containment plan.

She said while exclusive COVID-19 hospitals were notified in the government sector, some of the patients preferred private hospitals. “As per the Chief Minister’s order, we are notifying private hospitals too,” she said.

According to details available in the bulletin issued by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Chennai, topped the list in terms of number of positive cases.

Biggest spike

The city had 81 cases, with the biggest spike so far being on Friday (35 cases). Dindigul climbed up the list with 43 cases followed by Tirunelveli with 36 cases and Erode 32 cases.

A total of 3,684 samples had been tested so far. Of these, 484 samples were under process. A total of 1,580 persons were admitted to isolation wards of various hospitals. The State has 23,689 beds in the isolation facilities.

A total of 5,080 persons had completed the 28-day quarantine period.

A total of 86,342 persons were under active home quarantine and 105 in government quarantine facilities.

Officials said it was important to ensure that those under home quarantine and those who test positive were not stigmatised.

102 more test positive for virus; T.N. count hits 411

364 cases linked to Nizamuddin event

04/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

Tamil Nadu witnessed another surge in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases on Friday. A total of 102 persons tested positive for COVID-19, of which 100 were linked to the Tablighi Jamaat conference held at Nizamuddin in Delhi.

With this, the COVID-19 count in the State stands at 411.

“Of the 411 COVID-19 cases in T.N., 364 are connected to the Nizamuddin conference. A total of 1,103 persons who attended the conference are already with us. A few more have reported. The number has reached close to 1,200. Apart from the 364 who have tested positive, 303 have tested negative, and a few samples are under process,” Health Secretary Beela Rajesh told reporters.

Of the 100 patients, one — a resident of Chennai — had contact with persons who attended the conference.

Thirty-two persons from Chennai, 26 from Dindigul, 10 from Villupuram, six persons from Tirunelveli, five each from Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur, four from Thoothukoodi, three each from Namakkal and Karur, two from Salem and one each from Kancheepuram, Theni and Virudhunagar — all conference participants — tested positive and are in isolation wards of hospitals.

The remaining are residents of Chennai — one with a travel history to the U.S. and another with co-morbid conditions.

The health department is looking into the contact and travel history of the latter, she said.

In Coimbatore, take your daily bread & leave cash in the box!

Stall set up by baker elicits good response from locals

04/04/2020, R. AKILEISH

Assured supply: A customer collecting bread from the self-service counter of a shop in Coimbatore.M. PERIASAMY

With physical distancing being underscored repeatedly to avoid the spread of COVID-19, a sweet shop owner at Rathinapuri in Coimbatore city, has set up a temporary stall outside his closed shop, stocked with loaves of bread but with no shop attendant. The customers can simply pick up a loaf and leave ₹30 in a cash box placed nearby.

With grocery shops being instructed to down their shutters before 2 p.m. amid the COVID-19 lockdown, this initiative has garnered a good response from the residents, said A. Vignesh, owner of Moondru Kambam Nellai Muthu Vilas Sweets and Bakes.

“We set up this stall last Tuesday evening itself,” he said, referring to March 24, when prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC came into force across Tamil Nadu at 6 p.m.

About 300 bread loaves are left at the makeshift stall daily. The stall is open throughout the day. The bread is baked in Mr. Vignesh’s bakery behind the sweet shop.

“A simple meal would cost ₹40. There are some who cannot afford it. At least they can have this bread for one meal,” says the 24-year-old.

Summer is likely to be normal in Tamil Nadu, say weathermen

TNN | Apr 3, 2020, 09.16 AM IST

CHENNAI: If you are already worried about mounting electricity bills after working from home for weeks with the air-conditioners turned on, weathermen's seasonal forecast may bring some comfort. The overall summer season is going to be normal.

While the average temperatures for the season from April to June is likely to be normal across the state, experts said there may be a sudden spike in temperatures for a day or two during the season.

According to India Meteorological Organisation's seasonal outlook for April to June, the state may experience normal maximum temperatures with a slight departure from normal which will be within -0.5°C to 0.5°C. The average maximum temperatures for the three months including peak month of May is generally likely around 34°C to 37°C.

N Puviarasan, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, IMD, said there will be days when the maximum temperatures could fluctuate and see a sudden spike, but they may not last for longer periods. "The seasonal forecast calculates the average for the season from April to June, which for us is going to be normal for us. There will be days when the temperatures could reach two or three degrees above normal. But they may last only for two or three days followed by a sudden drop below normal. These day to day variations will be there," he said.

The regional meteorological centre has forecast that "the sky condition is likely to be mainly clear. Maximum and minimum temperatures is likely to be around 35°C and 26°C," in the city for the next 48 hours.

Card holders keep distance on chairs while waiting for dole on day one

TNN | Apr 3, 2020, 04.59 AM IST

Trichy: People queued up in front of ration shops to collect the dole, which includes Rs 1,000 cash, announced by the state government in Trichy and other central districts on Thursday. Officials, who want the cardholders to maintain social distance, provided them chairs to sit while waiting in front of a ration shop in Pudukottai.

Meanwhile, food minister R Kamaraj has appealed to people not to turn up at the shops to get tokens, as all the beneficiaries would get the tokens at their doorsteps. While speaking to the reporters in Tiruvarur on Thursday, the minister appealed to people to maintain social distance to combat Covid-19.

