At least hundreds of long-term care centers have infections — but public disclosure is spotty.
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Monday, April 6, 2020
Karnataka districts witness heavy rains after days of sweltering heat
Skymet forecasts that Bengaluru will see rains on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Some districts of Karnataka, such as Belagavi, saw heavy rains on Sunday evening, a much-needed respite from the heat. Many shared photos and videos of the downpour on social media. Rains were reported across southern interior parts of Karnataka as well, including in districts such as Mysuru, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, and Hassan. Mysuru district reported 55.5 mm of rain, Mandya saw 66.5 mm of rain, Chamarajanagar saw 44.5 mm of rain, Kodagu saw 31 mm and Hassan district saw the highest recorded rainfall at 76 mm. Just In : Heavy wind and Rain in Belagavi Watch on YouTube : https://ift.tt/39IZiin #Rain #BelagaviWeather #Weather #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/j2qWMnQHu5 — Belagavi Infrastructure (@Belagavi_infra) April 5, 2020 Good rain in South Interior #Karnataka & adjoining malnad region , District max rainfall Mysuru - 55.5mm Mandya - 66.5mm Ch.nagar - 44.5mm Kodagu - 31mm Hassan - 76mm — RK Gowda (@ravikeerthi22) April 6, 2020 The state is witnessing rainfall because a trough — a region of low pressure — has formed in south India due to prevailing high daytime temperatures. A trough is extending from south #Kerala to #MadhyaMaharashtra across #Karnataka. #Rain and #Thundershowers to continue over #Dharwar, #Chitradurga, #Kochi, #Alapuzha, #Kodaikanal, #Thiruvananthapuram and parts of Interior Karnataka, interior #TN & Kerala. @SkymetWeather pic.twitter.com/8N3x28NOLc — Mahesh Palawat (@Mpalawat) April 5, 2020 Karnataka state has seen a lower than expected rainfall for March, across the board. According to the data from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), some districts in Karnataka have seen no rain so far. Only Bagalkot and Gadag districts reported more rainfall than usual (in blue), according to the IMD website. Belagavi and Chikkamagaluru districts reported deficit rainfall (in yellow), while the other districts reported no rainfall. Bengaluru is yet to see any substantial rainfall. However, Skymet forecasted that the city would see rains on Tuesday and Wednesday. “Rain activities to increase marginally over South interior #Karnataka including #Bengaluru, around April 7 and 8.” Rain activities to increase marginally over South interior #Karnataka including #Bengaluru, around April 7 and 8.#weather #weatherforecast #weatherupdate https://t.co/zglcWOmoJh — SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) April 4, 2020 The Weather Channel said that many parts of India would see rains. “Scattered rain likely over interior Karnataka and interior Kerala. Isolated rain is possible over North India, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Dry weather likely over East India, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa.” #WeatherUpdate | Scattered rain likely over interior Karnataka and interior Kerala. Isolated rain is possible over North India, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Dry weather likely over East India, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa. Read: https://t.co/Ii0AYbARzI pic.twitter.com/RojdrQvMdP — The Weather Channel India (@weatherindia) April 6, 2020 The state has been seeing high temperatures over the last few days, touching 40 degrees Celsius in parts of North Karnataka, while coastal Karnataka saw temperatures hit 36 degrees Celsius. Bengaluru saw highs of up to 38 degrees Celsius last week, according to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre. According to the Deccan Herald, a shepherd in Vijayapura district died due to a lightning strike.
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Centre says Bengaluru-based Bione’s rapid test kit for coronavirus not approved
Several news outlets had hailed the new test, which supposedly gives a result within 15 minutes.
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The Central government has put out a notice that it has not approved Bione’s home kit for the self-testing of coronavirus. This comes after several news outlets reported on Friday that the Bengaluru based company “Bione” has launched a new home testing kit of COVID-19. Drugs Comptroller of India, Dr VG Somani, stated that “CDSCO, the competent authority for coronavirus diagnostic kits, has not licensed the diagnostic kit by Bione.” CDSCO stands for Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation. The All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN), an organisation which works to promote transparency in the pharmaceuticals field in India, wrote to the Drugs Comptroller of India to know whether the government had approved the kits which Bione was marketing. In the letter, AIDAN said, “Bione's activities are a mockery of the government policy of clinical judgement and physician's prescription for COVID19 testing. The company's strategy is clearly to exploit public anxiety around the pandemic in order to make a killing. It is selling kits to the general public even before official directions regarding the use of rapid antibody tests have been issued, and even while the interim advisory of 2 April 2020 for use of antibody tests in hotspots does not support indiscriminate self-testing by the public.” Bione, which describes itself as “India's 1st consumer Microbiome and Genetic testing organisation,” was reportedly marketing the test which checks for antibodies in the blood. According to the letter put out by AIDAN, “It is impossible to determine the genuineness of the test kit, which resembles a pregnancy test in appearance.” The sample is reportedly taken through a pinprick, and is fed into the kit. The kit reportedly gives a result within 15 minutes, and is priced at Rs 2000-3000. AIDAN’s letter stated that the first batch was sold out on the company’s website, but TNM found that the company website is no longer listing the test kit for coronavirus. However, the company is also marketing two other related kits. “MyMicrobiome Kit”, priced at Rs 16,500, supposedly analyses the microorganisms in your gut. According to information available on their website, “Gut Microbiome can show how strong you are to fight infections like coronavirus. Gut Microbiome test is the only way to know when the virus is no longer in your system.” The second test, “COVID-19 Genetic Susceptibility kit”, priced at Rs 15,000, claims to tell the user how susceptible they are to the virus. "Bione COVID-19 Genetic Susceptibility Test detects specific gene variants present in your DNA that can be responsible for making you more sensitive to certain viruses like coronavirus, HIV, Influenza, etc. If the test result shows that you are more susceptible to viruses, you will be provided genetic counselling,” the company states.
