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Home No, WHO hasn't yet said SARS-COV-2 is floating in the air
Many headlines screamed that the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2 could be transmitted via air after July 7, 2020's press conference held by the World Health Organization (WHO). But this is not true. Recently, 241 scientists writing a letter to the United Nations (UN) health body, claiming they had evidence to prove that the novel coronavirus could be transmitted through air. WHO was...
- 9 hrs ago
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Home Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (July 8, 2020)
Fire accident at Neyveli power plant The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) submitted its report to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on July 6, 2020, on the boiler blast incident at Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Ltd (NLCIL), Thermal Power Station-II, Cuddalore district. The incident took place on July 1. The chief general manager of TPS-II, NLCIL, furnished incident...
- 12 hrs ago
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Home COVID-19: Sales hit, Odisha sculptors struggle to stay afloat
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has broken the spirits of stone sculptors of Odisha - life has been on a halt since the the first phase of lockdown and work and money are running low. "Stone-sculpting has been a source of livelihood since the time of our ancestors. But the virus is pushing us closer to the edge," said Bipin Moharana, a sculptor from...
- 12 hrs ago
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Home Countries can learn from Africa in handling future pandemics: UN report
The world can learn from Africa's experience in handling zoonotic diseases - illnesses caused by germs that spread between animals and humans - in its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and future pandemics, said a recent joint scientific assessment report. In 2019, the continent reported 500 outbreaks of zoonotic diseases. Of this, Senegal accounted...
- 12 hrs ago
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Home COVID-19: Bihar fails to ramp up testing despite Nitish saying so
The number of tests conducted in Bihar for the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19 have come down in the past few days, compared to the rising number of positive cases and deaths in the state. There has been a declining trend in testing since the beginning of the month. Efforts to ramp up testing seem to have been losing steam, despite an increase in testing...
- 12 hrs ago
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Home Migration reduces transmission of pathogens between species: UN Report
Migration undertaken by migratory species can reduce the spread of zoonotic diseases, said a report jointly released by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) July 6, 2020. Migratory species like the Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), western toad (Anaxyrus boreas) and the flying...
- 15 hrs ago
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Home What 241 scientists said in their letter on airborne COVID-19 transmission
We, Lidia Morawska and Donald K Milton, appeal to the medical community and to the relevant national and international bodies to recognize the potential for airborne spread of COVID-19. There is significant potential for inhalation exposure to viruses in microscopic respiratory droplets (microdroplets) at short to medium distances (up to several meters, or room scale),...
- 15 hrs ago
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Home Can game theory help detect drug-resistant bacteria?
Amid mounting concerns that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) - a global public health threat and a chronic pandemic - will be exacerbated by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, a group of researchers have designed software program to identify antimicrobial resistant bacteria. They did so by applying game theory - an approach that deploys study of mathematical models of strategic...
- 15 hrs ago
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Home Trump starts withdrawing US from WHO
United States President Donald Trump formally began the withdrawal of the country from the World Health Organization (WHO) July 7, 2020, according to the British Broadcasting Corp (BBC). He had earlier threatened to pull US funding allocated to the WHO and redirect them elsewhere, despite calls from several quarters, including the European Union, urging him to not do so. The US is the United Nation's...
- 16 hrs ago
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Home Climate change can affect diseases transmitted by insects, vectors: UN report
"Climate change is a major factor in disease emergence. The survival, reproduction, abundance and distribution of pathogens, vectors and hosts can be influenced by climatic parameters affected by climate change," the United Nation Environment Program (UNEP) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) report released on July 6, 2020 said. Climate...
- 17 hrs ago
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