Health

The general perception is that branded packaged milk is better than loose/unbranded milk. Better because it would be processed and packed hygienically, would not have added water, and would be free from any other adulterants. "Whoever is taking packet milk, please be careful. I received two packets today and it was quite clear that both packets had been resealed with fire. I called the milk supply person and he isn’t answering my calls.” Earlier this month, the residents of Lokhandwala Township, Kandivali East, received this message from a vigilant lady, along with pictures of the milk packets she had written…

Starting March 1, there has been much excitement among our senior citizens – and all because of the Covid vaccine. As one meme doing the social media rounds said, “Children take parents for vaccination!” My parents got the Covid vaccine at Dayanand Sagar Hospital, Kumaraswamy Layout, Bengaluru, on 4th March 2021.  They had registered on the Aarogya Setu app and managed to get an appointment after trying for several hours the previous day. Those familiar with the process would be aware that beneficiaries are asked to select the hospital and date and then choose between “Forenoon” and “Afternoon” slots.  Read…

With Phase-II of COVID-19 vaccination having begun from March 1st, India’s fight against the pandemic is picking up pace. The first phase, which commenced on January 16th, saw healthcare workers (HCWs) and other categories of frontline workers (FLWs) eligible for vaccination. The second phase targets two categories: 1. Persons aged 60 and above   2. Persons between 45 to 59 years of age who have a specified comorbidity (scroll down for list of comorbidities). For monitoring and streamlining the vaccination process throughout the country, the government has created a digital platform, CoWIN (COVID-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network). CoWIN is designed to help…

Registrations for the second phase of the vaccine drive against COVID were kicked off on March 1st. In this phase, citizens above 60 years of age and people above 45 years of age with comorbidities can register themselves for getting the vaccine. According to the announcement made by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,  Co-WIN website is the only place for registration for common citizens and the Co-WIN mobile application is only for administrators.  Read more: Interview: When and how will Chennai get the COVID vaccine? But what is the registration process like? Is there any provision for offline…

In mid-February, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike went into a tizzy as COVID clusters were identified in different parts of the city. Emergency meetings were held, new guidelines issued, entry of travellers from two neighbouring states restricted. Does this mean the city will soon see a second wave? After a major peak in cases last year, COVID positivity rate and case fatality rate had been steadily declining in Bengaluru. While positivity rate indicates the percentage of positive cases among those tested, case fatality rate (CFR) is the percentage of deaths among those who tested positive. The following graph, from the…

After 10 months, Delhi reported zero COVID-related deaths on January 9th. A few days earlier, the latest and the biggest serological surgery conducted by the Delhi government had shown that about 56% of the over 28,000 people whose blood samples were collected in January developed antibodies against COVID-19.   The sharp decline in COVID-19 cases across India, except a few states including Kerala and  Maharashtra is a clear indication that India has succeeded in controlling COVID-19 to a great extent. But are we really moving towards herd immunity, and can we afford to lower our guard? “No, the virus is unpredictable and may stage a…

R Murugan (name changed), a nurse at the Royapettah Government Hospital, got his first dose of Covaxin at the drive held in the institution on January 16th. As a frontline worker, he was eligible to be vaccinated in the very first phase of the drive in Chennai. “Since I tend to COVID patients, it is important for me to take the vaccine and ensure that I do not pass on the viral infection to my family,” he adds.  Murugan is one of the 2,11,484 persons who got vaccinated in Tamil Nadu as of February 11th, according to data released by the…

Early this year, Dhanashree Panchal, a student of Mumbai’s Khalsa college, participated in a unique initiative. She went around her neighbourhood in Charkop to understand what people thought of Mumbai’s health infrastructure. “I expected COVID-19-related concerns to be on top of people’s minds,” Dhanashree says, “but people were far more worried about the city’s overall health infrastructure.”  Dhanashree is a volunteer with Civis, a city-based organisation that works towards facilitating citizen participation in national and local issues. Last month, Civis conducted an online and offline survey to gather feedback on areas they think Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) should prioritise while…

On December 29th, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia rolled out a scheme of supplying dry ration kits in lieu of the mid-day meals in east Delhi’s Mandawali area that falls in Sisodia’s assembly constituency of Patparganj. Each kit contained provisions for six months that included wheat, rice, pulses and oil. “During the lockdown, we tried to provide an allowance in place of the mid-day meals in the students’ bank accounts, but now we are starting distribution of dry-ration among students,” said Kejriwal. Though the scheme will continue till the schools reopen, Sisodia confessed missing mid-day…

Delhi has two groups of poor, who are not getting enough to feed their children. One are those who have a ration card. The other is the migrant worker, with no ration card, as they cannot furnish address proof. Kriti Rani and her two children, a son and daughter, fall in the first type. She has a ration card for her family of four. “But I am not getting anything from the last month against my ration card,” says Kriti. “Till then I used to get rations twice a month—totally 12 kgs of wheat and 8 kgs of rice, for…