India Coronavirus Dispatch: Up to 4.9 mn excess deaths likely - study

Doctor contracts two variants at the same time, study finds over 119,000 children lost at least one parent or grandparent to Covid, and more-news relevant to India's fight against the pandemic

Over 42,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 42,015 fresh coronavirus infections on Wednesday, taking the cumulative caseload to 31.2 million, according to central health ministry data. The country saw 3,998 more deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 418,480. The active caseload is at 407,170, while the total recoveries have surged to 30.4 million. As many as 415 million vaccine shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 3.4 million were given on Tuesday. Read more

Up to 4.9 million ‘excess deaths’ likely so far during pandemic in India: Study

A study published by a US-based think tank and authored by India’s former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, among others, said the ‘excess deaths’ caused during the pandemic may be as high as 4.9 million, according to a report in ThePrint said. The country's official death count as of the end of June this year was around 400,000. ‘Excess deaths’ mean additional fatalities recorded during the pandemic, as compared to a corresponding period in pre-pandemic years.  Read here

Over 119,000 children in India lost at least one parent or grandparent to Covid: Study

A study published in the medical journal Lancet said over 119,000 children across the country lost their primary or secondary caregivers to the pandemic between March last year and April this year, according to a report in the Scroll. Primary caregivers refer to parents, while secondary caregivers include grandparents. Of the total numbers, 90,751 children lost their fathers, while 25,500 children lost their mothers. Twelve children lost both their parents. “Children losing primary caregivers have higher risks of experiencing mental health problems, physical, emotional and sexual violence, and family poverty,” according to the study. Read here

Doctor contracts alpha and delta variants at the same time

A doctor in Assam may be the country’s first case of an individual getting infected with two different variants of the novel coronavirus at the same time, PTI reported. The doctor, despite being fully vaccinated, got infected by both Alpha and Delta variants. There have been few such instances in the UK, Brazil and Portugal but such a case has not been reported from India so far, a senior scientist at ICMR said. Read more

Delhi: Covid vaccination centre for pregnant and lactating women set up

A dedicated Covid vaccination centre for pregnant and lactating women has been set up in Delhi’s Mangolpur, a report in The Indian Express said. Earlier this month, the central health ministry had announced that pregnant women are now eligible for vaccination. The dedicated centre allows walk-in registrations for the women, including for their immediate and eligible family members. Regular awareness sessions regarding women-related welfare schemes have also been arranged at the centre, the report said. Read more