Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

chola · Post by **chola** » 28 Mar 2020 02:49

This would be critical. GOI is putting a screening infrastructure in place. The 21-day lockdown gives them time to build it out.

https://wap.business-standard.com/artic ... 038_1.html

Covid-19: India prepares for massive screening effort after April 14

Sohini Das | Mumbai | Last Updated at March 28 2020 01:03 IST

India, which is under the largest lockdown in the world, is readying to undertake a massive testing programme to identify COVID-19-positive cases after the 21-day period ends in a move that public health experts have been calling for.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) sought quotations earlier this week from suppliers for a million antibody kits (for screening through blood tests) and also 700,000 RNA extraction kits (the swab-based test for confirming COVID-19). As on Friday, a total of 157 laboratories were gearing up for testing — of these around 121 are government labs (109 are functioning and 12 are being operationalised) and 36 are private labs.

“India would need screenings on an extensive scale after the 21-day lockdown period is over. The incubation period is about 15 days and the virus manifests by then. So assuming everyone stays put at home, the chances are they would only infect their immediate family members. Assuming they step out to buy groceries, there is a chance of infecting others,” explained K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India. Rapid screening tests would then help to identify the people at risk (with high viral load) and they can be isolated.

...

Leonard · Post by **Leonard** » 28 Mar 2020 02:56

BR Hakim's ..

What could have been done differently in this situation ?

1. As a patient -- what can you insist on ?

2. As a Hakim ? -- what Can be the take away ?

https://news.yahoo.com/she-just-had-cou ... 39742.html

>>
"She just had a cough" that anyone might get as winter winds down, Julie's mother said. Initially, they treated it with cough syrup and steam inhalation treatments.

By last Saturday, however, Julie began feeling tightness in her lungs. "Nothing major, she just had a hard time catching her breath," Sabine recalled.

Soon after, Julie was having coughing fits, so her mother took her to a doctor.

Diagnosing a respiratory impairment, the doctor called an ambulance, though it was fire-fighters, who often respond to emergency calls in France, who arrived.

....

The responders gave Julie a face mask to wear under an oxygen mask, and brought her to the nearest hospital, at Longjumeau in the Essonne department south of Paris.

She had a scan of her lungs, and was tested for COVID-19. While awaiting the results, Sabine went back home, and later called the hospital for news.

They told her the scan had shown some congestion in the lungs, she said, but "nothing serious."

...

Later that night Julie was again fighting for breath, and an ambulance transferred her to the renowned Necker children's hospital in Paris, where two more coronavirus tests were carried out.

By Tuesday, she was admitted to intensive care, and when Sabine visited, she found her daughter anxious, able to talk but exhausted, and complaining that "my heart hurts."

The latest coronavirus tests proved negative.

"The door to her room opens, the nurses come in without wearing protective gowns, and the doctor gives me a thumbs-up sign telling me that everything is fine," Sabine said.

It was getting late, so she told her daughter goodnight and went home.

A few hours later, the hospital called: one of the COVID-19 tests was in fact positive, and Julie's condition had worsened to the point that doctors had to place a tube in her windpipe to keep her breathing.

"We can't believe it, there has to be a mistake. And why did this result come so much later?" Sabine recalled thinking.

....

<<

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 28 Mar 2020 03:34

Tragic. The story has a lot of open questions in it. Specifically regarding the test result, what exactly happened ?
* When they say the 'test was in fact positive', did they do a second test on the same specimen the same way ? Different test on same specimen or on different specimen ?
* Misreading of test result ?
* Does the test take time to offer a valid answer ?
* Does the test have a margin of reliability ?

From just the superficial language, it seems testing is not reliable, with unquantified false negatives (and potentially false positives ?) That would suggest that just presenting serious ARDS should be enough reason to have full ICU treatment, without waiting on test results.

