The COVID-19 pandemic is straining health systems worldwide. The rapidly increasing demand on health facilities and health care workers threatens to leave some health systems overstretched and unable to operate effectively.

Previous outbreaks have demonstrated that when health systems are overwhelmed, mortality from vaccine-preventable and other treatable conditions can also increase dramatically. During the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak, the increased number of deaths caused by measles, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis attributable to health system failures exceeded deaths from Ebola.

“The best defense against any outbreak is a strong health system,” stressed WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “COVID-19 is revealing how fragile many of the world’s health systems and services are, forcing countries to make difficult choices on how to best meet the needs of their people.”

To help countries navigate through these challenges, the World Health Organization (WHO) has updated operational planning guidelines in balancing the demands of responding directly to COVID-19 while maintaining essential health service delivery, and mitigating the risk of system collapse. This includes a set of targeted immediate actions that countries should consider at national, regional, and local level to reorganize and maintain access to high-quality essential health services for all.

Countries should identify essential services that will be prioritized in their efforts to maintain continuity of service delivery and make strategic shifts to ensure that increasingly limited resources provide maximum benefit for the population. They also need to comply with the highest standard in precautions, especially in hygiene practices, and the provision of adequate supplies including personal protective equipment This requires robust planning and coordinated actions between governments and health facilities and their managers.

Some examples of essential services include: routine vaccination; reproductive health services including care during pregnancy and childbirth; care of young infants and older adults; management of mental health conditions as well as noncommunicable diseases and infectious diseases like HIV, malaria and TB; critical inpatient therapies; management of emergency health conditions; auxiliary services like basic diagnostic imaging, laboratory services, and blood bank services, among others.

Well-organized and prepared health systems can continue to provide equitable access to essential service delivery throughout an emergency, limiting direct mortality and avoiding increased indirect mortality.   

The guidelines stress the importance of keeping up-to-date information. This requires frequent transparent communications with the public, and strong community engagements so the public can maintain trust in the system to safely meet their essential needs and to control infection risk in health facilities. This will help ensure that people continue to seek care when appropriate, and adhere to public health advice.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati has been providing scientific support, extension of sophisticated instrument facilities as well as involved in the immediate development of life-saving equipment to Assam State and Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).

Since the initial days of this outbreak, IIT Guwahati has prepared hand sanitizers at its various departments and academic centres and is in the process of preparing at least 5000 sanitizer bottles and provide them to GMCH and Assam government. The Institute has provided two real-time PCR machines to GMCH for the diagnosis of Coronavirus. These machines would help in ramping the testing process by analysing 1000 samples if run for 12 hours continuously and 2000 samples in 24 hours, a statement issued by the Institute said.

On the research front, multiple efforts are being made for vaccine development at the Department of Bioscience & Bioengineering. Various other departments are involved in developing multiple routes to have a diagnostic and therapeutic approach for the early detection of various viral infections. The faculty members of Bioscience & Bioengineering and Chemistry Departments and Center for Nanotechnology have also initiated research proposals to combat COVID-19 against the urgent calls of the Government of India.

In addition, the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Electronics & Electrical Engineering are making efforts to develop several state-of-the-art technologies which include, robot-based drug/food carrying unit to work in isolation wards and robot-based screening units, large and high capacity autoclave machine, handheld temperature measuring units, hospital beds including ICU beds, ventilators, medical waste disposal in the isolation wards, shower for disinfection, WHO specified masks and hand sanitizers. The Departments of Chemistry and Bioscience & Bioengineering are developing prototype protective gears with antiviral and superhydrophobic coatings while the Department of Chemical Engineering is working to develop Biodegradable plastic based Medical Textile. The Department of Design has developed a prototype 3D printed full face shield including head gear which can be scaled up immediately, the statement added.

Further, faculty members also have developed a PCR machine in-house which has been patented and is ready for commercialization whereas portable OFET sensors fabricated at the Institute could be integrated for COVID diagnosis. In addition, the Institute is also in the process of setting up an advanced research centre (BSL-III/IV laboratory) for COVID-19 analysis, which would help the entire Northeast region to test for COVID-19 and other dreadful virus detection and diagnosis.

Talking about setting up a research centre for COVID-19 analysis, Prof. T. G. Sitharam, Director, IIT Guwahati, said, “Our idea is to make this a state-of-the-art facility for the entire Northeast region. This centre in future would help to develop highly competent manpower for diagnosis of different infectious diseases in the early stage of infection and thus its prevention too”.

Faiz Qureshi is a popular name among the entertainment circles in Delhi and the kind of success he has achieved at such a young age, makes him a case study for aspiring youngsters all over the country. With his upcoming web series, “Greed”, Faiz is all set to launch a new chapter in his life as a producer. 

