What causes heat waves

Panic among parents, underlying health conditions or incidental coronavirus infection – these are the top reasons behind the admission of children in hospitals due to Covid-19, paediatricians across India told News18.com. While the doctors haven’t seen any increase in the hospitalisation among children in the ongoing third wave caused by heavily mutated variant Omicron, they are expecting a few cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) – a rare but possible side effect of Covid – by mid-February or March. More than half a dozen medical child health experts News18.com spoke to confirmed that children – in all the three waves – have only reported “mild Covid-19” disease and recover “within one week”. “This time, Covid doesn’t appear to be causative but is rather incidental in children getting admitted to Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU),” said Dr Maninder Singh Dhaliwal, associate director, paediatrics, Medanta. It means that children are not admitted in … [Read more...] about Children are Doing Fine in the Omicron-led Covid Third Wave, Say Experts, and Here are the Reasons Why

In the third week of November 2021, India was reporting around 7,000 to 9,000 daily new Covid-19 cases. The Covid-19 vaccination was getting accelerated and there was more supply of vaccines than demand. There was a glimmer of hope that by early 2022, life would return to normal. Then, in the last week of November, the emergence of Omicron (B.1.1.529) — the fifth and the latest variant of concern (VOC) of SARS CoV2 — changed almost everything. India now is in the middle of the third Covid-19 wave . The new cases have increased exponentially and on January 19, 2022, India reported around 317,000 new Covid-19 cases. Nearly all states of India are showing an upward trend with a rise in test positivity rate (TPR). The active Covid-19 cases have reached a seven-month high, in spite of change in the case definition, where a confirmed Covid-19 case is taken off the list of the active cases after seven days, against the earlier approach of being considered an active case for 14 days. … [Read more...] about Omicron is Like a ‘Flash Flood’. So How Much Longer for India’s Third Covid Wave to Ebb?

Globally, we see stakeholder segments at odds with strategy, and sometimes a strategy is completely missing or often confused with tactical and operational elements. This reluctance is seen in mature democracies as well as democracies with disorders. The primary reason is a lack of alignment on a common minimum shared containment and/ or mitigation programme. In the absence of a concerted strategy, the stakeholders are bound to go into cognitive dissonance. The latter is counterproductive since it is the root cause of non-compliance, ignorance, and poor adoption. Ideally, strategies should be across the nations, irrespective of local, state or national objectives. These strategies should be based on scientific rationale independent of political or other influences, they must be transparent and equally applicable across stakeholders. Especially with a virus-like COVID, it is imperative to remain ahead of the wave and not trail it, as the latter has implications on lives, livelihood … [Read more...] about Revoke Privileges of Anti-Vaxxers, Identify Target Group Before Next Wave Hits Them – The Covid Strategy We Need

It is premature to believe that Delhi, Maharashtra and other states have crossed the peak of Covid-19 third wave, Dr Samiran Panda, additional director general at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), told News18.com. According to Panda, who is a trained tropical medicine specialist and a scientist, Covid-19 infections are progressing and declining at a different pace in some states and districts, therefore, it will be “incorrect” to say there will be a collective peak for the country. “Different states in India are at different stages of Covid-19 infections, epidemiologically. The local data show different trends and we must understand that India — as the overall country – will not reach its peak, rather the different states will reach the peak at different times,” he said. The head of the epidemiology and infectious diseases division at ICMR, Dr Panda says India should to follow the ‘one-shoe-doesn’t-fit-all’ approach. “Just replace ‘shoe’ with ‘data’. Every state … [Read more...] about Too Early to Believe Delhi, Maha Crossed Covid Third Wave Peak: Top ICMR Scientist

January 17, 2022 08:08 A massive volcanic eruption in Tonga that triggered tsunami waves around the Pacific caused "significant damage" to the island nation's capital and smothered it in dust, but the full extent was unclear with communications still hampered Monday. The eruption on Saturday was so powerful it was recorded around the world and heard as far away as Alaska, triggering a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the United States. The capital Nuku'alofa suffered "significant" damage, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, adding there had been no reports of injury or death but a full assessment was not yet possible with communication lines down. "The tsunami has had a significant impact on the foreshore on the northern side of Nuku'alofa with boats and large boulders washed ashore," Ardern said after contact with the New Zealand embassy in Tonga. "Nuku'alofa is covered in a thick film of volcanic dust but otherwise conditions are calm and … [Read more...] about Huge Tonga Volcanic Eruption Caused ‘Significant Damage’