Ashokk · Post by **Ashokk** » 28 Mar 2020 03:54

Armed forces keep aside 28 hospitals for coronavirus cases

NEW DELHI: Twenty-eight military hospitals have been earmarked to manage Covid-19 cases, while another five have begun testing for the deadly virus, even as the armed forces have readied contingency plans including “quick reaction medical teams” that can be launched at a six-hour notice under the ongoing “Operation Namaste”.
“It is our duty to help the government and civil administration. Speaking in military language, I would say that at present Covid-19 is in preparatory stage of impact in India. We are making concerted efforts to prevent it from establishing a firm base,” said Army chief General M M Naravane.
“Concurrently, we are preparing for stringent counter-measures, should it manage to regain a foothold. The next few weeks will be crucial to prevent negative effects of this deadly mutant virus,” he added.
India is also ready to help countries in the neighbourhood with assistance to build up infrastructural capabilities and expert manpower in tackling the coronavirus outbreak. After providing help to Maldives, for instance, the Army is now ready to dispatch a “rapid response team” to Nepal for assistance in dealing with the situation there.
Within the country, the 28 earmarked military hospitals will manage service personnel as well as civilian patients transferred from state health authorities, in case their capacity is overwhelmed, said director-general armed forces medical services, Lt General Anup Banerji.
With civilian testing labs for Covid-19 being inadequate in the country, the armed forces have also begun to conduct the tests at AFMC in Pune, Army R&R Hospital at Delhi, Army command hospitals at Udhampur and Lucknow and IAF command hospital at Bengaluru.
“These hospitals can carry Covid test using RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction). Six additional hospitals are also being equipped shortly with the resources to begin testing,” said Lt-Gen Banerji.
The armed forces are already running six quarantine facilities at Hindan, Manesar, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Ghatkopar and Chennai, where 1,059 civilian evacuees from countries like Italy, Iran and Malaysia are currently housed. “Of them, three have tested positive so far. Additional quarantine facilities are on standby with 950 beds capacity,” said an officer.
The armed forces, meanwhile, are maintaining their high state of operational readiness along the borders with China and Pakistan. “It is the responsibility of Indian Army to keep the borders safe while the country is preparing and fighting Covid-19. The Army is undertaking its operational tasks like before and there is no effect on operational preparedness. There are contingency plans in place and spread of Covid-19 will not affect the Army’s core efficiency,” said Gen Naravane.

ricky_v · Post by **ricky_v** » 28 Mar 2020 05:14

VIDS
http://i.4cdn.org/pol/1585349931970.webm
http://i.4cdn.org/pol/1585349575934.webm-NYC

Suresh S · Post by **Suresh S** » 28 Mar 2020 07:56

That french story if true is downright criminal and stupid behaviour. Anyone with changes on chest xray or more sensitive tests as CAT SCAN of chest should be rx with chloroquine and Azithromycin regardless of serology for COVID-19 being positive or negative. false positives and negatives are possible like any other test.anyone with significant symptoms should be hospitalised. with minor symptoms can be rx at home with 14 day quarantine which of course implies social distancing and other important precautions so that you do not infect other family members.

chola · Post by **chola** » 28 Mar 2020 08:32

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/3 ... s-concerns

Now Both Aircraft Carriers In The Western Pacific Have COVID-19 Cases, Raising Readiness Concerns

Sailors from a carrier forward deployed to Japan had contracted the virus as confirmed cases grow onboard another flattop in Guam.

BY JOSEPH TREVITHICK
MARCH 27, 2020

Two sailors onboard the Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which forward-deployed in Japan and presently pier-side there, have tested positive for the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. This comes just a day after the U.S. Navy announced it had quarantined the entire crew of another aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, on their ship in port in Guam after a number of sailors contracted the virus. The War Zone had already warned that the Roosevelt's predicament could be an ominous sign of what's to come for the Navy. If Reagan is sidelined, as well, the service would have no carriers presently deployed in the Pacific region that can actually operate.
...

vijayk · Post by **vijayk** » 28 Mar 2020 08:46

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... s?from=mdr

Bengaluru oncologist claims to be close to discovering cure for coronavirus

Dr. Vishal Rao. Pretty good oncologist, technologist and amazing doctor

His other inventions

https://www.thebetterindia.com/41251/dr ... rosthesis/
https://www.drilers.com/post/dr-vishal- ... r-patients

pandyan · Post by **pandyan** » 28 Mar 2020 08:58

Coronavirus: The woman behind India's first testing kit
https://www.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus- ... 09807.html

On Thursday, the first made-in-India coronavirus testing kits reached the market, raising hopes of an increase in screening of patients with flu symptoms to confirm or rule out the Covid-19 infection.

Mylab Discovery, in the western city of Pune, became the first Indian firm to get full approval to make and sell testing kits. It shipped the first batch of 150 to diagnostic labs in Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Goa and Bengaluru (Bangalore) this week.

