#​​dr raman r gangakhedkar

[sachkiawaaj]

Apart from Delta, Delta Plus too should be treated as variant of concern: Former ICMR chief scientist

Apart from Delta, Delta Plus too should be treated as variant of concern: Former ICMR chief scientist

NEW DELHI: Although there is no data as of now which shows that the Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 is spreading faster than Delta but the former should also be treated as a “variant of concern”, said Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, former head scientist of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, ICMR on Saturday. The Union health ministry has warned states that the Delta Plus variant, which is currently…

[thenewsroom8]

Apart from Delta, Delta Plus too should be treated as variant of concern: Former ICMR chief scientist | India News

Apart from Delta, Delta Plus too should be treated as variant of concern: Former ICMR chief scientist | India News

NEW DELHI: Although there is no data as of now which shows that the Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 is spreading faster than Delta but the former should also be treated as a “variant of concern”, said Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, former head scientist of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, ICMR on Saturday. The Union health ministry has warned states that the Delta Plus variant, which is currently…

[reendexnews]

27,55,714 #COVID19 tests have been done till 1 PM today. 18287 tests were done in private labs: Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, ICMR https://www.instagram.com/p/CAfME6JF2qq/?igshid=iclrik9ospnf

[charanrouth]

Follow 👉 @insider_folks for more updates A sign of massive worry, the health ministry in its brief, said 80 per cent of the COVID-19 patients are either asymptomatic or show mild symptoms. "On the basis of worldwide analysis, 80 per cent of the COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic or show mild symptoms. Around 15 per cent patients turn into severe cases and 5 per cent may become critical," Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry, said at a daily press briefing. The asymptomatic patients may pass on the infection to other people, he earlier had said while stressing on maintaining social distancing in the community and infection prevention and control practices in hospital setups. Head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar said 80 out of 100 infected people do not show any symptoms. Officials said as of now, there is no plan to further widen the testing criteria. As part of a revised testing strategy, the government has started testing people with fever, cough and sore throat in hotspots or cluster areas and evacuees centres. Identifying such persons is extremely difficult, unless massive testing is done. Currently, the government is testing contacts of a positive person and those living in containment zones. Testing of asymptomatic persons started just recently. This has grown the call for testing of people at large scale to eliminate the probability of more people getting infected due to asymptomatic persons. Now that coronavirus testing has started, the number of people being infected by the novel virus is expected to increase sharply. On Saturday, Delhi reported 186 asymptomatic cases. Other states such as Punjab, Uttar Pradesh have also reported patients showing no visible symptoms. #coronavirus #covid19 #coronavirusupdates #CoronavirusLockdown #coronavirusoutbreak #delhi #punjab #doctors #patients #uttarpradesh #Gujarat #himachalpradesh https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Sf_4HgveD/?igshid=3ihgnsv3zjwp

[vsplusonline]

No symptoms in 80% of Covid cases raise concerns

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/no-symptoms-in-80-of-covid-cases-raise-concerns/

No symptoms in 80% of Covid cases raise concerns

New Delhi: With mounting evidence that asymptomatic Covid-19 cases are spreading the infection, India’s top medical research body is grappling with the problem posed by “silent spreaders” and examining the feasibility of starting ‘door-to-door’ surveillance to monitor and test older people at high risk who dont have symptoms. Some experts, however, believe this is a costly and unachievable objective.

“Of 100 people with infection, 80 do not have symptoms,” Raman R Gangakhedkar, chief epidemiologist, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Monday.

The new revelation of asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic infection in India has sparked concerns. While ICMR officials do not recommend mass testing in India, given the size and scale of the country, experts familiar with the development said the door-to-door surveillance model is being examined.

“It’s not easy to test everyone. But the model of door-to-door surveillance used for polio can be replicated here. The fact that India continues to be polio free indicates the robustness of the surveillance system and that can easily be done in Covid-19 too,” said a person with knowledge of the situation. He added that this plan is still at discussion stage and no final decision has been taken.

Under the model for polio in India, the vaccination teams go door to door, and check households.

