NEW DELHI : A Delhi court on Thursday refused to extend police remand of businessman Navneet Kalra, accused in a case relating to the alleged hoarding of oxygen concentrators in South Delhi. The court sent him to judicial custody.

Earlier on Thursday, police had sought a five-day remand of Kalra to confront him with the transactions done through mobile phones, in which 23 banks are involved. These things have to be confronted with the accused, they said.

Additional Public Prosecutor representing Delhi Police submitted that the investigating agency should be given enough time to complete the investigation. The Delhi Police on Thursday virtually produced Kalra after the end of 3-day custody. Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa appearing for accused Kalra strongly opposed the remand application and submitted that Kalra is fully cooperating in the investigation and was no longer required for police custody.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court that it will implement “door-to-door vaccination” for the elderly and disabled citizens once the guidelines for the same are issued by the Central government.

“If the Central government introduces door-to-door vaccination policy, we will implement it,” the BMC submitted to the HC in response to a query raised by the Bombay High Court whether it would be willing to conduct the door-to-door vaccination for Covid-19 for the elderly and disabled citizens. The bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni indicated this during the hearing of a petition filed by advocate Dhruti Kapadia. In her petition, Kapadia pointed out that there are many senior citizens who are bedridden and cannot go out to a vaccination centre to get the much-needed jab.

The court rapped the BMC officials for not taking into consideration the elderly and disabled in their vaccination programme. “We are very disappointed with this stand. We are aghast to know that the BMC has succumbed to pressure,” Chief Justice Datta said. “What was the praise in the newspaper and media for… publicity? You cannot think for the elderly and bedridden. If you do not have stock, you stop vaccines for all. Why is this selective vaccination going on? Can you discriminate like that? What is the fault of those who are above 70 who are bed- ridden?” asked the court.

The ICMR recently discontinued plasma therapy for treating patients of Covid-19. Meanwhile, Dr D.S. Rana, chairman of a reputed private hospital in Delhi, told The Sunday Guardian that remdesivir injections were not successful for treating Covid patients and should be discontinued too.

Now, in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Guardian, Dr Naveet Wig, chairperson of the AIIMS Covid Task Force and HoD of Medicine, has said that both plasma therapy and remdesivir are effective when used on Covid patients.

“Plasma therapy has been found to be useful in specific conditions. In the first seven days since any patient is infected with Covid, if the patient is diabetic, if they are old and the body is less able to fight against this virus, and if they test negative for antibodies, then, if given good plasma, it will be effective. That plasma is an anti-viral medicine,” said Wig.

“Some science studies and the US FDA have said that within seven days, if we use plasma therapy for patients of Covid-19, it can be effective in the first three days. The strain neutralises with this therapy,” he further said. 

However, plasma therapy cannot be given to patients who have been infected for more than seven days because they already have antibodies, he added. Patients who are on ventilator support will also not be affected by plasma therapy, he said.

Regarding remdesivir, Wig said, “We do not administer remdesivir injections for every patient. Remdesivir is also an anti-viral drug, given to patients who are hospitalized, on low-flow oxygen and within the first ten days.”

He added that whether it is for patients with mild symptoms or for patients using a ventilator, it is for the doctor to decide. “The guidelines are only for guidance. The doctor who is treating the Covid patient knows better about what treatment is best for that patient.”

“We should treat illness like a disease. Science should be treated in the manner of science. Medicine is an art, and that art is available only with a doctor. Not available with a scientist,” said Wig.

Over 2.57 crore people in India have been infected with Covid-19 so far, with over 2.76 lakh fresh cases being registered in 24 hours, as per data on Thursday. The country also recorded 3,874 deaths, pushing the overall toll to 287,122.

The Health Ministry said on Thursday that seven states have more than 25 percent case positivity, while 22 states have more than 15 percent case positivity. However, it also said that the number of districts reporting a decline in case positivity have increased from 210 in April 29-May 5 to 303 in May 13-19.

Most notably, Delhi reported 3,231 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, the lowest number of fresh cases since 1 April this year. The positivity rate has also come down to 5.5 percent over the 24-hour period amid the Covid-induced lockdown in the national capital, which has been imposed since 19 April. This is the lowest positivity rate since 6 April, when 4.93 percent was recorded.

The recovery rate is as high as 95.5 percent in Delhi, the highest since 7 April when Delhi had 95.57 percent recoveries. In 24 hours, 7,831 people were discharged, taking the total number of recoveries to 13,47,157.

Delhi also recorded the lowest number of active cases with 40,214 since 12 April when 38,095 cases were registered.