"Our manufacturing unit... is working through the weekend and the next batch will be sent out on Monday," Dr Gautam Wankhede, Mylab's director for medical affairs, told the BBC on Friday.

The molecular diagnostic company, which also makes testing kits for HIV and Hepatitis B and C, and other diseases, says it can supply up to 100,000 Covid-19 testing kits a week and can produce up to 200,000 if needed.

Each Mylab kit can test 100 samples and costs 1,200 rupees ($16; £13) - that's about a quarter of the 4,500 rupees that India pays to import Covid-19 testing kits from abroad.
"Our kit gives the diagnosis in two and a half hours while the imported testing kits take six-seven hours," says virologist Minal Dakhave Bhosale, Mylab's research and development chief.

Ms Bhosale, who headed the team that designed the coronavirus testing kit called Patho Detect, said it was done "in record time" - six weeks instead of three or four months.

And the scientist was battling with her own deadline too. Last week she gave birth to a baby girl - and only began work on the programme in February, just days after leaving hospital with a pregnancy complication.

"It was an emergency, so I took this on as a challenge. I have to serve my nation," she says, adding that her team of 10 worked "very hard" to make the project a success.

In the end, she submitted the kit for evaluation by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) on 18 March, just a day before delivering her daughter.

Cain Marko · Post by **Cain Marko** » 28 Mar 2020 09:01

News coming out of China doesn't seem good. Some 5-10% of recovered payments are testing positive again. Very fishy as can be expected.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandso ... n-positive

TBH though i was really surprised last summer when a nurse at my doctors office said that she was commonly seeing people not recovering from the flu or similar symptoms for 3-6 months.

chola · Post by **chola** » 28 Mar 2020 09:24

Cain Marko wrote:News coming out of China doesn't seem good. Some 5-10% of recovered payments are testing positive again. Very fishy as can be expected.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandso ... n-positive

TBH though i was really surprised last summer when a nurse at my doctors office said that she was commonly seeing people not recovering from the flu or similar symptoms for 3-6 months.

Yup. And the second wave is already taking hold. They're the top trading nation and they are cutting themselves off again.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/asia/chi ... index.html

As coronavirus cases spike worldwide, China is closing itself off
By James Griffiths, CNN

Updated 9:15 AM ET, Fri March 27, 2020

Hong Kong (CNN)China is closing its border to most foreigners amid fears of imported novel coronavirus cases causing a second outbreak in the country where the infection was first detected.

In a statement late Thursday, the government said that "in view of the rapid spread of Covid-19 across the world, China has decided to temporarily suspend the entry into China by foreign nationals holding visas or residence permits" as of March 28.

Anyone wishing to enter the country will have to apply for a new visa at their local Chinese embassy or consulate. The announcement did not say how long this would take.
The decision to effectively seal off the country to foreigners is the latest in a series of moves intended to safeguard against infection from international travel, after more than 500 imported cases of the coronavirus were confirmed.
...

That f-ed up the plans of a lot of Amreeki MNCs hoping to get people in to either start up subsidiaries or source material.

This continues and there will be no one around to manufacture the medical supplies -- facemasks, ventilators, testing agents, pharma api's, suits, etc. being used in prodigious amounts because all of the major industrial centers in North America, Europe and East Asia will be under quarantine at the same time. All demand, no supply.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 28 Mar 2020 09:55

Tanaji wrote:What is the opinion on the study by John Hopkins CDDEP group that was released on march 24th? Essentially it predicts that a peak will occur in May with 12-25 crore infections, 12-25 lakh hospitalisation but does not talk about deaths.

Uses the indiaSIM model as basis. I think this is the same group as the one that was interviewed by Burkha Dutt...

Yes saar, same guy.

OpIndia did some background digging, and what did they find?

The truth behind “expert” Ramanan Laxminarayanan, who is being promoted by media to create Coronavirus panic

Ramanan Laxminarayanan, who was pitched up as an expert on diseases and epidemics by the media outlets of the country, however, in reality, is not an epidemiologist. Dr Ramanan Laxminarayanan is not even a doctor but has a PhD in economics.

Ramanan Laxminarayanan actually claims to be an economist and has worked for a little-known not-for-profit organisation named Public Health Foundation of India for the last four years.

Ramanan Laxminarayan is also founder and director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP) in Washington DC, and also senior research scholar and lecturer at the Princeton Environmental Institute at Princeton University. His claims of being an economist are also disputable.

