India Coronavirus Dispatch: Eighth record daily case spike in nine days

HC pulls up Gujarat govt for disparity in Covid numbers, activists fear migrants are vulnerable again, a virus that's both deadly and dodgy-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Over 217,000 fresh cases in yet another record daily spike

India reported 217,353 fresh coronavirus infections on Friday, taking the cumulative caseload to 14.2 million, according to a report in the Hindustan Times. The country saw 1,185 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 173,123, according to central health ministry data. The active caseload is at 1.5 million, while the total recoveries have surged to 12.5 million. This was the eighth record daily increase in the last nine days, the report said. Read more here

HC pulls up Gujarat govt for discrepancies in Covid numbers

The Gujarat high court has pulled up the state government for alleged discrepancies in Covid-19 caseloads and also said the state is facing a "tsunami" of cases, a report in the Hindustan Times said. The court was hearing a suo moto petition into the state’s handling of the Covid crisis. “The figures given by the state are not matching with the actual number of positive cases,” a division bench said. On Thursday, the state registered 8,152 fresh infections and 81 new deaths, taking the tally to 375,768 cases and 5,089 fatalities. Read more here

Ahmedabad: Covid strain causing lung damage, delayed symptoms

Doctors say some of the symptoms Covid patients are facing in Ahmedabad include lung damage and the sudden onset of pneumonitis (lung inflammation), a report in ThePrint said. Reports from across the country have suggested that the spike in coronavirus cases is due to a ‘double mutant’ variant. But in Ahmedabad, not only does the coronavirus seem more destructive, but is showing unpredictable behaviour, leaving doctors concerned. Read more here
 

Migrant workers vulnerable again: Activists

Activists say migrant workers could once again suffer loss of wages and a lack of social protections as state governments announce lockdowns and curfews to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a report in The Hindu said.

Not much has changed a year after tens of thousands of migrant workers made their way back to their home states after the nationwide lockdown was announced in March, the activists said referring to the migrants' quality of life and living conditions. “Workers in the informal sector think that if there is a lockdown again, they could be stranded and so have started returning to their villages. After the lockdown last year, many of these workers could not get back their jobs as the contractors who hired them did not want to take the responsibility of paying them lockdown wages,” said All-India Trade Union Congress general secretary Amarjeet Kaur. Read more here

Past Covid infection is no guarantee for immunity even in young: Lancet study

A study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, a medical journal, has found that vaccinations are necessary to boost immune responses even in young people who have been previously infected, a report ThePrint said. The researchers suggested that young people should take the vaccine wherever possible. Read more here