The great pandemic: A longish update
First, the numbers: We added 414,182 new cases and 3,920 deaths. We account for one in every two cases and one in four deaths recorded worldwide every day. Not doing well: Karnataka which reported over 50,000 cases and nearly 50% of them were from Bangalore. The state’s positivity rate has climbed to 32%—i.e. every third person tested turned up positive. Also doing poorly in terms of positivity rates: Goa (41%), Delhi (32%) and Bengal (30%).
Looking ahead: The founders of BioNTech—which is the co-manufacturer of the Pfizer vaccine)—expect the pandemic to last till mid-2022 when “even regions with high density populations like India will reach a high rate of vaccination and herd immunity.”
About that oxygen shortage: Here are three stories that will enrage you (sorry!):
- 6,300 of the 50,000 ventilators ordered by the PM-Cares fund have remained undelivered—due to non-payment of dues. Funds allocated to buy ventilators: Rs 20 billion (2000 crores).
- The UP police lodged an FIR against a Lucknow hospital because it put up a notice saying it had an oxygen shortage. Police claim the notice intended to “spread rumours” and the hospital authorities were planning to sell the available oxygen on the black market. The hospital now plans to challenge the FIR in the Allahabad High Court.
- A Delhi court ordered that 12 oxygen concentrators seized from black marketeers should be immediately used for “the medication of police officers, judicial officers and their family members.”
Serious side effects: New research shows that the disease isn’t just deadlier for those with diabetes—but it also triggers it in those who didn’t have it before. The likely reason: The virus may damage the pancreas, which produces insulin. Fact: People who recovered from Covid are 39% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes in the first six months after infection than people who never contracted the virus. (Bloomberg News)
Another kind of side effect: India’s second wave is rocking the global shipping industry. The reason: many of the crew are Indian, and a number of ships have travelled via Indian ports:
“Industry executives also said that crews coming from India were testing positive for Covid-19 on ships, despite quarantining and testing negative before boarding. ‘Earlier we had ships that were infected with one or two people,’ said Rajesh Unni, chief executive of Singapore-based Synergy Marine Group, which provides ship crew. ‘Today, we have a scenario where whole ships are being infected very quickly . . . which means the ships themselves are immobilised.’”
As a result, ports are banning ships that have visited India, while others are barring them from rotating out their crews. Point to note: About 240,000 of an estimated 1.6 million commercial seafarers globally are Indian. (Financial Times)
About that variant: Initial studies show that the ‘double mutant’ variant poses a limited threat and doesn't appear to be more dangerous. Scientists tested the variant with serum taken from people who’d taken a single shot of the Pfizer vaccine:
“What they found was that while each of the mutations could partly evade neutralizing antibodies, the two mutations didn't combine to create an even greater ability to evade immune protection. ‘They don't combine to make a super mutant,’ Gupta said. ‘It kind of debunks this view that this double mutant is doubly evading neutralizing antibodies.’”
But the big caveat: A massive outbreak like ours usually spawns multiple mutations and variants. So we’re not exactly out of the woods. (Bloomberg News via NDTV)
Point to note: Genome sequencing in Maharashtra shows that the ‘double mutant’ and UK variants are dominant in the state—but virologists say there is no evidence that they cause more severe disease. (Indian Express)
About that Andhra variant: There was a scary report in The Hindu about a variant (N440K) detected in Andhra Pradesh that is 15 times more infectious. The government has pushed back—pointing out that the pre-print paper relies on outdated data from last year. And there is no evidence that it is playing a major role in the spread right now. Mint has more.
Vaccine good news: Real world data out of South Korea shows that both the AstraZeneca (Covishield) and Pfizer vaccines offer 86.6% protection after just the first shot. Also: Russia has approved a Sputnik Light vaccine—a one-dose jab that offers 79.4% protection—compared to 91.6% from two doses.
Foreign aid: A number of stories have raised questions along delays in distribution, citing a number of possible reasons. One, there were no protocols or mechanisms in place to deal with the aid. And it took seven days to create them—while 23,000 Indians died of Covid. Two, the now issued guidelines are so complex that they create more delays. CNN has a deep dive into what’s happening on the ground. Quint takes an in-depth look at the role of red tape in creating those delays.
So you want to help: Subscriber Smarinita Shetty is the founder of India Development Review—which has pulled together a carefully vetted list of NGOs involved in Covid relief. It’s an excellent place to start if you want to do your bit to help—whether you are in India or abroad.
Two Twitter things
One: Bigger image previews so you can see more of a photo or meme. Like so:
Two: Prompts that will nudge you to be more polite or nice when you’re composing a tweet—by asking if you want to “review this before tweeting” to avoid “potentially harmful or offensive language.” (BBC News)
Science confirms ‘small dog’ syndrome
Researchers in Helsinki collected data on 9,000 dogs across the world and found that small, old, or male dogs—and those belonging to first-time owners are most likely to attack humans. The reason why small dogs are more aggressive:
“They are more vulnerable — even to being trodden on. They live in a world of bigger things, so there is a possibility that they may be more fearful to start off with — and they are less likely to be trained in the same way, because the consequences of being nipped or bitten are not so severe.”
That said, the list of most aggressive breeds also includes German Shepherds. The #1 peace-loving pooch: a Labrador, of course! The Guardian has an entertaining take on this story.
Pranati Nayak’s big Olympic feat
The 26-year old is now the second-ever Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics. The Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championship—a qualifying event for the Tokyo Olympics—was cancelled on Tuesday due to the pandemic. So now the event that matters is last year’s tournament—where Nayak clinched a bronze medal in Vault. The Bridge has more on this bus driver’s daughter from Bengal. Below is her medal-winning moment:
Starship finally nails its landing
The SpaceX rocket—which is supposed to deliver astronauts to the lunar surface—has successfully completed a six-minute test flight on its fifth attempt. All previous flights ended in fiery explosions before, during or soon after touchdown. The Guardian has more details. Watch a full 15-minute video of the flight here. Or the 15-second clip of the finale below.
The hottest baby names
The popular website Nameberry has released the list of names most beloved to new parents around the world. While Luna appears to be very popular in a number of countries—Australia, Brazil, Canada etc.—the top 5 names for boys in India includes, umm, Danger (??!). The #1 is mercifully Aarav, while it’s Anjali for girls. BuzzFeed News has an entertaining time-pass list broken down by countries.
Speaking of new names: The once banned PubG will soon be relaunched as ‘Battlegrounds Mobile’—exclusively created for India. No doubt, Akshay Kumar’s FAU-G isn’t worried at all. Mint has more on what it will mean for the e-sports market in India.
Also staging a comeback: Domino’s “devilish, bucktoothed, rabbit-eared” mascot Noid—who was phased out almost three decades ago. Washington Post has more on the character’s colourful history. You can check out Noid being his villainous self below:
