India Coronavirus Dispatch: Cases retreat to lowest since March 17

SC says Kerala's move to lift curbs for Bakrid 'uncalled for', Oxfam says states that spent more on healthcare had better recovery rates, and more-news relevant to India's fight against the pandemic

Over 30,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 30,093 fresh coronavirus infections on Tuesday, taking the cumulative caseload to nearly 31.2 million, according to central health ministry data. The daily fresh cases are the lowest since March 17. The country saw 374 more deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 414,482. The active caseload is at 406,130, while the total recoveries have surged to 30.3 million. As many as 411.8 million vaccine shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 5.2 million were given on Monday. Read more

Kerala’s move to lift Covid curbs for Bakrid ‘uncalled for’: SC

The Supreme Court slammed the Kerala administration's move to relax Covid curbs for three days on account of Bakrid celebrations, a report in LiveLaw said. The court was critical of the decision to allow shops to open in areas where infection rates are high with the test positivity rate above 15%. "The relaxation for one day to Category D areas was wholly uncalled for. In these circumstances, we direct the state of Kerala to give heed to Article 21 of the Constitution read with Article 141 of the Constitution and follow our directions given in the UP case", the bench headed by Justice Nariman observed. Read more

Memory B cells in recovered Covid patients could provide immunity upto a year: Researchers

Researchers are revising their estimate of how long immunity from Covid lasts after infection, a report in ThePrint said. We may be able to achieve long-term immunity, due to the detection of memory B cells against the novel coronavirus in the bone marrow and lymph nodes of people who have recovered, according to a review in Nature journal. Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine have been periodically checking the immune status of infected individuals and now have data for up to one year. Read more

Bengal Class 10 board exam result records 100% pass percentage

The class 10 board exams in West Bengal recorded 100 per cent pass percentage, a media report said. The Madhyamik Pariksha (Class 10) examination could not be held this year due to Covid and the evaluation was based on the students' performance in Class 9 and internal assessment for every subject in class 10. About 90 per cent of the students secured more than 60 per cent or more marks in the new evaluation method, the report said. Read more

States reducing health inequality had fewer confirmed cases of Covid: Oxfam

A new study from non-profit group Oxfam has found that India’s low spending on public health and focus on supporting private healthcare has led to serious inequalities in access to healthcare, especially during the Covid pandemic, a report in The Indian Express said. States that have been reducing inequalities, such as Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, have fewer confirmed cases of Covid, said Apoorva Mahendra, a researcher at Oxfam India and one of the authors of the report. Meanwhile, states that have had higher GDP expenditure on health, such as Assam, Bihar and Goa, have higher recovery rates of Covid cases. Read more