Data on new coronavirus cases recorded over the past few weeks suggest that the Omicron variant is spreading faster than the Delta wave did in 2021. India on Sunday reported 33,647 new Covid-19 infections, the highest in a single day since September 17, or in 107 days. Although the rate in which cases increase are higher, experts from around the world have said that the severity of infections is lesser. However, reports of the increasing rate of Covid-19 cases show cause for worry. In the week that ended January 2, there were 18,290 new infections of Covid-19 reported everyday on average across India. The previous week, seven days leading to December 25, the national seven-day average of daily cases was 6,641. In just a week, the rate of new infections has increased by 175%, data analysed by Hindustan Times showed. This is the largest weekly growth seen in the country since April 9, 2020, surpassing even the peak growth rate seen during the second wave, when the number peaked at … [Read more...] about Is India Staring at Third Wave? As Omicron Cases Rise, Data Shows Covid Spread Faster Than in Delta Surge

The pandemic is likely to end soon even though the Covid-19 infections will continue, according to a study published in The Lancet journal. “After the Omicron wave, Covid-19 will return but the pandemic will not," it has claimed. “Covid-19 will become another recurrent disease that health systems and societies will have to manage. The era of extraordinary measures by governments and societies to control SARS-CoV-2 transmission will be over," it said. The Impact of the virus, it pointed out, will be less going forward. “The impacts of future SARS-CoV-2 transmission on health, however, will be less because of broad previous exposure to the virus, regularly adapted vaccines to new antigens or variants, the advent of antivirals, and the knowledge that the vulnerable can protect themselves during future waves when needed by using high-quality masks and physical distancing." The study also said that a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine increases the level of antibodies that can effectively … [Read more...] about After Omicron Wave, Covid-19 Will Return But Pandemic Will Not, Says Lancet Study

Carbon emissions targets could be "bigger than Brexit" for the potential of causing unrest, and division in the country, an organising member of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group of MPs has warned. Serial rebel, Brexiteer and Tory backbencher Steve Baker helped establish the group of around 20 MPs who are concerned about the costs of reaching net zero . And his warning comes amid an escalating cost of living crisis . Mr Baker told Sky News: "I genuinely believe that when the full costs of net zero start hitting us, if people have never been given a choice at the ballot box, we could end up with something bigger than the poll tax, certainly bigger than Brexit, because the numbers of people hit by it and their inability to cope will be huge. "I am sick to death of people talking to me about food and fuel poverty, and then piling costs on the poor. Advertisement "This is a fundamental moral issue. 'MPs know this is going to hit all voters and hit … [Read more...] about Net zero targets could cause more unrest and division than Brexit, Tory MP warns

Towards the fag end of the first day of December last year, theatres across Kerala and metro cities outside the State witnessed long winding queues of Mohanlal fans. The Malayalam film industry was just beginning to recover from a lull, induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the release of ‘Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea’ , one of the costliest movies ever in the industry, was expected to give it a push. The crowd, mostly men, were all there for the special midnight show exclusively for the superstar’s fans.For all the midnight frenzy, which was preceded by days of never-before-seen marketing blitz, the next day was marked by mostly silence and stray expressions of disappointment from the die-hard fans; the film was much below their expectations. For the fans of Mammootty too, the recent years have been marked by much pre-release hype, like in the case of ‘ One’ last year, only to be followed by disappointment. In the past two decades, the number of films of either superstar, … [Read more...] about Star-struck amidst a new wave of Malayalam cinema

The Peruvian government has asked for international support in responding to an oil spill off the coast of Lima that it called the city’s “worst ecological disaster” in recent history, as crude continued to wash onto beaches nearly a week after waves triggered by Tonga’s volcano eruption disrupted operations at a local refinery. The environment ministry estimated some 6,000 barrels of crude had spilled into a biodiverse swath of Peru’s Pacific — well above the seven gallons that the refinery’s operator, the Spanish oil company Repsol, initially reported to authorities when the disaster occurred last Saturday. On Thursday, the health ministry warned that 21 beaches were “a serious risk to health” and urged district authorities to restrict access to them. The government said the oil slick on the surface of the sea extended over an area of water equal to 320 football fields. After an outcry over a cleanup operation widely seen as inadequate, the government said on Thursday … [Read more...] about Oil Spill Triggered by Tsunami Devastates Coast of Peru