Doctors test positive; two Chennai hospitals face heat

A private and a government hospital are under scanner in Chennai after the doctors working there tested positive for COVID-19.

Published: 12th April 2020 06:50 AM 

Chennai Corpoartion workers stand along with traffic police at MEPZ signal near Tambaram and give hand santisers to the motorist who come out for essential purpose. (Photo | Ashwin Prasath/EPS)

By OMJASVIN M D

Express News Service

CHENNAI: A private and a government hospital are under scanner in Chennai after the doctors working there tested positive for COVID-19. CSI Rainy Hospital in Old Washermenpet has been cordoned after a 27-year-old woman doctor was tested positive on April 11. Meanwhile, close to 70 staff from Kolathur GH were taken for screening after a 44-year-old general physician there tested positive on April 9. 

Meanwhile, the city corporation has used drones and other equipment to spray disinfectant and santise these facilities. The private hospital doctor is a gynaecologist and was on duty till April 3. Her father, also a doctor, tested positive on April 8, said officials. All the patients in the hospital have been kept under observation and the corporation is disinfecting the hospital and an area of 15 kilometres radius of the facility.

Hospital authorities told Express that they have taken samples of the patients who the affected doctor had treated and so far all the patients are in stable condition. Close to 50 staff have been deployed in division 49 of Zone 5, where the hospital is situated. Meanwhile in Kolathur GH, top officials with the Public Health Department said the doctor had not been coming to hospital since April 5. 

The growing instances of doctors testing positive for COVID-19 has raised concern among doctor’s associations. Dr G Ravindranath of Doctors’ Association For Social Equality (DASE) said lack of adequate personal protective equipment was the reason for rising cases of doctors contracting the disease. “Aged doctors and those who have comorbidity can be exempted from treating patients as they are susceptible to the virus,’’ said Dr Ravindranath.

Woman cured of COVID-19 gives birth

Caesarean section performed on her

12/04/2020, STAFF REPORTER,KANNUR

A woman, cured of COVID-19, gave birth to a boy at the Kannur Government Medical College Hospital on Saturday, the first such case in Kerala and the third in the country, according to hospital sources. A Caesarean section was performed on the 29-year-old Kasaragod native.

The woman had contracted COVID-19 from her husband, who was found afflicted on his return from Dubai. The couple were hospitalised on March 27. They were declared cured after their two test results turned negative and were scheduled to be discharged two days ago.

However, since the woman was nearing her delivery date, she stayed back, said S. Ajith, head of gynaecology, who led the surgery team. The surgery was done in a specially equipped operating theatre with extra security measures.

Baby under observation

The couple are now housed in the isolation ward. The child, weighing 3 kg, will be under observation for some days.

N. Roy, Principal, Kannur Government Medical College, said special arrangements were in place at the operation theatre since a Caesarean had been done earlier on a suspected COVID-19 patient there. The woman was discharged after results were negative.

Dr. Roy said 15 COVID-19 cases were treated and discharged from the hospital. Fifteen patients were still undergoing treatment. Two COVID-19-afflicted pregnant women had been cured.

CM seeks rapid test kits, ₹1,000 cr. immediately

Palaniswami urges PM to allow only freight traffic

12/04/2020, T. RAMAKRISHNAN,CHENNAI

Personnel of the Greater Chennai Corporation and Fire and Rescue Services spraying disinfectants at a hospital where a doctor tested positive, on Saturday. B. JOTHI RAMALINGAMB_JOTHI RAMALINGAM

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide COVID-19 rapid test kits and a grant of ₹1,000 crore immediately to procure medical and protective material.

He made the request while participating in a video conference, chaired by Mr. Modi and attended by Chief Ministers of other States, in the context of Tamil Nadu getting only 64.65% increase under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), while other States got 120.33%.

The increase was determined on the basis of the 15th Finance Commission methodology.

However, Mr. Palaniswami, who spoke from the Secretariat here, thanked the Prime Minister for releasing ₹510 crore under the SDRF.

In the last three years, Tamil Nadu had faced many natural disasters — Vardah cyclone and severe drought in 2016 followed by Ockhi cyclone in 2017 and the Gaja cyclone in 2018. Still, it got “lesser allocation” under the SDRF, the Chief Minister complained. In recent weeks, Tamil Nadu requested the Union government to provide personal protective equipment (PPEs), N-95 masks and ventilators in sufficient numbers, for which it wanted ₹ 3,000 crore.

