CoviDiary

Will there be a Made In India vaccine for COVID-19? Bharat Biotech's Covaxin has got approvals to start clinical trials.  My writing project this month is a great success. Wrote 14.500 words against the original target of 10,000 subsequently revised to 12,000. The Pandemic has made the much procrastinated task possible. I can't but be grateful. Breaking up the larger goal into small chunks has done the trick. I was able to write everyday bar one. And I wrote at the designated time.  BMC has published a ward-wise details of cases.

New milestone - 10 million cases and 5 lakh deaths worldwide.  China plans to test its vaccine on its military.   State has extended the lockdown to 31st July. A 2 km rule has been brought into play to avoid travel not related to work or emergency. Police are checking if vehicles are beyond the stipulated 2 km radius from the owner's home. It is causing considerable confusion and massive traffic pile-ups. 

While researching for my column I came across this beautiful line - It is important to to try to show a little less judgement about how others are acting and a bit more compassion for their circumstances, some of which we may not understand. This sort of changed the tenor of my writing. I was writing about the spate of accidents that have rocked the chemical industry, as the plants were restarting after several weeks of lockdown. There are many things competing for our attention during these challenging times. Some people may be worried about their jobs and livelihood. Others may be concerned about the safety of their near and dear ones. Can a stressed mind bring the full focus and attention required for the complex task of starting up a chemical plant? Companies in Europe are implementing wellbeing programmes for its employees and these will also address their mental health. Our mental health can also be impaired because of social isolation and loeliness. 

I have been walking in the garden all of this week, for 30 minutes in the morning. The garden is practically deserted, with barely 20-25 walkers. I look up everyone who gets closer to me to check if they are wearing masks, if they are wearing it properly. The compliance is pretty high. But I am not happy with couple of people doing Pranayam. They are without masks and are exhaling forcefully. With this morning walk, my life is back to normal. Barber shops open tomorrow, but I will wait. 

The surprisingly low death rates in India (11 per million cf 376 in USA and 635 in IK) could be misleading due to under-reporting . If Death Rate is the new metric, then we need to get the correct data. The much controversial  Serological Survey begins in Delhi tomorrow. It will hopefully detect asymptomatic cases and also those who have recovered from a mild case without being tested. 

Remdesivir failed in Ebola trials. But now it has emerged as the first therapy for Covid19. EU has given conditional approval for the drug to be used across its 27 member nations. Gilead has branded the drug as Veklury. Doctors have repeatedly stressed that the drug is not a prophylatic and has to be used only in very severe cases, and even then only on patients who don't have comorbidities. It is a frightfully expensive drug too! Even the generic versions manufactured by Indian pharma companies are priced atrociously. An anonymous good samaritan has arranged the drugs for 25 patients at Lilavati Hospital.  The simplest prophylatic for COVID19 is the humble face mask. But in the most advanced country of the world it has become an object of deep cultural schism . 

These are just 4 of the 37 frames I shot in 2 minutes. Feeling extremely grateful for this opportunity. I thought I had the best shot of the bird already, but has been delightfully proved wrong.  Why South Asia's Covid numbers are so low compared to rest of the world? The answer is probably in bad data. South Asia will catch up with the rest, say most experts.  Mumbai's data reporting is now messy. Deaths are reported for last 48 hours and also for last 3 months. Obviously the latter are errors of omission.  ICMR has yet again revised the testing strategy. Now ALL symptomatic cases will be tested. Earlier it was restricted to symptomatic cases who are in containment zones, contacts of a confirmed case or frontline workers. I wish WHO will come out with uniform testing protocols for future pandemics. 

Amma went out of her home for the first time after 90 odd days. She had to go to the bank to withdraw cash and also submit Form 15H. Amma has been asking when the the domestic help can return. A highrise in the posh Napean Sea Road area has been sealed after some domestic helps allegedly spread the infection. I was thinking about the Covid statistics that we are beng bombarded with daily. The emphasis on "Total Positive Cases" is alarmist and rather useless. It has only historical value. 135, 796 "Total Positive Cases" from Maharashtra have been reported. Only the fine print says that 45% (61,793) of them are currently active. The remaining have mostly recovered, and a small fraction have passed away. It is the number of currently active cases that should be of interest to people, as they evaluate the risk of resuming their normal life. It is this which will determine their chances of getting a hospital bed in case they catch the bug. Government has rightly shi

Yesterday, WHO reported the highest single-day increase in cases worldwide - 183,000 . Experts feel this is because of increased testing. Trump wants to slow down testing so that more cases are not reported!  The last three months have seen the biggest crossover ever between mainstream sports and e-sports. Teams and promoters have been filling their suddenly empty schedules with video-game versions of their sports, keeping both fans and sponsors happy. The Pandemic will change how we watch sports. The fiasco of UK's Contact Tracing App In the global discourse on how different countries have responded to Covid19, India is conspicuously absent. I wonder why. We are now at #4 in the world list behind USA, Brazil and Russia. 

