Time to adapt the Hong Kong Strategy

The Global pandemic has already disturbed the world's routine. With the lockdown going on in almost every part of the world it is getting difficult for almost everyone to think what the next to come.

The second phase of lockdown in India is getting over in 3 days. Some states decided to extend the lockdown in order to maintain safety. But at the same time, we have to deal with the economy as well as the food crisis which is predicted to come in the future.

The Indian government adopted completed lockdown from China. It was essential because of the dense population and highly social people. The administration believes that the pandemic has made the people more mature and sensible in decision making. The corona fighters are there to accompany in new strategies.

WHAT IS HONG KONG STRATEGY?

At the initial level, the strategy could not be adopted in India. Hong Kong didn't impose complete lockdown in the country. Many people wonder that India cannot follow that, but Hong Kong is also a densely populated country with 7.5 million population, still managed to control the pandemic to some extent in spite of the second wave of infection.

Let's count some major steps taken:

1. People cooperated in practising social distancing in a dutiful manner. Generally, the people here are social, like India. 
2. Contact tracing is actively done as it helped South Korea to recover quickly, now it has worked for Hong Kong and Taiwan.
3. According to the reports, the administration allowed the business to run normally, people should compulsorily wear masks whenever they go in public.
4. When WHO advised that a healthy person need not wear a mask, Hong Kong encouraged people about the importance of social distancing and wearing masks.
5. According to an American report, temperature checks have become routine at the cafes.
6. Large scale testing.

SARS OUTBREAK IN HONG KONG

Hong Kong was the epicentre of the dangerous SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)  which was also a coronavirus. COVID-19 is somewhat similar to SARS but the disease spreading is quite different.

Hong Kong somehow survived because the disease spread through the hospital, the medical officials were checked and the disease was controlled in medical settings. Once the cases reduced in medical settings, the outbreak stopped.

The lessons that were learnt from SARS outbreak helped Hong Kong to fight and contain the coronavirus to a better extent. In the densely populated country, the cases can be restricted to 1038 and 4 deaths, the effort is quite appreciable and a potential model for the other countries for implementation.

If the Indian government can assure better encouragement among the people to follow social distancing, wear masks, conduct serious testing at travelling and transport centres, appropriate restrictions at the public places, and better health facilities then it will be easy to control the economic damage.

We should wait and see whether India acquire the Hong Kong route or not?    

Plasma Therapy

Scientists in different parts of the world are trying hard to develop an antidote against coronavirus that has already created havoc in the major parts of the world. In such a helpless situation, plasma therapy is being seen as a potential treatment for the COVID-19. It has been trusted and tested in major countries.

WHAT IS PLASMA THERAPY?

Convalescent Plasma Therapy uses antibodies from recovered patients. It was discovered in 1918 and first used during the outbreak of Spanish flu (Influenza). 

When our body fights disease, it produces antibodies. In Plasma Therapy, the blood is taken from the recovered patient. It contains antibodies which, thereafter, injected into the body of a person infected from the same disease.

Care must be taken while donating the blood. It must be safe from other diseases otherwise it cannot be used for the treatment. Safe and healthy blood is then used for extracting plasma (the liquid part of blood that contains antibodies). If the plasma is rich in antibodies, then it is injected into the infected patients.

Blood must be taken from those who are physically fit otherwise he won't be able to qualify for plasma donation. The recovered person must be symptom-free in order to donate plasma.

SOME POSSIBLE DRAWBACKS

1. It may influence the natural immune response.
2. Blood from another body can cause infection.
3. May cause disease if the blood is not checked before.

HELPED IN THE PAST

1. Spanish flu outbreak in 1918.
2. H1N1 Infection in 2009.
3. MERS Outbreak in 2015.

PLASMA THERAPY AGAINST COVID-19

The trials were done in China to check the potential of Convalescent Plasma Therapy which showed some improvement in the patient. The researchers say that the treatment is a well-tolerated and clinical improvement is being seen by the way this therapy neutralizes the viruses in our body.

TREATMENT IN INDIA

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has already suggested and agreed with the treatment involving Plasma Therapy. Kerela was the first state to plan the trials. Delhi has recently completed testing Plasma therapy on four COVID-19 patients and the results were promising.

Two patients were Gujarat also gave a promising result after the test. Maharashtra, with the most cases, got approval for testing Plasma Therapy. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that Plasma Therapy can be the best option to treat people with COVID-19 until a cure for the disease is invented.

With such an incredible option, researchers are still working to find answers to some questions. As the old patients are more, their blood may not be fit for the Therapy. Which person requires how much antibody? Which patient will benefit and which patient is vulnerable to other infections?

