Newborns may get Covid-19 transmission from mothers: ICMR issues guidelines

ICMR pointed out that health care practitioners should immediately create an isolation facility for pregnant mothers with Covid-19 and should follow the national protocol.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), there is a possibility of transmission of coronavirus from a pregnant mother to a newborn baby. However, the proportion of pregnancies affected and the significance to the newborn is yet to be determined, ICMR said on Monday.

The available scientific evidence suggests that transmission of the virus can happen to a baby before the birth, while it is in the mother's womb, or during delivery from an infected pregnant mother. However, the country's top medical research body added that at present, there are no recorded cases of breast milk being tested positive for Covid-19.

Issuing guidance for the management of pregnant women during the Covid-19 pandemic, ICMR said, "There are reports of Covid-19 pneumonia in pregnancy which are milder and have a good recovery. Also, there are case reports of pre-term birth in women with Covid-19, but it is unclear whether the pre-term birth was always iatrogenic, or whether some were spontaneous."

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"A registry for all women admitted with confirmed Covid-19 infection in pregnancy should be maintained. Maternal and neonatal records including outcome should be completed in detail and preserved for analysis in the future," according to the ICMR.

"With regard to vertical transmission (transmission from mother to baby antenatally or intrapartum), emerging evidence now suggests that vertical transmission is probable, although the proportion of pregnancies affected and the significance to the neonate has yet to be determined."

Covid-19: E-commerce saves the day as delivery workers emerge as heros

Trade Minister Piyush Goyal held a video conference with nearly two dozen e-commerce executives in a bid to understand hurdles faced by the sector.

Three days after the nationwide lockdown was imposed, Devender Singh revved up his motorcycle to deliver meat and eggs to customers - but his heart was in his mouth as he closed in on a police barricade on a deserted New Delhi road.

Beatings of delivery workers by overzealous police after Prime Minister Narendra Modi suddenly imposed the world's biggest lockdown to contain the coronavirus had unnerved him.

"That day, it felt like my time to get thrashed had come," Singh, 30, told Reuters on a quiet summer afternoon as he was out making deliveries.

"But what I was expecting didn't happen. The police were very friendly - they just asked me where I was going and why."

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Singh said he was allowed to proceed after he flashed a so-called movement pass authorised by the police and given to him by his employer Licious, an online meat store backed by Bertelsmann's venture capital arm and Silicon Valley's Mayfield Fund.

E-commerce is now limping back to life in the country as the border closures, warehouse shutdowns and general confusion that initially accompanied the three-week shutdown order have eased. While still clearing a backlog of previously placed orders, most online retailers are accepting new orders, albeit with delayed deliveries and a limited product catalogue.

Moreover, political coldness towards e-commerce, which many in India see as a threat to millions of brick-and-mortar retailers, has faded. While grocery stores and pharmacies are still open, it has become evident that Singh and the thousands of delivery workers like him have become crucial frontline soldiers in the country's battle against the pandemic.

Facebook draws user data to help scientists anticipate coronavirus spread

Information about people's identities would not be disclosed to researchers, the social network promised.

Facebook on Monday said it is providing anonymous data about users' movements and relationships to help researchers better anticipate where the coronavirus might spread.

The leading online social network is augmenting maps on "population movement" with tools to glean insights in ways that still protect people's privacy, according to a post by the Facebook head of health KX Jin and Laura McGorman of its Data for Good arm.

"Hospitals are working to get the right resources, and public health systems are looking to put the right guidelines in place," Jin and McGorman said.

"To do that, they need better information on whether preventive measures are working and how the virus may spread."

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Google last week announced a similar move, saying it would provide a snapshot of users' location data around the world to help governments gauge the effectiveness of social distancing measures, implemented to stem the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tools that Facebook is providing for researchers include "co-location maps" to show probabilities of people in one specific place coming into contact with those in another, perhaps signaling where new Covid-19 cases might appear.

Coronavirus: Boeing suspends production of 787 at South Carolina plant

The announcement came soon after the state's governor issued an order on Monday directing residents to stay home except for essential trips.

Boeing Co said on Monday it would suspend production of its 787 airplanes at its facilities in South Carolina amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement came soon after the state's governor issued an order on Monday directing residents to stay home except for essential trips.

Boeing production will be suspended until further notice after the second shift on Wednesday. On Sunday, the largest US planemaker indefinitely extended the halt of its production operations at its Washington state facilities.

On Thursday, Reuters reported that planemakers - including Boeing and Airbus SE - were looking at drastic cuts in wide-body production amid a slump in demand for the industry's largest jetliners, citing manufacturing and supplier sources.

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Deliveries of long-range jets like the Boeing 777 or 787 and Airbus A350 or A330 have been hit particularly badly as airlines seek deferrals and many withhold progress payments.

On Monday, Airbus said it would temporarily halt production at its A220 / A320 manufacturing facility in Alabama because of "high inventory levels in the sites and the various government recommendations. "

Production in Alabama will be halted this week through April 29.

Boeing said on March 23 it would halt production at its Washington state twin-aisle jetliner factory as a temporary measure to help fight the outbreak of the respiratory disease. Production had been expected to resume early this week.

Amid coronavirus crisis, world is short of six million nurses, says WHO

The report said that there are just under 28 million nurses on the planet. In the five years leading up to 2018, the number grew by 4.7 million.

As coronavirus (Covid-19) captures global headlines, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned Tuesday that the world needs nearly six million nurses.

The UN's health agency along with partners Nursing Now and the International Council of Nurses (ICN) underscored in a report the crucial role played by nurses, who make up more than half of all health workers worldwide.

"Nurses are the backbone of any health system," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

"Today, many nurses find themselves on the frontline in the battle against Covid-19," he noted, adding that it was vital they "get the support they need to keep the world healthy."

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The report said that there are just under 28 million nurses on the planet. In the five years leading up to 2018, the number grew by 4.7 million.

"But this still leaves a global shortfall of 5.9 million," the WHO said, pointing out that the greatest gaps were in poorer countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and parts of South America.

The report urged countries to identify gaps in their nursing workforce and invest in nursing education, jobs and leadership.

ICN chief executive Howard Catton told a virtual briefing that infection rates, medication errors and mortality rates "are all higher where there are too few nurses".