India coronavirus dispatch: Can one spread virus if one isn't symptomic?

Thane, Navi Mumbai wrestle with Covid surge, Chennai hospitals stretched, and a look at India's evolving strategy on testing for Covid-19-a roundup of news on how India is dealing with the pandemic

Interview 

Critical Covid-19 care in Chennai’s hospitals ‘maximally stretched’: Chennai has gone back into lockdown. The number of cases continues to rise and that continues to be worrying for everyone — including in government, public policy, public health and the doctors. What has been happening in the last 60 or 70 days, and more importantly, what lies ahead? Read this interview with Raymond Dominic Savio, critical care consultant at Apollo Hospitals, and chairperson, Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine, Chennai, and N Kumarasamy, chief and director, Infectious Diseases Medical Centre at the Voluntary Health Services Hospital, Chennai.
 

Managing Covid-19

Now, Thane, Navi Mumbai wrestle with Covid surge, find ‘a Mumbai contact’ in most cases: Even as Covid-19 cases in Mumbai seem to have plateaued this month, the city’s satellite towns like Navi Mumbai and Thane are seeing a sudden spurt. Struggling against Covid-19 amid a manpower crunch and inadequate healthcare facilities, the civic bodies in all these towns cite a common factor for their predicament- their proximity to Mumbai. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) comprises eight major civic bodies that oversee the municipal limits of Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayander, Thane, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Ulhasnagar, Kalyan Dombivli, and Panvel. Read more here.

AP docs oppose govt involving Rural Medical Practitioners in Covid-19 surveillance: The pan-demic has revived a longstanding debate in Andhra Pradesh over the legitimacy of the Rural/Registered Medical Practitioners or RMPs. With the increase in the number of Covid-19 patients in the state and the spread of infections beyond urban to rural areas, health department officials and district authorities are starting to rope in the RMPs to aid them in detecting Covid-19 patients. However, medical and health professionals are objecting to the government's engagement with RMPs, expressing discomfort with legitimising the RMPs’ practice of what many doctors describe as ‘quackery’. Read more here.
 

India’s Covid testing has doubled in June, but positivity rate still around 7-8 per cent: India’s Covid-19 burden is touching new highs every day, but the national positivity rate has continued to hover around the 7-8 per cent mark, except on Sundays, when the testing numbers fall and the per-centage of positive cases crosses 9 per cent. Experts say this could mean the incidence of infection across the country has remained largely constant, though there are wide variations in positivity rates between states — Delhi sits atop the list with 23 per cent positivity rate, low-testing Telangana has registered 18 per cent, while West Bengal has just 3.5 per cent. Read more here.

Delhi and Mumbai’s high Covid tally linked to severe air pollution levels, say experts: The rise of Covid-19 cases in the national capital and Mumbai, the two worst affected cities in India, is linked to their air pollution levels, experts have said. Health and climate experts said higher air pollution levels in these cities over a prolonged period have compromised the population’s immunity, making them more susceptible to the coronavirus. Read more here.

50 Ads for ‘Covid Cures’ by ayurvedic, homeopathic drug makers flagged in April: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) said it found 50 campaigns by Ayurvedic and homeo-pathic drug makers offering cure for Covid-19 in April alone, and had flagged them to the Union government for action. The advertisements were across media platforms and were found to be vio-lating Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) order dated April 1, 2020, prohibiting publicity and advertisement of AYUSH-related claims, the self-regulatory body said in a statement. Read more here.

What is bilateral air bubble? Why is India considering it? Ministry of Civil Aviation on 23 June, said that it has received requests from several countries that their air carriers be allowed to participate in the transportation of passengers along the line being conducted by Air India under ‘Vande Bharat’ mission. The ministry added that it is considering establishing "bilateral bubbles" between such countries. So, what exactly are bilateral air bubbles? Why is India considering it at a time when cases are spiking? Here’s all you need to know. Read more here.

Understanding Covid-19

A look at India’s evolving strategy on testing for Covid-19: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) made a large shift in Covid-19 testing strategy, calling for “all symptomatic individuals in every part of the country” to be tested. It also urged private hospitals, offices, and public sector units to conduct antibody testing as a surveillance measure.A look at how ICMR’s testing protocols have evolved since the outbreak began. Read more here.

Can people spread the Coronavirus if they don’t have symptoms? Screening for symptoms of Covid-19 and self-quarantine are good at preventing sick people from spreading the coronavirus. But evidence is suggesting that people without symptoms are spreading the virus too. Monica Gandhi, an infectious diseases physician and researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, explains what is known about asymptomatic spread and why she thinks it may be a big part of what is driving the pandemic.

Until we know more about the coronavirus, it is vital to be wary of ‘fast science’: The Lan-cet and the New England Journal of Medicine are among the most influential scientific journals in the world. Both have recently had to retract studies on the effectiveness of Covid-19 treatments after doubts were raised about the underlying data. The scandal reveals the dangers of “fast sci-ence”. In the face of the virus emergency, research standards have been relaxed to encourage faster publication and mistakes become inevitable. Read more here.

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