‘MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH NEEDED’ The teams make sure to vaccinate those children who haven’t been so far. In case of Covid-19, the possibility of monitoring people aged 50 years and more is being considered. “The silent spreaders are unknowingly infecting others. There is a need to strictly monitor the 50 plus population, which has the majority of positive cases,” added this person. Any such exercise will take a long time and be expensive. Door-to-door surveillance will prove to be “costly and unachievable” in a country like India, said Dr Anoop Misra, chairman, Fortis C-DOC (Centre of Excellence For Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases and Endocrinology).

“The strategy could be multi-pronged for a country like India. We need to have intensive testing in areas which are hotspots, we can use random sampling in areas with less cases,” Misra said, adding that door-to door surveillance will not work. “It is just not possible. Some people will refuse and hide. We have to keep changing the strategy as transmission is certainly going up,” he said.

INVISIBLE SOURCES Globally, too, there is enough evidence that suggests that people who never develop symptoms can transmit the virus. Studies from around the world published in the past weeks reveal the spread by “invisible sources” as a fresh challenge in the fight against Covid-19. This makes it much harder to trace and isolate everyone with the disease before they start transmitting it to others. Public health experts say these invisible sources of contagion must be factored in while deciding when to begin rolling back physical distancing measures.

“Asymptomatic persons who tested positive in the antigen test, if shown to be truly positive for viral exposure by other criteria, may be a source of infection to others as long as they harbour the virus. Usually they are young, have a good immune response and may get rid of the virus quickly. But isolation till they do so is needed,” said K Srinath Reddy, president of Public Health Foundation of India.

SOCIAL DISTANCING Reddy said social or physical distancing should continue. “Since a population wide search through mega scale testing is neither advisable or affordable, possible danger from such persons must be minimised by continued social distancing, personal hygiene, masks and protection of the elderly. Persons with co-morbidities should be shielded from close contact with mobile members of the family,” he said. Earlier the WHO had said that pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic transmission of the new coronavirus was “relatively rare”. However, new studies from Japan, Italy, South Korea and Washington state — have suggested that silent spreaders can be just as dangerous to a community.

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[fact2know-com]

ICMR lauds Kerala's containment strategy for COVID-19

ICMR lauds Kerala’s containment strategy for COVID-19

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) on Saturday lauded the containment strategy and the robust public healthcare system of Kerala and said it would “continue referring to the Kerala model” for testing and containment strategies.

Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, chief of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at ICMR, said India has evolved a strong COVID-19 testing…

[arko006-blog]

ICMR Instructs states to stop using Chinese rapid antibody test kits till quality is examined - Firstpost

ICMR Instructs states to stop using Chinese rapid antibody test kits till quality is examined – Firstpost

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India’s apex medical research body ICMR on Tuesday advised states to stop using the rapid antibody test kits for next two days till it examines their quality in the wake of complaints that they are not fully effective.

Last week, India procured five lakh rapid antibody test kits from two Chinese firms and they were distributed to several states reporting rising cases of coronavirus…

[bhylu]

Dr Gangakhedkar, the face of ICMR during COVID-19 pandemic, retires, Health News, ET HealthWorld

Dr Gangakhedkar, the face of ICMR during COVID-19 pandemic, retires, Health News, ET HealthWorld

New Delhi, Jun 30 : Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, who had become the face of ICMR during government briefings to media on the coronavirus pandemic, retired as the head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at the apex health research body on Tuesday. He will now join the prestigious Dr CG Pandit National Chairat the Indian Council of Medical Research and will assist the research body from Pune,��

[pen2print]

Expert Speak: Necessary precautions is the only to reduce Covid-19 infections

Expert Speak: Necessary precautions is the only to reduce Covid-19 infections

The Head Scientist in the Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Division of ICMR Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar has said that the only way to reduce the number of covid infections is by taking all necessary precautions.

Participating in AIR live phone in programme on Covid 19, He said that people should not be afraid of testing for the infection. Dr Gangakhedkar also said that lack of testing can…

[indianflash123]

India has a strong COVID testing system, no need for panic: Dr Gangakhedkar

India has a strong COVID testing system, no need for panic: Dr Gangakhedkar

Asserting that India has evolved a strong COVID-19 testing regime over the last three months, Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) today said the country was now in a position to ramp up tests up to 1.25 lakh a day in government sector, which is one of the best in the world.

