As the country is unlocking, Kolkata’s Prabir Kumar Sajjan and Gautam Adhikari dress up as clowns or Mickey Mouse at birthday parties and other events. This is their job.
Even as India’s Covid-19 cases reached 9.3 lakh Wednesday, the recovery rate rose to 63.24 per cent with 20,572 patients recuperating from the disease in 24 hours, the highest so far. The country saw yet another record daily jump of 29,429 cases, according to Union health ministry data.
Many states have imposed weekly lockdowns to contain the spread despite the country entering unlock 2.0 two weeks ago. Goa announced a complete lockdown of four days starting July 16 and called for “Janata Curfew” till August 10. West Bengal also introduced a announced that a town-wide lockdown in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation area (Darjeeling district) for a period of seven days.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the situation in the national capital was “under control”, but warned against complacency. Karnataka overtook Gujarat to become the third worst-hit state in the country after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
On day 15 of unlockdown 2.0, here are some interesting stories from across the country
Anti-corona’ fabrics weave in tech and textile, scientific fraternity unenthused
At a store near you perhaps are bales of fabric that weave in the promise of killing the coronavirus, innovations tailored for pandemic times by prominent players in the textile industry but viewed with skepticism by the scientific fraternity. At a time when businesses big and small struggle to stay afloat with spending power diminished and no appetite for new clothes or shopping of any kind, several players in the textile industry may just have cracked the code to stay relevant. In the last few months, at least four textile brands have come out with technology-infused fabrics that they claim kill the virus shortly after it lands on the surface. This, they hope, is one solution to reduce the spread of COVID-19 that till Wednesday had infected more than 930,000 people across India and claimed over 24,000 lives.
“While we do wear masks and gloves and take proper and due sanitation measures, it’s important that our attire also aids our protection. Clothing provides a large hosting surface area for bacteria and viruses, benefiting their carryover,” said Rajendra Agarwal, managing director at Donear Industries.
His company launched an “anti-corona” fabric in April, which uses “neo-technology” to render the virus ineffective.Tested in Melbourne, the technology, he said, is proven to be effective against SARS-CoV-2 in the laboratory and involves two steps.
Class X, XII students across Tamil Nadu districts get books for free
Distribution of free books to students of classes X and XII in school across districts of Tamil Nadu began from Wednesday. State Minister of School Education K A Sengottaiyan announced this while briefing on the visit of Chief Minister K Palaniswami to Erode on July 17. The Minister said the students may learn the lessons through QR (quick response) code and youtube while select teachers would guide them. For this, he said 6,019 schools would get wi-fi system to help the students learn the lessons easily through their laptops and mobiles. The Minister said the school syllabus would be declared within three days.
He said the lessons would be telecast through 14 TV channels, including the government-sponsored ‘Kalvi’ (education) channel. The initiative through television would help the students keep pace with their lessons, as the schools, which were closed from March 17 as a preventive measure against the spread of coronavirus, are yet to reopen. Education in the state turned to television mode with Palaniswami launching the lessons for Classes X and XII on Tuesday. On the Chief Minister’s visit to the district, Sengottaiyan said Palaniswami would conduct a review meeting on the developmental works and review the action taken by the district administration on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mumbai: Day before he turns 100, retired headmaster returns home cured of Covid-19
A man turning 100 on Wednesday has recovered from Covid-19 and was discharged from Hinduhriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray hospital, where he was seeking treatment for the past fortnight.
Hours before being discharged, Arjun Govind Naringrekar received a surprise on Tuesday as doctors and staff from the hospital gathered to celebrate his birthday with a chocolate cake and pink candles at the hospital lobby.
Clad in white and blue protective gear, attendants, nurses, and doctors sang the birthday song. Relatives of other patients also joined in as the 100-year-old patient nibbled on cake. Naringrekar, a retired government school headmaster, was hospitalised on July 1 after testing positive for the novel coronavirus. He remained admitted for a fortnight.