HDK may undergo heart surgery again

The current physical distancing guidelines provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may not be adequate to curb the coronavirus spread, according to a research which says the gas cloud from a cough or sneeze may help virus particles travel up to 8 metres. The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, noted that the the current guidelines issued by the WHO and CDC are based on outdated models from the 1930s of how gas clouds from a cough, sneeze, or exhalation spread.

Study author, MIT associate professor Lydia Bourouiba, warned that droplets of all sizes can travel 23 to 27 feet, or 7-8 metres, carrying the pathogen.

According to Bourouiba, the current guidelines are based on "arbitrary" assumptions of droplet size, "overly simplified", and "may limit the effectiveness of the proposed interventions" against the deadly pandemic.

 She explained that the old guidelines assume droplets to be one of two categories, small or large, taking short-range semi-ballistic trajectories when a person exhales, coughs, or sneezes.

However based on more recent discoveries, the MIT scientist said, sneezes and coughs are made of a puff cloud that carries ambient air, transporting within it clusters of droplets of a wide range of sizes.

Bourouiba warned that this puff cloud, with ambient air entrapped in it, can offer the droplets moisture and warmth that can prevent it from evaporation in the outer environment.

"The locally moist and warm atmosphere within the turbulent gas cloud allows the contained droplets to evade evaporation for much longer than occurs with isolated droplets," she said.

"Under these conditions, the lifetime of a droplet could be considerably extended by a factor of up to 1000, from a fraction of a second to minutes," the researcher explained in the study.

The MIT scientist, who has researched the dynamics of coughs and sneezes for years, added that these droplets settle along the trajectory of a cough or sneeze contaminating surfaces, with their residues staying suspended in the air for hours.

"Even when maximum containment policies were enforced, the rapid international spread of COVID-19 suggests that using arbitrary droplet size cutoffs may not accurately reflect what actually occurs with respiratory emissions, possibly contributing to the ineffectiveness of some procedures used to limit the spread of respiratory disease," Bourouiba wrote in the study

Bengaluru, Apr 17: Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, married Revathi, grand-niece of former Congress Minister for Housing, M Krishnappa, on Friday.

According to sources, more than 100 people participated in the marriage ceremony held at Kumaraswamy's farmhouse in Kethaganahally, Ramanagara.

There were around 50-60 members from former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda's family and more than 30 people participated from Revathi's family, sources added.

This comes in the middle of a nationwide lockdown which has been imposed to deal with the coronavirus threat.

Earlier, HD Kumaraswamy had said that the marriage ceremony would be held behind closed doors in the presence of family members.

Nikhil Kumaraswamy, who contested the Lok Sabha election from Mandya, is also the national youth wing president of Janata Dal-Secular.

Bengaluru, July 22: Complete lockdown on Sundays and daily night curfew would continue across Karnataka to contain the coronavirus spread, a top officia.

"Though lockdown will be lifted from 5 am on Wednesday across the state, night curfew will continue daily from 9 pm to 5 am to restrict movement of people and vehicles. Total lockdown on Sundays will also continue on July 26 and August 2," said state Chief Secretary T.M. Vijaya Bhaskar in an order here.

The order to unlock Bengaluru and four other districts - Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad, Kalaburagi and Kodagu, which have been under 7-9 day lockdown since March 14 night came after Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa declared that lockdowns would not be re-imposed across the state hereafter.

Besides restrictions in containment areas to control the virus spread, the order banned reopening of gyms and prevented use of benches in parks by walkers or joggers.

"All vegetable and fruit markets in cities and towns across the state will be shifted to the suburbs or outskirts to decongest them and prevent crowding," said the order in Kannada.

Wearing mask, sanitising hands and maintaining social distancing will be strictly enforced and violators will be fined.

Suburban train and metro services will continue to remain shut till further orders.

Select long-distance express trains will continue to operate as per the standard operating procedure given by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on May 30.

"State-run and private buses in cities and on intra-state and inter-state routes will operate with limited number of passengers to ensure physical distancing. All buses will be sanitized and fumigated after every trip," said the order.

Schools, colleges, cinema theatres, multiplexes will remain shut to prevent crowding and violation of social distancing.

Ban on religious functions and mass gatherings will also continue.