Born on March 7, 1993, this 26-year-old lad is doing it all, from producing albums to casting for projects and organizing international fashion shows, Faiz is a busy guy! However, that is not all! Yes! He is also a successful entrepreneur and writer besides being the brains behind “Reddwings Productions.”

Hailing from a small town like Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Faiz has come a long way in his career and established himself as a force to reckon with in the Delhi circle. He has been working since the year 2010, when he started his career as a print model. Soon after, in 2012, he won the title of “Mr. Uttarakhand.” And then, as they say, there was no stopping him!

He played the lead role in a short film, “Defining Love,” in 2013 and the film was released on YouTube in 2014. Since then, he has done an international video album “Can I Share”, as a model. He was also cast in and produced a video album “Girlfriend” featuring Ekta Rai. The song was sung by Vikrant Dhaka. 

In 2014 itself, Faiz also started working for the Magnat Production, where he worked as an organizer and ended up organizing the Mrs India Globe International for married women and Mr. & Miss India Globe International beauty pageants.

After gaining a vast experience for himself in such a short time, Faiz ended up launching his own company – Reddwings Productions – in the year 2018. So far, under its banner, he has produced video albums, a Bollywood movie and fashion & talent shows for married women in Dubai. This talent show was telecast on StarPlus Dubai channel. 

Even today, Faiz remains busy working as a casting director for e-commerce shoots for various brands. He is soon going to start shooting for ‘Catwalk’ and ‘Habibi’ – two songs with renowned Bollywood singer, Mohd. Danish. And then, there is the web series, of course!

India is currently in the second stage of the Covid-19 crisis. The cases till now have been mostly related to travel abroad and transmission between family members and close contacts. But if the virus spreads into the general population, which is called “community transmission” and is labelled Stage-3 of the pandemic, there will be a very rapid increase of Covid-19 cases. Experts believe that it is an eventuality that must very rigorously be prepared for even while we are in this 21-day lock-down period to prevent the virus from spreading. Apart from India, the whole world faces the same threat and it is inevitable that many countries will be unable to control the virus in the second stage and it will progress into the general population. The 3rd stage is a period in which the number of infected people increase exponentially – their number doubling every few days until, if not stopped by some means, 60% to 80% of the population is infected – which would mean millions would be infected in any country where this happens, and in India it would mean hundreds of millions. While it is fervently to be hoped that our prompt actions would prevent that from happening, we must prepare for that possibility. Even if we ourselves are providentially spared, we must be prepared to help others in the world who may not be so fortunate.

The Covid-19 virus has a strangely varied effect on different people it infects. Some barely show symptoms and may not even realize that they are infected, while they still pass on the virus to others who may be more seriously affected. Others show symptoms after a few days even while in the interim they are passing on the infection to others. Of those infected, it is estimated that up to 85% will have mostly mild symptoms and will recover within two weeks. Of the remaining 15% who may need hospitalization, around one-third, i.e., 5% of the total infected persons, would pose the greatest challenge. They would develop respiratory difficulties for which ventilators for assisted breathing will become necessary. It is with regard to these ventilators that the rest of this article will focus. 

A Ventilator is a device designed to force breathable air into the lungs of patients who are unable to breathe for themselves. Modern ventilators are very expensive and sophisticated devices, which are generally found only in the ICUs of large hospitals. The most sophisticated ventilators, with computer controls, etc., cost around Rs. 40 lakhs, more modest foreign-made ones cost around Rs. 15 lakhs, Indian-made ones around Rs. 6 lakhs. There are around 40,000 ventilators in India right now, mostly in the private hospitals. The Indian industry has a manufacturing capacity of at most 6000 units per month, but even the Indian-made devices use a lot of foreign-made parts whose availability would now be uncertain, when every country would be maximizing their own ventilator production. 

Let us now consider the requirements in the case the Covid-19 crisis reaches Stage-3 in India. Assuming a low 6% infection rate, in case COVID-19 advancement in India continues, in the Indian population of 1.3 Billion, that would mean that around 80 million people would get affected. (Please note we are avoiding the more alarming 60-80% infection rate proposed by most models of a general Stage-3 epidemic. To get those figures just multiply our figures by ten). Of these 80 million, at least 5% would require ventilators, i.e., 4 million. Each of these 4 million patients would need the ventilators for around 21 days, thereby blocking that machine for at least that amount of time. Further, the machines are not portable and are found only in high-end hospitals in large cities, so patients from villages would need to be transported to these cities, which would be a logistics problem of unimaginable complexity. It is quite clear that even a mild 6% Stage-3 would overwhelm the country’s capacity to a devastating degree. Even if the Indian Industry was at peak production it could manufacture only another 60,000 machines in the next 10 months, at a cost of 3600 Crores. Therefore, the total number of ventilators would barely be 1 lakh devices – at a time when millions of machines may be needed. It is clear that we cannot depend of the conventional ventilators for a solution to this crisis.

