New Delhi, Sep 13: Amid a massive surge in coronavirus cases across India, the government today released a set of fresh protocols for patients recovering from the highly contagious disease. After acute COVID-19 illness, the patients who have recovered may continue to report symptoms such as fatigue, body ache, cough, sore throat and difficulty in breathing, the Union Health Ministry said.
The recovery period is likely to be longer for patients who suffered from severe COVID-19 symptoms and those with any pre-existing health conditions. In a set of fresh guidelines, the Health Ministry has recommended physical exercise and taking prescribed immunity boosting medicines after recovery. “One should constantly monitor their health and look for early signs like a drop in oxygen level or unexplained chest pain,” according to the new guidelines.
“Continue COVID appropriate behaviour (use of mask, hand and respiratory hygiene, physical distancing). Drink adequate amount of warm water,” the Health Ministry has said.
“Look for early warning signs like high grade fever, breathlessness, unexplained chest pain, new onset of confusion, focal weakness,” it has underlined.
The Health Ministry has also asked the recovered patients to “share their positive experiences with their friends and relatives using social media, community leaders, opinion leaders, religious leaders for creating awareness, dispelling myths and stigma”.
“Take support of community based self-help groups, civil society
organizations, and qualified professionals for recovery and rehabilitation process (medical, social, occupational, livelihood),” it said.
The patients, who had undergone home isolation, “if they complain of persisting symptoms, will visit the nearest health facility”, the government has stressed. “Severe cases requiring critical care support will require more stringent follow up,” it highlighted. (NDTV)

Kolkata, Sept 13: Digantika Bose studies in Class XII at Memari V M Institution Unit II, Burdwan, but in her tender age she is very much influenced by the principle of Thomas Alva Edison that ‘To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk’.
And as the proverb goes, Necessity is the mother of invention, Digantika has felt the utter helpless- ness of common people in the wake of Covid 19 pandemic to survive and has come up with Air Providing and Virus Destroying Mask which has received the acclaim from Science and Technology Ministry, Government of India.
Likewise, the IIT Kharagpur has deviced e-classroom low bandwidth software Deekshak for educational institutions, by which a teacher could concentrate on the screen with the teaching materials while being able to view queries on a live chat box where each student can send in their queries.
Students also have access to a doubt box where they can click to “raise their hands” and wait for the teacher to address it, as is done in a physical classroom.
Teachers can also share documents with the students through the platform and even update notes on the documents in real-time.
All these were discussed today in a webinar organised jointly by the Press Information Bureau and Regional Outreach Bureau, Chuchura as a part of Prime Minister Narendra modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
The panellists included Professor V K Tewari, Director, IIT kharagpur, Professor (Dr) Harish Hirani, Director, CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur, V S Ramachandran, Director, Birla Industrial & Technological Museum, Dr Biswarup Neogi, Associate Professor and Head, ECE Department, JIS College of Engineering, Kalyani and last but not the least Digantika Bose.
Professor Tewari also delineated the institution’s invention of a novel portable rapid diagnostic device to detect Covid-19 infection at an affordable cost for the marginal people of this country.
According to Professor Dr Hirani, CSIR-CMERI Durgapur has not come up with low-cost but high efficiency three-layered facemask, but also road sanitising tractor, mechanical ventilator, soap, sanitizer and dispenser, hospital assistive robot, solar-based IntelliMAST, 360 degree car flusher and dry fogging shoe disinfector, but of late it has developed mechanised sewage cleaning system for mechanical scavenging instead of the manual one to maintain the optimum high standards as well as to help contain the contamination chain through waste water.
Ramachandran presented their technological interventions and contributions relating to the online ticketing and entry system, alcohol-free and Ayurvedic entry tunnel, touchfree operation of exhibits, UV based product sanitizer, virtual tour and classes, image processing for crowd control, human motion-based sanitizer dispenser and the like.
Miss Bose, apart from face mask-cum virus destroyer, showcased her innovations like homemade transparent face shields, distance arrester for police, ear pressure reduction tool due to the use of masks and many others.
Dr Neogi, made his presentation relating to dew of his innovations developed by his team to deal with the pandemic like Corona evading gloves capable of automatic sanitization with alcohol, currency and coin disinfector, raincoat turned PPE kit and his idea on waste to mask.
The Additional Director General (M & C), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Jane Namchu was also present in the webinar.
The webinar was moderated by Srijata Saha Sahoo, Media & Communication Officer, Press Information Bureau, Kolkata and Sandipan Dasgupta, Field Publicity Officer, Field Outreach Bureau, Chuchura.

New Delhi, Sept 13: A COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be available by early next year and the government is considering its emergency authorisation for high-risk settings, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan Sunday said, asserting he will take the first dosage if there is any concern over its safety.
According to a Health Ministry statement, he said while no date has been fixed for the launch of a vaccine, it may be ready by the first quarter of 2021, and made available first to those who need it the most, irrespective of their paying capacity. The minister made these remarks during interaction with his social media followers on the ‘Sunday Samvad’ platform.
He covered a multitude of queries concerning not only the current COVID-19 situation, but also the government’s approach to it, the changes expected in the post COVID world and the steps taken by the Modi dispensation.
Vardhan stated the government is taking full precautions in human trials of vaccines and the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 under the Chairmanship of Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, is drawing up a detailed strategy on how to immunize the majority of the population.
“Issues like vaccine security, cost, equity, cold-chain requirements, production timelines etc., are also been discussed intensely,” he stated.
Further, he said the government is considering emergency authorisation of COVID-19 vaccination especially for senior citizens and people working in high-risk settings.
“This shall be done after a consensus has been reached,” he was quoted as saying the statement.
To allay any fear regarding the safety aspect of vaccines, he said he would be happy to take the first dosage “if people have a trust deficit”.
On vaccine candidates and their development in the country, he said India is actively partnering with Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and trials of several vaccines at different phases are underway at laboratories (private or public) and hospitals.
The Department of Biotechnology and the Indian Council of Medical Research have been proactive in responding to the emerging situation, he said.
It is hoped that a consensus will emerge in the next few months over the desired level of protective herd immunity in any community, he said.
The minister, however, also noted that a safe and effective vaccine will help in establishing immunity to COVID-19 at a much faster pace as compared to the natural infection, the statement said.

New Delhi, Sep 13: The government is likely to make a statement in parliament on the India-China stand-off, sources have said ahead of Monday’s monsoon session.
They said that the matter was raised at the parliament’s Business Advisory Committee meeting on Sunday, which was meant to discuss and slot agenda for business for the coming session.
Asked whether a statement will be made on the India-China stand-off, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said, “On Tuesday we will have a leaders’ meeting and keeping in mind the sensitivities of the situation, and the strategic points in mind, the government will take a decision and we will brief the leaders in the meeting”.
“We have said that the government is ready for discussion whatever the issue may be,” said Joshi.
The government has been under consistent attack from Congress leaders, spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi, over the stand-off with China at the Line of Actual Control or LAC, the de facto border between the two nations.

The transgressions by soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army at Pangong Lake and several other areas have been escalating. On June 15, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the line of duty in Ladakh – a first in more than four decades.
Twice over the last two weeks, Chinese troops had engaged in provocative action in the south bank of the glacial Pangong Lake.
But India was able to “prevent these attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo” at the LAC, the Foreign Ministry had said, underscoring that there were no physical clashes.
The last action on August 31 was a daytime operation during which Indian soldiers were surrounded by Chinese soldiers, who were trying to regain the heights that are being dominated by the Indian Army.

Given the circumstances, the government would have found it difficult to avoid a discussion on the issue, sources said.