Effective treatment lies in the answer. We can hope for the better results from the therapy in future.    

Lessons to be learnt from South Korea

The Global circumstances are right now one of the worst in history. The world is fighting hard against the COVID-19 pandemic. While countries like Italy, Spain, France, the USA, Britain, etc. are looking clueless in front of the deadly outbreak of coronavirus, South Korea has been fighting for long and for the last one month, the curve has completely flattened there.

A healthy decrease in the new cases seen

The interesting thing is that South Korea didn't impose the lockdown like other countries did. They didn't shut everything down. Instead, they made tactical decisions regarding schools, and sensible decision for other sectors also.

The WHO head for the emergency program said that the way wide testing has been done in South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong they were able to decrease the number of new cases quite comfortably. But Hong Kong and Singapore are seeing the second wave of the pandemic, while South Korea is quite stable.

MERS OUTBREAK IN SOUTH KOREA 2015

South Korea was hit by MERS(Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), a virus that originated in Saudi Arabia in 2012. There were other countries also hit by this virus. South Korea recorded 186 cases of MERS with 38 deaths.

It was really hard for the country to deal with it because the outbreak exposed the weakness of the nation's medical system against a sudden pandemic. This was a wake-up call for the South Korean government to improve in their medical system as soon as possible.

They started investment in controlling infectious diseases. Also, they prepared their medical teams to fight against the medical crisis that was likely to happen in the future.

SOUTH KOREA'S ACTIONS

Technical aspect      

The government regularly communicated and still communicating the number of infected people in a geographical area. The national, as well as local government websites, were updated regularly with correct information. Communication is the key to inform people in order to reduce panic among them.

Smartphone apps were provided so that people can get updated if their local area is infected by the virus. The protocols regarding social distancing, personal hygiene, etc. were communicated via text.

It is interesting that not only medical but also the technical sector of the country came forward and helped the nation to tackle the virus. The coronavirus 119 app helps the patients who are having symptoms of cold, cough, or pneumonia to connect with the doctor and get an early diagnosis.

There are self-quarantine apps designed in order to do two tasks:

1. Monitor the condition of the patient.
2. Alarm system if the patient goes out of the designated area.

There was an app introduced by the government that checks the symptoms of travelers coming into the country and gives them medical precautions.

The Prime minister of France and President of Sweden also asked for the procedures from the South Korean president Moon Jae-in to fight the coronavirus.

South Korea also used data from credit card transactions and cellphones to find out the social connections of the suspect. These details trace out the people who came in contact with the suspect. 

Medical aspect

South Korea implemented large scale testing urgently and that resulted in the test of more than 3,00,000 people be the end of March 20.

It has seen a spike in the new cases in mid-February but since February 29, the number of new cases started decreasing and the things looked to come under control.

The Foreign minister of the country said that testing is key because it would help in the initial detection and decreases the further spread of the disease. Aggressive testing was carried out and the suspected who are either seriously or mildly ill were hospitalized. Their near ones were quarantined.

The result was seen when the recovery rate increased and the mortality rate was negligible in front of the world's figures. Right now there are around 11000 total cases and 240 deaths recorded. The government decided to slowly permit removal of the lockdown being followed in South Korea. 

CONCLUSION

South Korea controlled the coronavirus even when the lockdown was not that strict, and ready to control if the second wave hits. We can understand that our country India is a densely populated and lockdown is extremely important.

But India is hit by pandemic many times in the past. Nipah virus outbreak in Kerela, Swine flu, a disease spread from lichi that killed hundreds of children in Bihar, etc. are survived and fought by us. But still, we were unable to take any lessons from them like South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong did.

Kerela was quite successful in its approach. But its time for the whole country to step up. There are lessons that the South Korean approach can teach us and can be implemented by India to some extent.    

Thanks for reading.

The Kerela Model

We all have observed how the danger of coronavirus originated in the starting of March month. When the cases were rising in India, to around 600-700, most of them were either from Maharashtra or Kerela. But within a few weeks, Kerela has controlled the pandemic to an extent quite appreciable.

Before getting into the "Kerela model", let's find out why Kerela was one of the initial hotspots of coronavirus in our country.

WHY KERELA WAS IN DANGER?

Before such a strong move against the coronavirus, there were things that became the drawback for the state. Ironically some of them were the strengths of the state and will be strength forever. The reason for pandemic hit in Kerela were:

1. Kerela's major export includes its skilled workers, for which it receives a healthy revenue from abroad.
2. Kerela is a hub for tourism not only for India but also for the people living across the world.
3. The first three COVID-19 hit patients were evacuated from the Wuhan by the Indian government during February.