Though the text of his speech, as released by the State government, did not refer to his making any suggestion for extending the lockdown, the Chief Minister said “train and flight services should not be resumed. I appeal to Hon’ble Prime Minister and other Chief Ministers not to allow inter State passengers’ movement.” At the same time, there should be smooth inter-State movement of these goods through lorries and supply of essential commodities, including dal and spices from other States through Railways.

Renewing Tamil Nadu’s case for the provision of “rapid test kits,” Mr. Palaniswami said the kits were required to cover contacts of positive cases.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had been requested to provide 2 lakh test kits to the State.

At present, the State had 12 government facilities and 7 private labs for COVID testing. “This needs to be increased by having at least one per district,” he said.

If the lockdown was extended, sections of society, such as unorganised sector workers and agricultural labourers, should be given ₹ 2,000 per family. The Central government should provide additional funds and allotment of essential commodities, he said.

Special package

Pointing out that “at this hour of prolonged lockdown, we should not allow a food crisis in the country,” Mr. Palaniswami sought the announcement of a special package for agriculture and horticulture promotion.

He reiterated various requests of the State government such as the allocation of ₹ 9,000 crore grant for launching a comprehensive plan for combating the effects of COVID-19 and its aftermath on the State’s economy; increasing fiscal deficit limits of 3% of Gross State Domestic Product to 4.5% for 2019-20 and 2020-21 and immediate release of 50% of the Finance Commission’s grants to local bodies.

Man drinks sanitiser, dies

12/04/2020, STAFF REPORTER,COIMBATORE

A 35-year-old man from Sulur in Coimbatore died on Saturday after he consumed hand sanitiser, allegedly expecting to get high from the alcohol-based disinfectant solution.

The deceased has been identified as E. Bernard, a resident of Karaiya Rayappa Dever Street.

The police said that he was working as a delivery agent with an LPG distribution agency.

He was not going for work for the last two days due to the lockdown. Addicted to alcohol, he consumed a bottle of sanitiser he had at home around 2.30 a.m. on Saturday.

The agency had provided sanitiser to its employees to cleanse their hands as a precaution against COVID-19, the police said.

Though the man was rushed to a hospital, doctors declared him brought dead.

Coimbatore-based gastroenterologist V.G. Mohan Prasad said that consumption of alcohol based sanitisers meant for sanitising hands was highly dangerous as it could destroy cellular mechanisms of liver, stomach and other organs of the gastrointestinal system.

Meat shops to be shut down

‘Personal distancing should be maintained at shops’

12/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Meat shops in the district will not function from Monday, Coimbatore District Collector K. Rajamani told presspersons here on Saturday.

The meat shops will be closed till further orders.

In an effort to help the public get the essential commodities during the lockdown period, grocery and vegetable shops are open from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Only one member of a family should go out the buy essential items such as vegetables, grocery, or medicine.

At the shops, personal distancing should be maintained. Traders should not sell the essential commodities at higher prices. If they do so, action will be taken against them. If the public face any problem in purchasing the essentials, they can approach the district administration, he said.

Action will be taken against those who violate the lockdown and come out.

The Corona relief fund announced by Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has been disbursed to 93 % of the PDS card holders and the distribution continues. So far, 546 people in the district have been tested for COVID-19 and 97 have tested positive. Results are awaited for 22 more. Further, people in 97,000 houses in Coimbatore city, Mettupalayam, Annur, Pollachi, and Anamalai areas have been screened by 700 health workers, the Collector said.

Guntur sees spike in cases

One death, 17 cases in single day turns focus on A.P. city, Kerala reports 10 cases

12/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/BENGALURU/VIJAYAWADA/HYDERABAD

The death of one person with COVID-19 in Guntur in Andhra Pradesh and a spike in cases in that city marked the progression of the viral infection on Saturday, with about 100 new cases being reported in the southern States. Data from Telangana were awaited.

COVID-19 positive cases in Andhra Pradesh crossed the 400-mark on Saturday with 24 new cases reported from four districts. There were 17 new cases in Guntur on Saturday.

Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan hoped that a low rate of disease transmission would help the State, which is projected to reach a critical phase over the next three to four weeks.

The number of people who were newly testing positive for COVID-19 seemed to be on the decline, while the number of those testing negative after treatment was up, he told the media.

On Saturday, 10 new cases were reported in Kerala, three of them with history of foreign travel. The rest were primary contacts of imported cases. Seven new cases were in Kannur, two at Kasaragod and one at Kozhikode. The State total for positive cases was 373, and 228 were under treatment.

The State has so far tested samples of 14,163 persons, of which 12,818 results had been negative.