Yet, even with these grim figures, there is hope. While the conventional ventilators are expensive, hard to produce, and not portable, there are small devices which are used to deliver breathing support in emergency situations that are inexpensive, easy to produce, and portable – which therefore have every quality that is required in this crisis. The most common of these devices is the bag valve mask, often called by the propriety name of Ambu Bag, that is used for resuscitation in emergency situations. Such devices are hand-powered and therefore not suitable for continuous use as a ventilator. However, it would be easy to design a similar device powered by an electrical source, which could be a car battery, say, apart from the conventional power supply.  It could be made portable, and therefore could be used in villages and areas without a power supply, and be inexpensive enough to manufacture in bulk. Our estimate of the cost is that it can be manufactured for less than Rs 5000, i.e., one-hundredth the cost of a conventional machine.  The cost of manufacturing 6 million of these devices will be probably less than that of the inadequate number of 60,000 conventional machines mentioned above. The cost is so low that it can be considered a single-use device that will be given over to single patient, and never used again. It needs to be manufactured, however, on an industrial scale, in millions, within a short time of a few months. 

It must be mentioned that this idea is not new. In the past few weeks, many countries have come up with this idea of manufacture of low-cost ventilators, and have even started competitions where the winning design would be declared open-source, i.e., not patented, and given free for anyone to copy if so inclined. Several designs are already available for 3-D printing, and so can be manufactured on a small scale on a 3-D printer. There have been several designs proposed within India itself, with IIT Hyderabad having at least one proposed design. While this is reassuring, we mention that there are some caveats involved – these designs are untested, and uncertified. Even if inexpensive, the designed devices should be capable of continuous and faultless 24×7 operation for at least one month – which requires very high performance both of the design and the manufactured components.   Also, while 3-D printing could be part of the manufacturing solution, conventional manufacturing may be much more effective for making the millions of devices in the most rapid and cost-effective way. It is on the steps required for this manufacture we will now focus.

We are proposing that the Government of India (through the DST/DRDO, or some other nodal organization) constitute a highly empowered task force which will carry out the tasks needed to start the production of these low-cost ventilators, within a maximum time-frame of 2 months. The production rate thereafter would need to be of several lakh units per week, so the preparation has to be done at a war-footing, under the direct scrutiny of the highest levels of Government.

We believe that such a plan is completely within the reach of our nation, but should be conducted with the utmost speed and efficiency to be useful at the time of the direst need. In the happy circumstance that the millions of devices so manufactured are not needed, i.e., if the virus is contained in Stage-2, say, India could then give these devices to other nations who may not be so fortunate. Even otherwise, due to the low costs involved, India can manufacture them beyond its own requirements for distribution to other nations. It is the least we can do for humanity in such dire circumstances.

A new report on mental health has recommended that India should establish a National Steering Committee to ensure implementation of the process of long-term institutionalization to the community-based living of mental health issues.

A report `National Strategy for Inclusive and Community based Living for Persons with Mental Health Issues’ prepared by the Hans Foundation on the recommendations of the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare and Social Justice and Empowerment has suggested that the National Steering Committee –under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare – should function as leadership and stakeholder collective to pursue shared visions of moving from long-term institutionalization to community-based alternatives. 

It has suggested that the Committee should create and implement an expansive Community Care System that allies with the Social Care Sector to keep pace with supports needed when people move out of hospitals and decisively alter progressions and re-entry into homelessness and long-term institutionalisation.

Designate investments for defined pathways out of hospitals with accompanying legislative and policy support, particularly to support discharges into community living alternatives. It has also recommended financial support also for such people.  

Some other recommendations made in the report are to align efforts of community placements with key social entitlements linked to the Community Care System – disability allowance, voting rights, banking access, ration card – that can positively impact social inclusion and long-term sustainability of placements. 

Overhaul the Institutional Care System to embrace effective, appropriate, high quality, rights-based emergency and acute care, the report has said while asking for re-imagining care by separating it from ‘control’ and ‘management’ and enhance quality across domains from personal grooming and menstrual hygiene choices to access to diverse choice-based work engagement options. 

In addition to enhancing staff capacities so that they can embrace contemporary modes of care, the report has also suggested decentralising bed capacities from hyper-segregated, large facilities to localised services in District – and Taluk-level hospitals. 

