India coronavirus dispatch: States can't seal borders under Unlock 2.0

Navi Mumbai's 'Covid war room', performance of centre's food distribution schemes so far, and why audits are still missing Covid deaths-a roundup of news on how India is dealing with the pandemi

Managing Covid-19 
 

Why audits, reconciled death data are still missing Covid deaths: On the night of June 15, BMC issued its usual Covid-19 evening bulletin and the Covid-19 death toll was 2,248. By the next morning, the numbers had jumped by about 40 per cent. On June 15, Delhi’s health bulletin reported 1,400 deaths. On June 16, the cumulative total had grown by one-third. These increases came about as a result of “death data reconciliation” exercises that at least three states — Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu — have undertaken, to fix lags, and errors in the reporting of Covid-19 deaths. An examination of the Covid-19 deaths data reveals both areas of concern and hope. Read more here. 

In Unlock 2.0, states can no longer seal borders. Why is this important? The Centre on Monday issued guidelines for Phase II of the ‘Unlock’. In view of rising Covid-19 cases, most existing curbs such as the ban on reopening schools and colleges, as well as multiplexes, gyms, and bars, and the operation of Metro rail services, have been maintained. However, the most important part of the order issued on Monday night is that the Centre has taken away the right of states to seal their borders. Read more here.

How have the centre’s food distribution schemes performed so far? In addition to the PMGKAY, in May the Centre announced that under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package, 80 million migrant workers will be provided five kg food grain per person per month and that 19.6 million migrant families will be provided one kg pulses per month for May and June. Read this piece to understand how the two schemes have performed in the last three months.

Inside Navi Mumbai’s ‘Covid war room’, data and logistics lead the fight against the virus: Navi Mumbai is one of the eight regions among Mumbai’s suburbs and satellite cities that have seen a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in the last month. It’s daily average increase is 234 cases. The number of cases on 28 June stood at 6,200, with active cases totalling 2,465 and deaths numbering 205. The Covid-19 ‘war room’ at the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Head Office, has been set up to record real-time data of patients and their possible contacts, to try and curb the spread of the disease. Read more here.

What is the European Union’s ‘safe list’ for Covid-19 travel? From July 1, residents from over 14 countries that are not part of the European Union (EU) and are deemed to be ‘safe’ will be allowed to enter the EU. The list, which is expected to be finalised Tuesday, excludes residents from the United States, Brazil and China. The US and Brazil have the first and second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world right now, with more than 2.6 million and 1.3 million cases respectively. The US also has the most number of deaths from the virus, at over 126,000. Read more here. 

Opinion 

PCR testing is a double-edged sword: The government has allowed SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing in many government and private laboratories. The boon and bane of PCR testing are in its capacity to amplify even one viral gene segment in the sample to generate a detectable signal — a positive test; it is a boon because it accurately detects the presence of virus but a bane because it is prone to false negative and false positive results. Read more here. 

Covid-19 is boosting demand for Universal Healthcare – but won’t get us there: Considering Covid-19 won’t be the last pandemic our generation encounters, and that serious climate-change-induced healthcare challenges are already knocking on our doors, the absence of UHC in a country of 1.3 billion means we are constantly on the cusp of disaster. India can’t afford to neglect putting in place, as quickly as possible, a robust UHC apparatus. And public health experts, on their part, can’t afford to ignore putting in place strong alliances with community-based, politically active individuals and groups. Read more here. 

Understanding Covid-19

Covid testing of entire town in Italy finds 40 percent cases asymptomatic: A large number of Covid-19 cases are asymptomatic, but researchers have differed on what percentage these constitute of all cases.Now, a team has studied almost the entire population of a small, quarantined town — Vò in Italy, population 3,200 — and found that 40 percent of its cases were asymptomatic. The study was published in Nature on Tuesday. Read more here. 
 

What is Covaxin, India’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate; how long before approval? India’s top drug regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, has allowed Bharat Biotech India (BBIL) to conduct human clinical trials for ‘Covaxin’, making it the first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine candidate to receive this approval, the firm said. These trials are scheduled to start across India in July. Read more here. 

Covid-19 vaccine development – and why India has to be a player in this: As the novel coronavirus continues to devastate lives and livelihoods across the world, scientists are racing to find a vaccine that could stop its march. On Monday, India announced its first experimental vaccine to go into human clinical trials in July. It has been jointly developed by a private firm Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council for Medical Research. The World Health Organisation’s latest draft landscape of Covid-19 candidate vaccines shows 16 candidate vaccines in clinical trials and 125 candidate vaccines in preclinical evaluation. Read more here.