COVID 19

Kumaraguru Action for Relief and Empowerment (KARE), was founded in Nov, 2015 during the Chennai floods. KARE supports the victims of natural disasters such as floods, cyclone and other calamities and has supported during Kerala floods & Gaja Cyclone. This is a volunteer movement of Kumaraguru Institutions where many join hands when the need arises.

KARE COVID 19 Response Bulletin is an effort by a group of Kumaraguru alumni, students & informed citizens alike to clear the clutter around COVID 19 by providing informative, insightful news, articles & data around the world under various tags such as Research, Technology, Education, Economy & Insights with a short summary for each.

 COVID19 Basic Info & Previous Bulletin Link: tinyurl.com/blog-KARE

STATISTICS

India vs the World – Global race to find a vaccine

COVID-19
 		Active Cases
 		Recovered
 		Casualties 
 
India961,9934,926,26894,433
World7,638,33824,319,566
996,299

The above graph illustrates the correlation between the daily deaths and moving average(7 days) across the country. Daily cases fall, as daily recovery continues to grow sharply. The daily active cases are declining and daily deaths also shows small decline.| Prof.Shamika Ravi

The above graph depicts the average growth rate in active cases. The growth rate of active cases remains negative and is at -0.8%, as the daily testing shows a sharp increase.| Prof.Shamika Ravi

PUBLIC HEALTH

Long term effects of COVID-19 – Serious concerns

Surviving COVID-19 has been only part of the triumph for some patients. While doctors were well aware of the impact of lasting viral infections, the first few months of the pandemic were devoted to preventing transmission and not much attention was paid to the after effects. Various complications take place post COVID-19 illness some of them, according to the Mayo Clinic include – long lasting damage to heart muscles, seizures and Gullian-barre syndrome etc. The good news, according to the Mayo Clinic, is that most people who have the novel Coronavirus disease recover completely within a few weeks. Even people who tested positive but were asymptomatic during the course of their disease are not immune either from long-term effects.| The Hindu

LIFESTYLE

Nutrients that help us fight the novel Coronavirus

While testing for a vaccine is in progress, it is highly suggested to have a nutrient rich meal which is one of the best solutions.These nutrients play a vital role in building the body’s immune system. Zinc activates about 300 enzymes in our body, which helps to strengthen our immune system, promote cell division, cell growth, heal wounds and synthesise proteins and DNA.

  •  Vitamin C neutralizes free radicals that damages the cell and boost immune health. 
  • Vitamin D has both anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory properties. 
  • Vitamin E is important for the normal functioning of the immune cells.| Times of India

Herd immunity unviable, COVID-19 vaccine the only solution

Herd immunity is used to describe the indirect protection conferred to a population in which the majority of people have natural or acquired immunity to an infection. This is possible either through a large proportion of the population getting infected or vaccinated. Scientists say, letting people get sick until most are immune and until the disease no longer spreads will easily lead to many millions of deaths. The second is that herd immunity is always temporary, because children are born without immunity, and eventually there will be enough susceptible people that the disease can start spreading easily again. There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection. Hence only a vaccine can end the COVID-19 pandemic.| Hindustan Times

COVID-19 TESTING

Feluda – India’s first low cost COVID-19 testing kit

Feluda (FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay) has gained approval for Commercial launch by the Drugs Controller General of India. This paper-based test strip uses CRISPR gene-editing technology to identify and target the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2. The test which is developed by a research team lead by Debojyoti Chakraborty and Souvik Maiti of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Tata Group, is said to detect the virus in less than 30 minutes. This is the world’s first diagnostic test which uses Cas9 protein to detect the virus. According to Dr Chakraborty, the Cas9 protein is made to interact with the SARS-CoV-2 sequence. This Cas9-SARS-CoV-2 complex is then put on the paper strip, where using two lines the Coronavirus infection can be determined. This low-cost assay comes around 500 INR.|Indian Express

Tracking cases through sewage  analysis

Analysis of sewage sludge in the New Haven demonstrates the monitoring of municipal  wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Analysis of sludge samples allowed researchers to track the rise and fall of positive cases before hospital admission. The results were published in the journal “Nature Biotechnology“. According to researchers, in communities facing delay between specimen collection and reporting results, immediate wastewater results can provide advance notice on infection. Researchers say that increased RNA concentration in sewage is correlated with increased number of cases. Samples were collected everyday and the concentration of viral RNA in sewage samples were compared with infection data. Due to the uncertainty in the data, attempts to correlate absolute numbers of sludge SARS-CoV-2RNA concentration and COVID-19 cases were not attempted.| The Hindu