The first two reasons were the quality that Kerela pursue. A state with the highest literacy rate in India certainly produces highly skilled workers which are in demand. But COVID-19 is something that hits the travelers more, and these workers were being exported.   

The third reason was the major drawback that played a key role in increasing the number of cases in the following weeks.

NIPAH VIRUS OUTBREAK 2018

In 2018, there was an outbreak of Nipah virus in the Kerela state. It symptoms include brain fever, fever with cough, and respiratory infection. The outbreak was mainly in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts. It killed 17 people.

Nipah also spread from animals to humans. It was considered the most dangerous. With no cure or vaccine, Kerela still managed to contain it effectively. This may be a very big lesson as well as motivation Kerela has in order to fight against Coronavirus.

HOW DID KERELA FOUGHT COVID-19?

By March 24, Kerela has more than 100 cases. The 2.5% population of the country had around 20% of the total corona patients in the country. If we analyze the data today, the curve has totally flatten for the state.

Kerela had a very decentralized system. In the healthcare system, there is an appropriate division of labour in both public as well as private sectors. When the Kerela was hit by a flood in 2018 this very system helped the state to recover.

Kerela imposed a strict lockdown before the national announcement. The quarantine period is longer than that of the nation, it is of 28 days in the state. Supplies are home-delivered mostly, even the mid-day meals are sent to the home as the schools are shut.

Thousands of state-employed health workers and volunteers conducted an aggressive contact-tracing. It was an approach that involved the society along with the government, even student came in, for taking maximum samples as done by South Korea. The series of such activities helped the state in controlling the coronavirus.

EQUIPPED MEDICAL SYSTEM

Kerela was the first test to procure rapid test kits from Mylab, Pune. It used the centrally procured polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Even the largest hospitals in the world are getting overrun, we have really important lessons to be learned from Kerela. From Getting the first patient in January to a very high recovery rate and very less deaths (just 3), is appreciable.

There were counselors who were constantly in contact with the normal people as well as workers working in the hotspot areas. They were discussing about dealing with stress.

There were more than a dozen labs in the state doing 800 tests per day which is quite a large and aggressive testing number, essential for the public's health. This helped in performing mass quarantine and information about the testing, quarantining or any other issue was put forward to the public on regular basis.

Kerela has the highest rate of communicable disease. People here are suffering mostly from diabetes, heart diseases, respiratory and liver diseases. Still, the healthcare system managed to work progressively and Kerela is consequently having fewer new cases and better recovery.



We can't say that Kerela is corona free but there is an approach that Kerela government is using. Not only the government but also the society is equally participating in spite of their own problems.
Sadly our media has no news about the Kerela model to show. There is no coverage of Kerela ever shown by the media. There would be debates going on about various other issues.

Maybe those debates make sense, but the nation needs a solution right now. We can't predict the future of Kerela but if the actions are done in a similar fashion as Kerela across the whole country we would be having better results and most importantly better learning.

Thanks for reading.    




   

Lockdown dynamics that went wrong

The country has been under lockdown for almost a month. Even in such a strict rule, the coronavirus cases are coming constantly. But there are some reasons behind the disturbances in the dynamics of lockdown and fight against the coronavirus. 
We came forward to the people in India who neglected the seriousness of pandemic that destroyed the majority of Europe.  

Let's first look at the things that the media is focusing on. It has been seen that there are debates going on media channels regarding Tabhlighi jamaat. There is so much buzz around the social media for the same. 

But here we shall see all the unethical activities going on in the country. Let's begin with the Hazrat Nizamuddin, Delhi.

THE STORY OF DELHI

The Tabhlighi jamaat event in Hazrat Nizamuddin was held in phases between March 1 to March 15 and was attended by more than 2000 delegates, including preachers from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. 

CONSEQUENCES:

1. On March 31, 24 people who attended the meeting were tested positive for coronavirus. 700 people were being quarantined.
2. Out of the first 40 cases of coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh, 20 were from Jamaat. Right now there are more than 600 cases with 15 deaths in that state.
3. Out of the first 67 infected in Tamil Nadu, 24 were either from jamaat or directly/indirectly in contact with the jamaatis.
4. Governments of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra are still in search of Jamaat members.
5. It was estimated at the start of April that corona cases were predicted to become double in 7 days in an ideal lockdown; whereas it doubled in just 4.1 days due to Jamaat members.

The government is in search of Maulana Saad who organized the event. It is said that he has been caught and further interrogation would be done after his corona test.

It is really sad to see the misbehavior of Jamaat members is harsh with doctors and police officials. This has created a big problem for the nation and FIR has been filed against them as well as Maulana.

THE STORY OF KARNATAKA

Karnataka MLA Masala Jayaram held a grand birthday party in his constituency in Tumakuru on April 10. He invited more than 100 people. 