The process of distribution of cash as well as essentials to 7.85 lakh people through 1,224 ration shops commenced in Trichy, where people maintained social distance, officials said.

“We had clearly mentioned the token number as well as the exact time for the cardholders to arrive at the shop. So, people came to the shops leisurely without hurry. This could help them maintain social distance properly”, joint registrar of cooperative department, Trichy, K P Arularasu said.

However, at some of the shops people did not follow the norms. However, everything set right by the cooperative staff during the first day, officials said.

In Thanjavur, almost all the ration shops have proper markings, so that the beneficiaries could maintain social distance while receiving the dole. A total of 6.53 lakh card holders would get the benefit through 1,185 shops in the district.

Co-operative department staff delivered the dole pack at the doorsteps of those who have been home quarantined at Mathappa Street in Kumbakonam.

At Thirukokarnam in Pudukottai district, cardholders were provided with 50 chairs in front of a ration shop keeping one-metre distance. The beneficiaries, particularly senior citizens, welcomed the initiative.

BDU puts off semester examinations

TNN | Apr 4, 2020, 04.20 AM IST

Trichy: As the state extended the lockdown period for education institutions till April 14, Bharathidasan University has decided to postponed semester examinations indefinitely. The examinations were scheduled to start on April 22.

In a message to the staffers and students on Friday, university registrar G Gopinath announced that the university has put off theory and practical examinations (both UG and PG) until further notice. A new schedule will be communicated by email from the university on a later date, the communication said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set the stage for the lockdown by announcing one-day Janata curfew last week. Nationwide lockdown was enforced the subsequent days to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus. UGC came forward asking institutions to postpone examinations till March 31.

BDU registrar G Gopinath told ToI that the decision to postpone even semester examination was taken after the directive from the state on extending closedown of higher education institutions till April 14 a couple of days ago. Earlier, the state had announced the closure of institutions till March 31 due Covid-19 pandemic.

“The recent directive from state didn’t say anything about the conduct of semester examination. But the university had already scheduled to hold the examination from April 22 onwards. We have to put off the examinations due to the loss of working days. It is mandatory to have a minimum 90 working days to conduct examination,” the registrar said.

“We expect that the university will be able to reopen on April 15 and then we will work out on the term days and decide on the dates for the semester examination in consultation with the controller of examination,” he added.

Ration shops see early crowds to pick up dole

TNN | Apr 3, 2020, 04.20 AM IST

Madurai: People turned out at ration shops in Madurai early for their share of the dole being provided by the government with many shops seeing the supplies emptied by afternoon as only 50 were given tokens in the morning.

The government is providing a dole of Rs 1,000 in cash, rice, dhal, oil and sugar to relieve the stress of families whose members have not been able to go for work due to the lockdown. This curfew has affected the daily wagers more as they usually buy their groceries and rice once in two days, and cannot afford to buy and stock it in advance.

On Thursday, minister for cooperatives Sellur K Raju launched the distribution of the dole at a ration shop in Ponmeni. He said there were a total of 32,965 ration shops in the state including 23,486 full-time through which the dole was being distributed. There are 2,01,46,933 ration card holders in Tamil Nadu. Madurai has a total of 1,356 ration shops, 1,093 of them fulltime, and 8,30,00,622 card holders. The shops would ensure that 100 people got their relief measures a day. People coming to the shops should ensure they wear protective masks and the salesman and police would ensure they bought the groceries only after sanitizing their hands.

People need not worry if they had not bought their ration for March as they could avail it in April quota. People who received SMS without receiving cash relief or the essentials could lodge complaints with the concerned authorities. It would be ensured that all the card holders got their share, he said. Social distancing was maintained well in many of the shops where the essentials were distributed on Monday. Kameswari who received her dole in a shop in Anna Nagar said that she was relieved as the price of condiments had gone up in the last one week.

WhatsApp messages were circulated claiming that inferior quality rice had been distributed. The district collector acted immediately and ensured that about eight bags of rice in that particular shop were replaced with better quality rice.

Traders decide not to sell mutton till lockdown ends

TNN | Apr 3, 2020, 04.25 AM IST

Madurai: Mutton traders in the city have decided to refrain from selling meat till April 14, as a measure to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among the community. The decision comes at a time when the government has been promoting that it is safe to consume meat during this crisis period.

Meat shops witnessed large crowds in areas like Anna Nagar, Karimedu, Kulamangalam during the weekends throwing caution to the winds. This posed a big challenge for the district administration.

On Thursday, members of the Madurai City Mutton Retail Merchants Association, submitted a petition to the district collector Dr T G Vinay announcing their move to refrain from selling meat from March 31 to April 14 or till further notice from the government.

President of the association, S Muthukrishnan said that the slaughter house in Nelpettai had been closed for the past three days. Slaughtering in open places or near the shops was not allowed. Hence, they had difficulty in slaughtering.

There was also the danger of bad meat coming into the market as a result, hence they had taken the decision in the welfare of the public.

Also, most goats for slaughtering in the city came from the other districts including Virudhunagar and there was difficulty in transporting animals, he added.

