Cases may touch 2K, surveillance up

CENTRAL

Cases may touch 2K, surveillance up

Gokul.Rajendran@timesgroup.com  23.06.2020

Covid-19 cases in central Tamil Nadu spiked after people returned from Chennai and other states, taking the tally in the region to 1,856 on Monday.

The region -- which comprises Trichy, Karur, Pudukottai, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagappattinam districts --crossed the 1,000-case mark on June 7, taking two-and-a-half months to reach the tally. In the next 12 days, cases crossed 1,500. Officials attributed the sharp rise to the influx of Chennai returnees.

As the cases spiked, people speculated on the possibility of a lockdown in the central region to contain the spread. Though almost all the districts had Covid-19 cases in double digits after June 1, three delta districts – Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagappattinam -- were hit hard as people from Chennai returned in large numbers.

On June 21, the region recorded its second highest single-day spike of 151 cases with Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam registering 49, 30 and 25 cases. On Monday, the region recorded 150 positive cases. The highest one-day tally in the region was 201 on May 6 when Ariyalur had 188 cases in single day as people from Koyambedu returned.

Public health officials said the region’s tally could cross 2,000 in a day or two if the cases grew at the present rate.

Taking serious note of the sudden spike in cases, authorities across the delta districts intensified checks at the border to prevent those without e-passes from sneaking in. Officials are following up on those who have returned but did not get tested.

Thanjavur collector M Govinda Rao said in a statement that the district administration has intensified the process of tracing Chennai returnees. Teams have traced 125 returnees in Thanjavur corporation area, 338 from rural areas of Thanjavur, 91 from Kumbakonam municipality and 27 from Pattukottai municipality areas in the past few days. All will be tested.

In Trichy, five traders tested positive for Covid-19 after a senior office bearer of the traders’ association contracted the virus. Pudukottai district, that had around 35 cases till last week, has 86 cases as on June 22 as people returned from Chennai. Fearing further spread, vegetable vendors in Pudukottai shut shops after 2pm on Sunday. Public health department officials said residents did not follow social distancing or wear masks leading to a spike in cases.

Madurai lockdown from June 24 to contain spread across districts

AROUND TN SOUTH

Madurai lockdown from June 24 to contain spread across districts

Ananth.MK@timesgroup.com  23.06.2020

Alockdown, from June 24 to July 1, will be enforced in Madurai city and adjoining rural areas in Paravai town panchayat and villages in Madurai East, Madurai West and Thiruparankundram blocks to contain the spread of Covid-19. There will be a complete lockdown without any relaxations from midnight on June 28 to 6am on June 29.

As the number of cases touched 849 in Madurai, with 157 more on Monday, officials said that curbing the spread in the district was key to control the situation in other southern districts.

The district administration plans contact tracing and focussed testing during the lockdown. Health officials will organise fever clinics for early detection of cases. House-to-house survey will be carried out in the lockdown areas to identify potential Covid-19 cases at an early stage.

From June 17 to June 22, southern Tami Nadu recorded a spike in Covid-19 cases. The 1,265 fresh cases in the region in six days account for more than a third of the 3,747 cases reported in the 10 districts so far. There has been a 50% increase in the number of cases in six days compared to the total in the region from March to June 16.

Total cases that were 189 on June 17 and 183 on June 18, crossed the 200-mark for the first time with 226 cases on June 19 and remained above 200 for two more days – 292 on June 20 and 212 on June 21 – before touching 353 on Monday, the highest in a day. As many as 2,132 cases or 57% of these cases are from three districts with Madurai leading with 849 cases, followed by Tirunelveli (644) and Tuticorin (639). Madurai had 299 cases in just three days.

Only 77 (6%) cases reported from June 17 to 21 are from imported other states or countries. The rest are local cases that include those who travelled from Chennai, their contacts and local spread. Attributing increase in sample testing as reason for the spike, officials are asking public to wear masks and maintain social distancing.

Sivaganga, with 103 cases till Monday, has the least number of cases in the south. After cross-notifying dozens of cases to other regions, it crossed 100 cases for the first time. From a total of 15 deaths shown in the health department bulletin till June 16, it climbed to 27, an 80% increase. Tenkasi is the only district without a Covid-19 related death in the entire region.

Deaths within hours of hospital admission down

Deaths within hours of hospital admission down

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com  23.06.2020

The number of Covid-19 deaths is steadily increasing in the state, but the percentage of people dying in the first 48 hours after admission to hospital has come down from 54% in May to 35% in June.

Of the 563 deaths in June (till Sunday), 199 were reported within two days of hospitalisation, while in May more than half (90) the 167 deaths occurred within the same time span. “This means more people are being diagnosed early and brought to hospital for treatment,” said former city health officer P Kuganandam.

