India Coronavirus Dispatch: What explains Bihar's pandemic curve?

Delhi loses landmark hotel, Centre tells SC only six states have health laws, Covid patients could suffer severe brain impact--news on how the country is coping with the pandemic

Delhi loses landmark hotel: Hotel Broadway, a landmark spot for politicians, industrialists and film actors has shut shop. The closure happened just as the city began to reopen. The major reason, say hotel management, was the hotel’s heavy reliance on foreign tourists. As tourism died down amid the pandemic, they were left with no choice but to pull the shutters down. The six-decade old hotel employed 44 people. A door outside the place has a sign which reads, “no longer economically viable”. The hotel was also home to a bar named “Thugs” and a restaurant named “Chor Bizarre”, both of which had a regular flock of customers who appreciated its zanny decor. Cocktails named after iconic Bollywood figures were also a crowd favourite. Read more here

Only six states have health laws: The Centre has informed the SC that only six Indian states have enacted a public health law. Eight states, meanwhile, do not have any intention to enact a law. Further, only nine states are currently in the process of formulating one. The data was revealed before the apex court during a PIL hearing calling for a cap on prices for Covid-19 treatment in private hospitals. This is despite the CJI asking Centre to direct states to put into place a legal framework similar to the National Health Bill, 2009. The Health Ministry’s affidavit reveals that only Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam have their own laws. Nagaland and Haryana have proposed to adopt the central government Act. Read more here

Long Read

Bihar’s pandemic: In July, senior bureaucrat in Bihar’s home department, Umesh Rajak, spent a night lying on the footpath of the AIIMS premises in Patna. A few days later, he died of Covid-related complications. By October, most of the fear created by scenes like these had disappeared. Some experts say the relatively good performance of the state is on account of data collection methods that are deviant from standard protocol. An expert points out that most tests in the state are RT-PCR tests. But the state govt’s policies to tackle the pandemic has supporters as well. An expert points to the fact that Bihar was an early adopter of home isolation for those who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. Others say that people in Bihar are not going to hospitals because isolating for two weeks is not an affordable option. Read more here

Understanding Covid

Antibody response: A new study has found that our antibody response to coronavirus could decline over time. An analysis of prevalence of antibodies over time shows a clear decline, say researchers. What is not known yet is whether this decline leaves people vulnerable to reinfections. Secondly, it’s also not clear if the antibodies provide any effective level of immunity. The study also found that the distribution of antibodies across age groups is unequal. People aged 18 to 24 had the highest prevalence of antibodies and showed the slowest rate of decline of antibodies. Those aged 75 and over had the lowest prevalence of antibodies and reported the highest rate of decline as well. A conclusion that can be made with certainty, say researchers, is that the only way to tackle the pandemic is through a vaccine as herd immunity is still far off. Read more here

Effect on brain: People recovering from Covid-19 may suffer significant brain function impacts, according to a new study. It further points that the worst cases of the infection are linked to mental decline equivalent to the brain ageing by 10 years. In some severe cases, the coronavirus infection is linked to substantial cognitive deficits that last for months. Cognitive tests measure how well the brain performs tasks –-such as remembering words or joining dots on a puzzle. The deficits were noticed particularly among those who had been hospitalised. However, the results should be viewed with some caution. The researchers were not aware of the cognitive ability of patients before they tested positive. Secondly, the study involved a large number of people who self-reported having had Covid-19 but who had no positive test. Read more here