In addition to his role in US-based NGO CDDEP, Laxminarayanan also ventured into commercial activities by starting a company called Health cube, which according to him works in the area of diagnostics, as pointed out by Twitter user Naren Menon. Another venture set up by the so-called health expert is “Public Health Technologies Trust”.

The websites of both Health Cube and Public Health Technologies Trust suggest that Ramanan Laxminarayanan is into the business of health solutions. PHFT in its website claims to use state of the art IT and systems design tools and technologies to empower the Indian population to obtain better health through optimal use of technologies.

The blatant fear-mongering by the so-called heath expert Ramanan Laxminarayanan, however, has a commercial angle to it. As we looked into carefully, the two companies set up by Laxminarayanan are into manufacturing of medical devices, tools and health solution through diagnostic kits. The diagnostic kits and the gadgets can be used remotely at any location to conduct a series of tests at any place without having to go to diagnostic centres.

Sounds like a vested interest, did he disclose this in this TV appearances?

Please read the full article on OpIndia - there is more, and they could use the traffic.

-----

Separately, Swarajya also looked at his tall claims and came up with this:

Is India Staring At More Than 200 Million Coronavirus Infections? Dr Laxminarayan’s Conclusions In BBC Interview Are Questionable

First, in the interview, Dr Laxminarayan didn’t refer to conclusions from mathematical models applied on the Indian situation. He referred to the conclusion of those models in the case of US and UK, and using simple cross multiplication, applied them to the Indian numbers.

For example, if US estimates around 60 per cent of its population to be affected, India’s 60 per cent population could be affected, which means 0.6 multiplied by 1.2 billion, that is, close to 700 million people.

He, similarly, said that since UK assumed a factor of 12 in under-reporting, then Indian under-reporting would be close to 12, and that multiplied by the number of current cases, say 150, gives around 1,900 cases.

Secondly, without the details of these models being available, it is highly questionable whether they incorporate India-specific factors — for instance the cultural factors like handshake, climatic factors like higher temperature, demographic factors like population density, etc.

A mathematical model factoring in India-specific conditions would provide a clearer picture.

Professor Venkatesh Balasubramanian of IIT Madras raises some questions regarding Laxminarayan’s conclusions:

1) Things that he says aren’t off the mark, mostly. The part that is missing the mark is when he doesn’t inform that his model doesn’t factor in behavioural change impact and treatment availability. I’d guess that these factors will have a dampening effect on the model. But what will the damping function is the million rupee question.

Saying that the real business in this time is, diagnostic kits, PPE, medical supplies, etc, the professor also raised a question regarding the priorities of the response that we give to the current crisis.

Whether we give attention to the small measures — personal hygiene, self-quarantine, the above mentioned basic public health that would prevent the crisis from worsening, or to the 'bigger fish' of managing the public health registry for disease modeling and surveillance.

Many, whom Prof Balasubramanian calls as "those with the skin in the matter", will ramp up pressure to focus on the latter, because, as a famous researcher said regarding the lopsided world of academia, “they are the research, we are the data”.

It is very much possible that due to the disproportionate voice of the 'bigger fish' — government will be pressurised into focusing more on theoretical aspects that benefit certain industries and individuals.

Again, please read the full article on Swarajya, and do note that this came on March 23, the day before the 21-day lockdown.

Net net, this is much deeper than a mere "opinion" of one person, as @vera_k ji blithely says. Let's all practice some circumspection when someone comes up with alarming numbers - before jumping and sharing it all around, investigate if they have put some thought into it or just pulled it out of their musharraf. There could be some genuine models that indicate greater numbers, but I for one, haven't seen them applied to the Indian context and environment.

kvraghav · Post by **kvraghav** » 28 Mar 2020 11:12

Our rate of discharge from hospital is also very high. All cases are having an outcome withing 15 days. I think we are doing something right which we do not know. I still think this has something to do with our general resilience towards flu which none of these experts can explain

chola · Post by **chola** » 28 Mar 2020 12:53

A month earlier in this thread we were looking at the empty streets of Wuhan, Beijing and Shanghai during the chini lockdown.

Now there are videos of Mumbai, Bangalore and others being locked down. You don't quite get the same zombie apocalypse feel in India as you do in China though. More people on the road and more relaxed.

khan · Post by **khan** » 28 Mar 2020 13:45

I am no virologist- just throwing this out there - but could the asymptotic people who are testing positive for the coronavirus - after known exposure be carriers of this?

