Here is another one on COVID-19 and India. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/02/01/962821038/the-mystery-of-indias-plummeting-covid-19-cases [https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2021/02/01/gettyimages-1230235182_wide-dfd06d017d545f02d405364f10e59395b80f0f51.jpg?s=1400]<https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/02/01/962821038/the-mystery-of-indias-plummeting-covid-19-cases> Why Did COVID-19 Cases Dramatically Decline In India? : Goats and Soda : NPR<https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/02/01/962821038/the-mystery-of-indias-plummeting-covid-19-cases> A mural in New Delhi is part of public health messaging in India. The country has seen a dramatic decline in new cases since the fall, but researchers aren't sure why. www.npr.org
Naguesh Bhatcar ________________________________ From: Goanet <goanet-boun...@lists.goanet.org> on behalf of Roland Francis <roland.fran...@gmail.com> >From today’s Washington Post: Back in November, Ajeet Jain felt like he was living a nightmare. The large public hospital where he works in India's capital was full of covid-19 patients, hundreds of them so ill they required intensive care. About 10 people were dying every day. Three months later, the situation is unrecognizable. The number of coronavirus patients at the hospital can be counted on one hand. Out of 200 ventilators, only two are in use. Hospitals treating covid-19 patients around the country report similar experiences. “It’s a big, big relief,” Jain said. The apparent retreat of the coronavirus in India, the world’s second-most populous nation, is a mystery that is crucial to the future course of the pandemic.Just months ago, India was adding nearly 100,000 cases a day — more than any other country. On Tuesday, it reported only 8,635. That’s about the number recorded the same day by New York state, where the population is less than 2 percent of India’s. Epidemiologists in India say that there is only one likely explanation for the decrease in new cases: The virus is finding it harder to spread because a significant proportion of the population, at least in cities, already has been infected. The decline is not related to a lack of opportunities for transmission. India has fully reopened its economy, with elementary schools being the only major exception. Restaurants, malls and markets are bustling. Masks are common in some indoor settings and mandatory in Delhi and Mumbai, but in many parts of the country, they’re scarcely seen on the streets. India has reported 10.8 million coronavirus cases in total, although that is likely to be a vast undercount. The results of a nationwide antibody survey of 28,600 people by the government released on Thursday indicated that more than 1 in 5 Indians — about 270 million people — had been exposed to the virus as of early January. — Joanna Slater and Niha Masih Roland Francis 416-453-3371
