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Hounde, Jul 28: Coronavirus and its restrictions are pushing already hungry communities over the edge, killing an estimated 10,000 more young children a month as meager farms are cut off from markets and villages are isolated from food and medical aid, the United Nations warned Monday.

In the call to action shared with The Associated Press ahead of publication, four UN agencies warned that growing malnutrition would have long-term consequences, transforming individual tragedies into a generational catastrophe.

Hunger is already stalking Haboue Solange Boue, an infant from Burkina Faso who lost half her former body weight of 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms) in just a month. Coronavirus restrictions closed the markets, and her family sold fewer vegetables. Her mother was too malnourished to nurse.

“My child,” Danssanin Lanizou whispered, choking back tears as she unwrapped a blanket to reveal her baby's protruding ribs.

More than 550,000 additional children each month are being struck by what is called wasting, according to the UN — malnutrition that manifests in spindly limbs and distended bellies. Over a year, that's up 6.7 million from last year's total of 47 million. Wasting and stunting can permanently damage children physically and mentally.

“The food security effects of the COVID crisis are going to reflect many years from now,” said Dr. Francesco Branca, the WHO head of nutrition. “There is going to be a societal effect.”

From Latin America to South Asia to sub-Saharan Africa, more poor families than ever are staring down a future without enough food.

In April, World Food Program head David Beasley warned that the coronavirus economy would cause global famines “of biblical proportions” this year. There are different stages of what is known as food insecurity; famine is officially declared when, along with other measures, 30% of the population suffers from wasting.

The World Food Program estimated in February that one Venezuelan in three was already going hungry, as inflation rendered salaries nearly worthless and forced millions to flee abroad. Then the virus arrived.

“Every day we receive a malnourished child,” said Dr. Francisco Nieto, who works in a hospital in the border state of Tachira.

In May, Nieto recalled, after two months of quarantine, 18-month-old twins arrived with bodies bloated from malnutrition. The children's mother was jobless and living with her own mother. She told the doctor she fed them only a simple drink made with boiled bananas.

“Not even a cracker? Some chicken?” he asked.

“Nothing,” the children's grandmother responded. By the time the doctor saw them, it was too late: One boy died eight days later.

The leaders of four international agencies — the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization — have called for at least dollar 2.4 billion immediately to address global hunger.

But even more than lack of money, restrictions on movement have prevented families from seeking treatment, said Victor Aguayo, the head of UNICEF's nutrition program.

“By having schools closed, by having primary health care services disrupted, by having nutritional programs dysfunctional, we are also creating harm,” Aguayo said. He cited as an example the near-global suspension of Vitamin A supplements, which are a crucial way to bolster developing immune systems.

In Afghanistan, movement restrictions prevent families from bringing their malnourished children to hospitals for food and aid just when they need it most. The Indira Gandhi hospital in the capital, Kabul, has seen only three or four malnourished children, said specialist Nematullah Amiri. Last year, there were 10 times as many.

Because the children don't come in, there's no way to know for certain the scale of the problem, but a recent study by Johns Hopkins University indicated an additional 13,000 Afghans younger than 5 could die.

Afghanistan is now in a red zone of hunger, with severe childhood malnutrition spiking from 690,000 in January to 780,000 — a 13% increase, according to UNICEF.

In Yemen, restrictions on movement have blocked aid distribution, along with the stalling of salaries and price hikes. The Arab world's poorest country is suffering further from a fall in remittances and a drop in funding from humanitarian agencies.

Yemen is now on the brink of famine, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, which uses surveys, satellite data and weather mapping to pinpoint places most in need.

Some of the worst hunger still occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. In Sudan, 9.6 million people live from one meal to the next — a 65% increase from the same time last year.

Lockdowns across Sudanese provinces, as around the world, have dried up work and incomes for millions. With inflation hitting 136%, prices for basic goods have more than tripled.

“It has never been easy but now we are starving, eating grass, weeds, just plants from the earth,” said Ibrahim Youssef, director of the Kalma camp for internally displaced people in war-ravaged south Darfur.

Adam Haroun, an official in the Krinding camp in west Darfur, recorded nine deaths linked with malnutrition, otherwise a rare occurrence, over the past two months — five newborns and four older adults, he said.

Before the pandemic and lockdown, the Abdullah family ate three meals a day, sometimes with bread, or they'd add butter to porridge. Now they are down to just one meal of “millet porridge” — water mixed with grain. Zakaria Yehia Abdullah, a farmer now at Krinding, said the hunger is showing “in my children's faces.”

“I don't have the basics I need to survive,” said the 67-year-old, who who hasn't worked the fields since April. “That means the 10 people counting on me can't survive either.”

Bengaluru/ Mangaluru, Aug 3: For the first time in many days, if not weeks, the number of recoveries in Karnataka was higher than new covid-19 cases in the state raising hope of some relief against the virus.

Karnataka confirmed 4752 new covid- 19 cases while the number of recoveries stood at 4776 in the 24 hours until 5 pm on Monday. The state also recorded 98 deaths. 

Medical education minister K.Sudhakar said that the recovery rate in Karnataka is at around 42%

"Everyday there is increase in recovery rate which is higher by 9.17% in Bengaluru city. Overall recovery rate of the state by Sunday evening was 42.81 % and it is 35.14% in Bengaluru," the minister posted on Twitter.

The total number of cases in Bengaluru crossed the 60,000 mark including 1497 cases on Monday.

The total number of cases in Mysuru breached 5000 cases as 372 persons tested positive. The mineral-rich district of Ballari recorded 305 cases. Other parts of Karnataka has seen a surge in cases with 15 out of the 30 districts reporting at least a 100 cases.

Dakshina Kananda

Dakshina Kannada district alone has recorded 153 new cases and seven deaths. 
Among the 153 new cases, 119 are from Mangaluru, 11 from Bantwal, six from Beltangady, four from Puttur, one from Sullia, and 12 from other districts.

The total number of covid positive cases in the district mounted to 6,168. Out of these, 3,138 cases are currently active. As many as 2,854 persons have recovered and been discharged, and 176 deaths have occurred so far.

Udupi

Udupi reported 126 fresh cases past 24 hours, according to health bulletin released by the Udupi district administration. They include 58 from Udupi, 34 from Kundapur, 28 from Karkala, and six from other districts. 

A total of 34,500 samples have been collected so far. 29,174 have turned out to be negative. As many as 4,800 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported so far in the district. 

As many as 2,812 patients have been discharged so far, and 1,952 cases are currently active. As per district bulletin, 36 deaths have occurred so far. One positive case has been transferred to Dakshina Kannada.