Facts

The new feature called ”Open API Service” will help people, businesses and the economy to return to normalcy, and aims to address the fear/risk of COVID-19 infection. The service can be availed by organisations and business entities, who are registered in India with more than 50 employees, and they can use it to query the Aarogya Setu application in real-time and get the health status of their employees or any other Aarogya Setu user, who have provided their consent for sharing their health status with that entity, the release added.

Boeing testing hand-held UV wand to sanitize cockpits, cabins

Aug 22, 2020 | Eco/Invest/Demography, Facts, Health, Pandemic, Technology

Concerns by airline workers and passengers about the spread of COVID-19 has fueled a rush by companies to roll out new technology for aircraft sanitization.

The wand would eliminate the need for using alcohol or other disinfectants that could damage sensitive electronic equipment, Rae Lutters, chief engineer for Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator program, told a media briefing.

PETA moves HC for directions to AAP govt to take steps to prevent spread of glanders in the city

Aug 21, 2020 | Facts, Health, Risk Management

The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, in its application, has also sought implementation of the National Action Plan for Control and Eradication of Glanders and immediate testing of all the horses, mules, ponies, donkeys in Delhi

107-year-old Maharashtra woman beats COVID-19

Aug 21, 2020 | Eco/Invest/Demography, Facts, Health, Pandemic

The centenarian had recently undergone a spine surgery and when she tested positive for the virus, her old age posed a major challenge in her recovery, Jalna district civil surgeon Archana Bhosale said.

Indore cleanest city in India for the fourth time, five others rated 5-star

Aug 21, 2020 | Eco/Invest/Demography, Facts, Health

Indore city in Madhya Pradesh emerged as the cleanest city for the fourth time in a row, Surat and Navi Mumbai won the second and third position respectively in the more than 100,000 population category.

Mysuru city in Karnataka had won the award for the cleanest city of India in the first edition of the survey in 2016, while Indore had retained the top position for three consecutive years.

Chhattisgarh won the prestigious title of the cleanest state in the more than hundred urban local bodies category, while Jharkhand was adjudged the winner in the less than hundred urban local bodies category. An additional 117 awards were also handed over by the Minister.

Beijing says residents can go mask-free as China COVID cases hit new lows

Aug 21, 2020 | Disaster & Management, Eco/Invest/Demography, Facts, Health, Pandemic

Beijing’s municipal Centers for Disease Control first said residents could go without masks in outdoor areas in late April, though the rules were swiftly reversed in June after a new outbreak in a large wholesale market in the city’s south.
Experts say the key to the country’s success in controlling the disease has been the strict enforcement of local rules, including wearing masks, mandatory home quarantine and participating in mass testing.

Mystery grows over virus spread via contaminated food packaging

Aug 20, 2020 | Eco/Invest/Demography, Facts, Health

“We know that viruses usually can survive being frozen. So that means in theory it’s possible that infection could spread that way,” said Benjamin Cowling, head of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong. “But in reality, it’s a very low risk that that would happen because so many steps would need to be involved.”

The virus would need to survive freezing and then defrosting. It would need to get onto someone’s hands and then into their nose or mouth, and still survive. “I don’t think it would be a frequent mode of transmission, but it is possible,” he said.

Drug costs for COVID-19 patients plunge at U.S. hospitals, but may rise

Aug 20, 2020 | Eco/Invest/Demography, Facts, Health, Non-Life, Pandemic

Research by the health data firm IllumiCare and exclusively shared with Reuters found that hospitals spent $1,090 per COVID-19 patient on medication in July. That was down from $3,011 in May among more than 50 hospitals in 10 states that were analyzed.

Several factors drove down the number. The average length of stay for COVID-19 patients declined by nearly 30%, from 9.6 days in April to 6.8 days in July, the hospital data show. And the number of medications used dropped by 22%, from nearly 20 individual drugs in April to 15.4 drugs in July.

COVID-19 will see insurers adapt polices as risks change, says GlobalData

Aug 20, 2020 | Eco/Invest/Demography, Facts, Health, Life, Non-Life, Pandemic

the transition to working from home has led to concerns in other areas such as physical and mental health, which were not originally covered in household policies. As everyday risks change, insurers will have to adapt their policies accordingly, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.