Class XI, XII evaluation camps on April 7 deferred, teachers worried

TNN | Apr 3, 2020, 04.26 AM IST

Madurai: The evaluation camp for classes XI and XII, originally scheduled for April 7, has been postponed indefinitely in view of the lockdown, the directorate of government examinations announced on Thursday. This has presented worries for higher secondary school teachers about how the process will be carried out.

“For a paper valuation camp, since hundreds of teachers would need to gather at a place it is an obvious decision to postpone now. One Class XI exam is also pending. However, we fear we may face huge pressure once we start evaluation,” said a class XII physics teacher. They are also yet to have any clarity of how the evaluation will be carried out in the present situation. Meanwhile, talks about carrying out evaluation of papers from home are abuzz. “If this situation continues, there is no other option. Evaluation could be done at home and teachers can then update mark lists accordingly,” said the principal of a private school.

However, a majority of teachers felt it would not be possible to carry out evaluation in such a manner as it leaves room for malpractices. “For students, class XII marks especially determine their future, so the evaluation process must be clean and transparent. Maybe language papers could be corrected that way but definitely not the main subjects which are important for the students’ higher education,” said another class XII teacher. Schools are also anxious about there being delays in the admission process and start of the next academic year.

Meanwhile, the administration wings of most schools in Madurai, which were functioning with half the staff, have also begun to shut down amid the restrictions for lockdown

Week after staying off trade, street vendors back in biz

TNN | Apr 4, 2020, 04.51 AM IST

Madurai: It seems only a week is all what most street vendors can afford to stay off their businesses. Just when the second week of the lockdown began, the street vendors have dusted themselves off and rushed back to their business.

While the country came to a standstill with the lockdown in place, it was a week of no dealings for small vendors like Ashokan who had no option but sell the old stocks. “I stocked up murukku, biscuits and groundnut ladoos, among others, about a week ago from a wholesaler,” he said adding my family helped me pack them in plastic bags.

I spent the Rs 5,000 I had for this stock and would make a profit of about Rs 1000, if I do not sell this I will stand to lose my Rs 5000,’’ he said.

He was not alone. Ramanathan, 73, of Mullai Nagar, sold his stock of tender coconuts in Chinna Chokkikulam. “I placed my order a few days ago, and paid Rs 11,000. I was told that the stocks were coming this morning so sold them today,’’ he said.

All the vendors, including fruit sellers and those selling non-essential commodities like “kolam powder’’ were all on the streets on Friday, as it was necessary to ensure that they did not waste away Rs 10,000 they spent a week ago for stocking up.

For all these small vendors, it is a now or never situation. The government’s dole might help them survive for a week, but if they have to save something for the future, they have to go out in the street and sell as it is the only to keep their business going and money rotating.

Dearth of personnel may hit emergency care

TNN | Apr 4, 2020, 04.53 AM IST

Madurai: Lack of trained personnel to handle emergency care including ventilators may lead to government hospitals struggling to treat critical Covid-19 cases even though there are enough ventilators to handle the rising numbers at present.

At the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) in Madurai, one of the biggest tertiary care centres in the state, a total of 147 ventilators are in use, according to an RTI reply filed in November 2019. There are around 400 ventilators across both government and private hospitals.

“Not all ventilators, especially those in government hospitals across the state have proper batteries with power back-up. This means a patient could die if there is an unexpected power shut down. Further, maintenance of ventilators is also poor making it much difficult for doctors too,” said a senior anaesthetist who works at a government hospital.

However, doctors asserted that not all Covid-19 patients would require ventilators though there may be a rise in demand now. “Ventilators are used only for critical cases wherein the patient’s lungs are failing. Even for Covid-19, only patients with co-morbid illnesses need ventilator support. But, only doctors, staff nurses and emergency technicians who have worked in intensive care can handle ventilators,” said Dr N Uwaraja, head and consultant emergency physician at a private hospital in Madurai.

Though hundreds across Tamil Nadu have undergone emergency technician courses offered for paramedical staff, they are not recognised for roles in emergency rooms (ERs) and intensive care units (ICUs). Usually, anaesthetists take up the role of intensivists in the government hospitals. Doctors also reiterate that such courses in India are insufficient for ERs and ICUs.

“Emergency technicians if given right training and posting can properly maintain and run ventilators in government hospitals. It will reduce the burden of doctors to handle ventilators and also reduce the number of cases being referred to tertiary health care centres. We are ready to serve if the government gives us the opportunity,” said an emergency technician, who works with 108 ambulance services.

“Emergency medicine courses are currently not recognised in India. Their training also varies with the institution they study. So, anaesthetists are the ones mainly handling ventilator care. However, we are also being underutilised,” said a senior anaesthetist.

Tamil Nadu student’s 1,300-km walk home ends tragically midway

TNN | Apr 3, 2020, 04.37 AM IST

HYDERABAD: A 23-year-old student from Tamil Nadu pursuing food processing course in Wardha, Maharashtra, travelled nine days, taking different modes of transport to cover nearly 1,300 km to reach his home town, but his trek ended midway, tragically at a function hall in Secunderabad late on Wednesday night. Forensic experts said he died due to heart attack.