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Sunday, April 5, 2020
Trump administration tells states to step up as governors plead for aid
The surgeon general says states need to be “Rosie The Riveter” as the country prepares for a crisis resembling World War II.
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Surgeon general warns this week 'is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment'
"This is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans' lives, quite frankly," said Jerome Adams.
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Karnataka sees 7 new COVID-19 cases, 5 had travelled to Delhi for Jamaat meeting
The total number of cases in Karnataka now stands at 151.
Seven new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Karnataka on Sunday, out of which five people had attended the Tablighi Jamaat meeting in Delhi. The seven patients include a couple from Bengaluru, aged 68 and 62. They had returned from Dubai on March 22 and have now been quarantined at a private hospital. The report also states that these two, identified as patient 145 and 146, are asymptomatic. Meanwhile, four cases have been reported in Belagavi and all four had attended the Tablighi Jamaat meeting between March 13 and 18. They returned to Belagavi on March 20. The four cases include a 36-year-old woman, a 40-year-old man, a 67-year-old woman, and a 41-year-old woman. All four patients have been isolated at the district hospital in Belagavi, the bulletin said. The seventh patient is a 41-year old-man from Ballari district who had also attended the Tablighi Jamaat meeting and returned on March 20. The man is asymptomatic and has been quarantined in Ballari. Till date, there have been 4 reported deaths in Karnataka due to coronavirus. Additionally, there have been 11 people who recovered from coronavirus. The rest of the cases are being treated in various hospitals and establishments. The release from the Karnataka Health Department also said that the state government was working to keep the number of cases on the state low, and also developing a fresh protocol, in the event that there would be a larger outbreak of coronavirus in the state. This meeting was held by the Karnataka Health Commissioner Pankaj Pandey, along with the Karnataka Chief Secretary Dr PC Jaffer. This meeting came even as there is the absence of substantial guidance from the Centre in the handling of the coronavirus crisis. “The government is planning to enlist volunteers to support facility functions in the event of a large number of cases, and develop training modules to enable them to carry out these functions. The protocols also make provisions for tying up with community management teams to handle follow-ups,” Health Commissioner Pankaj Pandey said in the bulletin.
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COVID-19 lockdown: Doctors worried over drop in blood supply
Some medical facilities are forced to ask thalassemia patients to bring along their friends or relatives to give replacement blood.
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The 21-day lockdown which is in place in Bengaluru as in the rest of the country in a bid to arrest the spread of coronavirus, has inadvertently resulted in a massive drop of regular blood supply at blood banks and hospitals. Doctors whom TNM spoke to suggest intervention is required at this point to mitigate the developing problem. Other than trauma patients and other medical complications, regular blood transfusion is required by patients suffering from thalassemia, bleeding disorders and other perennial conditions. Dr Sanjay Lenin, Medical Superintendent at St John’s Medical College Hospital, which has one of the larger private blood storing facilities in Bengaluru, said around 400 patients who have thalassemia and other permanent conditions, regularly visit the hospital – and have been affected because of the lockdown. “There is a shortage of blood, so patients who require repeated transfusion every three weeks or a month have been affected. All blood banks are now forced to ask regular volunteers to come into the hospital. The blood donation camps that were scheduled could not take place. At this time, most blood banks will be able to cater to emergencies. But the bigger challenge is to restore the routine supply. At present we are getting approximately 70% of our usual blood donations received in a week,” he said. “So what can be done is – residential areas or an apartment block can ask for permission to fix an appointment with the nearest blood bank and they can go to the facility, 2-3 people at a time and donate blood voluntarily. It can also be initiated from the blood banks and hospitals which are in need of blood,” he added. On the brighter side, he said due to the lockdown, the need for blood to mitigate injuries due to road accidents have also gone down. Dr Narsima Swamy, medical in-charge of the blood bank run by the Bangalore Medical Services Trust, also says the situation is worrying. The organisation has 27 storage centres across Bengaluru and supplies blood to both government and private medical facilities. “We used to collect 3,000 units of blood per month, now we are down to 500-600 units since the pandemic started,” he said. “In case of thalassemia patients, we are forced to ask them to bring a friend or relative to give replacement blood. This is the first time in 35 years that we cannot manage based on voluntary donations. So we have only one solution to this, healthy donors have to walk themselves to the nearest blood banks or hospitals,” he added. He said once authorised by the blood bank or hospitals, the donors can freely travel to and fro to the facility as police have authorised them to give them curfew passes. “We are reaching out to frequent donors, encouraging friends, relatives and staff, and easing up logistics,” Dr Anoop Amarnath, Chief of Clinical Services at Manipal Hospitals said.
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