Tag: Covid

British Indian medic backs legal review of COVID vaccine in South Africa High Court

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London: Leading UK-based Indian-origin consultant cardiologist Aseem Malhotra is among a group of international experts backing an approach to the High Court of South Africa, calling for an urgent judicial review of Pfizer’s mRNA COVID vaccine products which he fears may be “harmful”.
Lawyers representing the human rights group Freedom Alliance of South Africa (FASA) say the show cause notice was filed on Monday at the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, along with real-world data analysis, which is claimed to show an association with increasing death from both COVID and non-COVID causes in the vaccinated compared to the unvaccinated.
FASA has approached the court to review and set aside the authorisation of Pfizer’s vaccine products on the basis that the authorisation was “unlawful”.
If successful, this could result in the removal of COVID mRNA vaccines from the South African market and also have global implications.
“Having critically appraised the literature and the Pfizer trial data, the evidence is unequivocal,” Malhotra said.
“For the overwhelming majority of people, the Pfizer COVID mRNA vaccine is significantly more harmful than beneficial and likely should never have been approved to be administered to a single human being,” said Malhotra, who himself took two doses of the Pfizer vaccine and is now backing the show cause notice.
“It is alarming to me that the local regulators are encouraging the vaccination of young children in the circumstances. The rollout of the Pfizer vaccine products should, in my opinion, be halted pending a full investigation into how we got this so very wrong. That is, without question, the responsible and ethical move,” he said.
The FASA case, among the first of its kind, is being handled by advocate Erin-Dianne Richards, briefed by Daniel Eloff of Hurter Spies Incorporated in South Africa and is supported by leading medical and scientific professionals from around the world.

Malhotra, among the supporters, believes the case is “factually, medically and scientifically sound”.
Dr Herman Edeling, a specialist neurosurgeon with over 40 years of experience, notes in the founding affidavit that the mRNA vaccine administered as Comirnaty in South Africa should “never have been branded as safe’ and effective’”.
“The applicants in this application call on Pfizer to explain their conduct; they call on the South African regulators and government to hold Pfizer to account and to act in the best interests of the South African public, and they humbly request this Honourable Court to come to their aid in achieving these calls in the interests of the health of the South African public,” said Edeling.
While the notice of the motion was recorded by the South African court registrar on Monday, FASA hopes to announce a date of hearing in due course.
Pfizer’s media office has been approached for a response and it is yet to comment on this development.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 29, 2023
COVID: India sees highest single-day rise in five months

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New Delhi: India recorded a single-day rise of 2,151 new coronavirus cases, the highest in five months, while the active cases increased to 11,903, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday.
A total of 2,208 cases were recorded on October 28 last year.
The COVID-19 death toll has increased to 5,30,848 with seven latest fatalities — three reported by Maharashtra, one by Karnataka and three reconciled by Kerala.
According to the data updated at 8 am, the daily positivity was recorded at 1.51 per cent, while the weekly positivity was pegged at 1.53 per cent.
The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,47,09,676).
The active cases now comprises 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.78 per cent, according to the ministry website.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,66,925, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry’s website, 220.65 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 29, 2023
Azerbaijan lifts ‘Covid passport’ requirement for foreign travelers

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Baku: Foreign citizens travelling to Azerbaijan by air will be exempt from having a ‘Covid-19 passport’ — a document confirming full vaccination against or immunity to the virus, the country’s authorities announced.
The decision, endorsed by the task force under the Cabinet of Ministers on Covid-19 prevention and control, will take effect on Tuesday, reports Xinhua news agency.
The authorities also lifted the requirement to present a Covid-19 passport on intercity public transport and in indoor settings including large stores, health, tourism and social care facilities across the country.
However, land border crossings still remain closed in Azerbaijan under the special quarantine regime, which is in effect until May 1.
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#Azerbaijan #lifts #Covid #passport #requirement #foreign #travelers
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 28, 2023
Covid rise: Nationwide drill on hospital preparedness on April 10, 11

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New Delhi: Amid rising cases of COVID-19 and seasonal influenza, the government is planning a nationwide mock drill on April 10 and 11 to take stock of hospital preparedness.
According to a joint advisory issued by the Union Health Ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Saturday, both public and private health facilities in all districts are expected to participate in the exercise aimed at taking stock of availability of medicines, hospital beds, medical equipment and medical oxygen.
The exact details of the mock drill shall be communicated to the states in the virtual meeting scheduled on March 27, the advisory stated.
The joint advisory highlighted that in the past several weeks, COVID-19 testing has declined in some states and the current testing levels are insufficient as compared to the standards prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO), i.e 140 tests per million.
Testing at the levels of districts and blocks also varies, with some states heavily relying on the less sensitive rapid antigen tests.
“Hence it is critical to maintain optimum testing for COVID-19, equitably distributed (with suitable modifications to address emergence of new cluster of Covid cases) across the states. This is especially important to identify any emerging hotspots and take pre-emptive steps to curb virus transmission,” it stated.
The joint advisory is in continuation of the Union Health Ministry’s earlier communications dated March 10 and 16 on the issue of seasonal circulation of pan-respiratory pathogens in the country as well as public health response to COVID-19 in states and Union territories.
The advisory signed by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Director General of ICMR Dr Rajiv Bahl stated that a gradual but sustained increase in trajectory of COVID-19 cases in the country is being witnessed since mid-February.