“We have expanded the criteria of testing as much as we could. After starting from…

[indianflashnews]

India has a strong COVID testing system, no need for panic: Dr Gangakhedkar

India has a strong COVID testing system, no need for panic: Dr Gangakhedkar

Asserting that India has evolved a strong COVID-19 testing regime over the last three months, Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) today said the country was now in a position to ramp up tests up to 1.25 lakh a day in government sector, which is one of the best in the world.

“We have expanded the criteria of testing as much as we could. After starting from…

[brajeshupadhyay]

ICMR Instructs states to stop using Chinese rapid antibody test kits till quality is examined

India's apex medical research body ICMR on Tuesday advised states to stop using the rapid antibody test kits for next two days till it examines their quality in the wake of complaints that they are not fully effective.

Last week, India procured five lakh rapid antibody test kits from two Chinese firms and they were distributed to several states reporting rising cases of coronavirus infection.

Rajasthan government on Tuesday said that the kits were giving out inaccurate results.

At a press briefing, Head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at Indian the ICMR, Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, said the companies which supplied the kits will be asked to replace them if the kits are found to be faulty.

Antibody test cartridges of AFIAS COVID-19 testing kit used in diagnosing the coronavirus. Image credit: AP

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been the nodal medical body in the country's fight against the pandemic.

"We have received complaint from one state and so far discussed the issue with three states. High variations ranging from 6 to 71 per cent have been reported between the results of the rapid tests and RT-PCR tests. We will advise states not to use these testing kits for the next two days," he said.

These kits will be tested and validated in the field by teams from our eight institutes after which we will issue a clear-cut advisory for the states. If there is some fault in the batch, we will ask the company to replace the kits," Gangakhedkar said.

Officials clearly indicated that the kits over which questions have been raised are from China.

Rajasthan health minister Raghu Sharma on Tuesday said the kits gave only 5.4 per cent accurate results against the expectation of 90 per cent accuracy and therefore were of no benefit.

In the wake of adverse reports about the quality of Chinese medical equipment, a spokesperson in the Chinese embassy Ji Rong last week said China attaches great importance to the quality of medical products.

"We hope that foreign buyers can choose products certified by Chinese regulatory authorities and with production qualifications when importing relevant products," Ji had said.

She said the Chinese authorities introduced stricter regulatory measures, requiring exporters to declare that their supplies have obtained the registration certificate for the medical device from the State Food and Drug Administration and meet the quality standards of the importing country.

About questions over the quality of the tests, Gangakhedkar said that these were first general tests and may show variations.

It has been just three-and-half months since the disease appeared and so any test will have to be refined further, he added.

At present, the government uses the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to detect coronavirus from the throat or nasal swab samples of people. These take around five to six hours to show the results.

In the rapid antibody tests, the blood samples of suspected patients are taken, and it normally takes around 15-30 minutes to give the result.

The government has recommended the use of rapid antibody tests in hotspot areas.

"It is to be used for surveillance and for epidemiological purposes in such areas. The RT-PCR test is the gold standard for frontline test and antibody test cannot replace this test. Utility of rapid antibody test is primarily for assessing prevalence of infection in a particular area," officials earlier had said.

India has been facing severe shortage of testing kits amid rising cases of the coronavirus.

Asked if the number of cases would stabilise, Gangakhedkar said, "The doubling time of cases is increasing, the current situation indicates that significant increase in number of coronavirus cases is unlikely."

A total of 4,49,810 samples for COVID-19 infection have been tested till Tuesday of which 35,852 were tested on Monday, he said.

As many as 29,776 samples have been tested in 201 labs under the ICMR network, and 6,076 at 86 private laboratories, he said.

Joint Secretary in the ministry of Health Lav Agarwal said that along with Mahe (Puducherry), Kodagu (Karnataka) and Pauri Garhwal (Uttrakhand) , a new district Pratapgarh in Rajasthan has not reported any fresh cases during the last 28 days.

There are now 61 additional districts from 23 states and UTs that have not reported any fresh cases in the last 14 days. Four new districts which have been included in the list are Latur, Osmanabad, Hingoli and Washim from Maharashtra, according to the official.

