While many in the country struggle to avail healthcare services in the face of the second wave of COVID-19, others have turned to an alternative therapy of dubious efficacy — cow dung. “There is no concrete scientific evidence that cow dung or urine work to boost immunity against COVID-19, it is based entirely on belief,” […]
coronavirus
B.1.617: A continued global threat
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has criticised usage of the term ‘Indian variant’ to describe B.1.617, a variant of COVID-19 first identified in Maharashtra last year. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently notified B.1.617 as a “variant of global concern” – the same designation given to COVID-19 variants first identified in Brazil, […]
COVID-19 cases continue to ravage India
Image credit: quatrox / 123rf The COVID-19 crisis in India shows no signs of abating, as cases remain around the 400,000 peak. The situation remains dire, with figures consistently surpassing that of all other nations. India reported 403,000 new infections and 4,000 deaths on Sunday, indicating that — though the country may have hit a […]
Are COVID-19 cases higher than official claims?
India’s official COVID-19 figures are dire. As of May 11th COVID-19 cases number at 22,992,517 with 250,025 deaths recorded so far. Some commentators, however, have postulated that the actual figures are significantly higher. A Twitter thread by Dr Ashish K. Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, suggests that the fact that […]
Mild COVID-19 cases: still at risk?
COVID-19 is often only measured through the narrow scope of its mortality rate. While the death toll is undeniably high, some disregard the disease due to the mortality rate now being between a range of one and two percent. However, some individuals, even those with mild symptoms, can experience lasting effects. So-called “Long COVID” is […]
Oxygen supplies condemned amidst ongoing crisis
“Not less than a genocide,” is how the Allahabad High Court described the lack of critical oxygen supplies in hospital wards in a scathing rebuke. This remark was directed at the authorities responsible for procuring oxygen supplies, describing their negligence as a “criminal act”. Justices Siddhartha Varma and Ajit Kumar said at a recent […]
Quacks run amok as COVID-19 death tolls rise
India’s present situation is dire, as it is embattled by a second wave of COVID-19 cases. At the most inopportune of moments, quack doctors are providing false relief to people as hospitals struggle to cope with the burden. Of the most well known of these quack doctors is Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury — India’s so-called “COVID […]
Potential link between HIV and severe COVID-19 identified in study
A road sign aimed at promoting HIV/AIDS awareness in Himachal Pradesh. Image credit: John Hill, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons People living with HIV are potentially more susceptible to a severe clinical course of COVID-19 than those who are HIV-negative, according to a study published in The Lancet which has provided fresh insight into the link […]
Hospitals and staff overwhelmed amid COVID-19 surge
A view of a hospital ward in Assam in response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic Image credit: AnjanBorah, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons The initial wave of COVID-19 in India had already pushed hospitals to breaking point. The second wave has seen both daily cases and death counts triple, with many now dying […]
Fraudsters taking advantage of COVID-19 misery
Chemical structure of Remdesivir, one of the items for which fraudsters are conning Indians out of money. Image credit: Hbf878, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Nicholas Parry India’s plight amidst the second wave of COVID-19 is dire. The death toll is rising and there is still no end in sight to the rise in cases. Many […]