Something like Typhoid Mary?

schinnas · Post by **schinnas** » 28 Mar 2020 14:04

Different theories out there. Either they don't transmit or have less probability of transmitting compared to full blown symptomatic cases.

Ashokk · Post by **Ashokk** » 28 Mar 2020 14:36

Coronavirus: Modi calls up Pune nurse, thanks her for efforts

PUNE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up a nurse from the civic-run Naidu Hospital, which has been treating COVID-19 patients, and applauded the work done by the hospital staff to fight the pandemic, a civic official said on Saturday.
Nurse Chhaya Jagtap received a call from the Prime Minister's Office on Friday evening, the health official from the Pune Municipal Corporation said.

rsingh · Post by **rsingh** » 28 Mar 2020 14:38

Those vids of bius getting police treatment out side mosques will be used as a propaganda tool by you know whom.

Ashokk · Post by **Ashokk** » 28 Mar 2020 14:39

Railways manufactures prototype of isolation ward in non-AC coaches

NEW DELHI: The railways has manufactured a prototype of an isolation ward for treating coronavirus patients by converting non-air-conditioned train coaches, it said on Saturday.
Once the best practices were finalised in the next few days, each railway zone would manufacture a rake with 10 coaches every week, the national transporter added.
"Then we will serve the hinterlands or whichever region needs the coaches," Northern Railway Spokesperson Deepak Kumar said.
To make the modified isolation ward, the middle berth was removed, the lower portion of the compartment plugged by plywood and a provision of partition provided from the aisle side for the isolation of the compartment, the railways said.

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 28 Mar 2020 14:45

https://twitter.com/ShirazMaher/status/ ... 6396246018

Thread on a guy's experience with the chinese virus in UK. Other people have posted before with their experiences. This is one of the more severe cases and all is not lost even when it is so severe. Don't panic. Try to call an ambulance to get to the hospital but an ambulance most likely will not be available, so don't depend on it. If things get nasty, drive yourself to a hospital or get someone to drive you there, straight to emergency.

According to this guy, several of his friends got covid19 but most of them were mild. Without testing for antibodies from a large sample of the general population, we will not know what percentage are actually being hospitalized or how much of the population is infected. And we cannot predict when this will end if we cannot tell how many are infected. Perhaps, a much larger population is infected without any effects. Perhaps, one day we will just see no more new infections and that's how we know everybody got it already.

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 28 Mar 2020 14:46

rsingh wrote:Those vids of bius getting police treatment out side mosques will be used as a propaganda tool by you know whom.

Who gives a f(uk and this is one thing they cannot complain about.

Ashokk · Post by **Ashokk** » 28 Mar 2020 14:55

University Of Hyderabad Faculty Designs Potential Vaccine Candidates Against Coronavirus

Dr Seema Mishra, faculty of the Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad (UoH) has designed potential vaccine candidates, called T cell epitopes, against all the structural and non-structural proteins of novel coronavirus-2 (2019-nCoV) for experimental testing, the varsity said in a statement.

“These vaccine candidates are small coronaviral peptides, molecules which are used by cells to trigger an immune response to destroy cells harboring these viral peptides,” the statement said.

Dr Mishra has designed these potential epitopes in a way that can be used to vaccinate the entire population using powerful immunoinformatics approaches with computational software.

Usually, vaccine discovery takes 15 years but the powerful computational tools helped in quickly enlisting these vaccine candidates in about 10 days.

A ranked list of potential candidate vaccines, based on how much effectively they will be used by human cells to stop the virus, has been generated.

“With no matches present in human protein pool, these coronaviral epitopes pose no cross-reactivity to human cells and hence, the immune response will be against viral proteins and not human proteins. However, these results have to be investigated experimentally in order to provide conclusive evidence. These results have been disseminated to the scientific community using ChemRxiv preprint platform for urgent experimental assays,” the statement added.

These are the first such studies on nCoV vaccine design from India exploring whole coronaviral proteome across structural and non-structural proteins that make up the virus, according to the University.

“Right now, best defense to prevent further nCoV infections is social distancing. Vaccination will take some time due to the need for further work on these candidate epitopes. We are hopeful that our computational findings will provide a cost- and time-effective framework for rapid experimental trials towards an effective nCoV vaccine,” the statement said.

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 28 Mar 2020 15:17

Greetings, have been a lurker/avid reader for nearly 2 decades now. Finally sorted out my account (thanks BR admins/mods) to be able to post, hopefully useful to other BRFites.

