Shortage of staff leaves Udupi RTO lame

The United States of America has bought almost the entire world's supply of remdesivir, one of just two drugs proven to treat COVID-19. 

“President Trump has struck an amazing deal to ensure Americans have access to the first authorised therapeutic for Covid-19,” said the US health and human services secretary, Alex Azar. 

“To the extent possible, we want to ensure that any American patient who needs remdesivir can get it. The Trump administration is doing everything in our power to learn more about life-saving therapeutics for Covid-19 and secure access to these options for the American people.”

The announcement implies that no other country in the world will be able to buy remdesivir for next three months at least.

The anti-viral drug patented by the US-based Gilead biotech firm is the only one approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to treat patients with the novel coronavirus.

The Trump administration has already shown that it is prepared to outbid and outmanoeuvre all other countries to secure the medical supplies it needs for the US.

“They’ve got access to most of the drug supply [of remdesivir], so there’s nothing for Europe,” said Dr Andrew Hill, senior visiting research fellow at Liverpool University.

Remdesivir, the first drug approved by licensing authorities in the US to treat Covid-19, is made by Gilead and has been shown to help people recover faster from the disease. 

The first 140,000 doses, supplied to drug trials around the world, have been used up. The Trump administration has now bought more than 500,000 doses, which is all of Gilead’s production for July and 90% of August and September.

Bengaluru, May 11: Ten new positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Karnataka, taking the total number of infections in the state to 858, the Health department said on Monday.

"Ten new positive cases have been reported from last evening to this noon... Till date 858 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed. This includes 31 deaths and 422 discharges," the department said in its mid-day situation update. 

The ten new cases include- three from Davangere, two each from Bidar and Bagalkote, one each from Kalaburagi, Shiggavi in Haveri and Vijayapura. Seven cases are men, three are women.

While most cases are contacts of patients already tested positive, one each are with travel history to Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

One person's contact tracing is underway. 

Mangaluru, May 11: Hundreds of migrant labourers today gathered at a service bus stand in Mangaluru to return to Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

They were working in different parts of Dakshina Kannada and remained stranded without a job after the announcement of lockdown.

Labourers said that they have not registered with Seva Sindhu portal to avail pass for travelling outside the state.

Though all the people who gathered wore a mask, the physical distancing norm was not followed.

Already three Shramik trains from Mangaluru had left for Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with nearly 3,500 stranded labourers in the last two days.

The gathered labourers are anticipating that they would be allowed to travel to their destinations in the Shramik trains that will leave in the evening from Mangaluru.

The doctors and paramedical staff who have arrived the spot are checking the health of the labourers before allowing them to travel to the railway station.

The cost of a ticket to Uttar Pradesh is Rs 1,040 per person (which includes bus fare from service bus stand to railway station, food and water bottle).