Health

The city has been witnessing a steady rise in the number of new COVID cases since the past few weeks. On April 23rd, the city recorded 3,842 fresh COVID cases. With the extremely high contagion rates of the virus in its mutated forms, the numbers have been spiralling out of control, creating shortage in the availability of beds, drugs and even oxygen in many cities. Naturally, the panic among citizens is also palpable and it is neither uncommon nor unnatural to find people grappling with uncertainty over what to do and how to respond if they, or any of their…

When a family is under quarantine, it means no one goes out. Does this include the pets? Well, as there is no evidence of transmission from pets to humans, does that then invalidate the statement for pets? I have wondered for a long time what then should be the procedure? After all, pets are trained to do their business outside. They signal when they want to go outside… Staring at the door, howling, whining, barking, biting, nudging you to take them out;  sometimes by tearing things, scratching the door or under the door.  Apartment complexes have very stringent rules, especially…

Translated by Sandhya Raju கடந்த ஒரு மாதமாக சென்னையில் கோவிட் தொற்று அதிகரித்து வருகிறது. கடந்த ஏப்ரல் 20-ம் தேதி நிலவரப்படி, 3711 புதிய தொற்றுகளும், 17 உயிரழப்புகளும் நேர்ந்துள்ளன. 28005 பேர் சிகிச்சை பெற்றும் 1967 குணமடைந்தும் உள்ளனர். பெருந்தொற்று பரவத் தொடங்கி ஒரு வருடம் மேல் ஆகிவிட்டது, புதிய தொற்றில் 70% மாகாராஷ்டிரா மற்றும் பஞ்சாப் மாநிலங்களின் உள்ளது, இது புதிய தொற்று அலை உருவாகி உள்ளதை காட்டுகிறது. இந்த சூழலில், தமிழகத்திலும் தொற்று வேகமாக பரவி வருவதால், தமிழக சுகாதாரம் மற்றும் குடும்ப நலத் துறை, புதிய கட்டுப்பாடு விதிகளை அறிவித்துள்ளது. சென்னைக்கு பயணிக்கும் முன் நீங்கள் அறிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டியவை: யார் ஈ-பாஸ் பெற வேண்டும்? பிற நாடுகளிலிருந்தும், வெளிமாநிலங்களிலிருந்தும் சென்னைக்கு வருபவர்கள் கட்டாயம் ஈ-பாஸ் பெற வேண்டும். ஆனால், கர்நாடாகா, ஆந்திரா மற்றும் புதுச்சேரியிலிருந்து வருபவர்களுக்கு விதிவிலக்கு அளிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. தமிழகத்தினுள் பயணிக்க ஈ-பாஸ்…

Chennai has seen a huge spike in COVID-19 cases in the past month, with the city breaching the daily 3000-case mark and registering a record number of positive cases on April 18th. While vaccination for those over 45 years of age is underway, given that the numbers are spiralling out of control, various restrictive measures have had to be reintroduced in the city to help curb the spread of the disease. Vaccination One of the key elements of fighting COVID-19 is mass vaccination. Vaccination for healthcare and frontline workers was opened up in January. Those aged 60 and above could…

In the midst of a second wave, the daily Covid positive cases in Bengaluru are touching record high numbers. The number of cases were 14,738 on Thursday alone. Hospitals and health care centers are getting overwhelmed. Stories of people struggling to get hospital beds are rising. Social media, especially micro-blogging sites like Twitter are seeing an increasing number of posts from individuals seeking help for a hospital bed. This explainer provides information on testing, when to hospitalise and how to find hospital beds. When to test for Covid Covid Test can be done at the nearest PHC, private clinic or…

“I am really frightened; it is not a wave, it is a tsunami this time,” said Dr Rajesh Gupta, additional director, Pulmonology and Critical Care, at Fortis Hospital, Noida, as he rushed towards the COVID ward which he heads.  A month back, Dr Gupta, a recovered COVID patient himself, had stopped wearing the PPE kit. Not because of any discomfort it caused, but because the numbers of COVID cases had fallen to an all-time low by the first week of February, with not a single COVID patient in his ward. Six weeks later, the hospital’s ICU is packed to capacity and he is…

Yes, indeed! We need decisive action now, of deferring any and all non-essential activities (of little or no immediate economic repercussions) involving any kind of congregations in closed spaces, along with very strict blanket enforcement of COVID-appropriate protocol and behaviour in whatever socio-economic activities that may be permitted henceforth. Else, we are staring in the face at national distress with numbers already spinning out of control at over 2 lakh per day. Or even worse, a national disaster if we get more virulent strain(s) due to a much higher & longer second wave. In my earlier article published in The…

The most important lesson for the Covid first wave was the urgent need to strengthen the state’s public health systems and infrastructure. But the current year’s budgets of both the state government and the city government ignores this need. In fact, the state’s 2021-22 budget has been criticised for its low priority to strengthening the public healthcare system overall. As of now, all attention inevitably is on managing the Covid second wave. “Rs 50 cr is earmarked towards 'natural calamities', that is, Covid management”, says Thulasi Maddineni, Special Commissioner (Finance) at BBMP. The BBMP had spent Rs 90 crore on…

Numbers of tuberculosis patients are sharply rising in Mumbai. And that is good. According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation data, the city records 45,000 new patients a year on average. However, last year, it was down to less than 1% of that. The health department authorities at BMC say that Covid-19 and Tuberculosis (TB) have similar symptoms. Therefore, if TB patients go unchecked in times of the pandemic, the number of patients of Covid-19 may also increase as they are difficult to differentiate. TB is a bacterial disease, which mainly affects the lungs. The bacteria that causes TB spreads when an…

On March 22nd, I opened the  Aarogya Setu app on my phone to book our appointment for the second or booster dose of the Covishield vaccine. My husband and I had had our first shot before noon on March 1st, when the union government rolled out the programme for senior citizens like us. We were told we could take the next shot after 28 days. A few days' delay would not matter, added the doctor at the vaccination centre. The earliest appointment I got (confirmed via SMS) at our preferred centre, Yashoda Multi Specialty Hospital, Kaushambi, Ghaziabad, where we had taken…