VACCINE

Status of Sputnik V trials in India

On September 16, Hyderabad-based Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories announced that it had signed an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to conduct large human trials (Phase-3) of Sputnik V. If these trials are successful and the vaccine is proved to be safe, Russia has committed itself to supplying 100 million doses to India through Dr. Reddy’s. Sputnik V is also a two-dose regimen, meaning that individual shots are dispensed three weeks apart. The argument is that the second dose acts as a booster shot and the use of two vectors is what differentiates the Russian vaccine from the other adenovirus-based approaches.| The Hindu

Bharat Biotech gets rights for nasal Coronavirus vaccine technology

Bharat Biotech will own the rights to distribute the nasal COVID-19 vaccine, subject to regulatory approvals, in all markets except the US, Japan and Europe. According to Bharat Biotech, intranasal vaccine is not only simple to administer but will also reduce the use of medical consumables such as needles and syringes, significantly impacting the overall cost of a vaccination. Bharat Biotech will pursue further stages of clinical trials in India and undertake large scale manufacture of the vaccine, while the Phase I trials will take place in St Louis University’s Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit after getting the approval. Bharat Biotech’s ‘Covaxin’ vaccine is already under Phase II human clinical trials in India.| Live Mint

RESEARCH

Impact of COVID-19 on the Brain

People hospitalized with COVID-19 were experiencing delirium, they were confused, disoriented and agitated. In April, a group in Japan published the first report of someone with COVID-19 who had swelling and inflammation in brain tissues. Another report described a patient with deterioration of myelin, a fatty coating that protects neurons and is irreversibly damaged in neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis.Although viruses can invade and infect the brain, it is not clear whether SARS-CoV-2 does so to a significant extent. Clinicians don’t know how common these neurological effects are, but try to expect between 10,000 and 50,000 people to have experienced neurological complications. | nature

Why coming up with effective interventions to Address COVID-19 is so hard

COVID-19 has reached almost throughout the world and is responsible for enormous deaths and unemployment. Without vaccines readily available, it is really hard to engage people in daily responsibilities.  Many universities ignore the warnings and open campuses just to shut back down quickly. 541 papers about COVID-19 were uploaded to primary preprint service making it hard to know which one to trust. The less wealthier working more of the lower paying “essential” jobs are exposed  to greater risks . WHO is doing the intervening matters as per experts. In COVID-19 era, policy decisions often have winners and losers. Thus, there are changes in the public opinion about reopening the economy. | Five Thirty Eight

Promising first results for an antibody against COVID-19 by Eli Lily

In June, the company began a trial delivering either placebo or one of three doses of the antibody, called LY-CoV555, to 452 patients who had mild or moderate symptoms while being  tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 within the past 3 days and had not been hospitalized. The company declined to say whether the difference in hospitalization rates for treated patients as compared with those who received placebo reached statistical significance. The Lilly trial is ongoing, aiming to enroll a total of 800 patients, and includes another Lilly antibody, LY-CoV016, which binds to a different target on the virus’ spike protein. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals also has a pair of Coronavirus-targeting antibodies in clinical trials with preliminary results expected later this month. | Science Mag

This is why COVID-19 may be life-threatening for some patients

Geneticists investigated and what they uncovered was a path leading for severe cases, genetic variations and gender difficulties to a loss of immune function. The common threat in the research is the lack of a substance called interferon. Evidence suggests that few fall very ill because of an impaired interferon response. Dozens of students of interferon treatment are now recruiting COVID-19 patients.  Timing is very important as in early phase one can battle and defend the infection. But the SARS-Cov-2 virus has anti interferon genes which can stop the effect of interferons. Interferon may help some people as it appears efficacious in the early stage of infection. Genetic analysis of COVID- 19 patients revealed  2 dozen gene mutations that had been “silent” until patients were infected by SARS-CoV-2. Rare disease and more common forms of the same disease many converge and one can learn from each other.|Times of India

TECHNOLOGY

Safer UV light effectively kills Coronavirus without harming humans

A study published in the American journal of infection and control proved that Ultraviolet C(UVC) light with a wavelength of 222 nano-meter kills the SARS-CoV-2 virus effectively. According to scientists, this 222-nm UVC light stands as an efficient antimicrobial technology and has a very limited penetration depth in the skin or eyes. It is also said that it causes no harm to the living cells beneath. This makes the light safer and an equally potent alternative to the more damaging 254-nm UVC which is used in disinfecting healthcare facilities. Although the scientists did not evaluate this technology in a real-world setting, they say that this 222-nm UVC can be a promising disinfection system for public spaces including healthcare facilities where hospital borne infections are a possibility.| Deccan Herald

