Requirement of a positive test for the COVID-19 virus is not mandatory for admission to a COVID-19 health facility and no patient will be refused services on any count, the Health Ministry said on Saturday, announcing the revised national policy for admission to various categories of COVID-19 facilities.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday chaired the 25th meeting of the high-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 and reiterated the importance of full protection through two COVID-19 vaccine doses.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are the latest updates:
ICICI Lombard extends pay to COVID-hit staff
Private sector non-life insurer ICICI Lombard on Saturday said it will give up to two months’ gross salary in advance to all its COVID- positive employees.
The individual can pay back the advance in 6 or 12 monthly instalments at a later date, the insurer said.
The company will also reimburse medical infrastructure support expenses up to a maximum of ₹10,000 per family member, arising from home quarantine in case of infected employees.
Lt. Governor warns people of imposing a lockdown
Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan warned that a lockdown would be imposed if the people continued to flout guidelines issued to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the Union Territory.
Interacting with reporters after distributing free rice under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, launched to mitigate the sufferings of people during the pandemic, on Saturday, Ms. Soundararajan said the administration expected the people to adopt self-discipline and COVID-19 appropriate behaviour to prevent the spread of the virus.
Dharwad may see shortage of medical oxygen
Dharwad district may be looking at a shortage of medical oxygen in the next couple of days if the allocation is not increased in accordance with the number of patients from north Karnataka pouring into the district for advanced treatment.
The Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) and Hospital is the preferred choice for most patients. Private multi-speciality hospitals are also another reason for the increased inflow to Hubballi. This seems to be the likely cause of shortage of medical oxygen in the coming days.
Dharwad currently needs 45 tonnes of medical oxygen daily and is able to manage the active cases at present. However in the likelihood of more cases with oxygen requirement, it would be difficult to manage it, said another source.
Makeshift hospitals coming up in the district and additional beds being provided in other government hospitals are likely to further increase the demand for more oxygen.
Anti-COVID-19 drug developed by DRDO gets emergency use nod
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted permission for emergency use of an anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Hyderabad.
In a release issued on Saturday, the Ministry of Defence said that as per the order, emergency use of this drug as adjunct therapy in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients is permitted. It added that being a generic molecule and analogue of glucose, it can be easily produced and made available in plenty in the country.
The drug comes in powder form in sachets and is taken orally by dissolving it in water. It accumulates in the virus infected cells and prevents their growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production. Its selective accumulation in virally infected cells makes this drug unique.
Recovery rate plummets to 70% in Karnataka
Although COVID-19 patients are discharged from hospitals on the fourth or fifth day if they develop clinical stability, the State’s recovery rate has reduced considerably in the last one month.
From 98.1% on February 28, recovery rate reduced by over 1% to touch 97.8% on March 15. Subsequently, it further dipped to 96.3% by March 30 and 90.1% in mid-April. In the next 15 days, the recovery rate saw a drastic reduction to touch 73.9% on April 30. As of Saturday (May 8), the recovery rate has touched 69.9%.
Among the districts, Gadag and Chitradurga have the highest recovery rate at 91.76% and 90.51% respectively. Kodagu and Bengaluru Urban have the lowest at 61.14% and 61.69% respectively as of May 6.
Karnataka’s COVID-19 situation had witnessed a steady improvement since September with a healthy recovery rate of 90.7% till October-end.