Camelia Bhattacharyya, Amity University Kolkata
The coronavirus, or the virus which has resulted in the whole world to shutdown, the ecosystem to change and us to depend completely on technology (to manage the economic conditions) and their immunity (since its more or less the survival of the fittest) first started its game in Wuhan, China. Since then, it has resulted in panic among almost the entire world, turning a few countries into cemeteries and battlegrounds. Our own country, India is no less affected by COVID-19.
India, with a population of over 138 crores (17.7% of the world), is the second most populated country after China and now the second-highest COVID-19 infected land after the US. As reports suggest, till the evening of 13th October, the country has recorded for almost 71.8 lakhs confirmed cases of which over 62 lakhs have recovered, over 1 lakh deceased and over 8 lakhs are active. Maharashtra, the economic capital of India is the highest infected Indian state with over 15 lakhs confirmed cases out of which over 2 lakhs are active, almost 13 lakhs have recovered and over 40 thousand deceased (after 77 lakhs tests). Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Kerela, Odisha, and Telangana are the next in the top 10. So far, an 8.9 crores test has been done. Though the country had been running as many as 90 thousand cases per day for most of September, October has brought new hopes. The number of cases recorded per day seems to have decreased since last week, so is the death rate. The recovery rate is also noted to be quite high. Currently, for the last 9 days, the increase in active cases per day ( Recovered- New infected) is in the negative range. So is it a sign of hope?
Though few critics have claimed that Maharashtra and Assam have a declined rate of testing, thus resulting in lower detected cases, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat seem to have really low cases after proper testing and tracing; this again gives us the hope that the graph has already reached the highest peak in the log scale and is now lagging down. But, this still does not mean that we are safe and until and unless the vaccine is out, we need to take proper measures against the pandemic.
Also read: Is transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection from mother to child possible during pregnancy?
Source: https://www.covid19india.org/
Factor D: Can blocking immune system pathway stop COVID-19?
Husna, Amity University Kolkata As the world is waiting anxiously for a powerful and effective vaccine against covid-19, researchers are also trying to identify how coronavirus attacks the body to stop its devastating impact. One such possible way has been discovered in a recent study by researchers of John Hopkins University. This can be done […]