I live in France, Paris suburbs. As one of the highly infected countries, some info about the current situation in France may be useful to all. I'm not a doctor.

French media was fairly early to report about the emerging epidemic situation in Wuhan, general population & medical profession initially watched the events unfold with mild curiosity. Back in January, even the now famous Pr. Didier Raoult commented on TV "I'm not unduly worried by a few flu like deaths in China, these things happen all the time...". But as numbers spiralled, everyone started to watch more closely and when neighbour Italy started to spiral out of control, French Govt got really worried and imposed progressive controls leading to lockdown 2 weeks ago. All educational institutions, non-essential businesses & services were asked to close. Minimum level of public transport in cities, very few TGVs, near total airlines lockdown was imposed. People ordered to step out only if absolutely necessary, that too with a self attestation specifying purpose of movement. Police can fine 136€ if they deem someone is out and about without valid reason. Public reaction went from indifference to curiosity to a certain degree of worry. La Resistance to lockdown measures by many has turned to grudging acceptance and to worried obedience to lockdown measures.

No curfew, but very, very few people on the streets, sparse traffic in Paris, other cities, suburbs, idem in small towns and villages. By and large there is no panic for the moment because boulangeries are selling bread and cakes are usual, mini-mart grocery stores are reasonably well stocked, pharmacies don't seem to lack medicines.

Today the stats say 33,414 infected and 1,995 deceased. There have been some outlier cases of young patients dying but most who died (>75%) are 65+ years. Not surprising (but obviously very sad) statistics given the demographics in France given nearly 20% of population is over 60. Most French people age relatively well (retirement age 65 years) and live alone or in pairs, almost never with extended families, only when they can't take care of themselves they go to live in old age homes (usually 80+ years). Preventing spread to these old age homes is vital to stop death rates from shooting up.

The Govt has now announced extension of the current lockdown measures _at least_ until 14 April. There is also a relief fund + stimulus package of 300B€ of wampum money announced, the contours of its financing and dispensation measures (some have been announced) are still emerging. That will be an interesting "pandemiconomics" discussion on its own.

There is no extensive contact tracing & tracking like in India, no preventive forced quarantining, people are being asked to self quarantine if they suspect contact with infected persons, self isolate if they start to have flu like symptoms and call general doctor or health services if such symptoms persist. I've not been able to get clear data on how cases are being picked for testing and treatment / followup protocols, will post when I get a clearer picture.

A+

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 28 Mar 2020 15:34

Hi CyranoDB, welcome to brf.
Username has been changed to human sounding name as per forum rules. You can request one of your choice as long as it's a human name.
regards

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 28 Mar 2020 15:41

Thanks Rahul M. The user name given is fine.

greatde · Post by **greatde** » 28 Mar 2020 15:43

Deleted.

arvin · Post by **arvin** » 28 Mar 2020 16:13

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states ... 22692.html

KASARAGOD: The case of a Class X student who tested positive for COVID-19 has pushed the district to the brink of community transmission, if it has not already happened.

The girl, aged 15, had written two examinations after coming in contact with her infected father

This case could worsen the transmission rate in kasargod. Already it stands at 82 positive,accounting for almost half cases of kerala.

The girl's father, who works in Naif -- a COVID hotbed in Dubai -- landed at Kozhikode International Airport on March 17. He cleared the thermal scanning test at the airport, took a train and reached Kanhangad railway station.

There too he cleared the thermal scanning test, said his wife, who is now in hospital, with their five-year-old son

As if the damage done by the suspected smuggler case few days back was not enough, this has come.

Tanaji · Post by **Tanaji** » 28 Mar 2020 16:25

There are multiple videos of peacefuls congregating in large numbers in their markets. One of the many I saw was from Mumbra on outskirts of Mumbai. Two policemen were trying to enforce the curfew, peacefuls gather and beat them up. Similar incidents at many places.

I don’t think the lockdown will be sustainable after 2 weeks maximum

SRajesh · Post by **SRajesh** » 28 Mar 2020 16:36

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 859556.cms
Wow hats off to the Desi Engineers!!!
This is Jugaad time

SRajesh · Post by **SRajesh** » 28 Mar 2020 16:43

Tanaji wrote:There are multiple videos of peacefuls congregating in large numbers in their markets. One of the many I saw was from Mumbra on outskirts of Mumbai. Two policemen were trying to enforce the curfew, peacefuls gather and beat them up. Similar incidents at many places.

