Coronavirus spreading fast outside China, airports to increase screenings

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said almost eight times as many cases had been reported outside China as inside in the previous 24 hours, adding that the risk of coronavirus spreading was now very high at a global level.

GENEVA/BEIJING : The new coronavirus appears to now be spreading much more rapidly outside China than within, and airports in hard-hit countries were ramping up screening of travellers.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said almost eight times as many cases had been reported outside China as inside in the previous 24 hours, adding that the risk of coronavirus spreading was now very high at a global level....read more

Fever in coronavirus infection may come after admission

More than 50% of coronavirus patients admitted into hospitals had no fever, and several had no abnormal radiologic findings, suggests new research.

A paper, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggested that only 43.8% of patients had fever on admission, and the number rose to 88.7% during hospitalization. Investigators studied 1,099 novel coronavirus patients across 552 hospitals in 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Data were obtained starting January 29, 2020....read more

March 3 COVID-19 Update

March 3 125 new cases, 31 new deaths (all in Hubei) and 2,742 new discharges occurred in China on March 2, as reported by the National Health Commission (NHC) of China.

March 2 1. 1st case in Morocco: a Moroccan national, resident of Italy, currently in stable condition in the isolation unit of Moulay Youssef Hospital in Casablanca....read more

3rd March: CMAAO Update COVID-19 - SARS-CoV-2

It’s all over now, practically a pandemic: 76 countries affected; reached all continents except Antarctica; community spread; no immunity in public; deaths in 10 countries; > 10,000 cases outside China; epidemics in China, South Korea, Iran and Italy (81% cases); cases outside China are 9 times higher than inside over last 24 hours....read more

The Seven Dhatus in Ayurveda

As per Ayurveda physiology, food is Brahman and contains the same consciousness as in us and this consciousness is the essence of any food. Any food digested is converted into three portions, the gross undigested food is converted into waste (feces); the middle one is converted into one of the Dhatus and the subtlest form gets converted into Ojas or the immunity....read more

How Corona Aware Are You

Health Sutras By Dr K K Aggarwal

Keep the volume of your earphone or TV to less than 50% of the permissible noise limit (less than 80dB).

Healthcare News Monitor

Coronavirus scare: Supplies hit, pharma hub in Himachal faces production crisis

The Indian Express- Gagandeep Singh Dhillon

Pharmaceutical units in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial belt of Himachal Pradesh have warned of suspension of production, with the import of raw materials used to make drugs hit due to the coronavirus scare in China. The price of paracetamol, an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) used to formulate a commonly used drug of the same name, has nearly doubled since January, and is now being sold for Rs 450-500 kg, industry sources said. The cost of methylcobalamin, a form of Vitamin B12, is up Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh per kg, while several ingredients such as alpha-lipoic acid have gone missing. APIs, also called bulk drugs, are key ingredients in the manufacture of medicines. Around 70-80% of APIs in India are imported. The Hubei province of China, the epicentre of the coronavirus, is the hub of its API manufacturing industry. In 2018-19, around 67.5% of APIs and drug intermediates in India, worth around $2,400 million, were imported from China, according to statistics tabled in Parliament. As per the Himachal Pradesh Department of Industries, the state has more than 300 drug companies, accounting for around 35% of pharmaceutial products in Asia and 60% in India, making it “the largest pharma hub of Asia”.

Covid-19 impact: Government panel lists essential drugs that can run out

The Economic Times - Teena Thacker

A government committee has identified various essential drugs including key antibiotics such as amoxicillin, moxifloxacin, doxycycline and tuberculosis (TB) drug rifampicin that could run out as supplies of bulk raw materials from China have been disrupted because of Covid-19 outbreak. A high-level government committee, which submitted its report to the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) last week, reviewed 54 drugs and said that out of these, 34 have no alternative.ET has seen the report. Out of the 54, it classified 32 as critical and essential, 15 as noncritical and essential and seven drugs as essential. Govt Calls Series of Meetings Today: Some of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used to make critical and essential drugs that don’t have alternatives include potassium clavulanate, ceftriaxone sodium sterile, piperacillin tazobactum, meropenam, vancomycin, gentamycin and ciprofloxacinamong others, according to the report. The panel had earlier asked India’s top research body, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), to review drugs totally dependent on China-made APIs and provide inputs on alternatives.

Coronavirus positive Bengaluru techie travelled to Hyderabad on bus, fellow passengers under watch

India Today- Ashish Pandey

The man who tested positive for the Covid-19 disease, or coronavirus, in Telangana has been identified as a 24-year-old techie from Bengaluru. The man tested positive for coronavirus in Hyderabad and has now been placed under isolation. His is one of the two new fresh cases of coronavirus reported in India on Tuesday. Earlier, three students had tested positive in Kerala; all were discharged after treatment. On Monday, the Telangana health minister confirmed that a 24-year-old techie from Bengaluru had tested positive for coronavirus in Hyderabad. He had travelled to Hyderabad on a bus. The government is now tracking down and placing under watch his fellow bus passengers. Follow live updates on coronavirus here. "He initially stayed in the Mahendrahills area of Hyderabad and was later admitted to Apollo Hospital. Yesterday evening, he was referred to the Gandhi Hospital where he was found positive for Covid-19. Later, a separate report from a lab in Pune confirmed that he was infected by coronavirus," Telangana health minister Etela Rajender said on Monday. The minister also said that the government has identified around 80 people who were in contact with the techie. These include his fellow bus passengers, family, doctors and staff of Apollo Hospital. All of them will be placed under watch for symptoms of coronavirus. We have also shared details of his company and of the bus with our counterparts in Karnataka," Rajender said, adding that the government is fully prepared to deal with the threat of coronavirus. Covid-19 first originated in China and has since spread to more than 65 countries. According to a tally by news agency Reuters, there have been over 89,000 cases of the virus globally, the majority in China. The illness has killed more than 3,000 people as of Monday. Caused by a novel form of coronavirus, there is no vaccine or treatment of Covid-19 yet.

Is Mumbai ready to tackle deadly novel coronavirus? Doctors raise concern

India Today- Pankaj Upadhyay

A senior specialist doctor in Mumbai has raised concerns over the preparedness of the hospitals in Maharashtra to tackle the highly contagious coronavirus which has infected a total of five people across India as of now. Two fresh positive cases were reported, out of which one was from Delhi and the other from Telangana. The senior doctor said that the hospitals have approached the state government many times in the past voicing out the need for separate facilities to tackle infectious diseases like the novel coronavirus but were turned down by the government on the excuse of lack of funds. "We have approached the state government many times in the past to impress upon the fact that we need separate facilities in hospitals to tackle infectious diseases, but, every time we are given the excuse of funds," the doctor said. "Now, when there is a global outbreak of the coronavirus which is highly contagious and about which not much is known, I dont know to what extent are we ready to tackle the menace," the senior specialist doctor in Mumbai said on conditions of anonymity. Is Mumbai ready to tackle the deadly novel coronavirus then? For the state, this is a challenge. However, the state government has informed, keeping the current global spread of coronavirus in mind, that it is ready with the required room facilities in every district hospital.