It was ironic that he was educating the villagers about social distancing and also promised to distribute facemasks. But he arranged non-vegetarian food for more than 100 people and violated all the norms of social distancing.

THE STORY OF MADHYA PRADESH

The state has appointed its new Chief Minister as the Congress wasn't able to complete its majority. But unfortunately both the new government as well as corona pandemic happened simultaneously.

Even after a month, the CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has not elected the Health minister yet. In addition to this, an IAS Officer Pallavi Jain tests positive for COVID-19 but continued to work.

It is not less than a crisis that nearly 89 personnel of the Madhya Pradesh health department, including 4 IAS, 40 policemen and their families, and few doctors have been tested positive for COVID-19. There are around 50 deaths out of 890 cases in Indore, the highest mortality rate as long as other Indian cities are concerned.

Mp's health ministry, police, and civil service workers are in trouble. This clearly indicates the trouble for ordinary citizens in the coming future.

MUMBAI IN TROUBLE

A densely populated city of Mumbai has now more than 2000 cases of coronavirus. The cases are coming largely and becoming a big reason to worry for the whole nation.

Dharavi is one of the biggest slums of Asia with 520 acres of area and a population of over 700,000. The density is estimated to be 2,77,000/km.sq. There are around 110 cases with 10 deaths in Dharavi and no quarantining is possible there.

The gathering of a large crowd at Bandra station also created a worry because they were workers and gathered because of a rumor. 

We need to understand that there is a sacrifice not only by the fighters but also by the people sitting at home. Violating social distancing and lockdown is as similar as violating the code of conduct of justice.

Article by Mohammad Gunderwala.  

Corona virus and China

There are conspiracy theories being made with respect to the facts and news coming out. These conspiracy theories directly or indirectly target the Chinese government. Let us see what are the conspiracies and how good or evil China is.

MISINFORMATION THROUGH WHO

Statements made by WHO were found irrelevant by experts and officials in various parts of the world. WHO tweeted on January 14 about the coronavirus in which it stated that Chinese authorities had found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of COVID-19.

Trump also said that they (WHO) could have warned the world about the pandemic earlier, as in the months since it has killed over 1,00,000 people.

On January 20, Chinese authorities confirmed publicly that the virus could spread among humans. The same thing was declared by the WHO a week after the declaration made by China. It is very obvious that the WHO was getting all the information from the Chinese authorities, the series of misinformation has costed the lives of more than thousands of people in the world.

THE ECONOMIC TURNAROUND 

It has been seen that people are blaming China for making the whole world fall ill and when the economy would collapse it will help China to buy the majority companies of the European market to become economically strongest ever.

That's absolutely something that shows the real image but what can these big countries do? Is there any proof against China for solely spreading coronavirus or creating a virus? The answer is NO for now.

   

CHINA'S DEFENCE

With the rising questions regarding the outbreak, effects, and vaccine of coronavirus, experts look like they agree that it wasn't the product of human engineering. 
There are two possibilities:

1. Bats (or pangolins) have passed the virus to ant-eating mammals, which consequently passed it to humans.
2. A virus under the lab can accidentally released.

When the virus was looked by scientists, the characteristics that it showed gave the convenient evidence that it is not engineered by a human but it has naturally occurred, stated by Nature Medicine author. There were a lot of experts and researchers on microbiology who agreed to his statement.

But that doesn't save China from the fact that it didn't harm the world from the pandemic. There are still many things China will have to confront and answer.

BWC AND THE GENEVA PROTOCOL

BWC stands for Biological Weapons Convention which prohibits the development, production, and research on biological and toxin weapons and on their destruction.

The Geneva protocol (of 1925) prohibits the use of chemical biological weapons.

If you carefully look into the picture, China, USA, Russia, Britain, and other big countries have participated and accepted the terms of the Geneva protocol.

If the substantial proofs against the Chinese authorities are found in the spread and deadly outbreak of coronavirus in the world, the consequences and punishments would be according to the Geneva protocol.

THE BLAME GAME

USA has already said many times in front of the media that the virus is spread and created by China. Trump said that Chinese authorities are answerable for this.

Meanwhile, China blamed the US army for the spread of coronavirus. Trump denied all the statements made by China.

The Iranian government is blaming the US, Israel, and jews for the spread of coronavirus.
But the majority of the world is against China due to the number of reasons. Till now many truths are unrevealed and buried by Chinese authorities.


So, what's are the conclusion to be drawn after looking at these facts?
Most probably there are many investigations and many facts would be coming and hopefully, the real culprit would be in front of the world but the fight against the pandemic must be the priority for us.