The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has confirmed that 74 patients have been found to be positive. Of these patients, , the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been successful in isolating 11 samples of Covid-19 including those from Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
“While the virus is difficult to isolate, our first efforts to isolate 11 samples from patients who have been infected have been successful. Isolating the virus is a prime requisite for conducting research,” said R Gangakhedkar, head of infectious diseases at ICMR.
The team of Indian scientists is now in the process of identifying epitopes after subjecting these virus isolate samples to genetic sequencing. “An epitope is a part of an antigen (toxin or foreign substance) that is recognised by the immune system for antibodies to bind onto. Once the epitopes are identified vaccine antibodies can be produced,” said Gangakhedkar.
Long way to go
ICMR has estimated that it will still take one-and-a-half years for a potential vaccine to come through, even after clinical trials are expedited. “We are also trying to understand if a patient contracts Covid-19 once, if will he be immune for a life time. If that is the case, then a vaccine does make sense, otherwise vaccinations can also pose risks of the disease flaring up and that could be a potential hazard,” said Gangakhedkar.
The research body is also planning to start surveillance to understand if any missed cases have led to potential deaths. At an official briefing, an official from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the number of Indians coming to India have dropped from 63,200 on February 20 to 43, 900 on March 10. “There is a 40 per cent drop in Indians coming to India during this time,” said the official.
The official also said India is in the process of helping out Italy, Bhutan, Maldives and Iran with personal protective equipments to fight the virus and these requests are under various stages of processing.
While India has suspended all existing visas from March 13 till April 15, the MHA official said that travel for people who are working on ongoing economic projects such as the bullet train for instance, are not being restricted. Anyone holding a UN, diplomatic, official or employment visa will be allowed to enter India.
Rubina Ali, Joint Secretary with the Ministry of Civil Aviation said that India will fly three planes to Iran back-to-back to evacuate stranded Indians there. “Evacuations will be carried out on March 13, 15 and then 16 or 17. We are expecting to fly in 130 to 150 passengers as of now. The flight will land in Mumbai tomorrow at 1230 pm,” Ali said.
PM’s statement
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that no Minister of the Central government will travel abroad in the upcoming days. Modi said, “He urged people to not panic and avoid non-essential travel and large gatherings.”
The fifth positive case was reported in Karnataka on Thursday. According to the Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Department officials, a 26-year old man is reported to have flown from Greece and has been tested positive for the virus. Currently, the patient has been admitted and isolated at a hospital in Bengaluru and is stable. All primary contacts have been traced and are asymptomatic at the moment.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said the corona virus is attacking the economy as well. “The problem of corona virus is very serious but the government has not taken any action the way it should have,” Gandhi said.