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  • UP Police have arrested three government officials and 9 others for the murder of journalist and RTI activist Raghvendra Bajpai in Sitapur
  • Union minister Jitendra Singh said terrorists were behind the killing of three persons in Marhoon village in Kathua district of J&K
  • Uneasy calm remains in Manipur as tribal areas shut down after the Kuki-Zo Council called for an indefinite shutdown
  • Indian drug manufacturers are set to produce Emplagliflozin at a tenth of the price of the innovator Boehringer Ingelheim, after its patent expires on March 11. The companies in the running are Mankind, Torrent, Alkem, Dr Reddys and Lupin
  • The Budget session of Parliament will resume today against the backdrop of ongoing tussle over delimitation and three-language formula
  • Police have arrested a third suspect in the horrific rape-murder of foreign tourists and their Indian friend in Hampi in Karnataka
  • Stock brokers are upbeat that the present downtrend in the markets will see a reversal in March with reports by international analysts suggesting that the worst in the tariff war between the US and China and other nations almost over.
  • The Centre is in the process of implementing a 23-point agenda for regulation and reforms in areas like land, labour, utilities and permits to make life easier for businesses across the country
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that if businessmen take one step, the government is ready to take 10 steps with them
  • Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, K L Rahul shine with the bat after the spinner restrict New Zealand to just 251
  • Unbeaten India lift the ICC Champions Trophy by beating New Zealand by 4 wickets
  • 2nd ODI: Rohit Sharma roars back to form with a scintillating ton as India beat England by 4 wickets in a high scoring match in Cuttack
  • Supreme Court will appoint an observer for the mayoral poll in Chandigarh
  • Government makes it compulsory for plastic carry bag makers to put a QR or barcode with their details on such bags
  • GBS outbreak in Pune leaves 73 ill with 14 on ventilator. GBS is a rare but treatable autoimmune disease
Audacious gun-point robbery at a jewellery showroom in Ara in Bihar /////// Bhojpur Police chase the robbers and arrest two of them after a gunfight /////// Four gang members still at large /////// Jewellery worth Rs 15cr recovered from the total Rs 23cr worth looted, with one bag still missing
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Covid, Omicron, Three T's, Vaccination, The Government And The People

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-01-13 03:42:46

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

The Centre has categorically stated that people must not treat Omicron as common cold. It has also said that the three Ts - testing, tracking and treating - along with vaccination, including the 'precautionary' dose, is necessary in fighting the virus. The importance of vaccination, despite Omicron infecting fully vaccinated persons, cannot be understated as BMC commissioner has disclosed that in Mumbai, 96% of the patients seeking oxygen-supported emergency beds in city hospitals are found not to have taken even a single dose of vaccine.

While the Centre has emphasized on the three Ts, its other policy of not making testing mandatory for asymptomatic contacts of infected persons is puzzling. Omicron is said to show very mild symptoms which people tend to ignore. But it is also said to be more prevalent in asymptomatic persons. Hence, leaving out asymptomatic contacts out of the purview of mandatory testing creates a situation where these people might be infected and would go around spreading the virus undetected.

Also, testing is being conducted very erratically across India. Hence we had a situation where cases in Mumbai and Maharashtra were thought to be dipping in the last few days before jumping back again strongly on Wednesday. This kind of feedback due to uneven testing across days tends to confuse matters and mislead experts. It is also a negative for policy formation. States should be told to conduct testing evenly on all days. They should also be told to give out figures of fresh cases every day along with the corresponding number of tests conducted on that day so that the positivity rate can be easily determined.

Also, there are repeated warnings from health experts about the misuse and overuse of drugs, especially molnupiravir, in treating Covid. The Centre must come out with a fresh advisory to warn the medical fraternity and people against the random use of untested and unverified drugs. It must also ensure that such drugs are either not made available with chemists or are dispensed only in emergencies with proper recording of the transaction. 

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