Mr. Vijayan said while focusing on containing COVID-19, one should not lose sight of other diseases, and those patients should not suffer. District Collectors had been asked to remove “disinfectant tunnels” set up in public places, he said.

The Public Works department was continuing to identify and list rooms with attached bathrooms across the State, which could be used as isolation rooms, should a situation arise. Already over 2.5 lakh rooms had been identified, of which 1.10 lakh room were ready to be used. Local bodies were also being asked to identify empty houses or apartments within their jurisdiction.

Mysuru cluster

Mysuru in Karnataka had five fresh cases on Saturday, and added to another five from the day before, the city was seen as an emerging cluster. The source of infection in the first case from a pharma company in the district was not identified.

Eight new cases were reported in Karnataka on Saturday, taking the total number to 215, according to official data. A 10-month-old baby, the youngest patient in Karnataka in Mangaluru was discharged.

Of Saturday’s new cases, apart from the five in Mysuru, the others included a 32-year-old private doctor, who got the infection from a patient, and a 10-year-old boy.

Not only patients, medical personnel too get counselling

‘Working during these testing times, while staying away from their families, has caused mental stress’

12/04/2020, P. A. NARAYANI & , SANJANA
GANESH,MADURAI

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of medical staff and patients in several different ways.

Those affected include doctors and staff nurses working at Government Rajaji Hospital, who are in the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. These medical personnel, who discharge their duties while staying away from their families, are vulnerable to mental stress.

Regular counselling sessions are being held for them and support systems have been formed to help these medical personnel stay motivated.

GRH Dean J. Sangumani says that treating patients during testing times like these, while staying away from families, has caused mental stress among medical staff.

“This is first-of-its kind pandemic, which has affected the mental health of medical personnel. All GRH staff, including drivers, are working under stressful circumstances and sometimes they even fail to recall the particular day in a week,” he says.

State president of Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association K. Senthil says that medical, paramedical staff and nurses of GRH work for seven days and are quarantined for the next 14 days. “They are quarantined in separate rooms inside Madurai Medical College and at a private hotel.

Many of them often get emotional or mentally disturbed as they cannot meet their family members during this period,” he says.

“There is also some level of anxiety among medical personnel as they are worried that they might be infected and transmit the virus to the family members”, says T. Kumanan, Head of the Department of Psychiatry, GRH.

Regular counselling sessions are being held for the medical personnel to help them manage their anxiety. “Senior GRH doctors regularly speak to those working at isolation wards over the phone. We repeatedly keep telling them that doctors have to discharge their duties, as it is the only way to tackle the pandemic,” says Mr. Senthil.

Dr. Kumanan says that contact numbers of around 15 doctors from the Department of Psychiatry have been given out so that those medical personnel who require help can reach out to them.

“So far, we have received only a few calls. But, we think the number might increase in the days to come,” he says.

Patients at the isolation wards of Government Rajaji Hospital too have been undergoing counselling via telephonic conversation everyday.

M. S. Chellamuthu Trust Founder C. Ramasubramanian, whose organisation has partnered with the GRH to provide mental health support to patients, says that it is pertinent now more than ever to provide empathetic care.

Sense of anxiety

He says that a counsellor speaks to patients everyday as most people in isolation wards tend to develop a sense of anxiety.

“This is why it is important to explain in detail the nature of the disease and the road to recovery. If we make this clear, they will gain more confidence,” he says.

Referring to the suicide of a 60-year-old man at the Ariyalur Government Hospital, he says that people who are separated from their families may feel hopelessness, worthlessness and fear of isolation.

“In case the fear is acute, they will be referred to a psychiatrist or psychologist at the hospital itself,” he says.

The Dean said that the hospital’s psychiatry department regularly engages with patients through telephonic conversation.

Apart from this, he adds that the Administrative Judge of the Madras High Court Bench in Madurai Justice P.N. Prakash conducted a few counselling sessions to keep doctors motivated.

“I regularly tell my staff that by working as a team, we can successfully combat the pandemic,” GRH Dean says.

Three-colour card system introduced

After much persuasion, samples collected from 153 residents in Melapalayam; 16 test positive

12/04/2020, SPECIAL
CORRESPONDENT,TIRUNELVELI

Persuasion: A volunteer issuing the colour card pass to a resident of Melapalayam in Palayamkottai on Saturday. A. SHAIKMOHIDEEN

With Melapalayam registering 32 COVID-19 cases so far, the corporation has started distributing cards in three colours - green, blue and red - to the residents there to prevent crowding in shops and vegetable markets.

