Coronavirus 2020 pandemic in India

Coronavirus LIVE: India Covid-19 cases rise to 14,425; death toll at 488

go to this site to see the latest news and report about covid-19 : https://www.mygov.in/covid-19/

The first case of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic in India was reported on 30 January 2020, originating from China. As of 18 April 2020, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have confirmed a total of 14,378 cases, 1,992 recoveries (including 1 migration) and 480 deaths in the country. Experts suggest the number of infections could be much higher as India's testing rates are among the lowest in the world. The infection rate of COVID-19 in India is reported to be 1.7, significantly lower than in the worst affected countries.

The outbreak has been declared an epidemic in more than a dozen states and union territories, where provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 have been invoked, and educational institutions and many commercial establishments have been shut down. India has suspended all tourist visas, as a majority of the confirmed cases were linked to other countries.

On 22 March 2020, India observed a 14-hour voluntary public curfew at the instance of the prime minister Narendra Modi. The government followed it up with lockdowns in 75 districts where COVID cases had occurred as well as all major cities. Further, on 24 March, the prime minister ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, affecting the entire 1.3 billion population of India. On 14 April, the prime minister extended the ongoing nationwide lockdown till 3 May.

Michael Ryan, chief executive director of the World Health Organisation's health emergencies programme, said that India had "tremendous capacity" to deal with the coronavirus outbreak and, as the second most populous country, will have enormous impact on the world's ability to deal with it.^[16] Other commentators worried about the economic devastation caused by the lockdown, which has huge effects on informal workers, micro and small enterprises, farmers and the self-employed, who are left with no livelihood in the absence of transportation and access to markets.

Observers state that the lockdown has slowed the growth rate of the pandemic by 6 April to a rate of doubling every six days, from a rate of doubling every three days earlier.

The Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), in its report based on data from 73 countries, reports that the Indian Government has responded more stringently than other countries in tackling the pandemic. It noted the government's swift action, emergency policy making emergency investment in healthcare, fiscal measures, investment in vaccine research and active response to the situation, and scored India with a "100" for its strictness

Background

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.

The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.

Timeline

Main article: Timeline of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in India

On 30 January, India reported its first case of COVID-19 in Kerala, which rose to three cases by 3 February; all were students who had returned from Wuhan, China. No significant rise in cases was seen in the rest of February. On 4 March, 22 new cases came to light, including those of an Italian tourist group with 14 infected members.

The transmission escalated during March, after several cases were reported all over the country, most of which were linked to people with a travel history to affected countries. On 12 March, a 76-year-old man who had returned from Saudi Arabia became the first victim of the virus in the country.

Confirmed cases crossed 100 on 15 March, 1,000 on 28 March, 5,000 on 7 April and 10,000 on 14 April. The death toll crossed 50 on 1 April and 100 on 5 April.

A Sikh preacher that returned from travel to Italy and Germany, carrying the virus, turned into "super spreader" by attending a Sikh festival in Anandpur Sahib during 10–12 March. Twenty-seven COVID-19 cases were traced back to him. Over 40,000 people in 20 villages in Punjab were quarantined on 27 March to contain the spread.

On 31 March, a Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation event that took place in Delhi in early March emerged as a new virus hotspot after numerous cases across the country were traced back to the event.Over 9,000 missionaries may have attended the congregation, with the majority being from various states of India, and 960 attendees from 40 foreign countries. As of 6 April, 1,445 out of 4,067 confirmed cases were linked to this event in 17 Indian states and union territories.

On 6 April 2020, in Mumbai's Wockhardt Hospital, 26 nurses and 3 doctors were found to have been infected with the virus. The hospital was temporarily shut down and declared a containment zone. Negligence of the hospital administration has been blamed for the infections.

Know about Sparrow Bird

...HAPPY SPARROW DAY...

Some Facts about Sparrow:

Sparrow is a species of birds that can be easily recognised because it lives very close to humans. This small bird originates from North Africa, but it has been successfully introduced to North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Sparrow, unlike many other birds, cannot be found in forests and deserts. It prefers life close to human settlements, including both urban and rural areas. Number of sparrows decreased dramatically in the last couple of years for unknown reason. Three quarters of sparrows disappeared from the London between 1994 and 2000. Due to fast decline in number of sparrows, this bird is listed as threatened (nearly endangered). 

