COVID-19

On January 6th, the state of Tamil Nadu recorded a total of 6,983 new positive cases of COVID-19. Out of these, 3,759 cases, which is around 54%, were recorded in the state capital of Chennai, which has been contributing to the most number of COVID cases in the state, followed by the districts of Chengalpattu and Coimbatore. Expectedly, people are now questioning whether we are now in the middle of the third COVID wave that the city had been fearing. Just about a month ago, on December 6 2021, Chennai recorded just 128 new positive cases, with the total number of…

2022 was expected to be a year of hope. A year when the COVID pandemic that had killed millions and wrecked economies around the world, would come to an end. But then arrived Omicron, a heavily mutated new variant. First detected in South Africa in November, it triggered a new wave of COVID-19 in Africa, Europe, and America. And in India, as the new year dawned, cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, Bengaluru, and Delhi started seeing ever-increasing single-day spikes in COVID cases in nearly seven months. There were also wide variations in Test Positivity Rates (TPR) across the country likely caused…

It did not last long. 10 days after the reopening of schools in Delhi for Classes 1 to 5, they had to be closed again because of severe air pollution in the national capital region. According to the latest, schools will remain closed till November 21st, but if they do reopen after that, the experiences and observations reported here from early November may well continue to present the true scenario among schools, teachers and students. Sagar and Sonali were overjoyed when they learnt that they would be going back to their school in Ghazipur from November 1st. Their mother Kriti…

In May 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, 14,857 people died in Mumbai. This was over twice the number of deaths that occurred in May of the previous year. Official COVID-19 deaths, however, accounted for barely 15% of them - 1,075 out of 8,014. The number of deaths increased in comparison to 2019 till October 2020. Over the year, they added up to 20,719 more deaths over 2019’s toll, but only around half, 11,116, were officially due to COVID-19. The rest are unexplained. A spike in the number of deaths was seen again with the second wave…

In March 2020, when the pandemic set in and lockdown was first imposed, spread of the virus, lack of adequate medical care, the lack of vaccines and loss of livelihoods of millions of citizens were the primary concerns among the government and the people. However, as time progressed and the radical changes to lives, livelihoods and lifestyles became more pronounced, increasingly, the discussions – both at a personal and at policy level – turned to the pandemic's impact on mental health. Add to that the several reports about skewed access to education and problems related to online education among children…

By March 2020, along with the rest of the country, Mumbai went into a severe lockdown. Social distancing, wearing a mask and hand washing were necessary precautions, and access to them, the need of the hour. A majority of the population did not - and still doesn’t - have access to safe water or sanitation, nor the privilege of technology.  This exclusion in the time of a public health crisis is not new. Bombay has seen several epidemics in the past, but what is often overlooked in the discourse on public health is that many such diseases are waterborne. Furthermore,…

In 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that roughly 7.5 per cent Indians suffer from some form of a mental disorder, and predicted that by the end of 2021, close to 20 percent of Indians will suffer from mental health illnesses. With a shortage of mental health professionals, a culture of denial and hesitation, a majority that cannot afford professional help, these statistics confirm that there is a desperate need for informed discourse around mental health and the systems that affect it.  Read more: Mental health helpline received 72,000 calls in a year, thanks to the pandemic Below is…

As fears towards an impending third wave – set to reveal itself in October according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) – have set in the city, there is a deeper concern among parents of young children who are yet to be vaccinated. To ensure the safety of their wards, many parents have restricted their children from playing in common premises where they would normally interact with other children.  On September 13, only ten children were admitted in Mumbai hospitals (nine in the NESCO COVID-19 care facility and one in Seven Hills Hospital) with moderate or severe symptoms of the…

As Mumbai prepares for a third wave, housing societies watch closely as it marks the beginning of yet another harrowing time. The spike in COVID-19 numbers even before Ganesh Chaturthi festivities could begin, has rung warning bells in the city. As of 8 September, Mumbai had 50 buildings and only one informal settlement actively sealed with about 2,075 people considered high risk for having come into contact with a COVID-19 patient. Another 530 people had tested positive in a single day. The resurgence of the virus is being witnessed with nervousness, especially in large residential complexes where a number of…

On 6th August, India gave Emergency Use Authorization for Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, expanding its vaccine basket, which now has five vaccines — Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V, Moderna’s, and Johnson & Johnson’s vectored vaccine (JNJ-78436735 or Ad26.COV2.S ). One of the many new vaccines that India is waiting to introduce in its mammoth vaccination drive, this particular one was developed by Janssen Pharmaceutica, a Belgium-based division of the company, in collaboration with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of Boston. The vaccine can be stored at normal temperature for three months, which makes it easily transportable to rural and…