Bala Subramani Logesh, a native of Namakkal in Tamil Nadu, was pursuing food processing course at a Wardha college. After the lockdown was announced on March 24, Logesh and 29 other students set off on foot to reach their respective native places. He was nearly 1,300 kilometres away from home, but was determined to achieve it. After their nine-day journey and covering over 450 km, they reached Secunderabad on Wednesday. “On Wednesday night, they were spotted near Bowenpally marketyard by revenue and police staff.

Apart from walking for long hours, they took different modes of transport in the last nine days. When they enquired about the group, the students told the officials that they were on their way to their respective homes,’’ Marredpally inspector Mattaiah said. After they were informed that they would not be permitted to leave the city due to the prevailing lockdown conditions, the students were shifted to a function hall at Marredpally, where they were provided food and accommodation.

“Àfter having food, some of the students were chatting at the function hall. Logesh suddenly collapsed,’’ police said. Forensic doctors concluded that the student died of heart attack. Police said that since he was travelling for the last nine days, perhaps, due to dehydration, he might have suffered a heart attack.

Chennai lockdown news: Today's updates from your city

TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Apr 3, 2020, 07.59 AM IST

Amid prevalent chaos and uncertainty over access to the essential services and commodities during the lockdown, we bring you the latest updates from your city.

*6.19pm: We tested 376 people with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) as per ICMR protocol. Of this 3 of them were positive. All of them tested positive had a contact history. We are still in state 2 of the infection, Tamil Nadu health secretary Beela Rajesh.

*6.15pm: All meat shops in Chennai City to be closed from April 4-12: greater Chennai corporation official

*4.59pm: Covid-19 positive case in Tamil Nadu go up 411. 102 more people tested positive on Friday.

*4.48pm:Zone wise break-up of Covid-19 positive cases in Greater Chennai corporation limits.

*4.04pm: Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K palaniswami during press meet in Chennai.

*4.00pm: A police personnel takes a vigil at Adithanar salai, Pudupet in Chennai as part of micro containment plan, areas where a cluster of COVID19 cases were found have been completely sealed off by local police and Corporation authorities.on Friday

*3.50pm: Meena, working as a helper in a private company is distributing food to the homeless people and corporation workers at OMR road in Chennai

*02.45pm: Tamil Nadu fire and rescue personnel spray the disinfectant on Anna Salai as a preventive measure against the Covid-19 on Friday.

*02.39pm: Greater Chennai Corporation building and premises being sanitised by a team of State Fire Services in Tamil Nadu. (ANI)

*02.31pm: Robots have been deployed at Chennai's Government Stanley Medical College and Hospital to serve food and medicines to Covid-19 positive or possibly infected persons. (ANI)

01.55pm: The Trichy Corporation on Friday launched supply of vegetables at the doorsteps of residents. The move is aimed at helping the residents stay indoors during the Covid-19 lockdown. The vegetables, purchased from wholesale traders in Gandhi Market, were weighed and filled in bags at Ariyamangalam zonal corporation office. Each bag, priced at Rs 150, contains 11 types of vegetables.

*01.48pm: Following the directive from PM Modi, the state government has made arrangements like accommodation, food and health facilities for 1,34,539 migrant workers in Tamil Nadu: Chief minister EPS

*9.30am: Tamil Nadu Disaster Rescue Force is deployed on Kamarajar Salai off Marina Beach.

*State chief secretary K Shanmugham has scheduled a meeting with Muslim religious leaders in Chennai on Friday.

*To protect health professionals and police, who are at the forefront of the fight against the novel coronavirus, a team from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras has developed a face shield and is distributing it for free.

*Administrators of educational institutions, corporate houses, places of worship, entertainment parks, housing complexes, retail chains, malls and hospitals in Tamil Nadu will have to face six months in jail with or without fine if they do not ensure supply of adequate water, soap and washbasins on their premises.

*The state government has sanctioned Rs 31 crore to keep the Amma Canteens running across the state to feed guest workers, dislodged workforce, students and homeless people, who have patronised the budget-food outlets to fight hunger during the lockdown period.

*Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase the supply of test kits, and special assistance of Rs 3,000 crore for strengthening the health infrastructure and for essential equipment, including personal protective equipment, N95 masks and ventilators to handle Covid-19 outbreak.

*The number of Covid-19 positive cases in the Tablighi Jamaat cluster in Tamil Nadu continued to surge with 74 more reported on Thursday, prompting the authorities to reach out to community leaders in a bid to check the spread.

Show-cause notices issued to Chennai police ministerial staff for failing to attend duty

TNN | Apr 3, 2020, 03.40 PM IST

CHENNAI: The Chennai city police have issued show-cause notices to some ministerial staff for failing to turn up for work without permission from their seniors.

Police said the show-cause notices were issued to 53 staff members of administrative and headquarters wings of the city police. They have been asked to appear before their seniors and explain.

The staff include assistants to the superintendents of a few sections at the commissioner’s office who had failed to turn up for work since March 23, even before the lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19 came into force.

The police said departmental action would be initiated against those who failed to give an explanation.

345 Malaysian nationals evacuated from Chennai

TNN | Apr 3, 2020, 08.35 PM IST

CHENNAI: Two planes that arrived from Kuala Lumpur on Thursday night and Friday evacuated 345 Malaysian nationals stranded in Chennai.

Malindo Air operated two flights to evacuate the Malaysian citizens stranded here because of the lockdown, in force to contain the spread of novel coronavirus infection. The airline will operate five more flights till April 5.

