Coronavirus spreading again in the states after the relax on Lockdown – Will Covaxin be successful in its clinical trial!
India has become the third-worst country affected by the spread of coronavirus, with over 767,000 confirmed infections this week. Delhi discovered 3,788 fresh new coronavirus cases, leading the final result to 70,000. As the national capital remains still in the worst-hit states. Delhi government announced an eight-point “Revised COVID Response Plan” under which house to house screening and serosurvey of 20,000 people across the district will be done. The last few days were very difficult for the states that have earlier reported the slowdown in the active cases, such as, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.
Therefore, the chief minister, Mamta Banerjee, extended the lockdown till July 31 in West Bengal to contain the COVID-19 spread. Meanwhile, southern India, led by Bengaluru, turned out to be the fastest area spreading the virus with an increase in the number of patients. India’s tolls in case of deaths are the eighth highest in the world, with overall 21,129 deaths and are still rising at its fast pace. India is accounted for 9% of the overall deaths recorded globally, of nearly around 35,000. In this week, Indian cases of coronavirus 269,789 had risen to 20% and deaths over 19%, based on the 7-day trolling averages.
But there is still a sight of light. Nearly 62% of the coronavirus patients have finally recovered.
A Mint analysis shows, Among all the countries with over 5000 fatalities, India’s fatality rate has the worst and with its current pace, it can cross 1 million cases by July 17. Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu are at the highest in the number of active cases. They are accounted for almost 69% of the national death toll. According to the 7-day rolling averages, there is a jump in death trolls in the past week with Karnataka- 74%, Tamil Nadu- 40%, and 38% in Andhra Pradesh. Rajasthan which was able to skip its name from the top 10 list, is back with an increase of 16% cases in the last week. West Bengal also reported with an increase of 26% and Assam is also included in the list. The highest death rates due to virus spread are in Gujarat (5.2%), Maharashtra (4.2%), and Madhya Pradesh (3.9).
The increase in the containment zone in Bengaluru has risen to 3,181. This shows that the Karnataka government is facing challenges in tackling the COVID-19 outbreak. On the immediate rise of cases, Karnataka Government said that it was expected to grow till July-end. According to Minister K Sudhakar, Karnataka Medical Education, “In Bengaluru we were aware of the surge in a number of infections when we relaxed the lockdown, but the information that came to us didn’t show that this will be to this extent.”
About the Cure launched by Cipla
According to a PTI report, Cipla has launched a generic version coronavirus treatment drug remdesivir with the lowest amount possible. It is the only drug approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for the emergency use authorization for the patients admitted in the hospital suffering from this virus. The price of the drug is Rs. 4000 per 100mg vial and the pharma is working to supply around 80,000 vials in the first month. This drug will be available through the government and the hospitals only to ensure equitable distribution.
In May, the collaboration between domestic pharma firms, Hetero, Cipla, and Jubilant life, entered into a licensing agreement with Gilead Science Inc for the manufacturing and distribution of Remdesivir.
Now, Covaxin, India’s first possible vaccine for the treatment of COVID-19 patients will soon start with the human trial. It will be tested on 1,100 people in two different phases. This plan has already been initiated by NIMS (Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences). Besides, there are 12 clinical trials identified by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) such as medical institutions to ensure that there should not be any delay.
NIMS Director Dr. K Manohar said, “ We will select healthy individuals and draw blood and send the blood samples to designated labs in New Delhi. They will give the green signal. Then the medicine people will examine and the first shot of the vaccine will be given due observation.”
If somehow this clinical trial on Covaxin doesn’t succeed. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the worst is not yet over, if the vaccines or drug is not found to control the disease, India might witness a huge surge in COVID-19 cases. India could be the worst-affected among all other countries in the world with 2.87 lakh cases per day by the end of 2021!