Agarwal further said that the Union Health Minister has written to all state and UT health departments asking them to ensure adequate availability of blood in blood banks especially for people requiring regular blood transfusion on account of disorders such as Thalassemia, Sickle Cell Anemia and Hemophilia etc.

Also, a 24x7 control room has been started by Indian Red Cross in Delhi. Whoever requires or want to donate blood can contact on 011 233 59379, 9319982104 and 9319982105.

He said that detailed guidelines have been issued to states that they should focus on COVID-19 cases while, at the same time, non-COVID hospitals should provide regular services relating to maternal and child care, dialysis as well as treatment for cancer and HIV patients.

While providing all these services, required infection prevention control practices should be ensured in hospital set-ups to prevent spread of hospital related infections, he said.

Agarwal said that a total of 1,336 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours since Sunday morning taking the total number of cases in the country to 18, 601.

Also 3,252 people have been cured so far with 705 people, the highest so far, having recovered on Monday. So overall 17.48 per cent people have recovered in the country so far, he stated.

Responding to a media query about 80 per cent of the COVID-19 patients being either asymptomatic and having mild symptoms and how the government is dealing with it, Gangakhedkar said that it is just one study according to which 80 out of 100 patients are asymptomatic.

"Among the total coronavirus tests conducted so far, 69 per cent were asymptomatic cases and 31 per cent were symptomatic cases. Which means for one positive patients when we initiated contact tracing, on an average we found three or four asymptomatic patients," he said.

"There are few reports of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases which are truly asymptomatic. There has been no documented asymptomatic transmission. This does not exclude the possibility that it may occur," Agarwal said referring to a WHO report.

"Using community surveillance and contact tracing, we are taking pre-emptive action to test asymptomatic persons with high risk contacts so that we are able to identify infected patients in early stage, treat them and reduce mortality," he said.

At present there is data for more than 1.24 crore human resources on the 'covid warriors' - a dashboard developed by the government for augmenting human resources - and it is continuously being updated, chairman of the empowered group, Arun Kumar Panda, also Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises said.

As on date, 14995 AYUSH professionals have been deployed in 15 states and 2 UTs, whereas 3492 NCC cadets and 553 NCC staff have been deployed in 68 districts in 16 states and 3 UTs.

More than 47,000 cadets have already enrolled for training and will be available for deployment. Also, 1,80,000 ex-servicemen have been identified by the Sainik Boards for deployment.

More than 40,000 volunteers from Indian Red Cross are actively participating in COVID-19 related activities in over 550 districts in the country.

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[benju-min]

Coronavirus testing in India: ICMR asks states not to use rapid test kits for 2 days | India News

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NEW DELHI: Amid complaints about faulty rapid test kits, the Indian Council of Medical Research on Tuesday advised states not to use them for the next two days, saying it will issue an advisory after their teams carry out field validation of these equipment. At the daily government briefing on the coronavirussituation in the country, ICMR’s Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar was asked about the…

[timesofnewsindia]

Coronavirus update: Covid-19 cases cross 18,500 in India. State numbers here

Head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar on Monday said said 80 out of 100 infected people do not show any symptoms.

Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 4666 cases and 232 casualties. The other states that have seen the most number of cases include Delhi (2081), Tamil Nadu (1520), Rajasthan (1576), Madhya…

[jainyupdates]

क्या गर्मी बढ़ने से खत्म हो जाएगा कोरोना वायरस, आईसीएमआर ने दी ये जानकारी

न्यूज डेस्क, अमर उजाला, नई दिल्ली Updated Thu, 16 Apr 2020 06:23 PM IST

Dr. Raman R Gangakhedkar – फोटो : ANI

देश में कोरोना वायरस के मामलों में तेजी से बढ़ोतरी हो रही है। स्वास्थ्य मंत्रालय के आंकड़ों के अनुसार, भारत में अब तक कोरोना से 12,759 लोग संक्रमित हुए हैं और 420 लोगों की मौत हुई हैं। कुछ लोगों का मानना है कि जैसे-जैसे तापमान में वृद्धि होगी कोरोना वायरस का प्रकोप खत्म होता…

[dailykhaleej]

India’s coronavirus cases rise to 9,352, no new cases in 25 districts for 14 days

Catastrophe Response Pressure staff spray disinfectant at Kaladera, Malakpet space to forestall the unfold of coronavirus pandemic, in the course of the nationwide lockdown, in Hyderabad. Picture Credit score: PTI

New Delhi: The penultimate day of 21-day lockdown noticed the variety of coronavirus cases in the nation attain 9352 with 905 new cases reported in the final 24 hours. The federal government’s motion plan to comprise the unfold of COVID-19 has stared yielding outcomes in 25 districts throughout 15 states which haven’t reported any case in the final 14 days.

