coronavirus infection
Covid-19 hits IPL: Two KKR players test positive
Despite ensuring a so-called tightest bio-bubble to avoid Coronavirus infection, two players of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have been tested positive for Covid-19.
And as a result, the clash between and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) which was scheduled to take place on Monday, has been postponed.
Read Also: Covid-19 concerns: Ashwin, Zampa, Richardson, Tye leave IPL
The IPL authority has conducted four Covid-19 tests for the players of KKR in the last four days. In the last test, Varun Chakaravarthy and Sandeep Warrier were found to be positive, confirmed an IPL press release.
Both the players are now isolated from the rest of the members of the team. After this incident, the KKR authority took initiative to test all the members every day to find out if anyone else is infected with the deadly virus.
The IPL medical team is working to determine the close and casual contacts of those two players in an endeavour to avoid further health issues. This is the first instance of a Covid-19 positive case related to IPL.
Read Also: Delhi, Mumbai record identical 7-wicket victories in IPL
India is one of the worst hit countries . In the last few weeks, they have recorded more than 3 lakh cases and more than 3000 deaths per day.
India records 320K cases as foreign help arrives
India recorded more than 320,000 new cases of coronavirus infection Tuesday as a grim surge of illness and death weighed on the country and its sinking health system started getting much-needed support from foreign nations.
Tuesday’s 323,144 new infections raised India’s total past 17.6 million, behind only the United States. It ended a five-day streak of recording the largest single-day increases in any country throughout the pandemic, but the decline likely reflects lower weekend testing rather than reduced spread of the virus.
The health ministry also reported another 2,771 deaths in the past 24 hours, with roughly 115 Indians succumbing to the disease every hour. The latest fatalities pushed India’s fatalities to 197,894, behind the U.S., Brazil and Mexico. Experts say even these figures are probably an undercount.
Also read: Virus ‘swallowing’ people in India; crematoriums overwhelmed
Foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi tweeted photos Tuesday of the first shipment of medical aid India received from Britain. It included 100 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators.
Other nations like the U.S., Germany, Israel, France and Pakistan have also promised medical aid to India. The countries have said they will supply oxygen, diagnostic tests, treatments, ventilators and protective gear to help India at the time of crisis which World Health Organization’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday called “beyond heartbreaking.”
The surge, spurred by insidious new variants of coronavirus, has undermined the Indian government’s premature claims of victory over the pandemic. The country of nearly 1.4 billion people is facing a chronic shortage of space on its intensive care wards. Hospitals are experiencing oxygen shortages and many people are being forced to turn to makeshift facilities for mass burials and cremations as the country’s funeral services have become overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, in a bid to tackle the shortage of beds, Indian authorities are turning to train carriages, which have been converted into isolation wards. India has also started airlifting oxygen tankers to states in need. Special trains with oxygen supplies are also running in the country.
France was sending breathing machines, ICU gear and eight oxygen generators in a shipment expected to be sent later this week. Each generator can equip a hospital of 250 beds for several years, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said.
France will also send breathing machines, pumps and containers of liquid medical oxygen aimed at helping up to 10,000 patients per day, according to the French Foreign Ministry. That first oxygen shipment is expected to arrive from Europe to India next week.
Also read: UK to send medical supplies to India
The White House was moving to share raw materials for the production of the AstraZeneca vaccine with India by diverting some U.S. orders to the vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India.
White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients told The Associated Press that the Biden administration was working to satisfy other “key requests” from the Indian government, namely for personal protective equipment, tests, therapeutics and supplies of oxygen and respiratory assistance devices.
Epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were also expected to soon travel to India to assist with its virus response.
Also read: Indian court raps poll panel for rising Covid cases
Leaving before Lockdown
A large number of homebound people were seen gathering at railway station and bus terminals as the government announced 7-day countrywide lockdown from Monday.
Commuters fearing suspension of public transport crowding at the bus and launch terminals amid the risk of Coronavirus transmission.
Excessive pressure transports was seen on the highway causing long tailbacks.
Bangladesh set to enforce nationwide lockdown Monday amid Covid surge
The government is set to impose a nationwide lockdown for a week from Monday morning as part of its tougher move to slow down the rapid spike in both coronavirus infection and mortality rates.
The main objective of the lockdown is to control unnecessary public movements and gatherings with stronger monitoring by the members of law enforcement agencies and thus contain the virus transmission.
It will be the first official lockdown in Bangladesh to tackle the deadly coronavirus. On March 26 last year, the government had declared general holidays along with a transport shutdown instead of enforcing lockdown as the country was witnessing the surge in coronavirus transmission.
As the country has been experiencing record-breaking Covid cases for the past few days, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Sunday announced to impose a weeklong countrywide lockdown.
Most offices and factories will remain open during the period, but the employees will work in shifts maintaining health safety rules and government guidelines.
Also read: Restriction on gatherings, quarantine rule among PMO’s 18-point directive to contain Covid surge
Earlier, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) issued an 18-point directive on March 29 to prevent the transmission of the virus.
Restrictions on movement/activities
The Cabinet Division on Sunday issued a gazette notification imposing restrictions on the movement of people and other activities for seven days in a bid to improve the situation and enforce the lockdown.
The gazette will remain effective from 6 am on April 5 till 12 am on April 11.
According to the gazette, all modes of public transport (road, river, rail and domestic flights) will remain suspended during the period.
Ex-state minister Mufti Waqqas dies
Mufti Muhammad Waqqas, a former state minister for religious affairs, died of coronavirus early Wednesday at a city hospital. He was 74.
Waqqas, also president of a faction of Jamiat-e Ulama-e Islam and a three-time MP, breathed his last around 4:30am at Sheikh Russel Gastro Liver Institute and Hospital, said his party’s publicity affairs secretary Oliullah Arman.
He was admitted to the hospital a few days back with coronavirus infection, said Arman.
Wakkkas will be buried at his village home in Jashore’s Manirampur upazila after Namaz-e-janaza at Jamia Emdadia Madaninagar Madrasa after Magrib prayers.
He was elected MP from Manirampur (Jashore-5) seat as an independent candidate in the 1986. Later, he joined Jatiya Party during the rule of HM Ershad and got elected MP for the second time in 1988. He was then made state minister for religious affairs.
Also read: Language Movement hero Yusuf Kalu passes away
Waqqas joined Jamiat-e Ulama-e Islam after the fall of Ershad and was elected MP for the third time as a candidate of Islami Oikya Jote in 2001 from the same seat.
A member of the central advisory council of Hefajat-e Isla, Waqqas also served as senior vice president of Bangladesh Quawmi Madrasah Education Board.
Global deaths from Covid-19 crosses 1,108, 607
The global death toll from coronavirus hit 1,108,607 as of Sunday, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
Coronavirus can affect memory, language: Study
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has the capacity to affect brain tissue and the structure of the cortex, a region of the brain responsible for functions such as memory, consciousness, and language, according to a Brazilian study released on Thursday.
One in 10 worldwide may have had virus: WHO
Warning of a difficult period ahead, the World Health Organization on Monday said that one in 10 people around the world may have contracted Covid-19.
Global Covid-19 caseload exceeds 33.8mln
The confirmed Covid-19 cases exceeded 33.8 million globally as of Thursday morning, according to latest tally of Johns Hopkins University.
Worldwide death toll from COVID-19 eclipses 1 million
The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed 1 million on Tuesday, nine months into a crisis that has devastated the global economy, tested world leaders’ resolve, pitted science against politics and forced multitudes to change the way they live, learn and work.