I don’t think the lockdown will be sustainable after 2 weeks maximum

https://www.facebook.com/16228427447763 ... n__=EEHH-R
And open calls like this as well as news on twitter of peaceful begums claiming asking brethren to join hands to defy curfew so that all kaffirs can be killed by CORONA as quran will protect them

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 28 Mar 2020 17:00

Research community seems to be running heater skelter in an attempt to show some quick results...
Even a reputable journal like Nature is publishing stuff that doesn't give a clear picture of how long standard phase wise testing processes may take for vaccines against viruses like Corona and how much time such short cuts are expected to save.

Should scientists infect healthy people with the coronavirus to test vaccines?
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00927-3

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 28 Mar 2020 17:15

Tanaji wrote:There are multiple videos of peacefuls congregating in large numbers in their markets. One of the many I saw was from Mumbra on outskirts of Mumbai. Two policemen were trying to enforce the curfew, peacefuls gather and beat them up. Similar incidents at many places.

I don’t think the lockdown will be sustainable after 2 weeks maximum

Mumbai police and all police forces should start saying they are using drones, and can see people and those who get the disease via publicly flouting the rules will not get treated. Then see people's behavior change.

Seriously, everything that is happening is supporting broken windows policing theory to a T. Some people have got so used to flouting the laws for so long, they no longer care about public welfare or their own behavior.

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 28 Mar 2020 17:30

French health authorities are stepping up measures to test the population for the Covid-19 virus, with 7,730 cases and 175 deaths confirmed as of early Tuesday.

"The daily capacity to test patients for the coronavirus has gone from 2,000 to 2,500," France's health ministry said on Tuesday.

Abysmal ! So thats why I'm not able to get much info on testing in France. That explains why the French Govt is not aggressively tracking and tracing, because even if they did, there is no easy next move!

Faced with the epidemic, and a growing demand for tests, the health minister Olivier Veran has stated that it is not possible to screen everyone who has symptoms at this stage and he has drawn up a list of those who have priority and should be tested systematically.

"Those who have serious symptoms coherent with Covid-19, those ill patients who are fragile or at risk who present symptoms, and the first three people with symptoms who live in a home for elderly or fragile people, in order to stop the virus spreading to other residents. All people in hospital who show symptoms and medical staff members will also be considered a priority."

According to the the French financial newspaper Les Echos, a new test (developed by Roche Diagnostics) has just been authorised in France, using samples taken from the nose or throat, like the existing test.

The difference with the new test, it says, is that it has been adapted to high speed machines in laboratories which means the capacity to confirm a diagnosis has been multiplied by ten.

Expansion of testing in labs across France

The French Health Ministry has reportedly given the green light to all labs in French cities to use the test. Previously, only hospital labs were equipped to do so.

The ministry said, at this stage, 183 hospitals were equipped to carry out tests and 120 laboratories to do the analysis. More than half of those are in urban areas.

"Patients with serious symptoms will still need to be tested in hospital," Veran said.

As for other patients with symptoms, "they will be able to be tested in labs if they have a prescription to do so. The samples will be done at home. However, patients should not go in person to the lab until they have called ahead to know if the test is available and ask for instructions."

The World Health Organization's director has already called for countries to "test any suspected case".

"We can't fight a fire with our eyes blindfolded," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the General Assembly on Monday.

"The important thing is to test and then isolate. You can't stop a pandemic if you don't know who is infected," he said.

To date, the WHO has shipped almost 1.5 million tests to 120 countries and is working with companies to increase the availability of tests for those most in need.

How are other countries coping with the Covid-19 pandemic?
In Italy, the 3,000 residents of Vo Eugenao in Venetia were tested. According to local press, 50 to 70 percent of infected people showed no symptoms, which means they were most likely transmitting the virus unintentionally.

Meanwhile, South Korea has drastically reduced the number of new cases thanks to a strategy combining public health announcements and a massive testing drive.

Seoul has carried out 10,000 tests per day, more than any other country so far. By 11 March, 220,000 tests had been carried out.