Fifty one folks died in the final 24 hours taking complete toll 324.

As many as 25 workers members of Mumbai’s Bhatia hospital examined optimistic for coronavirus and variety of cases in town has reached 1549. The variety of those that have died has reached 100 in town.

Maharashtra with 2,064 cases continues to be the worst affected adopted by Delhi with 1,154 cases and Tamil Nadu with 1075 cases. The variety of containment zones in Delhi has been elevated to 47.

New cases have been reported from a number of states together with Kerala, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Nagaland reported its first COVID-19 case following which a number of localities and a hospital in Dimapur hve been sealed.

Uttarakhand Well being Division stated that no new optimistic COVID-19 case emerged in the state for the fifth day in a row.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deal with the nation at 10 am on Tuesday and is probably going to speak in regards to the additional plan of action to cope with the disaster posed by virus. Union ministers and senior officers returned to work in their places of work on Monday and work was completed by following social distancing norms.

The Indian Council of Medical Analysis (ICMR) stated 2,06,212 COVID-19 checks had been carried out until Saturday. “The pace at which we are conducting tests today, we have a stock with which we can conduct tests for the next six weeks easily,” ICMR’s head scientist Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar stated on the day by day media briefing on COVID-19 scenario.

He stated consignment of COVID-19 kits is predicted to arrive from China on April 15

In Delhi, merchants at Delhi’s Azadpur Mandi have been instructed to observe the odd-even rule in accordance to their shed numbers to keep social distancing. There can be staggered time for sale of greens and fruits in the mandis.

In Mangaluru, a case has been registered towards two minors at East Police station after they violated the lockdown norms. They are going to be produced earlier than the Juvenile Justice Board.

A 17-year outdated was caught making an attempt to sneak his good friend out of his condo complicated utilizing a suitcase.

“A17-year-old resident of Orchid Apartment Balmatta invited his friend, a resident of Motisham Apartment, Pandeshwar to stay with him on April 11, ” stated PS Harsha, the Commissioner of Police, Mangaluru.

The good friend wished to return again to his condo in Pandeshwar the following day however due to strict safety put in place, he acquired inside a big trolley suitcase. Based mostly on the suspicion, safety personnel alerted the residents of the constructing and opened the suitcase from which they had been shocked to discover a boy stepping out.

This is a fast learn on the COVID-19 associated updates:

1. The Supreme Courtroom directed that COVID-19 checks can be carried out freed from value for the poor and needy folks throughout the nation.

2. The Supreme Courtroom requested the central authorities to file a reply on a petition looking for evacuation of Indian residents stranded in a number of international locations, together with the US, amid the coronavirus lockdown.

3. The Supreme Courtroom deferred for two weeks listening to on a petition looking for instructions to curb media protection on the unfold of coronavirus due to the congregation at Markaz Tablighi Jammat in Nizamuddin final month.

4. On the 20th day of the lockdown, union ministers and senior officers resumed working from places of work on Monday.

5. 100 and forty-six hotspots have been recognized in 15 districts of Uttar Pradesh, having 401 optimistic COVID-19 cases,

6. Income and Catastrophe Administration Division of Odisha authorities on Monday stated that agriculture actions, fisheries, and work underneath the MNREGA scheme can be exempted from the second section of coronavirus lockdown.

7. Indian Military recruitment examination has been postponed to Might 31 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

8. The Ministry of Exterior Affairs stated it should proceed to advise the diplomatic group to observe lockdown pointers.

9. Delhi Well being Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday knowledgeable that 746 out of the 1,154 coronavirus cases in the nationwide capital are from Markaz space in Nizamuddin

10. Ahmedabad joined the checklist of cities which have made it compulsorily for folks to put on face masks at public locations to comprise novel coronavirus unfold.

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