The card system has been introduced to curtail number of people coming out of their houses to purchase grocery items or vegetables every day. Different colour cards have been distributed to different areas.

Those holding green card can come out on Monday and Thursday, blue card on Tuesday and Friday, and red card on Wednesday and Saturday.

They can come out of their houses between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. and carry the card and an identity proof. They should be aged above 15 years and below 60 years. They must strictly follow physical distancing.

Volunteers are distributing the cards. “While distributing the card, we ask the residents to abide by the regulations and cooperate with the officials in preventing community spread of the virus,” said Milleth Ismail, one of the volunteers.

As 175 persons were found to be in close contact with the 16 COVID-19 positive patients from Melapalayam who participated in a religious conference in Delhi, the officials tried to take blood and swab samples from the ‘high risk contacts.’ After a lot of persuasion, 153 of them gave samples of which 16 tested positive to take the total number of COVID-19 patients from Melapalayam to 32.

The remaining 22 persons refused to cooperate with corporation and revenue officials and hence samples could not be collected from them.

Locking their houses from inside, they did not come out arguing that they were healthy. The officials spoke to them over mobile phone. When they stopped attending to the calls, the officials, through public address system, requested them to come for the mandatory test since they were close to the COVID – 19 positive patients. A team of Melapalayam locals, including a doctor, an advocate, representatives from a Muslim organisation and Jamaaths, continued the persuasion till Friday night but in vain.

“As the attempt continued on Saturday also, they finally agreed to give samples in the evening,” said S.S.A. Ghani, Tirunelveli City district president of Social Democratic Party of India, who was one among the negotiators.

Now health officials are worried about people from this containment zone stealthily straying into other parts of Tirunelveli. “Since all roads leading to Melapalayam have been sealed by the police, some people are going to Tirunelveli Town and Pettai in the early hours through fields and return at night. This may lead to community transmission of the viral infection, which will be disastrous,” warned a doctor attached to the Department of Public Health.

U.S. announces visa sanctions on nations refusing to accept citizens

Order comes in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic

12/04/2020, SRIRAM LAKSHMAN ,CHENNAI

President Donald Trump has ordered the relevant departments of his administration to impose visa sanctions on countries that do not accept their citizens who are currently in the U.S., if the U.S. seeks to repatriate them to their home countries.

The order is motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a memorandum issued by the White House on Friday night.

“Countries that deny or unreasonably delay the acceptance of their citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents from the United States during the ongoing pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 create unacceptable public health risks for Americans. The United States must be able to effectuate the repatriation of foreign nationals who violate the laws of the United States,” the order says.

Scope of the order

As it is worded, the scope of the order is unclear. While the clause above says it is motivated by the U.S. wanting to repatriate foreigners violating U.S. laws, there is another clause that says the sanctions process could be initiated if a foreign country delays accepting its nationals and such an action hampers the U.S.’s response to the ongoing pandemic.

The Secretary of Homeland Security shall inform the Secretary of State, “… if any government of a foreign country denies or unreasonably delays the acceptance of aliens who are citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents of that country after being asked to accept those aliens, and if such denial or delay is impeding operations of the Department of Homeland Security necessary to respond to the ongoing pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2.”

Within seven days of receiving such a notice from the Department of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State is required to initiate a plan to impose visa sanctions.

Sanctions shall end when the Secretary of Homeland Security certifies that the host countries are accepting their nationals.

The memorandum expires on December 31 this year unless extended.

CM fund contributions to not qualify as CSR spend

Against principle of federalism, says CPI(M) leader

12/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Sitaram Yechury

The Ministry of Commerce has clarified that the contributions to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund or the State relief fund will not qualify as Corporate Social Responsibility expenditure, while any donation to the PM CARES Fund will.

“The Chief Minister’s Relief Fund’ or ‘State Relief Fund for COVID-19’ is not included in Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013, and therefore any contribution to such funds shall not qualify as admissible CSR expenditure,” it has said in a circular.

The circular has said donations to the State Disaster Management Authority to combat COVID-19 can be counted as admissible CSR expenditure.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury flagged the circular on Twitter and said it was discriminatory and went against the constitutional principle of federalism. “States are at the forefront of this battle to contain the spread of COVID-19, and they are being strangulated by the Centre in this fight,” he said.

He sought an immediate amendment to Schedule VII of the Companies Act to permit the States to access these funds which could save millions of lives.