Data analysed by TOI also showed that the percentage of people who spent more days at the hospital ICUs before they died has gone up. For instance, nearly 41% of the patients spent three days to a week in June, compared to 34% in May. Similarly, the number of patients spending between 8 and 14 days went up from 9% to 19% during the same time period. “It is a good sign as it shows doctors are making adequate efforts to give them high flow oxygen and ventilation,” said public health expert T Sunderraman. “Nevertheless, we experts must do periodic audits to ensure timely intervention,” he said.

Since April, the state and its expert panel added new drugs and debated over protocols almost every day. For instance, in early April, doctors decided oxygen saturation levels were better if they used high-flow oxygen rather than ventilation. Soon, when international studies showed remarkable improvement with prone nursing, doctors here began to practice that in the ICUs.

Doctors also decided to keep patients under observation for longer time. “Initially, we gave them anticoagulants to reduce thrombosis (blood clots in vessels) on admission and many responded well. But soon after we shifted them to the ward, some patients collapsed. That’s when we discovered happy hypoxia. Their oxygen saturation was dangerously low. Before we could do anything many just died,” said a doctor at Stanley Medical College Hospital, Chennai.

Now, hospitals use pulse oxymeters, verify chest x-rays before they send patients to step down wards or advise them home quarantine, he said.

More than anything else, there is an increase in the number of patients coming forward for testing and isolation, says former director of public health Dr K Kolandaisamy. “More people seek medical assistance even for normal fever and cold,” he said.

AK Ravikumar, state secretary of Indian Medical Association (IMA), said better testing rate has also helped in early identification of patients including asymptomatic ones so that treatment can be started soon.

Percentage of people who spent more days in ICUs before they died is up

Virus will peak in Chennai by Oct and taper: Research

Virus will peak in Chennai by Oct and taper: Research

But You Can Help Flatten Curve Sooner

U.Tejonmayam@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 23.06.2020

The coronovirus pandemic will peak in Chennai some time in October and three weeks to a month later in the rest of the state. The pandemic will start to decline in Chennai two weeks after the peak. These are the latest projections by researchers from The Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University.

But the flattening of the curve depends on the people, as there may be a second rise in cases if measures such as mask wearing, social distancing and hand hygiene are not followed.

The ongoing 12-day lockdown in Chennai and neighbouring districts may slow down the spread and further delay the peak by two to three weeks, to late-October or early November, the researchers said.

In the coming weeks, experts said several districts will begin reporting more cases as projections indicate Tamil Nadu is likely to record 2.7 lakh cases by mid-July with around 60% in Chennai.

According to a forecast by Dr Srinivas and Dr Sudha Seshayyan, Chennai is expected to record around 71,000 cases by June-end and the numbers are likely to more than double to 1.5 lakh cases by July 15.

State likely to see 2.76L Covid cases by mid-July

With the city accounting for nearly 55% to 60% of the cases, Tamil Nadu is likely to see 1.2 lakh cases by June end and 2.76 lakh by mid-July. The projections also indicate that deaths will nearly double in Chennai to 1,654 by July 15 , while the state will have around four times the present number at 3,072 by mid-July.

“As of now in Chennai, it appears like it will start downslope or may flatten as a plateau after the peak. As for the rest of the state, different places will have different peaks depending on the level of exposure of the population to the virus, the population density and other factors,” said Dr Sudha Seshayyan, vice-chancellor, The Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University.

Dr G Srinivas, head of department of epidemiology, said at least 60% of the state population has to get exposed either to the live virus or the vaccine virus before we could expect a decline in cases. However, he said, world over many countries have recorded the falling of the curve after five to 10% of the population got exposed to the virus. “Once the cases reach their peak, they will start falling in a few weeks and flatten. But if people do not follow the measures to protect themselves, then there will again be a transmission. The unexposed population will get exposed to the virus and that will accelerate the spread,” he said. “Community role is very important. They have to be accountable and responsible. They must avoid pre-pandemic behaviour and wear masks, follow hand hygiene and maintain physical distance,” he added.

Virologist Dr T Jacob John said the disease will spread and more cases will be reported in the districts, including small towns and rural pockets, in the coming weeks. The spread will be as fast as in the urban areas. But measures such as wearing masks, educating people on behaviour modification and teaching medical practitioners on clinical diagnosis of Covid-19 before confirming it through lab tests could slow down the spread, while protecting senior citizens and people with co-morbidity could reduce mortality.

“It is mainly because people are out in the streets and mingle more in the rural areas,” he said. “Making social interaction safe by wearing a mask is the sensible way moving forward especially in rural areas. But somebody has to teach them that,” he added.

Epidemiologist Dr Jayaprakash Muliyil said the peak is inevitable and lockdown measures could only slow down and delay the peak. He said the effects of lockdown will be seen in a week or 10 days. “Whether the curve is going to be steep or flatten, in my view herd immunity level will be reached either way. One will take a long time and the other short. A very sharp increase in cases also will be difficult because hospitals will get crowded,” he said.

