Kolkata: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee claimed she was not invited to the PM’s virtual meet to device ways to tackle the pandemic. She said it in a press meet in Durgapur. “I wasn’t invited otherwise I would have definitely attended. The BJP govt is trying to crush West Bengal and is also asking the cell that provides oxygen to West Bengal to give it to Uttar Pradesh instead,” claimed the CM. —Aritra Singha
UP man dies after TWO Remdevisir shots sans test
Lucknow: A married man, 29, died after doctors at a private Lucknow hospital allegedly administered him double doses of Remdevisir injections without the mandatory Covid-19 test. Ankit Varma had been running fever since April 17. When the temperature did not come down after medication, his brother Rajan got rushed him to a private hospital in Old Lucknow 2 days later. Without asking for RT PCR report or conducting the Covid test, Ankit was admitted in the ICU owing to low oxygen. On April 20, doctors asked Rajan to arrange 2 Remdevisir injections saying his brother’s health was deteriorating. 2 vials of Remdevisir were arranged at Rs16,000 each. Doctors administered the doses without confirming if he was positive. When Rajan confronted, the doctors angrily said your brother’s test report will indeed be Covid-19 positive. He fell unconscious and died on Thursday. The hospital charged Rs3.5 lakh for the treatment before handing over the body without Covid cremation protocol. —Srawan Shukla
UP no. 2 on nat’l chart
Lucknow: UP continued to be on second spot in active cases after Maharashtra with a new record of single-day spike of 37,238 cases and 199 deaths on Friday. To break the chain, a 59-hour weekend lockdown has been enforced from 8pm Friday till 7 am Monday. The state has also been placed under 8pm to 7am night curfew. Friday’s figures surpassed 34,379 cases and 19 deaths on Thursday. The upward trend during the second surge has sent the health dept in a tizzy. Adding to the woes is shortage of staff as more doctors and paramedics tested positive. 75 doctors and other medical staff are down with virus paralysing the health services in Etawah. Meanwhile, Lucknow police arrested 4 persons, including 2 doctors, for alleged involvement in black marketing of Remdevisir injections, and recovered 34 vials and Rs4,69,000. —Srawan Shukla
fake Remdevisir: 4 held
Lucknow: Lucknow police arrested 4 medical staffers of King George’s Medical University for allegedly selling fake Remdevisir injections at higher prices. The police recovered 91 fake vials. The injection is in short supply in Lucknow as well as other UP parts. They sold the fake injections at Rs15,000. The arrested persons — Vikas Dubey, Kaushal Shukla, Ajit Maurya and Rakesh Tiwari — Dubey being the gang leader, told the police they have sold 50 fake injections to the needy patients at KGMU. The administration ordered an internal probe and suspended the 4 employees. —FPJ Correspondent
Situation devastating: WHO
New Delhi: With the second wave wreaking havoc in India, the WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he is concerned about the fast-growing caseloads in the country. “The situation in India is a devastating reminder of what the virus can do,” Ghebreyesus said during a virtual briefing in Geneva. —Agencies
vax delivery by drone
New Delhi: The ICMR has been granted permission for conducting feasibility study of vaccine delivery using drones in collaboration with IIT Kanpur. Ministry of Civil Aviation said the Ministry and DGCA have granted conditional exemption to ICMR for feasibility study of vaccine delivery using drones in collaboration with IIT Kanpur.
Chhattisgarh O2 surplus
Raipur: Other states might have been facing a crisis of oxygen, Chhattisgarh has emerged as a surplus state in O2 production as well as its export. Between April 11 and 19, the state has supplied oxygen to Maharashtra, Andhra, Kerala, Gujarat and MP among others, according to the government. —Avdhesh Mallick
During the period, it exported 554.28 metric tons (MT) oxygen to Maharashtra, 397.6 MT Telangana, 12.4 MT Gujarat, 448.57 MT MP, and 176.69 MT Andhra. —Avdhesh Mallick