More such special flights are scheduled to evacuate citizens of Singapore, Malaysia and European countries from Chennai.

Covid-19: Anna University team develops washable, reusable masks

Apr 03, 2020, 04:49PM ISTSource: TOI.in

A team of researchers from Chennai's Anna University has given a ray of hope to the ever growing demand for protective mask amid coronavirus spread in the country. The team has come out with reusable masks with better filtration efficiency and at affordable prices. Till now common people are wearing non biodegradable single use masks that may pose a risk of infection. While the pharmacies are selling single use mask at high prices the reusable mask will be available at 25 or 30 and can be washed and reused up to 20 times. However, the reusable mask is thicker than the single-use mask available in the market.

#LifeInTheLockdown

We complain now, but we may miss this quiet: Nithya

04.04.2020

The lockdown came upon us a bit unexpectedly, but I don’t think that we are in a terrible situation. It was the need of the hour. None of us would have even imagined that a pandemic would grip the world in our lifetime. It was the stuff of literature and films. So, why can’t this moment in time actually be considered a trigger for creativity?

The first thing I noticed after the lockdown was the quiet all around. It was so calming and spurred me on to write. I am developing scripts and story ideas that I have long churned in my mind. It was difficult for me so far, because my work was taking up my time. Right now, I am loving the open-endedness of the situation. It is so beautiful and uncertain. It makes me feel free. I am learning a new language, new music and songs and also doing yoga every day. I am also catching up on my film viewing and reading. I’ve watched some beautiful films like Kumbalangi Nights, Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, A Separation by Asghar Farhad and Capernaum by Nadine Labaki. And this seems like a good time to be lost in some nostalgia amid the pages of RK Narayan’s Malgudi Days.

I don’t mean to trivialise the situation, but I think as long as we maintain social distancing and stay at home, we are safe. We may miss some of the things that we saw as routine earlier, but things aren’t so bad. Every time I see people posting on social media about how terrible the current situation is, I think the world has seen worse things than the lockdown. And remember, as soon as this is lifted, we will go back to our routine, mechanical way of life; we may even miss this. And thanks to the lockdown, a lot of creatures, plants and organisms can finally breathe freely. A lot of us are getting the free time that we’ve always craved. If you aren’t directly affected by the disease, I think you should feel blessed and be positive. We can use this time to slow down, stay inside, look into ourselves and get in touch with our emotions. You may get something beautiful out of it.

— As told to Anjana.George@timesgroup.com

NITHYA MENEN

RK Narayan’s Malgudi Days is providing Nithya with a dose of nostalgia

She has been catching up on acclaimed films like Kumbalangi Nights, Roma and A Separation

7 WAYS TO EXPLORE THE WORLD WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR HOME

From live-streamed opera performances to 360-degree tours of tourist destinations, here is how to virtually travel during the global health crisis

businessinsider.in  04.04.2020

Tune into the Metropolitan Opera’s website for a livestreamed show

In response to New York City’s ban on public gatherings, New York’s Metropolitan Opera has suspended shows through the end of April. Until operations resume, the opera is streaming past performances for free on its website at 7.30 pm ET each night. The performances will be available to watch for 20 hours post stream.

Listen to Broadway stars perform hits in a series of Living Room Concerts

Broadway has shuttered productions till April 12. In the meantime, Broadway stars have partnered with Broadway World to produce a series of virtual mini-performances. The performances are filmed by stars in their living rooms and posted on BroadwayWorld.com.

Check out the world’s largest live nature camera network

Explore.org has hundreds of webcams set up in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries around the world and aggregates their live-streams on its website. These include the underwater Channel Islands Kelp Forest cam, the abovewater Manatee Cam at Florida’s Blue Spring Park and the Decorah Eagles cam, positioned at eye-level with bald eagle nests in Decorah, Iowa.

Tour Stonehenge, Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal in 360 degrees

Google Arts & Culture, thanks to its 360-degree mapping technology, offers an inside look at some of the world’s most iconic attractions like the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum in Mongolia, Milan Cathedral in Italy, Pyramids of Egypt, etc.

Visit digitised collections of more than 1,200 cultural institutions

In addition to iconic monuments and tourist attractions, Google Arts & Culture allows users to tour the world’s foremost museums in 360 degrees and browse hi-res images of their collections. The collections are searchable by artist, art movement and country, among other categories.

Hike over six miles of the 2,000-year-old Great Wall of China

The China Guide, a Beijing-based travel agency, has developed a virtual tour of one of the Great Wall of China’s most iconic sections, Jinshanling to Simatai. This section crosses the border between Beijing and Hebei provinces and has been the go-to destination for many magazine shoots thanks to its sweeping views, according to the agency.

Peer inside the enclosures of pandas, polar bears and beluga whales

A number of zoos and aquariums around the US have set up webcams in their most popular enclosures. The Houston Zoo, Monterey Aquarium and San Diego Zoo each run multiple webcams. The Atlanta Zoo runs a dedicated live-stream of their pandas and the Georgia Aquarium runs a live-stream of its beluga whales

PICS: ATLANTA ZOO, GOOGLE ARTS CULTURE, EXPLORE ORG, THE METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE, GETTY IMAGES

How to comfort stressed-out friends and colleagues

During uncertain times, encourage troubled buddies to talk about their thoughts, say researchers

04.04.2020

If you are wondering what messages to give your family and friends who could be stressed due to the restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus, researchers have a solution that may work for you.