› ‘India unlikely to get rid of Covid before Sept’, P 9

Father-in-law of dalit victim acquitted in TN caste murder case

Father-in-law of dalit victim acquitted in TN caste murder case

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 23.06.2020

Four years and a quarter after the caste killing of dalit youth Shankar in Udumalpet, TN, the first-accused Chinnaswamy escaped the noose when the Madras high court acquitted him of all charges on Monday. He was among six men facing death penalty for the murder and the near-fatal injuries suffered by his own 19-yearold daughter Kaushalya.

In its 311-page judgment, the court also refused to overturn the trial court’s order acquitting Chinnaswamy’s wife Annalakshmi and brother-in-law Pandithurai. With this, all three main suspects — Kaushalya’s parents and maternal uncle — are free now.

The division bench of Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice M Nirmal Kumar also commuted the death penalty of five others into life imprisonment, but made it clear that they have to serve a minimum of 25 years of imprisonment without any benefit of early release.

My parents are to blame, says Kaushalya

A dissatisfied Kaushalya has said she would take the case to the Supreme Court on appeal, and that she would not rest till her parents – Chinnaswamy and Annalakshmi – were punished. “If they were not party to the murder, Shankar would not have died at all,” she told reporters, minutes after the verdict.

Shankar and Kausalya got to know each other while they were studying in a private engineering college in Pollachi, and married against the wishes of her parents. On March 13, 2016, a gang hacked the couple in broad daylight at Udumalpet in Tirupur district. While Shankar suffered 32 cuts and died, Kausalya survived the attack.

On December 12, 2017, the Tirupur district sessions court sentenced six people, including Chinnaswamy, to death, and acquitted Annalakshmi and Pandithurai. The high court heard appeals from both sides. The court said the prosecution had failed to provide the chain of circumstances linking Chinnaswamy’s connection to the actual assailants, and pointed out that the prosecution theories like he had made arrangements for their stay, that he withdrew money from an ATM to pay the assailants and that he met some of them at a party to discuss the murder plan were not proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Dubai opens up for residency visa holders from today

Dubai opens up for residency visa holders from today

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  22.06.2020

Dubai, among the biggest magnets for Indian globetrotters, will conditionally reopen its doors for tourists from July 7 and will allow foreign nationals holding residency visas issued in Dubai to return to the Emirate from Monday (June 22). The Dubai government’s media office tweeted on Sunday that the Emirate will “welcome tourists from July 7. Tourists are required to present recent Covid-19 negative certificate or undergo testing at Dubai airports.” It also announced new air travel protocols for Dubai citizens, residents and visitors on Sunday.

“… taken a decision to allow foreign nationals holding residency visas issued in Dubai to return to the Emirate starting Monday (June 22). It will also allow citizens and residents to travel to any foreign country starting Tuesday (June 23) provided the destination countries agree to receive them. Furthermore, they should commit to observing precautionary measures outlined by the countries they are visiting... has also decided to start welcoming visitors and tourists from overseas beginning July 7, 2020,” the government of Dubai’s media office said on its website on Sunday.

On the issue of “return of UAE residents”, it said: “Residents holding Dubai-issued visas are permitted to return to the emirate by pre-booking flights on any airline on the condition that they obtain an approval coordinated between the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs and the airline. Residents must fill a ‘health declaration form’ before embarking on their journey to confirm they do not have Covid-19 symptoms. The airline has the right to refuse boarding if passengers display any symptoms.”

Upon arrival at Dubai airports, all residents will have to undergo a PCR test to screen them for Covid-19. Residents will need to register their complete details in the Covid-19 DXB smart app available online on arrival and before leaving the terminal.

Full report on www.toi.in

TOURISM STARTS FROM JULY 7

Three Raj varsity students to teach English in France

Three Raj varsity students to teach English in France

Jaipur:  22.06.2020

Three students of MA French IV semester, Department of European Languages, Literature and Culture Studies, University of Rajasthan, have been selected for ‘English Assistantship Program’, conducted by the ministry of education, France, in association with the Embassy of France.

Through this programme, three students, Aditi Agarwal, Bhavya Sharma and Mohammed Saad Qureshi, will get an opportunity to teach English in prestigious institutions in France. This is for the first time in the history of the department three students got an opportunity in the European nation. Every year the Embassy of France orchestrates this job and students can fill the form on the website of French Embassy. Thereafter, a committee selects students on the basis of their merit and language proficiency. Vice-chancellor R K Kothari said this was a proud moment for the varsity and this will contribute in boosting the morale of the students. Late professor Asha Pande had incepted the MA and PhD programmes in French in the University of Rajasthan, which is now under Nidhi Raisinghani, assistant professor, French. TNN