“Introduce a Family Assistance Scheme or Cash Transfers to support Family Placements when households face socio-economic distress. Set up a national network online with a database management system to record, monitor, track, update status with a view to enabling a robust aftercare system in place,’’ the report has said.

It is imperative to recognize and urgently restore the right of people with psychosocial disabilities to live in the community, with flexible support that enables them to make choices about and exercise agency over their care and daily living, and engage in lived experiences with personal meaning, the report has said. For this right to become a reality, governments need to increase financial investment defined by policy and accompanying National Scheme for Personal Assistance and Housing Options to promote community living for people with long-term care needs, the report has said. 

A national-level movement for inclusive living options for people living for extended periods in state mental hospitals has the potential to contribute to social justice and human rights, alter stigmatizing notions of mental ill-health and change the landscape of mental health care in the country, the report says. 

The aim of this study was to evolve a comprehensive national strategy for inclusive and community based living for persons with mental health issues.

In the Indian context, where 10.6% of the population is estimated to be living with mental health issues, 13.7% have experienced a mental illness at some point during their life. Consistent with global trends, those with low educational attainment (less than primary level schooling) and low-income households have higher rates of prevalence. Income disparities lead to stark biases in health including mental health – low-income households are estimated to have a 40% higher prevalence rate of mental disorders than households in the highest income quintile.14 Among the 150 million Indians in need of mental health services, fewer than one in ten with common disorders and only 40- 50% of those with serious mental disorders are receiving any form of care.15 There are only 0.8 mental health nurses, 0.06 social workers, 0.07 psychologists, and 0.29 psychiatrists, per 100,000 people.16 The number of mental health hospital beds is around 2 per 100,000, well below the world average of 6.5 per 100,000.17 Only 1.3% of health expenditure in India is set aside for mental health, mainly concentrated in upgrading tertiary care, state mental hospitals into Centres of Excellence.

Nature conservation has been a matter of concern for many years. With the unfortunate COVID-19 outbreak, it seems that the Earth has taken a break from humans and is getting purified. The novel coronavirus has shaken the entire globe. Looking at the situation, India is in its complete lockdown for 21 days which began from March 25, 2020 midnight. Wildlife photographer Tapan Sheth based in Rajkot is enjoying his quarantine time with family in Gujarat. The photographer had earlier even revealed that the forest is his second home and he loves to spend time amongst the flora and fauna.  

His portfolio includes some of the breathtaking pictures of nature and other wildlife animals including Vultures, Peacocks, Asiatic Lions and other species. Speaking about his self-quarantine time at home, Tapan quoted, “I am totally following what the honorable Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi Ji said in his announcement. The 21-day lockdown will make people bored and will also affect businesses big time. But I am keeping myself occupied and I have finally got time to spend with my family as well. This is the time I have got to look at the progress I have made with my work so far. Everything can wait because safety comes above everything.”  

Sheth besides being a photographer also owns Sakshi Infoway Pvt. Ltd, a leading web design company in Rajkot. His work as a freelance photographer is appreciated by various giants like BBC and Apple. The wildlife pictures clicked by him were earlier also featured by Natgeo and National Geographic respectively. Away from forests, Tapan Sheth is currently making the most of his time at home. Giving a final piece of advice, he said, “Let’s all be united together at this critical moment. It is a tough phase for everyone in the country and the world. I would just say to people to stay at home and completely avoid going out until and unless there is an emergency. We will fight coronavirus and will emerge as winners”. That’s the spirit every Indian must have to curb against this deadly virus.

The world is going through a major crisis and it has become a very vulnerable place at this moment. The novel coronavirus has affected the lives of everyone, and it has become a concern for the entire globe. With people losing their lives, there has been a drastic fall in the economy as well. India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi imposed a 21-day lockdown in the country and has advised people to stay indoors to eradicate the deadly virus from the country. Wildlife photographer Bhasmang Mehta who spent most of his time outdoors capturing beautiful moments in the forest is also currently enjoying self-quarantine time.     

An industrialist turned photographer, Bhasmang is currently spending most of his time at home. Hailing from Ahmedabad, the photographer hopes that the lockdown will help in reducing COVID-19. He said, “India is at a very crucial stage right now. All we should do now is follow what our Prime Minister has to say. It’s a different feeling for me to be at home as I spent most of my time in jungles capturing pictures. But this was the much-needed break and I am happy to be with my family and spend time with them. I feel the lockdown is also helping the mother nature to purify as there is no pollution outside. Let’s fight together against the deadly virus and emerge as the winners.”