Lockdown to continue with a human face, says Mamata

Markets to remain open; 6 more cases in the past 24 hours takes total to 95

12/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, ,KOLKATA

Mamata Banerjee   Swapan Mahapatra

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday emphasised that the lockdown in the State would continue with a “human face” and that markets would continue to remain open.

“The lock down will continue with a human face, markets will be open and shops selling essentials will remain open,” Ms. Banerjee told journalists at the State secretariat. The Chief Minister repeatedly assured that while the police would be “strict” in enforcing the lockdown, the force “will not indulge in excesses”. She said that people in small groups would be allowed to harvest paddy, adding that the State would soon be introducing a mobile app to help farmers sell their produce.

Asked about a letter from the Union Home ministry, which had reportedly raised questions about lockdown exemptions in the State, Ms. Banerjee consulted with Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha seated beside her before asserting that the ministry had only asked the State to remain more vigilant in certain areas. The ministry is reported to have flagged several concerns in its letter, contending that the police were allowing religious congregations and that there was no regulation in vegetable, fish and mutton markets where people had been thronging in complete violation of social distancing norms in Razabazar, Narkel Danga, Topsia, Metiabruz, Garden Reach, Ikbalpur and Maniktala. The Home ministry is also said to have asserted that areas such as Narkel Danga were witnessing ‘more COVID-19 like’ cases.

Observing that the novel coronavirus “is not a communal virus”, Ms. Banerjee added. “It is a human disease”. The Chief Minister said she had raised the issue during the videoconference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day that this “was not the time to indulge in politics”.

Ms. Banerjee also reacted sharply to repeated questions about the hotspots in the State and countered: “Why are you interested in hotspots. There is nothing called hotspots. We are closely keeping a watch on areas where we have got patients”. She said that a better term to use in the situation was “ sensitive areas”, where the State was engaged in “microplanning” its response.

‘No reason to panic’

Six more cases of COVID-19 were detected in the State in the past 24 hours, taking the number of active cases to 95. The CM said that there was no reason to panic as the numbers would increase. The State has tested 2,286 persons for COVID -19 infection. Asked if the number of tests was low, she said that the State had been following ICMR guidelines and testing only those with symptoms. “We had only two labs and 40 testing kits,” she said. Ms. Banerjee said the State had asked the Centre for rapid testing kits and more tests would be conducted in the next few days.

‘Data is key to control of this pandemic’

‘Lockdowns alone can’t be effective unless combined with other health measures’

12/04/2020, ANANTH KRISHNAN

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organisation, says in an interview that the fight against COVID-19 is likely to be long-term, and lockdowns alone cannot be effective unless combined with other health measures. Dr Swaminathan, who has worked in research on tuberculosis and HIV for 30 years, was Director- General of the Indian Council of Medical Research from 2015 to 2017. Edited excerpts:

What do we know so far about how SARS-CoV-2 is spreading around the world?

Viral evolution and transmission dynamics can be studied by analysing genetic sequence data. There are over 4,500 viral sequences currently deposited in the GISAID platform, with around 10 Indian strains. What we see is, that over time, there is some variability in the strains. That is to be expected, as all viruses develop mutations as they transmit from person to person. What is not being observed so far is any mutation on any of the important sites of the virus, such as the spike protein or in the RNA polymerase or protease enzymes, which are relevant for drug targeting and vaccines. So we believe whatever strategies are now being used to develop both therapeutics or vaccines are not threatened by any changes in the virus.

What does the evidence tell us about the effectiveness of lockdowns as a strategy?

The WHO has laid out quite clearly that physical distancing, of which one extreme form is a lockdown, does help bring down the transmission of the virus in the population. What they saw in China [after locking down] was transmissions within households were still going on, so they then took an additional step that was basically testing everyone with symptoms, and taking those who were positive to a separate facility where they could be kept and treated, and the exposed persons to a separate quarantine facility. We need to think about this in terms of the logic for doing that, which is if you are living in a crowded setting, chances are you are more likely to transmit to others.

Other public health interventions that are shown to be effective like hand-washing, disinfecting surfaces, covering the face and mouth when coughing, and usage of masks need to be all implemented together, to be effective. We also need to remember that we are going to be facing this infection for a long time, and will need to think of sustainable strategies, as we exit lockdowns eventually. People will need to change behaviour — continue to follow physical distancing, isolate if sick, improve personal hygiene, while the public health system will need to detect, isolate, treat and track cases.

Should everyone wear a mask?