Back under the open sky! Did 5 rounds in the garden. It was practically deserted. I am trying to overcome the fear.  134 Covid19 deaths in the city yesterday, a new high. But new cases in Dharavi are down to single digit. So probably the tide has turned.  Cipla and Hetero have been granted permission to manufacture and market generic versions of Remdesivir. The drug will cost Rs 3000-6000 per dosage and typically 5-6 doses are required. 

The city recorded 114 Covid deaths yesterday, a new high. Crossing 100 for the first time. Covid has dropped out if the country's radar now; China has usurped our minds.  My meditation which had been floundering recently, recovered strongly today. Had a very immersive body scan experience, which had been my weakness. 

How many people have been infected with Coronavirus so far?  How are these calculated and what can we trust? The quality and quantity of testing is inconsistent, so it is difficult to get a true number of those infected.  The Pandemic has exposed the liberal global order as a mirage.  

"Quarantine turns us into explorers of the familiar". How true! The other day I placed my chair in a spot that I had never used before to prevent the glare on the TV screen. We notice new things. "There is always more to notice in the specificity of a single space". This wonderful article imagines how our homes, offices and cities would be redesigned in the post-COVID world.  Saving the elderly from the Coronavirus.

Dexamethasone  is the first and only drug that has made a significant difference to patient mortality for covid-19.   Dexamethasone is an inexpensive, widely-available generic steroid  and costs less than Rs 10.  Zydus Cadila and Wockhardt are the leading manufacturers of the drug. Operation Warp Speed , the U.S. project that aims to start to vaccinate millions of Americans in October and offer shots to 300 million people in the United States by January 2021. The pandemic reality of COVID-19 clinical trials Unbelievable discipline at CST Station

The superspreader.   Transmission of Coronavirus is following the famous Pareto Principle.  Public Health researchers use the Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) to gauge how to respond to a new disease. But it is tricky to calculate. IFR for COVID19 is currently placed between 0.5 % and 1% . Illicit hairdressers of the lockdown There is some buzz about Dexamethasone .  It cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators. For those on oxygen, it cut deaths by a fifth.

Local trains resumed today, but limited to people working in essential services. Wonder how rigorously it would be implemented.  Chennai is locking down again. Will Mumbai and Delhi follow suit soon? This is my response to Lata  Venkatesh of CNBCTV18, who was ranting that people are unnecessarily gripped by a fear psychosis and that is slowing down the opening up of the economy.  I am not afraid of the Coronavirus. I am afraid of not getting an ambulance in time.  I am afraid of hospitals denying me admission. I am afraid of filthy conditions in hospital. I am afraid that hospitals will not keep my relatives updated about my progress. I am afraid of dying alone.  What we have learned about the Coronavirus.  

A telephonic chat with my cousin was highly instructive about how zoom learning is happening in India. Her daughter is studying in a prestigious institute and all learning is currently online through zoom. Many students simply wander off after logging in. Teachers are getting bored and 2.5 hour long lectures often get terminated at the halfway stage. The network is clogged with as many as 4 members from every household connecting for WFH or LFH. She is facing 4-5 interruptions during every lecture. Higher education through zoom is in a complete mess.  No more slow cooking. Got the pressure cooker serviced today with a new gasket and safety plug.  Americans are pretending that the pandemic is over. The virus is winning . 

Pandemic was not the kind of emergency that required industries to shut down at 4 hours notice and leave unsupervised for several weeks at a stretch. Especially chemical industry. Every chemical plant needs time to be shut down safely and for being properly mothballed for a long lockdown. This could be several hours or few days, depending on the type of plant. Annual shutdown lasts a maximum of 4 weeks and pesonnel are always present at the site during this period. A long shutdown of the kind we experienced during the pandemic presents several problems to a chemical plant. Material left behind in tanks and pipelines may start degrading, corroding, congealing, polymerising etc. Storage tanks may need continuous cooling. Each plant has to develop special SOP to handle a long, largely unattended shutdown. Authorities should recognise this and give time for chemical plants to shut down safely and allow staff to access the plant during this time. Some plants may also need periodic monitor

Finally, from the local pharmacy. Will start using this from tomorrow. Must start protecting myself now from others. Was protecting others with my cloth mask all these days.  97 deaths in Mumbai yesterday, same as day before yesterday.  The best assesment I have heard in weeks. The virus will be with us for decades.   Another perspective. Only 0.1% of the global population has been infected so far. 

Some good news hot from twitter right now.  Moderna's Press Release to the investors says Phase 3 trials will begin next month with 30,000 participants. In parallel the company is also going ahead with plans to manufacture 0.5-1 billion doses of  100 μg per year. Lonza is the partner for manufacturing.  The very first volunteer for the Phase I trial had an adverse reaction but still has faith in the vaccine.  Chronicle of a Pandemic Foretold

My cup of joy runneth over.  4400 words after 10 days. Insanely better than expected. I revise my target to 12000 words by end of the month.  The Vaccine Tracker WHO stumbles and bumbles .

