Counterfeiting of pharmaceutical products like PPE kits, COVID-19 medications, and sanitisers rose sharply during the COVID-19 lockdown as per an Authentication Solution Providers Association (ASPA) report
Few weeks lockdown in India can break COVID-19 transmission chain, suggests top US expert Dr. Fauci
Fauci said it is not necessary to shut down for six months, but it can be a temporary one to put an end to the cycle of transmission
PTI | May 1, 2021 | Updated 15:05 IST
Top US epidemiologist Anthony Fauci has suggested a lockdown for a few weeks in India as an immediate step to contain the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) as its deadly second wave shows no signs of ebbing. Fauci, in an interview to The Indian Express, said another most important thing in the immediate is to get supplies of oxygen, medication, PPEs.
Updated: Apr 23, 2021, 03:43 PM IST
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has pitched in to supply oxygen containers to several parts of the country amid rising covid cases. The Air Force s C-17 and IL-76 aircraft airlifted cryogenic oxygen containers from Air Force Station Hindan to Panagarh in West Bengal for recharging. Earlier, DRDO s oxygen containers were airlifted by IAF from Bangalore for COVID centers at Delhi.
Other than Oxygen containers, it has airlifted doctors and nursing staff from Kochi, Mumbai, Vizag, and Bangalore towards setting up DRDO COVID hospital in Delhi. Last year also, amid the first wave of the pandemic, the Indian Airforce had pitched in supplying essentials across the country.
April 23, 2021
India’s memories of last year’s lockdown are so bitter that political leaders in the country now seem afraid of using that word.
For instance, Maharashtra, among the worst Covid-19-hit states in India, announced stringent restrictions on April 5, shutting down nearly all private establishments. And yet, it called it “Covid restrictions” and not a lockdown. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, in fact, was clear that he is doing everything he can to avoid a lockdown in the state.
Similarly in Delhi, which first announced a “night curfew,” began “weekend curfew”
on April 17, which has now been extended to every day until April 26. All public places gyms, markets, shopping malls, cinema halls, public parks are closed, while public transport operates at a limited capacity.
April 16, 2021
With a massive second wave of Covid-19 sweeping through India, one in five infections in the world is currently being reported from the country.
How is India’s second wave different from the first?
To start with, the second wave is spreading much, much faster than the first, as visible in this graphic.
Our world in data
India’s second Covid-19 wave is stronger than the first.
Many experts believe the surge is partly fuelled by new strains of the coronavirus, including a more infectious homegrown variant found in 61% of samples genome sequenced in Maharashtra, the worst hit state. The laxity in preventive measures, coupled with the presence of new variants, has resulted in a nationwide crisis. Many states are reporting shortages of hospital beds, oxygen supply, medicines, even space in morgues and crematoriums.