Anybody who has symptoms should be wearing a mask. There is also no doubt that healthcare workers need to wear masks and proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as they are the ones likely to see a lot of patients. When we are talking about the general population, the logic there is if you don’t show symptoms but you still have the infection, you can still be spreading it. That is the logic for everybody wearing a mask. Asymptomatic people spreading infection is not the bulk of transmission and whatever studies we have seen till now suggest it is not more than 10 to 15%. Wearing masks does not protect the wearer. You are wearing masks to protect others, so it’s more of a social good.

Should India be testing more broadly?

Data is key to the control of this pandemic. We need to expand the number of people who are being tested. The fact is, because of shortage of testing kits, we cannot simply test everybody. One way is looking at sentinel surveillance where you test a proportion of people with influenza-like illness (ILI) or Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI), which the ICMR is already doing. Serological testing is also beginning to be used in many countries, from which you can get an idea of the extent of the population exposed and also the geographic spread of the virus.

Is there any evidence to suggest Hydroxychloroquine should be included in the treatment protocol?

The Solidarity trial launched 10 days ago is comparing Hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir and Lopinavir/Ritonavir with and without interferon beta. The goal is to include more treatments as they come through and collaborate closely with groups around the world as they develop new therapies. The approaches are to find an antiviral drug, monoclonal antibody treatment or an adjunct therapy that helps modulate the body’s response to the virus. There is currently no drug with proven efficacy against COVID-19. Some are being used on a compassionate-use basis, and not based on scientific evidence. Soon, we will get results from clinical trials which should inform us.

(Full text at

bit.ly/SoumyaWHO)

Chief Ministers raise funds crunch with Modi

12/04/2020

Echoing the complaint, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said 62% of the workforce in his State was engaged in agriculture, which was hit by the drastic fall in inter-State movement of farm goods. With less than 25% of the trucks plying the highways, there were no marketing avenues. “How much can we absorb locally? Many families will face destitution if this continues,” he said. The industries could not be expected to pay wages while they were not working, he added.

“Today is the 18th day of the lockdown and we are yet to get a single paisa from the government to assist us in the fight against the coronavirus. My government has given ₹2,000 a family to all APL and BPL card-holders, ₹5,000 to farmers and a substantial aid to self-help groups. Where will we get the money?” Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy said. The Prime Minister, he said, did not address any of these concerns.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said revenue collection had been hit by the lockdown, and the State had not received any Central assistance. He demanded that the State’s access to 3% of revenue under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act be increased to 5%.

Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said restrictions should be limited to zones with a high number of cases. “There are 676 mandals, of which only 37 are in the red zone and 44 in orange. So there are only 81 mandals affected by the coronavirus. In my opinion, the lockdown should be limited to the red zone,” he said.

‘No air transport’

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said economic activities should be allowed within the States. He said international air transport and inter-State transport and train services should not be restarted. He also pitched for a special package for the micro, small and medium enterprises.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee raised the issue of constant interference from the Governors and the Lieutenant-Governors. “She told the Prime Minister that during this period of crisis some of the Governors are interfering in the day-to-day working of the State governments, which is now taking menacing proportions,” Mr. Narayanasamy said.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asked the Mr. Modi to arrange for special trains to transport migrant workers home. He said the government should give them wages for the next three months.

‘8.2 lakh cases if there was no lockdown’

Centre justifies steps taken to fight COVID-19

12/04/2020, JACOB KOSHY,NEW DELHI

With India recording a first-time-ever three-digit rise in the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry on Saturday said that had a lockdown not been imposed, the country would have been staring at at least 8,00,000 cases by April 15. The Ministry reported at least 7,529 cases on Saturday.

Reports from State Health Departments put the nationwide death toll at 287 with the number of active cases at 7,303. Maharashtra had 1,446 active cases with 17 more fatalities on Saturday, while Delhi recorded 1,024 active cases and five deaths.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) — the technical arm of the Ministry that is overseeing testing and epidemiology — was not involved in preparing this estimate, Lav Agrawal, spokesperson of the Ministry, said at the daily media briefing.

He displayed a graph that showed three curves: One a red curve, denoting neither lockdown nor containment in place, that steeply rose to 2,08,544 cases on April 9 (and with a note that it would extend to 8.2 lakh by April 15); a blue, gentler curve that rose to 45,370 by April 11 (and 1.2 lakh cases by April 15), the blue indicating the situation with “containment measures but no lockdown”; and the final green line indicating the 7,447 cases at present.

“Lockdown and containment measures are important to fight COVID-19. If we had not taken any measures, we might have had 2 lakh cases at this time (April 11),” Mr. Agrawal added.