Interesting Sparrow Facts:

1.             Size and body structure of sparrow bird is

o    Sparrow is a very small bird. It can reach 4 to 8 inches in length and 0.8 to 1.4 ounces in weight.

o    Males and females can be distinguished by the feather coloration: males have reddish backs and black bib, while females have brown backs with stripes.

o    Sparrow has stout body, covered with brown, black and white feathers. Its wings are rounded.

2.            What sparrows eat and why they adapted to the life in human settlements?

o    Sparrows are carnivores (meat-eaters) by nature, but they have changed their eating habits when they learned to live close to people. Sparrows primarily eat moths and other small insects, but they can also eat seed, berries and fruit.

o    They House Sparrows are very prolific parents and by late summer often dominate feeders of all types in great numbers and prevent the other small birds from accessing the feeders. House Sparrows eat mostly grains and seeds, as well as corn, oats, wheat, sorghum, grass seed, ragweed, buckwheat, millet, Milo and insects.

o    One of the reasons why sparrows adapted to the life in human settlements is constant supply of food. Sparrows easily learned to eat "served food" when people started to build bird feeders.

o    Sparrows are very social and they live in colonies called flocks.

3.            How speedy and high can sparrows fly?

o    Sparrows usually fly at the speed of 24 miles per hour. When needed (in the case of danger), they can accelerate to the speed of 31 miles per hour.

o    "As they cross the Tibetan-Qinghai Plateau, the birds typically range in altitude from 4,000 m [16,404 feet] to 5,500 m [18,044 feet], with the odd excursion to just over 6,000 m [19,685 feet]," Bishop said.

4.            How many sparrows are left in the world?

o    The population of house sparrows has declined by 20 million in the last 40 years, according to a new RSPB report. State of the UK's Birds 2012 estimated there are166 million nesting birds in the UK, compared with 210 million nesting birds in 1966.

5.            How are sparrows useful to humans?

o    Nestlings are primarily fed insects, some of which are beneficial and some harmful to humans. Adult house sparrows compete with native, insectivorous birds. Martins and bluebirds, in particular, have been crowded out by sparrows that drive them away and destroy their eggs and young.

6.            What does a sparrow symbolize?

o    A sparrow as a spirit animal may have different meanings. This small bird usuallysymbolizes joy and protection, but it can also be a symbol of simplicity and community. Team work and hard work are what make the sparrows productive.

7.            Why are sparrows needed?

o    If sparrows are not there, the population of birds of prey may also be affected. Apart from this, every constituent of an ecosystem is important from an ant to an elephant. We are eliminating species by species which are important links which make the web of life. Today it's these species which are getting extinct.

8.            What is the Lifespan of sparrow?

o    Sparrows can survive between 4 and 5 years in the wild.    

9.            Why sparrows are disappearing in India?

o  Sparrows have been companions of humans for centuries but are fast disappearing due to adverse human activities. One of the main reasons for the decline of house sparrows is the lack of nesting sites and food. In this way they become important stake holders in the conservation of house sparrows.

10.      Some random fact that you should know about sparrow bird:

o    Although sparrows do not belong to the group of water birds, they can swim very fast to escape from the predators.

o    Main predators of sparrows are dogs, cats, foxes and snakes. Young and inexperienced birds are the main target and easy meal for these carnivores.

o      Sparrows are not territorial animals, but they will aggressively protect their nest from other sparrows.

o    Sparrows usually build nest under the roofs, under bridges and in tree hollows.

o    Male is responsible for building of the nest. During construction, male will try to attract female. She can help in further building if she is interested in mating.

o    Sparrows are allegedly monogamous. Recent genetic analysis showed that only small percent of eggs contains DNA of both parents (in other words: both male and female are prone to infidelity).

o    Sparrows have several broods each year. Female lays 3 to 5 eggs. Incubation period lasts 12 to 15 days. Both parents take care of the eggs and chicks. Young birds are ready to leave the nest 15 days after birth.  

Know some more details about the sparrow like why we celebrate world's Sparrow day and history of it.

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