Avoid negativity

During uncertain times, messages that validated a person’s feelings were more effective and helpful than ones that were critical or diminished emotions. The researchers tried to understand why wellintentioned attempts to comfort others are sometimes seen as insensitive or unhelpful. “One recommendation is for people to avoid using language that conveys control or use arguments without sound justification,” said one of the study authors Xi Tian from the Pennsylvania State University in the US.

“For example, instead of telling a distressed person how to feel, like ‘don’t take it so hard’ or ‘don’t think about it’, you could encourage them to talk about their thoughts or feelings so that a person can come to their own conclusions about how to change their feelings or behaviours,” Tian said.

Acknowledge feelings

The findings, published in a virtual special issue of the Journal of Communication, suggests that your comforting words can have different effects based on how you phrase them. The researchers said people can try using language that expresses sympathy, care and concern. For example, “I’m sorry you are going through this. I’m worried about you and how you must be feeling right now.” Acknowledging the other person’s feelings or offering perspective — like saying “It’s understandable that you are stressed out since it’s something you really care about,” — may also be helpful.

According to the researchers, a high person-centred message recognises the other person’s feelings and helps the person explore why they might be feeling that way. Meanwhile, a low person-centred message is critical and challenges the person’s feelings. For example, “Nobody is worth getting so worked up about. Stop being so depressed.”

— IANS

A high personcentred message recognises the other person’s feelings and helps the person explore why they might be feeling that way

What to do if your home network is jammed

If you have noticed that your internet has slowed down, you are hardly alone. Our new work-from-home lifestyle is heavily taxing the web

With so much of the workforce and their families now cooped up at home to combat the spread of the coronavirus, it is not a surprise that home internet is showing the strain.

If you’ve had a business videoconference stutter while your teenagers play PC games online or found yourself unable to stream the news while your spouse uploads huge data files for work, you’ll have a good idea of the problem.

Is there a bandwidth problem?

The internet’s core is managing the spike in traffic just fine, experts say. It has massive capacity to handle streaming services.

True, Netflix recently throttled down its video quality in Europe at the request of authorities there. But the company stores its programs on servers close to users’ homes, and there’s no evidence that it is clogging networks.

Why does your home connection falter?

The problem partly lies in the socalled ‘last mile’, the link that connects your home to the ultrahigh speed internet backbone.

Most homes get their internet from cable companies or telecom operators and thus connect to the broader network via cable. These connections provide faster ‘downstream’ speeds to your home than ‘upstream’ speeds back to the internet. Since videoconferencing sends equal amounts of data both ways, simultaneous sessions can clog the upstream channel and disrupt service. If that happens, one solution is to have some family members switch to audio-only, which conserves bandwidth. You could also order a service upgrade, although that might not be necessary always.

Does your home network need an upgrade?

It might. Start with your internet modem. If it’s several years old, it’s probably time to ask your provider if upgrading the modem’s internal software, or replacing the modem entirely, will help. Older modems often can’t deliver the full bandwidth you’re paying for to your household.

Next up is your WiFi router. If you have cable, it may be built into your modem. Try moving it to a more central location in your home or apartment that will ensure bandwidth is distributed more equally. Or you can add more access points and distribute WiFi with a ‘mesh’ network. One more possibility: You can connect some devices directly to the router

— AP

Latest mesh routers let you add several satellite stations that boost your signal throughout the house

New York’s Covid-19 Toll Nears 9/11 Level

State Sees Biggest Daily Toll Of 500+; US May Ask All To Wear Masks

Chidanand.Rajghatta@timesgroup.com

Washington:04.04.2020

Amid rising concern about the durability and lethality of the coranavirus, including its professed ability to transmit through even regular breathing/exhalation, American health and public safety mandarins are further tightening public health protocols and social distancing norms, even as toll from the pandemic neared 7,000 in America.

This comes as New York state on Friday recorded more than 500 coronavirus-related deaths in a single day, bringing its total to nearly 3,000, or about the same number killed in the US in the 9/11 attacks. The 24-hour toll was 562, raising the New York state total to 2,935 fatalities, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, calling it the “highest single increase in the number of deaths since we started”. Cuomo said the state also had more than 10,000 new cases in a single day, passing 1,00,000 in confirmed infections.

New guidelines recommending wearing of masks in public places at all times are expected anytime now, overriding suggestions that only sick people are needed to wear masks. Because of the shortage of masks and the need for higher grade N95 masks by medical personnel, people are being asked to wear any kind of mask, including home-made masks, scarves, bandannas, handkerchiefs etc, under the principle that something is better than nothing.

The updated guidelines follow research results that purportedly show the coronavirus has extraordinary durability and stealth features, including ability to transmit asymptomatically and to stick around in the air and surfaces longer than normal.

While a majority of infected people still appear to show mild symptoms and its mortality rate is now thought to be closer to 1% or even less, the transmissibility of the virus is something that has surprised scientists. A leading infectious disease scientist on Wednesday wrote to the White House in response to its queries that “currently available research supports the possibility that (virus) could be spread via bioaerosols generated directly by patients’ exhalation” — in other words, the simple act of breathing normally (not just coughing or sneezing) by even asymptomatic carriers could transmit the virus.