As on date, most of the active COVID-19 cases in the country are largely being reported by a few states like Kerala (26.4 per cent), Maharashtra (21.7 per cent), Gujarat (13.9 per cent), Karnataka (8.6 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (6.3 per cent).
“While the rates of hospitalization and death due to the disease remain low, largely because of the significant coverage achieved in terms of COVID-19 vaccination rates by all states and UTS, this gradual rise in cases needs reinvigorated public health actions to contain the surge,” the advisory said.
The states and UTs have been asked too keep a close watch on the evolving etiologies (causes of diseases) of Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases, adding India usually sees a seasonal rise in Influenza cases from January to March and again from August to October.
Currently, the most prominent subtypes of Influenza in circulation in the country seem to be Influenza A (H1N1) and Influenza A (H3N2).
“As you may be aware, COVID-19 and Influenza share a number of similarities in terms of mode of transmission, high risk population, clinical signs and symptoms.
“While this may present a clinical dilemma for the attending doctors in terms of diagnosis, this also renders both these diseases easily preventable by following simple public health measures like avoiding overcrowded and poorly ventilated settings, using handkerchief/tissue while sneezing or coughing, wearing a mask in crowded and closed settings, maintaining hand hygiene, avoiding spitting in public places, etc,” the advisory mentioned.
The Union Ministry of Health has already issued detailed guidelines for management of co-infection of COVID-19 with other seasonal epidemic prone diseases.
All states and UTs have been advised to disseminate these guidelines to all health facilities and healthcare workers within the state to help in clinical case management.
“Under Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), states and District IDSP units need to closely follow the trend of ILI/SARI, monitor the proportion of SARI cases among all ILI and SARI cases, and refer sufficient number of samples for testing for Influenza and SARS-CoV-2,” the joint advisory stated.
It would also be helpful for all states and UTS to undertake re-orientation of frontline health workers on epidemiological case definitions to help early diagnosis and prompt treatment.
The advisory stated in order to limit transmission of these diseases, it is important to raise community awareness regarding adherence to respiratory and hand hygiene particularly, avoiding overcrowded and poorly ventilated settings particularly by co-morbid, wearing of masks by doctors, paramedics and other healthcare works as well as patients and their attendants within health care facilities.
“It would also be useful to take stock of hospital preparedness including drugs, beds including ICU beds, medical equipment, medical oxygen, capacity building of human resource on existing guidelines as well as vaccination coverage. To this effect, a nationwide mock drill is being planned on 10th and 11th April, 2023, wherein health facilities (both public and private) from all districts are expected to participate,” the joint advisory read.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 25, 2023
No Covid clusters in Kerala, says Health Minister

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Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Thursday that while utmost caution has to be exercised in the wake of rising Covid cases in the state, the saving grace is there aren’t any Covid clusters in Kerala at present.
George told the media that at the moment, what is required is exercising caution, adding that all the arrangements are in place with regard to facilities required in case the need arises.
“There are no Covid clusters in Kerala, but increasing number of cases is being reported. Facilities are being assessed and wherever required, they will be augmented,” George said.
Ever since a spike in the number of Covid cases was reported, especially in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam districts, George has been pressing for the use of masks in public places.
At present, Kerala has over 1,100 active Covid cases, with an average daily new case tally of more than 100.
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#Covid #clusters #Kerala #Health #Minister

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 23, 2023
UP: Lucknow reports highest Covid spike with 18 cases in a day

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Lucknow: Lucknow has reported eight Covid-19 cases, the highest one-day spike this year, according to data provided by the Lucknow Chief Medical Officer.
According to health officials, two cases in Aliganj, three in Tudiyaganj, two in Chinhat and one in Kaiserbagh tested positive for the infection on Wesdnesday.
With this, the active Covid cases in Lucknow has gone up to 18, said Yogesh Raghuvanshi, District Health Education Officer.
All new patients are in home isolation even as the Health Department has constituted 17 rapid response teams to deal with the rising cases.
Manoj Agrawal, Chief Medical Officer of Lucknow, said, “Testing/sampling is being facilitated at hospitals for those with symptoms of Covid. Hospitals have also been alerted to arrange beds, medicine and medical staff for Covid duty.”
Abhishek Shukla, Secretary General of the Association of International Doctors, said, “Due to the recent rains, the chances of infection spreading are higher due to high moisture levels. Therefore, people should strictly adhere to the Covid protocol.”
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 23, 2023
TN man who died of Covid was infected with Omicron XBB variant