There were no further details available of how the projected figures were arrived at.

Determining the rate of spread of infectious disease is different from extrapolating a given number of cases at an initial point and assuming a particular rate of growth and plugging it into an exponential mathematical equation, experts told The Hindu.

“From just this graph alone, it isn’t possible to work backward and figure out the assumption used by the modeller to arrive at the (2,00,000) figures. The curves assume a constant rate of growth, which is not what we’ve seen how the cases increase in India, or anywhere else in the world,” Aritra Das, a medical doctor with a doctorate in epidemiology, who consults with IQVIA. “Estimating the growth in cases requires knowing an R0 [reproduction number that denotes how many an infected person will further infect] and that can’t be derived from what we now have.”

Modelling study

A study in February, which was publicised on March 23, remains the only actual modelling study involving ICMR epidemiologists and international experts in the field. That study didn’t estimate numbers but — based on the state of affairs in February — recommended that India should have focussed on finding transmission in the community and quarantining instead of “border control” because of the large uncertainty in detecting asymptomatic travellers harbouring the infection and becoming spreaders.

Another ICMR study published this week found that 40% of those with severe respiratory illnesses sampled and detected with COVID-19 could not have their contact history established.

The ICMR said 1,71,718 samples were tested, including 16,564 in the last 24 hours.

The government said it was containing the wide spread of the disease by establishing containment zones.

Contributions to CM’s relief fund to be transferred to SDMA

Move follows Centre’s clarification that such donations don’t qualify as CSR expense

12/04/2020, SANJAY VIJAYAKUMAR,CHENNAI

Hard to miss: An awareness doll put up at Thiruvanmiyur on Saturday. M. KarunakaranM_Karunakaran

The Tamil Nadu government has said that all contributions made to the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund (CMPRF) towards efforts to combat COVID-19 will be allocated to the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA). The move follows the Centre’s clarification that such contributions do not qualify as corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs said that contributions made to the PM-CARES Fund shall qualify as CSR expenditure, as per Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013. The Chief Minister’s Relief Fund or the State Relief Fund for COVID-19 is not included and does not qualify as admissible CSR expenditure, the Ministry said.

However, it added that contributions made to the State Disaster Management Authority to combat COVID-19 shall qualify as CSR expenditure.

“The contributions [made] to CMPRF from the date of orders of the National Disaster Management Authority, i.e., from March 24 to June 30, shall be allocated to the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority and utilised exclusively for activities to combat the spread of COVID-19,” an order issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) S. Krishnan said. “We have directed the transfer of the funds to the State Disaster Management Authority, with the intention of making them eligible as CSR expenditure,” a senior State government official told The Hindu. Recently, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said CMPRF has received contributions to the tune of ₹101 crore.

“The Centre’s move may result in the unintended consequence of the favouring of the Central fund rather than the State government [fund]. This needs to be rectified to encourage free flow to both Central and State government [funds], based on the Corporates’ preference rather than on fine interpretation of law,” said S.E. Prabakar, a chartered accountant.

Do not delay decision on extension of lockdown: Stalin

‘CMs of Odisha and Punjab have already extended the lockdown’

12/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

DMK president M.K. Stalin on Saturday urged the State government to take a decision on extending the COVID-19 lockdown without any delay so that the people could mentally prepare for it. The present lockdown is due to end on April 14.

In a letter to Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, he pointed out that the Odisha and Punjab Chief Ministers had already extended the lockdown, and similar views have been put forth by Chief Ministers of various States during the all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently.

“The country and the State are facing a testing time and we cannot move past it just like that. Every second is a golden period and if the government fails to use it properly it will be subjected to the curse of history,” he said. A copy of his letter was released to the media.

Mr. Stalin described as “contradictory” the reports on community spread of the pandemic by the Centre and the State government. “The increase in the number of people who test positive for COVID-19 every day has caused the fear that the State could enter the third stage. This should be prevented,” he said.

Mr. Stalin said the people could only maintain personal distancing and all other arrangements should be made by the government.

Odisha youth pedals 1,700 km to reach home

Left without a job after the lockdown, he cycled across four States over 7 days

12/04/2020, SATYASUNDAR BARIK,BHUBANESWAR

Dependable wheels: Mahesh Jena covered close to 200 km daily. Special Arrangement

Sitting idle doesn’t come easy to 20-year-old Mahesh Jena, stuck at a COVID-19 isolation centre in Bichitrapur in Odisha’s Jajpur, more so because he cycled 1,700 km across the country from Maharashtra to reach home.

