Brazil suffers new waves of Covid .. .. Toronto thanks Modiji for the vaccine

 

Election fever is catching up in Tamil Nadu.  The ruling AIADMK has  released its second list of candidates -  as many as 27 former ministers have been renominated. The party will contest on its ‘Two leaves’ symbol in 177 constituencies across the state and nine in Chennai.  TN CM Mr Edappadi is in news not for election campaigns but also for taking Covid vaccine today.

 

Miles away, in what underlines the success of New Delhi's vaccine diplomacy, billboards have come up in Greater Toronto area thanking Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji  and India for providing COVID-19 vaccines to Canada. India has been at the forefront of supplying vaccines to various nations in the world and the gesture has earned accolades not only from allies and global bodies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), but even from individuals committed to the betterment of human society.  Last week, Canada received 500,000 doses of Covishield vaccine, the consignment of which was received by Canadian partner Verity Pharmaceuticals. 

India's outreach was lauded by the WHO last month. "Thanks, India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting vaccine equity. Your commitment to COVAX and sharing COVID-19 vaccine doses is helping 60+ countries start vaccinating their health workers and other priority groups. I hope other countries will follow your example," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said.  

Back home the  Union health ministry has  expressed concern over the steady rise in the number of daily Covid-19 infections in Maharashtra as well as the rest of the country. "We are very worried about Maharashtra — across several districts. We have seen their names. As we came here, we came to know that very strict lockdown is being imposed in Nagpur in particularly. So we are reaching a situation where those approaches are being brought back. This is a very serious issue for us," Niti Aayog member (health) VK Paul said.  In view of the sudden spike in Covid-19 cases in Kerala, the Coimbatore district administration has made E-pass and Covid-19 negative certificate mandatory for any passenger coming from the neighbouring state to Tamil Nadu through any mode of travel  As Covid-19 cases surge, residents of Chennai’s T Nagar have written to Tamil Nadu health secretary J Radhakrishnan urging him to enforce mask compliance.  “With reports about a surge in Covid-19 cases, the residents of T Nagar, particularly those residing in the streets off the Usman Road, are a worried lot. Residential apartments are sandwiched between commercial buildings. When Covid-19 was at its peak, most streets in T Nagar were containment areas causing untold miseries to the residents,” he said.

Tamil Nadu recorded 671 positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the state tally to 8,56,917. Among these, Chennai reported 275 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,37,716. The state recorded five deaths on Wednesday, putting the state toll at 12,530. All five had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 532 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 8,40,180. 

Globally it is 11,81,19,333 (affected) & 26,21,944 (deaths).  USA is the worst affected with 2,92,47,035 / 5,28,829.  India is presently 2^nd : 1,22,85,561 / 1,58,189 and is likely to be overshadowed sooner by Brazil which has 1,12,02,305 / 2,70,656.  Russia has 43,02,726 /88,773 while United Kingdom has 42,34,924 / 1,24,987.

In the wake of first wave of Covid – the dreaded thing was the spread, spurt and non-availability of hospital and nursing facilities for the affected.  India, perhaps has handled this too well .. .. .. one must remember, still, people are not totally out of the threat of dreaded Corona virus.  Brazil yesterday recorded more than 2,000 Covid-19 deaths, its worst single-day toll, as the country's hospitals have been over-run by the world's worst infection-rate. While President Jair Bolsonaro resists desperate calls from governors to impose lockdown rules, doctors are being forced to triage patients like they are in a war zone. Piaui state chief Wellington Dias described hospitals where patients endure the disease without a bed, let alone the intensive care they require. 'We have reached the limit across Brazil; rare are the exceptions,' Dias, who leads the governors' Covid forum, said. 'The chance of dying without assistance is real.'  

There were 2,286 Covid deaths on Wednesday and nearly 70,000 new cases in Latin America's most populous country which, over the last seven days, has ranked as the most deadly and most infectious in the world.   Sad to read that in  Brazil's wealthiest state, Sao Paulo, at least 30 patients died this month while waiting for ICU beds !!!  For the last week, Brazilian governors sought to do something President Jair Bolsonaro obstinately rejects: cobble together a proposal for states to help curb the nation's deadliest COVID-19 outbreak yet. The effort was expected to include a curfew, prohibition of crowded events and limits on the hours non-essential services can operate. The final product, presented Wednesday, was a one-page document that included general support for restricting activity but without any specific measures. Six governors, evidently still wary of antagonising Bolsonaro, declined to sign on.  Over the president's objections, the Supreme Court last year upheld cities' and states' jurisdiction to impose restrictions on activity. Even so, Bolsonaro consistently condemned their moves, saying the economy needed to keep churning and that isolation would cause depression. Measures were relaxed toward the end of 2020, as COVID-19 cases and deaths ebbed, municipal election campaigns kicked off and home-bound Brazilians grew fatigued by quarantine.

 

The most recent surge is driven by the P1 variant, which Brazil's health minister said last month is three times as transmissible as the original strain. It first became dominant in the Amazonian city Manaus and in January forced the airlift of hundreds of patients to other states. Brazil's failure to arrest the virus' spread since then is increasingly seen as a concern not just for Latin American neighbours, but also as a warning to the world.  Last week's tally of more than 10,000 deaths was Brazil's highest since the pandemic began, and this week's toll is on track to be even greater after the country posted nearly 2,300 deaths on Wednesday - blowing away the prior day's total that was also a record.

Have you taken the vaccine ? – Corona is not yet eliminated and we shall continue to wear masks, keep social distancing, sanitize and clean ourselves well. Precautions are always necessary as we continue to fight the dreaded Covid 19.

 
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
11.3.2021