Chennai lockdown results in low occupancy on special trains

Chennai lockdown results in low occupancy on special trains

The Railways denied reports that Chengalpattu-bound trains were terminated at Villuppuram, and that the station was not operating any trains.

Published: 20th June 2020 10:43 AM 

By Express News Service

TIRUCHY / CHENNAI: With Chennai, Chengalpattu and two other districts coming under a 12-day intense lockdown, the occupancy rate was very poor on the Chengalpattu-Tiruchy special train on Friday. Very few passengers arrived by the morning train.

“There was not much rush in most special trains running through Tiruchy. With the lockdown in Chennai, we are expecting further drop in the number of passengers,” an official said. However, it is clear Railways was expecting a drop in the number of passengers and changed the composition of the Chengalpattu-Tiruchchirappalli-Chengalpattu train (Train No. 06795/06796) on Thursday.

The Chengalpattu - Tiruchchirappalli special train (via mainline) operated with 16 coaches as opposed to 23. Similarly, number of coaches in Tiruchchirappalli - Nagercoil -Tiruchchirappalli Superfast were reduced to 14 from 19, and will come into effect from Monday.

“Middle seats in reserved coaches are left vacant to ensure social distancing. Trains are running with less than 50 per cent occupancy, therefore the composition has been altered,” said a railway official.

Meanwhile, the Railways denied reports that Chengalpattu-bound trains were terminated at Villuppuram, and that the station was not operating any trains. “Two trains were operated from Chengalpattu to Tiruchy as per the schedule,” added the official.On the other hand, flight operations between Chennai and Tiruchy using 74-seater ATR aircraft have been getting a good response. The morning flight from Chennai with 54 passengers on board reached Tiruchy at 10.30 am and it departed with 44 passengers at 11.14 am. Sources said that were sufficient passengers for the evening Chennai flight. The district administration is collecting swab samples of all passengers arriving at the airport. From Thursday onward, officials have been collecting details of Chengalpattu passengers arriving at Tiruchy railway station.

WB: COVID Duty To Be Counted As Bond Service, To Bring 10 Percent Extra Marks

WB: COVID Duty To Be Counted As Bond Service, To Bring 10 Percent Extra Marks 

By MD Bureau 

Published On 19 Jun 2020 5:45 PM | Updated On 19 Jun 2020 5:45 PM 

West Bengal: PG medicos deployed on COVID duty now have a reason to rejoice as the West Bengal Government has announced a 10 percent incentive in marks for them for their service as COVID warriors along with counting the time put by inservice doctors as bond service in the state. The information to this effect was declared by the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee after a meeting organised with the representatives of 11 doctors' associations which included Dr Santanu Sen of the Indian Medical Association and Dr Nirmal Maji of the Progressive Doctors' Association. 

Post-meeting, the chief the minister arranged a Press Conference where she announced a number of schemes which the West Bengal government will be adopting for alleviating the tension of PG medicos who are handling the outbreak in the state. 

The Chief Minister stated that those who are in post-graduation of their medical course will be given "10% incentive marks in their examinations per year for their services in handling the coronavirus scenario." She also added that to ensure that the studies and training of undergraduate medical interns working at Corona centres should not be hampered, the interns will be working on rotational shifts. "Thus their medical training and career will not be affected." 

She further informed that normally the intern doctors pursuing medical education had to serve a bond for three years. But those days when they will be serving as COVID warriors will be deducted from their period of the bond. Considering the fact that PG final examinations are going to take place from 28th June to 30th June, the government will make sure that these doctors can join their duties soon after their exam will end, from 1st July if possible contributing in the fight against COVID. Moreover, for their services, these medical interns will also be given "COVID warrior" certificates which will bring advantage for them. 

She also stated that they have almost 1200 resident doctors and 9000 nurses working in COVID facilities which are not enough for the state considering the huge number of migrants entering the state recently. Hence, the state will be increasing the numbers of resident doctors from 1200 to 1800 along will increasing the number of tests conducted each day.

https://medicaldialogues.in/state-news/west-bengal/wb-covid-duty-to-be-counted-as-bond-service-to-bring-10-percent-extra-marks-66858

[Motor Vehicles Act] Person In Whose Name Vehicle Stands Registered On The Date Of Accident To Be Treated As 'Owner': SC [Read Judgment]

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SC Directs Maharashtra To Provide COVID-19 Test Results To Patients & Their Relatives Directly

SC Directs Maharashtra To Provide COVID-19 Test Results To Patients & Their Relatives Directly: Overriding a circular issued by the Maharashtra Government, the Supreme Court directed it to provide COVID-19 test results to patients and relatives directly.A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul...

Patient dies after kin unplug ventilator to connect cooler

Patient dies after kin unplug ventilator to connect cooler

Rajiv Saxena TNN

Kota: 20.06.2020

A 40-year-old man being treated for acute respiratory distress at a government hospital in Rajasthan's Kota died after one of his family members allegedly disconnected power supply to the ventilator to plug in an air cooler.

Dr Navin Saxena, superintendent of MBS Hospital, said the tragedy occurred last Monday in the isolation ward, to which the deceased had been shifted after a fellow patient in the ICU tested positive for Covid-19.

"On June 15 evening, the man's family brought an air cooler for his comfort but apparently did not find an electric socket to plug in the machine. Someone among them possibly unplugged the ventilator to use the cooler," Saxena said.

Since the ventilator continued running on battery backup for around half an hour, nobody noticed the fatal mistake until it was too late.

"It was only when the condition of the patient started deteriorating that a member of the hospital staff noticed it and called a doctor. He couldn't be revived despite CPR," an official said.

A Covid-19 test on the deceased came out negative.

MBS Hospital has since constituted a three-member committee to probe the death. The report is expected on Saturday.

"Sheer carelessness, be it on the part of the man's family or the medical staff, caused his death. Appropriate action will be taken against those responsible, based on the probe report," the superintendent said.

The isolation ward at MBS Hospital has a resident doctor and a support staff of four to five on duty at all times. The family of the deceased allegedly did not bother seeking permission to plug in the cooler.

The patient’s family brought an air cooler for his comfort but apparently did not find an electric socket to plug in the machine. Someone among them possibly unplugged the ventilator to use the cooler, said Dr Navin Saxena of MBS Hospital

Centre asks states to follow K’taka model on pandemic

Centre asks states to follow K’taka model on pandemic

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  20.06.2020

The Centre has asked all states to replicate the best practices implemented by Karnataka, including comprehensive contact-tracing of Covid-19 cases and physical or phone-based household survey for better management of the coronavirus pandemic.

Highlighting the two initiatives taken by Karnataka, the health ministry said the state has developed the ‘whole of government’ approach with the involvement of multi-sectoral agencies, supported by technology-based solutions and interventions.

They effectively trace and track each case thereby successfully containing the spread of the pandemic, the ministry said. The Centre has asked other states to adapt these best practices to their local context and replicate them for better management of the pandemic.

Karnataka has so far reported 114 deaths and 7,944 cases.

Karnataka has widened the definition of ‘contact’ to include both high-risk as well as low-risk contacts as defined by the central government. The number of primary and secondary contacts in Karnataka were meticulously traced and put under strict quarantine. More than 10,000 well-trained field staff carried out specific responsibilities for contact- tracing as per the detailed SOPs designed by the state which prescribes step-by-step actions to be performed by each designated person.

Contact-tracing mobile App and web applications are being used to overcome the huge quantum of work, genuine forgetfulness of Covidpositive persons and attempts to hide facts due to various reasons, the ministry said in a statement.

Karnataka has widened the definition of ‘contact’ to include both high-risk as well as low-risk contacts as defined by the central government

Govt restricts staff strength in offices

Govt restricts staff strength in offices

MK.SunilKumar@timesgroup.com

Kochi: 20.06.2020

In a major change in the work schedule of public servants in the state, the government on Thursday issued an order restricting the number of officials who should turn up for duty daily.

While there should be a maximum of 50% staff strength at offices like village offices, the number of staff strength in other offices should be limited to the capacity of the office to accommodate people allowing them to work by following social distancing and other safety measures.

Those employees who don’t turn up should work from home. The head of each office should ask employees to work on a rotation basis, the order stated.

On June 7, the government had issued an order instructing all the public servants to turn up for duty. Now, the change is being made following repeated incidents of government officials contracting the Covid-19 leading to quarantining of others who worked along with them.

“In the existing circumstances, if an employee becomes Covid-19 positive, the entire office will have to be closed down. When a cop at Kalamassery police station was tested Covid-19 positive, the entire personnel had to be quarantined. Now, the station is being manned by cops from other stations,” agriculture minister V S Sunil Kumar said.

Those residing in one district and work in offices in another district should report to offices like collectorate and panchayats in their home districts. Such employees should secure permission of their superiors for the work arrangement.

“This arrangement had been successfully implemented by the departments like health during the first phase of lockdown itself. Now, it is being extended to all other departments,” said Dr K P Aravindan, health expert.

While employees welcome the decision of the government, they also air apprehensions regarding work from home.

“Only a few employees can work from home due to the nature of work done by them. One thing which can be suggested is clearing of backlog. Employees who work from home can take pending files home and clear the backlog,” said K K Sunil Kumar, Ernakulam district secretary, NGO Union.