Calling Technology to the rescue during COVID-19

AI powered technologies fused with healthcare solutions might show us a way out of this COVID-19 crisis. A clear picture of the situation can be well presented with the use of technology in areas of Resource management. Cloud based platforms such as SDP help to monitor the availability of hospital beds, medical staff and pharmaceutical stocks. Such platforms also assist the authorities to effectively enforce control measures during the unlock phases. Implementation of advanced medical devices that provide accuracy and speed is also inevitable during the pandemic. Negligence while dealing with critical medical resources and patient records is another probable blunder during the pandemic. To avoid this mishap, the hospitals need to have proper access management with encryption of data. With the advent of COVID-19, tech-enabled health care solutions have become a necessity rather than a luxury.| Economic Times

EDUCATION

UGC announces sessions for freshers from Nov 1 with curtailed vacations

The delayed academic session for freshers in universities and colleges will start from November 1, and the winter break this year, the summer vacation in 2021 and other holidays would be curtailed to compensate for the lost time, according to the UGC. The universities are recommended to follow a six-day teaching learning schedule every week. The start of the first year of academic session 2020-21 is delayed due to the circumstances beyond control but efforts are made to compensate for the loss of this period by curtailing the breaks/vacations so that this batch of students would get their final results for award of degree timely. | Times of India

ECONOMY

Indian economy forecast to contract 5.4% in 2020 due to COVID-19 impact:UN

The trade and development report 2020 by the UN conference on trade and development (UNCTAD) says that while growth will rebound next year, the contraction is likely to translate into a permanent income loss. It is said that the global economy will contract by an estimated 4.3% this year leaving global output by years end over USD 6 trillion short of what economists had expected it to be before the Corona virus began to spread. The greatest economic and social damage will be in the developing world where levels of informality are high, commodities and tourism are major sources of foreign exchange. The report asserted that a global recovery plan must be both bold and comprehensive.| News 18

WHO unveils global plan to fairly distribute vaccine, but challenges await

The WHO announced  that countries representing close to 2/3 of the world’s population have joined it’s plan to buy a fairly distributed COVID-19 vaccine around the globe. With nearly 1,000,000 deaths reported worldwide from COVID-19, and the northern hemisphere heading into its first winter in the pandemic, SARS-CoV2 still has the world in its grip. As of today 64 higher income countries including 29 economies operating as a team have submitted legally binding commitments to join the COVAX facility. Many questions remain about this facility and its function. In the second face, vaccines to cover additional people would be delivered to countries based on how urgently immunisations are needed. To decide priority, the speed of spreading and the vulnerability of the country‘s health system are to be considered. The plan does face other risks but there is also the opportunity that this mechanism patched together as the world scrambled to fight a pandemic.| Science Mag

ENVIRONMENT

Improper disposal of biomedical wastes – A great challenge

According to the Union health ministry,  disposal of used PPE kits and other biomedical wastes has become a great challenge during the ongoing pandemic. Guidelines on management of COVID-19 related biomedical wastes had been issued earlier in March and revised in July by the Central Pollution Control Board(CPCB). Segregation of Used PPEs and other biomedical wastes generated from COVID-19 isolation wards  in health care centres and sending them to Common facilities for disposal is one of the guidelines as per the CPCB. Furthermore, shredded masks and gloves from households are to be collected as dry solid waste by Urban Local Bodies, said the ministry.|  Times of India

BUSINESS

 Stock trading via mobile phones grows during Coronavirus lockdown

Going forward, the trend of trading via smartphones is going to further pick up as mobile medium enables customers to have real-time access to key developments related to trading and investments. The lockdown witnessed a remarkable shift in trading activity from desktop to mobile devices, as the need for ease-of-convenience increased when multitasking at home. From analysing the market to viewing charts and placing trades, everything can be done with a few tabs on a smartphone, making it easier to trade on the go. Currently, Over 85% of the upstox customers carry out daily trades on smart phones.| Deccan Herald

SCIENCE

Effect of COVID-19 in the Heart

A study of 100 people who had COVID-19, M.R.I. ‘s showed at least some signs of myocarditis in 60 of them, meaning they had inflammation in the heart muscle, which can weaken the organ and, on rare occasions, lead to sudden cardiac arrest. Our lungs seem to be the most vulnerable organ during the acute phase of an infection, but doctors and researchers have noted that patients with cardiovascular disease are among the most likely to get severely ill or die.Evidence has emerged that the virus may cause cardiac complications fairly frequently in patients who are very sick, even if they lack a history of heart problems.| NY Times