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Chennai: A 27-year-old man who had died of Covid-19 in a private hospital in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchi was infected with the Omicron-XBB variant, officials said on Tuesday.
The whole genome sequencing report of the youth confirmed the presence of XBB variant.
Whole genome sequencing done on samples of patients tested Covid-19 positive have found that the two variants of Omicron, XBB and BA.2 and their sub variants were dominant in 95 per cent of the samples.
Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian also told media persons that Omicron continued to be the dominant variant in Covid positive cases in Tamil Nadu.
The Omicron and its sub variants have been present in the Covid samples since December 2021 since the third wave of Covid. It has been dominating the other samples like Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 21, 2023
India logs 918 fresh Covid cases, 4 deaths in last 24 hours

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New Delhi: India recorded a single-day rise of 918 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours pushing the active cases to 6,350, according to the Union health ministry data on Monday.
Meanwhile, the country also reported four Covid deaths — two in Rajasthan, and one each in Karnataka and Kerala. With this, the total death toll stands at 5,30,806.
Recovery of 479 patients in the same period took the cumulative tally to 4,41,59,182. Consequently, the recovery rate stands at 98.80 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Daily Positivity rate has been pegged at 2.08 per cent, while the Weekly Positivity Rate stands at 0.86 per cent.
Also in the same period, a total of 44,225 tests were conducted across the country, increasing the overall tally to over 92.03 crore. As of Monday morning, a total 220.65 crore vaccines have been administered against Covid that includes 1,246 doses in the past 24 hours, said the ministry.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 20, 2023
Reduced socialising during COVID main reason for suicide cases: IIT Madras Director

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Chennai: Indian Institute of Technology Madras Director Kamakotti on Wednesday claimed that the reduced socialisation during the COVID pandemic is the main reason for the suicide incidents which were reported on the campus.
In view of the three suicide incidents since September last year reported on the campus, Kamakotti said that the institution is preparing ‘Complete Suicide Prevention’ inside the premises.
“We are trying to implement everything fast,” he said.
IIT Madras launched the report on ‘Socio-Economic Costs of Suicides in Tamil Nadu’ which was released by state Health Minister M Subramanian. This report speaks about suicides and reasons for suicides and socio cost of suicides in Tamil Nadu.
While speaking to the media, Health Minister M Subramanian said that Madras IIT has launched the report on ‘Socio-Economic Costs of Suicides in Tamil Nadu’.
“This Report also would help with the going steps taken by the Tamil Nadu government to control suicides and accidents,” he said.
While answering the question on recent suicides in Madras IIT campus Minister Subramanian said, ” IIT Madras Director Kamakotti has mentioned suicides. They are not hiding anything. After September, three suicides occurred in Madras IIT. The IIT Director has pointed out 4 reasons why suicides are taking place in educational institutions. We request everyone that suicide is not a solution for anything. In future, there should be no suicide”.
Kamakotti said that the institution has been impacted by the suicide incidents.

“IIT Madras has also been impacted because of suicides. It is painful. Since September, 3 suicides have happened inside the IIT Madras campus,” he said.
“When we analyse suicide incidents, 4 main reasons we have found for suicides. Health issues, academic pressure, financial issues and personal issues. In each case, any one of these issues would have been there” Kamakotti added.
He said that the administration has taken measures to curb the suicide incidents on campus.
“After each suicide, we analysed to take measures to curb suicide. Each suicide gave us a new angle on such incidents. Specifically, after COVID, the personal touch has reduced among students. Group activities were reduced during the COVID period typically during the lockdown 2020 – 2021. Students who joined that time after their schooling never met their seniors and classrooms and they were alone at that time. This is a big challenge for us,” he said.
Detailing the steps taken to stop the suicide incidents, Kamakotti said that the administration is planning to create complete suicide prevention on the campus.
“Now we have studied the whole problem and we are planning to create complete suicide prevention in Madras IIT. We are trying to implement everything fast. This would help coming batches to completely stops suicide. Faculties, Patents and student committees all should involve and stop this. For sure there is an end to this and very soon we will implement everything. Zero suicide nation is our goal,” he said.
“Socialising is reduced during COVID is the main reason for suicides,” he added.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 15, 2023
Single-day rise of 524 Covid cases in India

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New Delhi: India logged 524 new coronavirus cases after a gap of 113 days, while the active cases rose to 3,618, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.
The death toll has increased to 5,30,781 with one death reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,90,492).
The national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.80 per cent, the ministry said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,56,093, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry’s website, 220.64 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.
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#Singleday #rise #Covid #cases #India

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 12, 2023