Feeling overjoyed because of catching this bulbul. Now I have to go after the fantail. It hardly stays still. I saw it hustiling a crow today. Birdwatching from inside my home has been such a revelation during this lockdown.  I am happy that my college has decided to conduct exams and not pass the students automatically as decided by the state government. 75% weightage will be given to the mid-semsester and continuous assessment scores. This is a welcome fall out of the pandemic. The state government's decision is attracting lot of flak from various quarters. There are fears that the "corona graduates" may face much hurdles in their career and may even be derecognised by various professional councils.  We had been told that asymptomatic people could still be carriers of the virus. But the technical head of WHO dropped a bombshell yesterday by declaring that asymptomatic transmission appears "very rare". 

Will this be the new normal in restaurants?  First thing I saw in the morning today was newspapers at the doorfronts. Home delivery resumed today. BEST resumed services with one passenger per seat and maximum of 5 standees. Would like to know how rigorously it was implemented. Offices were allowed to reopen with maximum 10% staff.  Received a message from Blue Dart that I don't have to sign for the package. Hundreds of such wasteful, redundant practices will wither away this year in the New Normal. 

Pandemic will last till mid-September in India. So say 2 public health experts from the health ministry. They have used the Bailey's Model for this finding. The pandemic will end when the number of people getting infected matches the number of people getting removed from circulation either due to recovery or death.  Hospitals in Mumbai and Delhi are crumbling. I am worried. People are coming out as if we have vanquished the virus. This is the time to be even more cautious and stay safe indoors. 

This is my routine for June 1) Buy milk/newspaper/vegetables 2) Coffee 3) Write 4) Breakfast 5) Read / Online learning 6) Walk / Listen to podcast 7) Meditate 8) Cook lunch 9) Timed nap 10) Read / Online learning 11) Walk / Listen to podcast 11) Meditate  12) Dinner 13) Watch TV 14) Write Journal  Fillers - Sudoku / Music / Birdwatching / Mopping  Lancet has retracted the article critical of Hydroxychloroquine. It has been done    at the request of three of its authors who “can no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources”. The paper had halted trials of Hydroxychloroquine. It is being termed as one of the biggest retractions in modern history . It casts a long shadow on the hallowed practice of peer review. Peer review often takes several months. The announcement of Helium Hydride was held up for years! The rush to publish and cut short peer review is understandable in this pandemic, because it can be a matter of life and death. But it also gives

What an uncanny metaphor for the day when the lockdown has been officially lifted in the state.  But the virus has not been vanquished. In fact we have surrendered. We are entirely responsible for our health now. Government has almost abdicated theirs. As R advises me, in words beyond his age, now is the time I have to be more careful. The municipal park has been opened up for walking and jogging; I merely looked up when I went to buy milk in the morning. Tempted to go tomorrow. 

There is an Internet outage today as a fallout of yesterday’s cyclone. So I am composing this in Word and will copy/paste it in blogger tomorrow. I have been eager for the lockdown to end for 3 specific reasons:      1) To get the safety plug replaced in the pressure cooker      2) To get my hair cut      3) To get the temporary cap replaced by a permanent one. The cap fell off today, so item 3 assumed some urgency now. Hair is still manageable. So item 2 is not that pressing. Item 1 is interesting. I have begun to appreciate the slow “mindful” cooking of dal and rice. No longer putting them inside the pressure cooker and then losing count of the whistles. Now I stand at the stove and feel the heat. And as I keep stirring the broth, I reflect on the origins of the rice or dal. Who would have grown it and where? How much water would it have consumed? Was it a Rabi or a Kharif crop? How much would the farmer have earned from it? Now that I have tim

These are the days of webinars. Attended one today evening, By the rockstar health minister of Kerala, K K Shailaja. Organised by Indian Express. 90 minutes long. On Zoom. It is obvious why Kerala has done well in its fight against Covid19. Good public health infrastructure and high literacy rate. She also spoke about "Reverse Quarantine" , in which the elderly are cocooned at home and discouraged to come in contact with others. Another interesting thing she mentioned was use of Ayurvedic medicine to boost the immunity of the elderly.  This for a rapid 2-week course on the history of Psychology. Keeps mind sharp and engaged. 

This picture is a great reflection of the state of my mind these days. Totally absorbed in cooking. Taking great pride in preparing my lunch. Posted it on Instagram and when someone asked me to share the recipe, I replied cheekily - 100% mindfulness, rest to suit individual taste. Got a mail from Panse. He has written a piece called "Gifts from Coronavirus" and wants it published in the alumni newsletter. It lists several of his accomplishments during the lockdown. Among them - reorganising the home, updating records, and sharing house chores with wife. But another thing caught my eye. He and his wife have made their will. Extremely important step in these times. I think I should emulate him. He is also conducting online sessions of Pranayam and has invited me to join.  There is this urge to document everything. 

As resolved yesterday I began writing. My target is 10,000 words by month end.  Signs of restrictions being eased were evident. Spotted a woman without a mask at the milk booth. There was more activity in the building compound. 2 girls were circumabulating, one carrying the mask in her hand and the other wearing it on the chin. Are these the young people who will take the country forward?  Maharashtra Government says we can now exercise in public places. I expect the garden to be thrown open. But I can't bring myself to go there anytime soon. Maybe not in June. I have been walking 4-5 km each day inside home, for the last 50 days.