A lot depends on how many testing kits Roche will produce/day, if one assumes they will be produced in the US, when will they fulfil demand from other countries like France that could be put on a waitlist. Moreover, the QC & reliability of these fast track testing kits needs to be proven in the field. That will influence/improve the management of the current crisis...

source: http://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20200318-fr ... y-symptoms

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 28 Mar 2020 17:33

Dears, why so much focus on what this community or that group or some individual(s) are doing wrong in this Resource thread? Aren't we getting enough of this gupshup from mainstream media already ??

Bart S · Post by **Bart S** » 28 Mar 2020 17:39

rsingh wrote:Those vids of bius getting police treatment out side mosques will be used as a propaganda tool by you know whom.

OT for this thread, but as you well know, if nothing of the sort was happened, they will still do the same propaganda using fake videos from other countries.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 28 Mar 2020 17:49

amar_p wrote:Dears, why so much focus on what this community or that group or some individual(s) are doing wrong in this Resource thread? Aren't we getting enough of this gupshup from mainstream media already ??

Mainstream media is as usual deliberately maintaining a complete silence. We are getting the most up to date info here. Perforce it will include some information on the publics behavior and it should IMHO. People can call out fear mongering or point out some actual issues.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 28 Mar 2020 17:53

What is the forum's opinion on the mass movement of migrant laborers?
I am hoping it is a storm in a teacup because community transmission hasn't (hopefully) taken off

nvishal · Post by **nvishal** » 28 Mar 2020 17:53

A dozen members from this one joint family from sangli have tested positive

Four members had returned after mecca pilgrimage before the lockdown.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 28 Mar 2020 17:56

Some positive news on the ventilator front - please pray we never get to that level.
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/co ... 99488.html

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is trying to develop 'multi-patient ventilators', wherein several patients can be supported by a single ventilator to meet the huge demand if the Covid-19 outbreak goes out of control.

"This innovation is expected to be available within a week. Around 5,000 ventilators will be produced in the first month and 10,000 subsequently. The DRDO has identified local alternatives to the supply of critical components. Already Secretary (Pharmaceuticals) has identified nine companies for design transfer to produce and Anand Mahindra for the fabrication of components. Each ventilator unit will cost around Rs four lakh," the government said in a statement.

It said since COVID-19 affects pulmonary functions, keeping in mind the futuristic requirement, the Society for Biomedical Technology (SBMT) programme of the DRDO has been modified to cater to the current situation. Defence Bio-Engineering and Electro Medical Laboratory (DEBEL), Bangalore (a DRDO lab), has identified a vendor, Scanray Tech, Mysore, to produce critical care ventilator. It has been created by using existing technologies like breath regulators, pressure/flow sensors, etc.

Reportedly, the Union government has already reached out to five automakers -- Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), Hyundai Motor India, to explore the possibility of making ventilators at their plants.

It is estimated that India has only about 40,000 ventilators at present, including about 8,500 in public hospitals. Kerala, which currently has the largest number of COVID 19 patients, has about 5,000 ventilators; Mumbai has less than 1,000; 1,500 in Tamil Nadu; and 1,800 in Madhya Pradesh.

In some eastern states, the number of ventilators is in single digits. The Health Ministry has reportedly asked a public sector unit to make 10,000 ventilators and another 30,000 would be supplied by Bharat Electricals, a PSU under the Ministry of Defence, by June, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal has said.

The move to invite corporates to make multi-patient ventilators is also being experimented by the United States, where the number of COVID-19 patients has crossed over a lakh. Major auto giants like Ford and General Motors are working on war footing to manufacture ventilators. On Friday, Ventec Life Systems and General Motors announced a partnership to produce more than 10,000 ventilators per month starting as early as April.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 28 Mar 2020 18:01

https://www.deccanherald.com/business/e ... 18231.html

Dr A K Singh, the Director General of Life Sciences, DRDO Headquarters, New Delhi, explained that BEL had other companies had been approached because the major Indian manufacturer of ventilators, the Mysuru-based Skanray Technologies Private Ltd, is currently able to only manufacture a peak of 5,000 units per month. “DRDO had originally developed indigenous ventilator technology about 8-9 years ago. which was in turn bought out by Skanray Technologies. To enhance the capacity of existing technology and to hasten the process, they approached DRDO, which is now provisioning various critical components, either through alternatives or getting them manufactured through our industrial base, or helping them in tweaking the design. We are holding their hands on this,” Dr Singh told DH.

In a statement, Skanray said it is drawing up plans to locally assemble nearly one lakh ventilators in India. According to Dr Singh, Skanray is set to get the order to commence manufacturing within a day or two.