In Mumbai, cases have decreased by 25 percent in the last ten days, and deaths have also reduced by 23 percent. On 10 May, there were 1,794 cases and 74 deaths in the commercial capital, but on Thursday, there were 1,433 cases and 59 deaths.

However, despite the decline in Covid cases in India’s worst-affected cities, the number of people hospitalised or dying due to Covid is still worryingly high.

Max Hospitals, Delhi’s biggest private hospital chain, has seen more than 30,000 patients being admitted during the second wave or since April first week. Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director of Max Healthcare, told a news channel that they had a monthly mortality rate of 6 percent during the first wave, which has increased to 7.6 percent this time. “In the 45 age group, mortality rate has increased from 7-9 per cent to 9-11 per cent this time,” he stated.

Officials of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital, Delhi’s biggest Covid-dedicated hospital, run by the Delhi government, say that late hospitalisations have contributed to the numbers.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope told the Centre that mucormycosis or black fungus, which has claimed 90 lives in the state so far, is a matter of “prime concern for the state” at present.

Tope made the statement after a meeting where Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually interacted with district magistrates and field officials on the Covid-19. According to PTI, 17 district collectors from Maharashtra attended the meeting.

The Delhi and Punjab governments have started acting on a war-footing following concerns that a third Covid-19 wave might be round the corner once the current second wave recedes in the country.

A three-member panel created by the Department of Science and Technology has told the Central government that the impact of the second wave in India will start to decrease in July this year, while a third wave will start within the next six to eight months. Acting on this, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal held a high-level meeting on Wednesday with officials to review the current Covid situation in Delhi, and to deliberate on the measures to be taken to prevent the third wave of the pandemic.

A report from Chandigarh said amid projections and concerns of a possible third Covid wave and its impact on children, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday ordered the Health Department to go into mission mode with preparation, which will include specialised training of all doctors in the Health Department by the end of June, while directing house-to-house surveillance to control the current spread of the disease in the rural areas.

In Dehi, Kejriwal prioritized the increase in the number of beds, along with an increased oxygen allocation and the creation of a special task force to protect children from the third Covid wave. He also directed officials to work on advance preparation for sufficient oxygen tankers and ensure proper functioning of oxygen plants for an optimum supply of oxygen to hospitals.

Kejriwal tweeted, “If the third wave of Corona emerges, we have to be prepared in advance to fight it; took some important decisions today in a meeting with the officials. 1. To create a special task force to protect children from the third wave 2. Adequate beds, oxygen, and better management of essential medicines.”

The third wave may require Delhi to be prepared with 40,000 oxygen beds, and the Delhi government is making preparations to install 10,000 ICU beds. Along with beds and oxygen management, management of medicines was also discussed. A committee comprising officials will be formed to overlook the availability of medicines, oxygen, and beds. A special task force comprising pediatricians, experts, and senior IAS officers will also be constituted as a part of Delhi government’s efforts to protect children from Covid’s third wave.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain were also present in the meeting along with officials of the Delhi government. In a bid to take precaution against a possible third wave, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has written to Union Health Secretary, Rajesh Bhushan, requesting him to issue necessary directions for emergency transport services/ambulance suitable for children and neonatals, in view of the high risk for infants and children in the possible upcoming wave.

Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Priyanka Kanoongo, in a letter to Rajesh Bhushan wrote that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is impacting several children and adolescents as India grapples with escalating virus cases in the second wave of this pandemic situation. She said that doctors have confirmed that even newborns and infants are testing Covid-19 positive, though their condition remains under control and rarely turns fatal. Further, a third wave is projected to hit the country and according to experts it may affect children in large numbers.

There are guidelines on the management of newborns in a maternity ward and in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), but there is an urgent need to reorganize a Neonatal/children Emergency Transport Service (NETS) to prepare specifically for neonatal and children for third wave of Covid-19, she urged.

Meanwhile, chairperson of the Covid Task Force for AIIMS, Dr Naveet Wig, on Thursday said that the Covid-19 crisis is “a dynamic situation” and to prevent a third wave of the pandemic, there is a need to keep changing strategies. Wig told The Sunday Guardian, “The Covid crisis is like a Test match, it is not a one-day match. We have to keep changing our strategies all the time. It is such a dynamic situation that no one formula will take care of this.”

“Public support is important. People have to understand this disease, how it happens. Until and unless people participate, we will not be able to prevent it,” Wig said. “Covid appropriate behaviour is a must. We lacked Covid appropriate behaviour after the first wave. That behavioural change led to the second wave. We have to wear the mask all the time, whether we are vaccinated or not,” he added. “We do not have to let the third wave come in the way the second wave came in. We need to keep the positivity rate in districts less than 5 per cent and less than 1 per cent in the village,” Dr Wig said.