Bhasmang is into wildlife photography since 2011. After being an industrialist for almost 11 years, he switched his profession to follow his passion. The photographer along with his wife Zankhana owns a photography company named ‘Wildlife Sojourns’. Over the years, Mehta has clicked several spectacular pictures of nature and wildlife. His works are also highly appreciated by top media houses. When asked how he spends his time in quarantine, Bhasmang Mehta replied, “Give a camera to a photographer and see how he brings out creativity from anything and everything. Well, jokes apart, I am currently planning as to how I can expand my company in terms of business and revenue.”

Risers Accelerator, Delhi-based conglomerate of 35 entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds, has invested INR 50 lacs in NuNu TV, is a YouTube channel gaining immense popularity among kids by Sprout Studios. 

Risers Accelerator has been aggressively promoting start-ups with good business potential and positive social impact since its inception. NuNu TV, which is a free-to-subscribe YouTube channel helps kids to learn and watch quality educational and moral content perfectly met the funding parameters of Risers. 

Founders and promoters of NuNu TV believe that the funding from Risers will help them to focus on quantity as well as the quality of their video content which they develop to improve the learning of their young viewers with a wholesome blend of knowledge and entertainment. 

On raising funds from Risers Accelerator, Rahul Rohilla, CEO of Sprout Studios said, “We educate kids in a highly entertaining manner to enhance their digital learning. Watching our animations, they enjoy, have fun, sing, and dance along with peers and siblings. But, generating creative content in large volumes requires larger infrastructure and team. Now, we can think about extending our reach by making animations not only in Hindi or English but also in the other regional languages of India.

While choosing Sprout Studios as a promising investment option, Pravin Khandelwal of Risers Accelerator said, “The investment in this company is a reflection of our policy to provide support to all sectors. We want to accelerate start-ups that have good business potential. The underlying philosophy is to give a helping hand to people who have bright ideas and can transform the business industry. If these start-ups are promoted they will generate employment that will help the economy grow.”  

vHealth by Aetna (www.vHealth.io)  has announced a special initiative of providing free access to its virtual doctor consultation service, until 15^th April, to help ensure people have access to health care during the COVID-19 outbreak. vHealth provides professional and confidential medical consultations by telephone and video for people across the country.Without having to travel to a clinic or hospital, people can speak to a doctor about any aspect of their health, such as the management of chronic conditions, treatment of minor illnesses, advice on alternate treatment options, interpretation of diagnostic reports and guidance on staying healthy, a statement issued here said.

The service will not only help people who are concerned about visiting a hospital or a clinic at the moment, but it will also help the elderly and patients with ongoing health conditions to manage their health needs from home, thereby potentially reducing the risk  of catching infections.

The free vHealth virtual doctor consultation service will be available for 30 days from the date of registration. People who register for the service can also utilise the benefit for up to four family members. To register for a virtual health consultation call the toll-free number 1800 103 7093 or give a missed call at 9029096186 to register online.The medical consultation service is available from Monday to Saturday from 8 AM to 8 PM, except national holidays.

Talking about the initiative, Dr Sneh Khemka, President of Population Health, Aetna International commented, “As the nation’s top leaders are urging people to stay at home and even avoid going to the hospitals unless in an extreme emergency, virtual consultation can be a single, trusted point of contact, for all their medical concerns for many in the country. As a primary health care service provider, we feel there is a need for us to step up and support the community at large.”

vHealth by Aetna, India offers a broad suite of health services and solutions that is focused on preventative and primary care to behavioural health and wellness counselling. Its ecosystem includes a sizable team of in-house physicians and dieticians in addition to a physical provider network for hospitals, diagnostics, pathology, dental and pharmacies. Currently, vHealth is serving over 3 million members in India and has a Net Promoter score of +65.

vHealth by Aetna is one of India’s most innovative preventative and primary care services providers. With a focus on clinical excellence, digital technology and a nationwide network of healthcare partners, vHealth by Aetna provides telephone/video consultations and coordinates the delivery of care to people’s homes (tests, medicines, home health care etc.) in addition to providing privileged and discounted access through its vast health partner network spread across 500+ cities.

Delhi Hockey Vice President Gursimran Singh on Tuesday posted a picture urging people to stay at their homes in the wake of Coronavirus Outbreak in the Country.Gursimran Singh also welcomed the decision of postponement of Olympics 2020 on account of the mental, physical and economical stress due to the Covid19.  He also felt sorry as an athlete because one wait for such a big event and give all their possible efforts for the event but all in all it is the safety of our athlete which is most important.
Meanwhile, his appeal to stay indoors comes as India has reported nearly 519 confirmed Cases of Covid-19.A total lockdown has been declared in the whole country for 21 days by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.