India Coronavirus Dispatch: Pending cases surge at all levels of judiciary

Fatality rates low in the south, how mutations may be reigniting pandemic, experts doubt efficacy of vaccines against 'double mutant' strain and more-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Pandemic impact: Pending cases surge at all levels of the judiciary

In a year courts went virtual, pending cases at all levels have seen a large spike, according to a report in The Indian Express. For instance, the backlog of cases in district courts rose sharply by 18.2 per cent between December 31, 2019, and December 31, 2020, according to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), a government platform monitoring judicial data. In the previous year, the increase was 7.79 per cent. In high courts, the rise was 20.4 per cent compared to a rise of just 5.29 per cent in the previous year. Read more here

How mutations may be reigniting the pandemic

As many as 736 of more than 10,000 samples sent for genomic testing in recent months have turned positive for the UK variant called B.1.1.7 which is believed to be more infectious than the original variant of the novel coronavirus, a report in Science Magazine said. In Punjab, the UK variant was detected in 81% of 400 samples that were sequenced. Researchers are also investigating a variant with two mutations, E484Q and L452R, discovered in some districts that are seeing a large spike in cases. Health ministry officials have said the two mutations are associated with "immune escape", or the ability to evade antibodies and increased infectivity, although there is no evidence yet that this variant is causing the spike in cases. Read more here 

Poll campaigns turn decentralised in rural Kerala

As coronavirus cases are seeing a resurgence across the country, the usual scenes of people crowding around candidates during election campaigns are missing in many rural areas of Kerala's Kozhikode, a report in The Hindu said. A majority of campaign leaders have adopted a decentralised way of campaigning where small and local gatherings are prioritised. The participation of older citizens who often assume key roles in local politics is less in rural areas. Campaign leaders of various political parties said senior voters are mostly invited to neighbourhood or family gatherings where the candidates get a chance to meet them personally. Read more here 

Covid-19 fatality rates low in south India

A new study suggests that fatality rates for Covid-19 are much lower in many parts of India, especially in the South, compared to richer countries, an opinion piece in the Hindustan Times said. The findings of the study also indicated that middle-aged men infected with Covid-19 were half as likely to die in Mumbai than in a sample of high-income countries, 88% less likely in Karnataka, and 96% less likely in Tamil Nadu. Read more here

Some experts worried about the efficacy of vaccines against 'double mutant' strain

The discovery of a "double mutant" coronavirus strain in some patients in West Bengal has left experts and people waiting to get vaccinated worried about the efficacy of the vaccines being administered currently, a report in the Times of India said. Read more here