“If you generate an aerosol of the virus with no circulation in a room, it’s conceivable that if you walk through later, you could inhale the virus. But if you’re outside, the breeze will likely disperse it,” Dr. Harvey Fineberg, chairman of a committee with the US National Academy of Sciences, explained in a CNN interview, adding how long coronavirus lingers in the air depends on several factors, including how much virus an infected individual puts out when breathing or talking, and also on the amount of circulation in the air.

Meanwhile, wrangles continued between the White House and state and city officials over limited resources even as the president continued to boast about how his quick action on stopping travel from China very early helped contain the pandemic in the US. However, data from the US Customs and Border Protection reported in the local media shows that nearly 4 million travellers entered the US during December, January, and February when the outbreak was taking a foothold across the world. Of them, 759,493 people entered the U.S. from China, while 343,402 travellers arrived from Italy, 418,848 from Spain, and about 1.9 million more came from Britain.

Top officials at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention are pushing for President Trump to advise everyone to wear masks when in public, arguing that doing so will reduce the number of people who get infected

‘Don’t use pandemic to target minorities’

Chidanand Rajghatta

Governments and establishments across the world should not use the coronavirus pandemic to target minorities, a key US official said on Thursday. “We are tracking the blaming of religious minorities for Covid-19 virus, and unfortunately, it is happening in various places. This is wrong … Governments really should put this down and state very clearly that this (religious minorities) is not the source of the coronavirus,’’ Sam Brownback, a former Senator and governor and the current US ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, said. Brownback’s observation was part of a broader critique of the persecution of religious minorities across the world and the need to release them in the time of the coronavirus pandemic because of the conditions they are held in. He also criticised the killing of minority Sikhs in Kabul in an attack on a gurdwara last weekand.

Quarantine may end but will we be too fat to get through the door?

Paris:04.04.2020

The coronavirus has shaken the world like nothing else. But beyond the terrible toll of death, economic devastation and fear, the virus is likely to leave another lasting mark. It is going to make us all fatter.

“I don’t know if we are going to come out of this experience stronger, but we will have gotten fatter,” warned nutritionist Beatrice de Reynal, who said that was only one thing to do — eat less.

“It is going to happen to us all, even if we try to exercise,” said Julian Mercier, a French sports, health and cooking coach. With more than a quarter of humanity under lockdown, and with many worried they will get the virus next, the temptation to comfort eat was hard to resist.

By doing little or none of the physical activity we normally do, an adult is likely to burn off up to 400 fewer calories a day, said dietician Jennifer Aubert. Which is why we have to reduce our portions and move as much as we can — as long as it is not to the fridge and back.

Other experts point to people who have panicbought a cupboard full of fresh food, finding themselves duty-bound to eat their way through it. Being alone and coping with the stress of the situation, as well as worries about whether they will have a job to go back to, can tip people into over-eating, the British Nutrition Foundation warned.

It is advising people to embrace the lockdown to learn to “put together healthy meals” which “can be a source of enjoyment and help your well-being.” Not everyone cooks, however, says Pascale Hebel of the French CREDOC research institute. Which can lead to a heavy reliance on fatty and salty ready-meals and tinned food.

Others warned against using food as a way of soothing children forbidden to play with friends. “To avoid problems it is easy to make spaghetti bolognese that everyone likes rather than to fight to make them eat spinach,” Mercier said. Experts were unanimous that cooking for yourself and structuring your day with regular meals and physical activity, were vital if we are to come out of this in decent shape. AFP

MUST FIGHT THE CRAVINGS

THE SPEAKING TREE

Corona Is Here, But Where Is Karuna?

Karan Singh

04.04.2020

The grave crisis that has developed worldwide due to the spread of a tiny, invisible virus, reminds me of the samudra manthan story, the mythological churning of the milky ocean. Continuous churning went on for centuries, in which devas and asuras, both participated in the hope that great gifts would emerge. Instead, suddenly, a dark and deadly poison, the garala, emerged and spread worldwide. Devas and asuras fled in terror, and it was only when Shiva, Karunavataram, the incarnation of compassion, collected the poison in his hands and swallowed it, thus containing it in his own throat which turned blue (hence his name Neelkanth) that the churning continued and great gifts began to appear.

If we consider the violent churning that the human race has indulged in over the last few centuries – the ruthless exploitation of nature, the cruel destruction of millions of plant, insect and animal species, pollution of air, earth and oceans, the unsustainable high protein diets and consumption of strange animals and reptiles – it has, at last, thrown up a new garala that threatens the very existence of the human race. Perhaps this is nature’s way of telling us to slow down worldwide for a while so as to enable her to regenerate, which she seems to be doing rapidly, during the human lockdown period.

To expect Shiva to appear once again and contain this poison is, to say the least, unrealistic; nonetheless, we urgently need the compassion he embodied so that together, we can meet this challenge. This must extend not only to victims of the virus but to those millions whose lives have been uprooted in the process.

