Covid-19: Entrepreneurs urge PM Modi to scale up testing infra, capacity

India must increase its efforts for asymptomatic testing at a large scale to diagnose community transmission, say entrepreneurs in their representation

India remains at the bottom among all nations affected by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) when it comes to testing suspected cases, even as the number of cases in the country is increasing rapidly. There is a dire need for India to test, not just those who might die, but also those who might spread the virus. A group of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to scale up testing infrastructure and capacity by allowing the private sector to participate in the testing process.

In a presentation prepared by venture capitalists and founders of 51 start-ups and businesses, including Abhiraj Singh Bhal, co-founder of Urban Company (formerly Urban Clap), CRED founder Kunal Shah, and Snapdeal co-founder Kunal Bahl, said that countries which had acted “early and strongly”, such as South Korea, Singapore and Japan, had been able to somewhat control the spread when compared with countries that acted late — Irab, Italy, France and the US, among others.

“With one of the lowest coronavirus testing rates in the world, the country must scale up its efforts by aggressively testing those with symptoms and those without symptoms, because asymptomatic people are more likely to spread the virus if they are not diagnosed in time,” said the presentation. It noted that India must increase its efforts for asymptomatic testing at a large scale to diagnose community transmission. As the number of coronavirus cases scale up, so should the testing of asymptomatic at the earliest.

According to the current testing protocols in the country, India can conduct up to 10,000 tests a day. And only those with a history of travel to high-risk countries affected by the virus and people who came in contact with those having tested positive are asked to be quarantined for 14 days, and those who show symptoms of the infection are tested.

As coronavirus becomes pandemic, here's how the world is dealing with it

Mainland China had 15 new infections, down from 24 cases a day earlier, bringing the total to 80,793. The death toll touched 3,169, up by 11 from the previous day

More than 127,000 people have been infected globally and over 4,700 have died, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements. Mainland China had 15 new infections, down from 24 cases a day earlier, bringing the total to 80,793. The death toll touched 3,169, up by 11 from the previous day.

EUROPE

• Poland has reported its first death from coronavirus. So far 47 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the country.
• Greece reported its first fatality, a 66 year-old-man who had returned from a religious pilgrimage to Israel and Egypt at the end of February.
• Italy’s death toll from the coronavirus epidemic shot past 1,000 as the economic impact worsened. The total number of infections rose to 15,113.
• The number of confirmed cases across the UK rose 29% to 590 over the past 24 hours. Ten people have died.
• The death toll in France rose to 61 from Wednesday’s 48. The country will close all nurseries, schools and universities from Monday.
• Turkish schools will be closed for one week and universities for three weeks from March 16 and sports events will be held without spectators until end-April.
• Austria will deny entry to people arriving from Italy, ban indoor events of more than 100 people and close schools from next week until April, along with the Czech Republic which is also closing schools and universities.
• Bulgaria plans to declare a state of emergency as the country’s confirmed cases rose sharply to 23.
• Ukraine said it would restrict mass events and close schools and universities in capital Kiev.

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US spy agencies monitor COVID-19 spread; concerned about outbreak in India

US intelligence agencies are also focusing on Iran, where the country’s deputy health minister has fallen ill during a worsening outbreak

US insight offices are checking the worldwide spread of coronavirus and the capacity of governments to react, sources acquainted with the issue said on Thursday, notice that there were worries about how India would adapt to an across the board flare-up. While there are just a couple of known cases in India, one source said the nation’s accessible countermeasures and the potential for the infection to spread given India’s thick populace was a focal point of genuine concern.

US insight organizations are likewise concentrating on Iran, where the nation’s appointee wellbeing priest has become sick during a compounding flare-up. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday the United States was “profoundly concerned” Tehran may have concealed insights concerning the spread of coronavirus. A U.S. government source said Iran’s reaction was viewed as incapable on the grounds that the administration just has negligible capacities to react to the episode.

Another source said U.S. offices were likewise worried about the feeble capacity of governments in some creating nations to react to an episode. The U.S. Place of Representatives Intelligence Committee has gotten an instructions on the infection from the covert agent organizations. “The Committee has gotten an instructions from the IC (insight network) on coronavirus, and keeps on accepting reports on the episode regularly,” an authority of the House Intelligence Committee told Reuters…

India’s first coronavirus case: Kerala student in Wuhan tested positive

Around 806 people are under observation now, of which almost 796 are in-home quarantine

India has reported its first case of novel coronavirus in Kerala, where a woman studying in China’s Wuhan University has tested positive for the deadly virus. The patient has been kept in an isolation ward at the general hospital in Thrissur and her condition is stable, according to an official release.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state government was closely monitoring the situation. “While we need to be cautious, it is no cause for panic. Our health network is capable of handling any emergencies. People should avoid spreading the news that is intimidating,” he said.

Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a virus identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan. The death toll from the virus has risen to 170, and the majority of the victims are from China. According to Kerala officials, the state government has asked people arriving from China to “voluntarily report” to the health department for screening for the virus, and it was during such screening that the patient was detected with coronavirus symptoms. Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja has called a meeting with the health secretary and other officials from the Directorate of Health Services to take stock of the situation.