COVID-19 can impact your body in more ways than one

While the virus was earlier simply seen as a respiratory virus, but it can very much attack different parts of your body and thereby, making it all the more crucial to watch out for even minute symptoms. In some cases, the inflammation can also lead to enlarged blood vessels near the eyes, swelling, excessive watering, and discharge. Sensitivity and irritation can also be experienced. However, since it’s not a very typical symptom, experts suggest that it is most commonly seen in those who have a severe infection. A sample size surveyed in the UK found out that of all the patients who were found to be COVID positive complained of serious coughing lasting for more than an hour and at least 40% of patients in the survey said that they also experienced hot flashes, during this episodes-suggesting the skin on their back or chest felt extremely hot to touch. Findings also suggest that this symptom could be more likely experienced by young people, with no pre-existing conditions or typical symptoms. Itchiness, redness, COVID toes, itchy lesions, and chilblains could also be experienced in certain cases. These are atypical symptoms and may not be experienced in all cases.| Times of India

How do people get infected by Coronavirus?

The WHO has said that the faecal-to-oral route does not appear to be a significant pathway for the novel Coronavirus transmission. Sanitising bathrooms, food-preparation and serving areas could help slow the virus, in addition to regular hand-washing. After the infection appeared in babies born to mothers with the disease in China, the possibility was raised that the virus could be passed in-utero. Subsequent studies reached different conclusions. One looked at nine infected women who gave birth to uninfected babies. No virus was detected in amniotic fluid, cord blood, the babies’ throats or in breast milk, suggesting that transmission from mother to child occurs through respiratory droplets.  The virus can be highly stable in favourable environments, lingering for weeks in near-freezing temperatures. Standard disinfection kills it though, as does sunlight. Dry air, on the other hand, appears to favour transmission. Since the virus particles are invisible to naked eyes it was advised to follow social distancing & other preventive measures.| Live Mint

PREVENTION

Homemade masks capable of preventing COVID-19

Researchers have found that masks made from common household fabrics are considerably effective at blocking droplets. The aerosols are typically less than five micrometers but it is those larger droplets which pose a major threat as they can squeeze through the pores of the fabric,  break into smaller droplets and become airborne. The team tested the breathability and droplet-blocking ability of 11 common household fabrics using a medical mask as a benchmark. It was concluded that all of the fabrics proved to be effective even as a single layer. With two or three layers, even the more permeable fabrics achieved droplet-blocking efficiency similar to a medical mask while still maintaining comparable or better breathability.| Times of India

 Vaccine is not a silver bullet, preventive measures to limit the spread 

It was published in the journal “Function” that alcohol-based mouthwashes can help in reducing viral load in the oral cavity and throat. But research is going on to check the effectiveness of alcohol-based mouthwashes. The scientists have noted that rinsing the nasal cavity with iodine solution can help in containing the spread of the virus by slowing down the rate of person-to-person transmission. Iodine was taken in 3 different concentrations (0.5%, 1.25%, 2.5% ).It was noted that even 0.5% can kill the virus within 15 seconds. But it was strictly advised to use iodine as nasal wash under the supervision of a medical practitioner. Exposing the virus to a 24 cm UV-C lamp( which has a wavelength of 222 nm) killed 99.7% of the virus in just 30  seconds. The Ultraviolet-C radiation has no harmful effects on a human since it cannot penetrate the outer layer of the skin.| Times of India

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KARE COVID-19 Response 

KARE is now supporting the front-line workers through local government by providing Food, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) & sanitizers made in-house at the Kumaraguru Institutions. KARE is also connecting the farmers with communities who would required vegetables in bulk.


KARE COVID-19 Response So Far 

  • 43038 Cooked meals
  • 2259 Volunteering hours clocked
  • 10 Tons of Vegetables transacted so far
  • 28+ Number of Farmers impacted so far
  • 500 kg Rice
  • 1300 Liquid sanitizer packs
  • 2500 Masks
  • ₹ 4,95,141 Funds Raised
  • ₹ 6,50,000 Funds Spent
  • 57000+  Lives Impacted

Impact areas: 

Chinnavedampatti, Saravanampatty, Vellaikinar, Sathyamangalam, Sulthanpet, Paapampatti, Sulur, Thondamuthur, Narasipuram, Kangayam, Coimbatore & Pollachi.

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Account number: 1245155000078376
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