Meanwhile, amid concerns of a possible third wave of Covid and its impact on children, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh directed the state expert group head Dr K.K. Talwar to look into all aspects of medical education, and to get training modules prepared for the Health Department. He underlined the need to ensure that all medical officers in the state are trained to deal with Covid, especially in children.

Expressing concern over the spread of Covid in rural areas, the Chief Minister directed that teams of Health and other departments immediately start house-to-house surveillance in every village. The teams should be equipped to give basic medicines without delay, and RAT testing of symptomatic persons must be done at the earliest, he said. He also directed that some CHCs in each district be prepared as L2 facilities, with oxygen concentrators and doctors with proper treatment protocols.

The model village of Hiware Bazar in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra is showing the way on how to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. From 1-20 May, there has not been a single case of Covid-19 in Hiware Bazar, located in the Nagar tehsil.

Over the last three decades, the village that has a population of 1,600 -1,700, has seen a transformation from being a drought-prone village to a model village, known for rainwater harvesting, water conservation, and management programmes.

“We have successfully managed to break the chain during the second wave,” Popatrao Pawar, the Up-Sarpanch of Hiware Bazar, told The Sunday Guardian. 

Between March-April 2021, 52 cases were reported in the village out of which five were on ventilator, but now over the past fortnight, there have been zero cases. So far, only two deaths from Covid-19 have been reported in the village. A lot of efforts has gone into breaking the chain. Social distancing is compulsory in the village and wearing masks is also compulsory. Even villagers are allowed to buy grocery once a week. 

Ashok Rao, whose family of six people contracted Covid, told The Sunday Guardian that when they got Covid, all of them quarantined at a village school. Within 15 days, the test reports came negative. He said: “Corona is curable and there is no need to create a panic.”

Mahadev, who used to work in the army, took voluntarily retirement from the army and is now working in the general administration department at the Mantralay in Mumbai. When he came to the village, his antigen test done and he was found Covid positive. He immediately quarantined at an isolation center made by the village panchayat outside the village. In this way, he saved his family from contracting Covid. At Hiware Bazar, rapid antigen test has been made compulsory for outsiders who enter the village and, in this way, the spread of Covid-19 is being checked.

A recipient of Padmshee award, Popatrao Pawar, up-sarpanch of the village said: “However, we are not going to lower our guard. We have made it compulsory in the village that once you come outside your home, wearing N-95 mask is mandatory.”

The gram panchayat provides the N95 masks and sanitisers to every household. In this 2,000 population village, house sanitisers have been kept outside houses.

Four vehicles have been arranged by the gram panchayat for ferrying serious Covid-19 patients to Ahmadnagar so that they don’t have to rely on government ambulance. The village has made its own isolation center where symptomatic patients are treated. Critically ill patients are shifted to the Ahamadnagar civic hospital. Since the last 20 days, not a single Covid case has been reported in the village. 

Villagers step outside their houses wearing masks; social distancing is being followed in the village. Every house hola in the village has a cow; they sell the additional milk at a near-by milk factory. Milk collection center has been set up inside the village which opens three hours in the morning and three hours in the night. The milk collection center has fixed timings among each household so that villagers do not come together at a center.

The gram panchayat holds regular meetings with villagers, informing him about the Covid trend. Hiware Bazar held a vaccination drive on Thursday where 70 peoples got the vaccine from 82-year-old ladies to 35-years-old frontline workers. The gram panchayat is making a list of people who will take the vaccine first. The lists include senior citizens and frontline workers. Till  now, 250 villagers got vaccines over a period of three months. Those who are coming to take vaccine, have to first go for antigen test. If the rapid test results is negative, then they l proceed for vaccine.

When 52 people got Covid, the gram panchayat made his own SOPs and Covid 19 rules and regulations. The SOPs specify that no social function can take place for another month; no gathering will be allowed. Mask wearing is compulsory and social distancing is compulsory even if one is meeting one’s neighbours. Ahmednagar’s Collector Rajendra Bhosale and Zilla Parishad CEO Rajendra Kshirsagar have appreciated the efforts of Hiware Bazar and Pawar.

On the ongoing agricultural activities, Pawar said that nearly 300 to 400 people come and work in the fields. “We have made arrangements for their stay near the villages,” he said, adding that in agricultural fields also, Covid-appropriate behaviour has to be maintained. Last month, 52 villagers where found positive, but due to the gram panchayat and Popatrao Pawar’s efforts, now the village is Covid free.