The sight of lakhs of migrant workers desperately trying to walk hundreds of kilometers to get back to their villages was heartrending. Have we seen a countervailing upsurge of compassion? Shakespeare’s immortal words in The Merchant of Venice are apt: “The quality of mercy is not strain’d, / It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven / Upon the place beneath : it is twice blest / It blesses him that gives and him that takes.”

That is the karuna we need. The present crisis has taught us that firstly, despite attempts by several world leaders, notably President Trump, to trash globalisation, the fact remains that in any major worldwide crisis we will all sink or swim together. The ancient Indic ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam remains valid.

Secondly, it shows that our basic health infrastructure remains woefully inadequate. ‘Sharir madhyam khalu dharma sadhanam’ – the body alone is the foundation for all dharmas. Unless we triple the percentage of GDP that is at present allotted to health and education, we will never be able to safeguard the welfare of the weaker and most vulnerable sections of society.

A restructuring of our national priorities is long overdue.

Thirdly, this crisis has given us the opportunity to stay home, look within and develop our intellectual and spiritual capacities, regardless of which religion we may belong to. We have to find within ourselves, springs of compassion – karuna – that alone will be able to confront this deadly Corona challenge. We do not need large congregations; just quiet prayer and meditation are much more effective. As the Upanishad says, “Within the furthest golden sheath resides the immortal Brahmn. That, effulgent, light of lights, that is what the knowers of the Atman know.”

How we made the coronavirus pandemic

It may have started with a bat in a cave. But human activity set it loose

David Quammen

04.04.2020

The latest new virus that has captured the world’s horrified attention is known as “nCoV-2019.” The name, picked by the Chinese scientists who identified the virus, is short for “novel coronavirus of 2019”. It reflects the fact that the virus was first recognised to have infected humans late last year — in a seafood and live-animal market in Wuhan — and that it belongs to the coronavirus family, a notorious group. The SARS epidemic of 2002-3, which infected 8,098 people worldwide, killing 774, was caused by a coronavirus. So was the MERS outbreak that began in 2012 and still lingers.

Despite the new virus’s name though, nCoV-2019 isn’t as novel as you might think. Something like it was found years ago, in a cave in Yunnan, a province roughly 1,000 miles southwest of Wuhan, by perspicacious researchers who noted its existence with concern. The fast spread of nCoV-2019 is startling — but not unforeseeable. That the virus emerged from a nonhuman animal, probably a bat, and possibly after passing through another creature, may seem spooky — yet, it is utterly unsurprising to scientists.

One such scientist is Zheng-Li Shi, of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a senior author of the draft paper that gave nCoV-2019 its name. It was Shi and her collaborators who, in 2005, showed that the SARS pathogen was a bat virus that had spilled over into people. Shi and her colleagues have been tracing coronaviruses in bats since then, warning that some of them are uniquely suited to cause human pandemics.

In a 2017 paper, they set out how they had found coronaviruses in multiple individuals of four different species of bats, including one called the intermediate horseshoe bat, because of the half-oval flap of skin protruding like a saucer around its nostrils. The genome of that virus is 96% identical to the Wuhan virus. And those two constitute a pair distinct from other known coronaviruses, including the one that causes SARS. In this sense, nCoV-2019 is novel — and possibly even more dangerous to humans than the other coronaviruses.

Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance, a private research organisation that focuses on the connections between human and wildlife health, is one of Shi’s long-time partners. “We’ve been raising the flag on these viruses for 15 years,” he told me. “Ever since SARS.” During the second study, the field team took blood samples from many Yunnanese people, about 400 of whom lived near the cave. Roughly 3% of them carried antibodies against SARS-related coronaviruses. “We don’t know if they were exposed as children or adults,” Daszak said. “But what it tells you is that these viruses are making the jump, repeatedly, from bats to humans.” In other words, this Wuhan emergency is no novel event. It’s part of a sequence of related contingencies that will stretch forward into the future as long as current circumstances persist.

Current circumstances include a perilous trade in wildlife for food, with supply chains stretching through Asia, Africa, the United States and elsewhere. That trade has now been outlawed in China, on a temporary basis; but it was outlawed also during SARS, then allowed to resume — with bats, civets, porcupines, turtles, bamboo rats, many kinds of birds and other animals piled together in markets such as the one in Wuhan. Current circumstances also include 7.6 billion hungry humans: some impoverished and desperate for protein; some affluent and empowered to travel every which way by airplane. These factors are unprecedented. No largebodied animal has ever been nearly so abundant as humans are now. And one consequence of that abundance, that power and the consequent ecological disturbances is increasing viral exchanges — first from animal to human, then human to human, sometimes on a pandemic scale.

We invade tropical forests and other wild landscapes, which harbour so many species of animals and plants — and within those creatures, so many unknown viruses. We cut the trees; we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.

We are faced with two mortal challenges. Short term: We must do everything we can to contain and extinguish this nCoV-2019 outbreak. Long term: We must remember, when the dust settles, that nCoV-2019 was not a novel event that befell us. It was — it is — part of a pattern of choices that we humans are making. THE NEW YORK TIMES

FOREWARNED: The consumption of civets, possibly infected by bats, caused 2002-03’s SARS outbreak

CAGED TOGETHER: Wet markets bring diverse animals and birds, from ducks to hens and wild birds of prey, in proximity, causing the transfer of dangerous pathogens