headlines that matter
Sheer chaos at the airport
Now we have takeoff! 532 flights and 39,231 passengers took to the air yesterday, and 630 were cancelled. The reason: last-minute curbs on flights to Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad—and a flight ban imposed by Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. No, nobody told the passengers until they arrived at the airport. Moral of this story: Airlines are happy to send you multiple SMSes telling you when to report at the airport, but not a single one to let you know not to bother.
The most popular route: Delhi to Patna, followed by Delhi-Bagdogra, Mumbai-Varanasi, Bengaluru-Patna, Delhi-Srinagar. These are likely Tier 2 and 3 city residents going home after being stranded by the lockdown. Here’s a live capture showing our somewhat busier skies.
Zero refunds: Passengers were given the option of either rebooking their flight or moving the money into a “credit shell” for a future flight. The airlines’ tech support was so bad that many passengers weren’t able to actually click on either option.
Social distanced flying: Arindam Majumder flew from Delhi to Bangalore, and kept a detailed photographic record on this Twitter thread. Point to note: Social distancing outside the airport… not so much! Here are some other images we put together.
Worst airline passenger: Union Minister Sadananda Gowda who flew to Bangalore from Delhi—and skipped the mandatory 7-day quarantine imposed by the state government on passengers who fly in from high-Covid count states.
Happiest airline clip: This reunion between a mother and her 5-year-old son at Bangalore airport.
Nine million tests in 10 days
The original source of the global pandemic—the city of Wuhan—isn’t taking any chances. It has conducted swab tests on nine of its 11 million residents. The reason: the emergence of a handful of positive cases in a residential compound. The result: 218 asymptomatic carriers have been identified and quarantined. (Wall Street Journal)
Jacinda Ardern keeps her cool
The New Zealand PM was speaking live on TV when she was interrupted by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake. This was her reaction. We love her.
A roundup of the latest Covid gyaan
- Bye bye hydroxychloroquine: The World Health Organization is temporarily suspending a trial of the drug as a potential treatment. Reason: a recent study showed that it doesn’t help patients—and may even hurt them.
- Vaccines: this excellent AFP infographic offers an elegant and clear summary of the 169 contenders under development—and how each of them work.
- Pregnant women advisory: A new study shows that the virus damages the placenta, affecting blood flow to the foetus. Despite this, 14 of the 16 newborns were full-term and had a normal weight.
- Bad news about heat waves: The rising cases in India show that really hot weather may have little impact on the spread of the virus. Times Top 10 explains why.
- A disease that baffles: A must-read from BBC reveals the many ways that this pandemic has surprised frontline doctors who expected it would behave like a typical coronavirus: "We've never seen anything like this before."
The Covid effect: The global edition
- South China Morning Post reports on the devastation wreaked on garment factories and workers across Asia. Hundreds of thousands are unemployed, and those that have returned to work are in a different kind of danger: “Just placing hand washing systems and checking temperatures at the entrances will not help. Inside the factories, when the workers work so closely, how will they maintain safe distancing?”
- Reuters flags the severe shortage of beds in Mumbai.
- Even big Tata execs aren’t immune to the pandemic. The CEOs and MDs are taking a 20% pay cut for the first time in the company’s history.
- Also hurt by the pandemic: robocalls from companies and scam calls from con artists. The reason: call centres have shut down in places like India and the Philippines. The volume of such calls dropped by nearly 50% the day after we went into lockdown.
- A Tokyo pub is now spraying customers with hypochlorous acid water—which has been strongly discouraged by the WHO. Other bizarre dining advice issued by Japanese authorities: “telling restaurant customers to sit outdoors, side-by-side while keeping conversation to a minimum.”
- The latest Covid-induced innovation in bridal wear. A handloom silk mask (see below) worn by a bride in Assam. Very pretty but may be not as effective.
Germ zapping robots in Hollywood
The movie industry is desperate to start production, and is looking toward increasingly bizarre solutions to social distancing. One such plan: using a lab-certified disinfecting robot that uses pulses of ultraviolet (UV) light to kill the virus. Apparently, the robot is able to deactivate 99.99% of the virus in two minutes with its LightStrike technology. (Hollywood Reporter)
India’s ‘bicycle girl’ says ‘no thanks!’
Jyoti Kumari cycled more than 1,200 kilometres for seven days, carrying her injured father home. The Cycling Federation was so impressed that they invited her to try out for competitive cycling. The 15-year old has now turned down the offer, saying, “Earlier, I could not continue my school education because of my family problem and I was occupied with the domestic work…but now I wish to complete my matriculation first.”