May 3 coronavirus news

About 175 journalists and media workers have died after contracting Covid-19 in the past 14 months in India, according to a tally by the Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI). 

In a memorial page, NWMI has compiled a comprehensive list of retired and working reporters, editors, anchors, photographers, and photojournalists who have died. It is unknown how many contracted the virus while working. 

India is currently battling a second wave of Covid-19 cases and facing severe shortage of oxygen, hospital beds, medicines and vaccines. This has exacerbated the death toll across the country. 

Journalists in India were largely not included in the initial phase of the vaccination program when it was made available to frontline workers. Meanwhile, media houses have also failed to provide safe working conditions.

"Media houses need to actively ensure the safety and health of journalists who work for them and those who, as independent stringers or freelancers, supply vital information, photographs and videos to them. Media houses must stop forcing journalists to travel in dangerously unsafe conditions to work in offices instead of encouraging them to work from home," stated the NWMI.

Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Health, said on CNN’s New Day Monday that while it would be unfortunate for the United States to not to reach herd immunity against Covid-19, most people will still be able to get back to their pre-pandemic lives if case numbers continue to fall.

Jha said it isn’t known whether the US will reach herd immunity. 

There is a chunk of people in the United States who have not yet been vaccinated, saying that many of them need time and better access. He remains “pretty optimistic” that a lot more Americans will be vaccinated in the coming weeks and months. 

Experience from Israel has shown that when about 50 to 55% of the population is vaccinated, “you really see case numbers plummet.”  

India is experiencing the world's worst coronavirus outbreak.

Grieving families are struggling to keep themselves and their loved ones safe amid an overwhelmed health care system, and medical workers are stretched thin as some hospitals run out of oxygen and supplies.

The global community is rallying to help India push back against the pandemic, with countries around the world offering aid.

You can help, too. Read about the charities working in India in the article below and click here to donate.

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As India continues to record more than 300,000 daily cases of Covid-19, it’s hard to tell when the country will reach its peak, says Chandrika Bahadur, chair of the Lancet Covid-19 Commission India Taskforce.

However, India will continue to see high mortality due to Covid-19 in May, because deaths lag behind the rise in infections.

While Lancet has recommended lockdowns for bringing the numbers in control, Bahadur says it’s a “double-edged sword” for a country like India and needs a nuanced approach.

“There are still a large number of districts in the country that are not seeing the wave that we're seeing in Delhi … and other high-risk spots of the country. And over there you can probably have a strategy that is less about lockdowns and much more about wearing masks and distancing and banning gatherings,” she explained. “In other places, however, unfortunately, there is no way out where the numbers are what they are other than shutting down for a few weeks.”

Evidence suggests that one-week lockdowns do not work and need to continue for “six weeks at a minimum before you really start seeing a significant decline,” she added.

Bahadur acknowledges that such a step would need provisions for the poor “because this could be devastating.”

“It’s a terrible choice. I have a lot of sympathy for the government because this is a difficult choice to make under all circumstances,” she said. “These are the choices in front of us. None of them are good.”

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Nepal has recalled retired medics to work for at least a year to help tackle the shortage of health workers as Covid-19 cases in the country rise.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Sharma Oli addressed the nation on television on Monday as the country recorded at least 7,388 Covid-19 cases, the highest number of new daily cases.

Oli also announced a ban on exporting oxygen and said that private hospitals and clinics, along with more public hospitals, would be converted into specialized Covid-19 hospitals, whereas public venues like stadiums and schools would be used as quarantine centers.

The European Union "stands by India" and will supply more aid via its civil protection mechanism, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted Monday following a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to a press release from the EU commission, the country breakdown of who is supplying what is as follows:

Following the call, Modi said in a tweet he had thanked the EU for its support and assistance to India's Covid response.

"We discussed India-EU Leaders’ Meeting on 8 May. I am confident that the Meeting will provide a new momentum to our Strategic Partnership," Modi added. 

Last week, the European Union announced medical aid for India was being supplied by the likes of Ireland, Belgium, Romania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden, France, Italy, Austria and Finland.

Dr. SCL Gupta of the Batra hospital had already seen eight Covid-19 patients die and five under resuscitation.

“They may or may not survive. Just because in the capital city of Delhi and because of want of oxygen,” he told CNN.

Hospitals are buckling under the overwhelming second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in India. There is an acute shortage of oxygen for medical treatment across India, especially in Delhi, where Gupta’s workplace, Batra hospital, is located.

The burden of the crisis also weighs heavy on the medical staff, including Gupta, who has been a practitioner for 45 years.

Local and international efforts to get oxygen supplies to India's capital are still failing. India's central and national governments have been unable to explain the shortages, CNN's Sam Kiley reports.

Batra hospital has been advising patients to source their own oxygen to cover its erratic supplies. But as infections rise and oxygen supplies continue to remain in shortage, Batra hospital, like many others, will not admit more patients.

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Before the pandemic, Gayatri Khanna's Mumbai-based embroidery firm used to work on luxury garments and accessories for some of the world's biggest fashion houses. Now, she said, some of them won't even answer her calls.

Amid a coronavirus crisis that is pushing India's hospitals to breaking point, collapsing demand for apparel in the West is also having a devastating knock-on effect on the country's craftspeople.

Luxury labels that have long depended on the intricate work of embroiderers and beading artists are scaling back production, leaving some suppliers unable to cover costs or pay workers.

Khanna, who is the founder and director of Milaaya Embroideries, said that her company's export business is down 70% on the previous year. Though there were relatively few canceled orders at the very start of the pandemic, new work quickly dried up as labels gave their limited business to "one or two" core suppliers, she said.

Read the full story here:

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The Indian government has announced it call upon medical students to boost the availability of medical personnel as the country tackles a deadly second wave of coronavirus.

“The Prime Minister reviewed the growing need of adequate human resources for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country today. Many important decisions were taken which will significantly boost availability of medical personnel in Covid duty,” read a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday.

The National Eligibility/Entrance Test-Postgraduate (NEET-PG), a medical entrance exam for postgraduate courses, has been postponed until Aug. 31.

Final year medical students will be used for providing services such as teleconsultation and the monitoring of mild coronavirus cases following orientation training under supervision of their faculty.

“This will reduce the workload on existing doctors engaged in Covid duty and provide boost to efforts of triaging,” read the statement, which added that students will be given one-month notice before their exams take place.

In addition, the services of final year post graduate students as residents will continue until newer graduates are available.

Nursing graduates are also included as part of the government’s plan to bolster personnel and will work under the supervision of senior doctors and nurses.

Medical interns will work under the supervision of their faculty.