“The seven-day journey was easier than tackling the boredom here,” said Mr. Jena, who pedalled home after the nationwide lockdown on March 25 pulled down the shutters at his workplace and snapped all public transport systems.

Mr. Jena was working in an iron casting facility in the Sangli Miraj MIDC Industrial Area in Maharashtra, earning ₹15,000 a month. Soon after the lockdown was announced late on March 24, there was talk that the unit would remain closed for three months. Mr. Jena needed at least ₹6,000 to pay for accommodation and food, but had just ₹3,000 with him.

Matter of survival

After remaining idle for a week, he realised that the lockdown was not likely to end soon. “All of sudden, I decided to go back home to Badasuari village in Jajpur by bicycle. It was a matter of survival,” he said.

“On April 1, I set out. Though I did not have a map, I remembered the names of major stations during my train journey here,” said the youth.

On the week-long, cross-country ride, Mr. Jena made most of the cool, pre-dawn hours, cycling till lunch before taking a break. He would stop at the few, still open dhabas for a bath, lunch and a nap before getting back on his cycle. “I was averaging close to 200 km per day,” he said.

And so Mr. Jena continued pedalling — from Solapur to Hyderabad, then Vijayawada through Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam, before entering Odisha via Ganjam, cycling almost 16 hours a day. “Heat exhaustion was taking a toll, but it did not distract me. I was determined to reach home,” Mr. Jena said.

He reached Jajpur late on April 7 only to be stopped by villagers, who were reluctant to allow him in without a check-up. They informed the district administration, and he was sent to a quarantine centre at a school in Bichitrapur.

14-day extension of lockdown likely

In four-hour video-conference with Chief Ministers, PM hints at resumption of economic activity

12/04/2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated on Saturday, after a marathon four-hour video-conference with Chief Ministers, that the country could see a 14-day extension of the COVID-19 containment lockdown as that was the common demand of a large number of States, including West Bengal. The Central government will announce guidelines for the same in the next couple of days.

Remarks by Mr. Modi at the meeting, however, also indicated the possibility that some economic activity may be resumed in the extended lockdown period.

“For the last two weeks or more, people have shown great discipline and stayed indoors and tried to follow social distancing since, as we say jaan hai jahan hai [the world is for who is alive], now we must also say jaan bhi jahan bhi [for both life and world],” a statement from the PMO quoted the Prime Minister as saying.

Farming operations

Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanswamy, after the meeting, said Mr. Modi felt farm activity should continue, and said guidelines for the construction industry would be issued by the Centre in a phased manner.

The lockdown was formally announced from March 25thto April 14 (21 days) but the trajectory of COVID-19 cases has led most State governments to recommend an extension. Mr. Modi, government sources said, was considering the request favourably. Sources said a formal announcement would be made after the weekend.

“Most States requested Prime Minister Modi to extend the lockdown for two more weeks,” said government sources.

Punjab, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra and Karnataka have already declared an extension till the end of the month, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal pre-empted a formal announcement by the Prime Minister by taking to Twitter and offering unstinted support to the decision.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, in his intervention at the video conference, said activity within districts unaffected by COVID-19 should be allowed to restart, albeit with sealed borders between districts and States very much in place and no train and air connectivity.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy suggested that zones within districts be colour coded, and only the red zones undergo a containment lockdown.

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TNEB field workers demand extra pay

Sivakumar.B@timesgroup.com

Chennai:12.04.2020

TNEB engineers and field staff have demand extra wages for risking their lives and working during lockdown, whereas ministerial, audit and accounts staff have demand that they be exempted from work during lockdown. The frontline employees of the power utility have accused the government of ignoring them while announcing extra pay for the overstressed government workforce.

Two days ago, as rain and heavy wind wreaked havoc across many parts of the state, many TNEB staff worked all through the night to restore power supply. Recently, a TNEB official, M Murali, died of heart attack in Tambaram while he was on duty. The government did not provide any financial support to his family, a superintending engineer told TOI. A group of engineers called on directors of TNEB recently to submit petitions seeking extra wages for working during lockdown. They could not get an appointment with the chairman, they said.

“We, in a joint statement, requested TNEB chairman to take necessary urgent action to safeguard the employees by issuing working instructions to the field staff and to other departments concerned,” said a signatory to the joint statement.

Those on the field are working without any proper protection from the virus. “Those working in substations were provided masks and sanitizers once. After that, we have been dependent on NGOs for masks and sanitizers.