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What next can we expect of the pandemic? | In Focus podcast
Here are the latest updates:
67% girls in urban slums didn't attend online classes during first lockdown: Report
A study conducted in urban slums of Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Telangana revealed that 67 per cent of girls attended online classes and 56 per cent did not get time for recreational activities during the Covid-induced lockdown in 2020.
The study by NGO "Save The Children" in February last year also found that 68 per cent of girls, aged between 10 and 18 years, faced challenges in accessing health and nutrition services in these states. - PTI
70% adults in Maharashtra fully vaccinated against COVID-19: Governor
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday said 70 per cent of the adult population in the state is fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
There has not been any noticeable stress on Maharashtra's health infrastructure in the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which started around the third week of December 2021, due to the state's "pro-active role in pre-planning and vaccination drive", Mr. Koshyari said in his address to the state legislature's joint session on the first day of the budget session. - PTI
Centre directs States to replace near-expiry COVID-19 vaccines in private facilities
States and Union Territories must consider exchange of near-expiry vaccine vials at private COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs) with long-expiry vaccine vials available at government CVCs after due diligence, directed the Health Ministry on Thursday in a letter to all stakeholders.
It added that States must ensure that no vial of COVID-19 vaccine in government as well as private CVCs is wasted.
“The provision for entry of these exchanged vaccines is available in CoWIN,” said the Ministry.
Japan set to extend coronavirus limits, ease border rules
Japan is set to loosen border controls to allow more people to enter the country, especially students, while extending infection control measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus in several areas, including Tokyo.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will raise the number of people who can enter Japan to 7,000 a day from 5,000 at present, while students will be exempted from the daily intake and considered in a separate category, media reports said.
The move will extend an easing of the country’s strict border measures earlier this week that opened the doors to more students and foreign workers amid criticism from business leaders and educators.
Mr. Kishida is set to announce the new measures, along with an extended coronavirus quasi-emergency, at a news conference at 3:30 p.m. IST. - Reuters
Australia fully open to travel as last state reopens border
Australia was fully open to vaccinated travellers after Western Australia on Thursday became the last state to lift border restrictions.
Western Australia, which covers one third of the nation’s land area, closed its borders to most international and interstate travellers in 2020 to slow the spread of COVID-19.
But the state lifted restrictions on Thursday four months after Sydney began its staged reopening of quarantine-free travel and more than a week after all vaccinated tourists became eligible for visas. - AP
Next wave can’t be predicted: experts
Independent experts have criticised a recent modelling study from a group of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur that predicts a fourth COVID wave in India around June.
The study, uploaded on the preprint server Medrxiv, which hosts scientific work that is yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, forecasts the wave to begin precisely on June 22, reaching its peak on August 23, and ending on October 24.
Lancet study on orphanhood in India due to COVID-19 ‘sophisticated trickery’, says Government
Estimates in a Lancet article say that 19 lakh children experienced orphanhood due to COVID-19 in India during the first 20 months of the pandemic are "sophisticated trickery intended to create panic among citizens", the government said on Wednesday.
"The Ministry of Women and Child Development finds the Lancet article dated February 24, 2022 giving estimates of children affected by COVID-19 associated orphanhood very surprising. These findings have no correlation with ground reality in India as reflected from field findings," it said in a press statement.
