Thailand reported its highest number of Covid-19 deaths in a single day Tuesday as officials struggle to contain athird coronavirus waveripping throughovercrowded prisons.
The Southeast Asian country's justice minister said authorities are hoping to prioritize vaccinating more than 300,000 inmates and jail staff by diverting doses from the health ministry.
On Monday, Thailand reported9,635 new coronavirus cases-- the highest number of new infections since the pandemic began, according to its Covid-19 task force (CCSA). Of those cases, 6,853 -- more than 70% -- were found in eight prisons and detention facilities across the country.
By Tuesday morning local time, 2,473 new Covid-19 cases had been confirmed, of which 680 were from prisons. Thailand also reported 35 related deaths nationwide on Tuesday, its highest number of daily fatalities, according to CCSA.
The new figures bring the country's total number of confirmed cases to 127,184, with 649 related deaths -- relatively small numbers compared to those in other parts of the world. Thailand has managed to keep overall cases low until the most recent outbreak emerged in early April from a Bangkok entertainment district before spreading to a slum area.
Thailand's prison clusters came to light when several pro-democracy protest leaders, accused of insulting the monarchy and held in pre-trial detention following popular demonstrations last year, announced they had tested positive for Covid-19 after being released on bail. Following the news, Thai authorities began mass testing the country's prison population.
Read the full story:
Coronavirus latest: Canadians driving to the US for Covid shot will not be spared quarantine Financial Times
TAIPEI, Taiwan >> Taxi drivers are starved for customers, weddings are suddenly canceled, schools are closed, and restaurant service is restricted across much of Asia as the coronavirus makes a resurgence in countries where it had seemed to be well under control.
Sparsely populated Mongolia has seen its death toll soar from 15 to 233, while Taiwan, considered a major success in battling the virus, has recorded more than 1,000 cases since last week and placed over 600,000 people in two-week medical isolation.
Hong Kong and Singapore have postponed a quarantine-free travel bubble for a second time after an outbreak in Singapore of uncertain origin. China, which has all but stamped out local infections, has seen new cases apparently linked to contact with people arriving from abroad.
The resurgence hasnt come close to the carnage wrought in India and parts of Europe, but it is a keen reminder that the virus remains resilient, despite strict mask mandates, case tracing, mass testing and wider deployment of the newest weapon against it vaccinations.
Thats setting back efforts to get social and economic life back to normal, particularly in schools and sectors like the hospitality industry that are built on public contact.
In Taiwan, the surge is being driven by the more easily transmissible variant first identified in Britain, according to Chen Chien-jen, an epidemiologist and the islands former vice president, who led the highly praised pandemic response last year.
Complicating matters are some senior citizens who frequent slightly racy tea salons in Taipeis Wanhua neighborhood. They accounted for about 375 of the new cases as of Tuesday, Chen said. The tea shops are known for providing adult entertainment with singing and dancing.
These seniors, when they go to these places, want to keep it veiled, Chen said. When we are conducting the investigation, they may not be honest.
In Wanhua, normally a bustling area with food stalls, shops and entertainment venues, the Huaxi night market and historic Longshan Buddhist temple are closed.
Kao Yu-chieh, who runs a breakfast shop in the area, said business is down at least 50% since last week.
Cab driver Wang Hsian Jhong said he hasnt had a customer in three days. Everyone is affected. This is a Taiwan-wide problem. We have to get through it, he said, puffing on a cigarette on a street in Wanhua.
Schools, gyms and pools are closed in Taipei, and gatherings of more than five people indoors and more than 10 people outdoors are banned. The island shut all schools starting Wednesday.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has sought to reassure a public that is reverting to panic-buying and shunning public places.
We will continue to strengthen our medical capacity, Tsai said, adding that vaccines are arriving from abroad.
Malaysia unexpectedly imposed a one-month lockdown through June 7, spooked by a sharp rise in cases, more-infectious variants and weak public compliance with health measures.
It was the second nationwide lockdown in just over a year and came after the countrys cases shot up fourfold since January; its now more than 479,000 and 1,994 people have died, a sum also up by four times from January. Interstate travel and social activities are banned, schools are shut, and restaurants can provide only takeout service. The government has warned that hospitals have almost maxed out their capacity to take new coronavirus cases.
Singapore has imposed stringent social distancing measures until June 13, restricting public gatherings to two people and banning dine-in service at restaurants.
That came after the number of coronavirus infections of untraceable origin rose to 48 cases in the past week, from 10 cases the week before. Singapore had previously been held up as a role model after keeping the virus at bay for months.
Schools moved online after students in several institutions tested positive. Wedding receptions are no longer allowed, and funerals are capped at 20 people.
For wedding planner Michelle Lau, at least seven clients either canceled or postponed weddings meant to take place over the next month. Other couples have opted for a simple ceremony without a reception, she said.
Janey Chang, who runs two Latin dance studios in Singapore, says that the tougher restrictions have drastically reduced class size.
We are taking on fewer students, but the costs such as rent remain the same, Chang said. Whether we can continue to operate is highly dependent on the number of coronavirus cases.
Hong Kong has responded to fresh outbreaks by increasing the quarantine requirement from 14 to 21 days for unvaccinated travelers arriving from high-risk countries, including Singapore, Malaysia and Japan, and, farther afield, Argentina, Italy, the Netherlands and Kenya.
China has set up checkpoints at toll booths, airports and railway stations in Liaoning province, where new cases were reported this week. Travelers must have proof of a recent negative virus test, and mass testing was ordered in part of Yingkou, a port city with shipping connections to more than 40 countries.
Thailand reported 35 deaths, the highest since the outbreak started, on Tuesday, and an additional 29 on Wednesday. That brought its number of fatalities to 678, of which 584 have been reported in the latest wave. About three-quarters of Thailands more than 116,000 cases have been recorded since the beginning of April.
Thailand had about 7,100 cases in all of last year in what was regarded as a success story.
The resurgence has posed difficult choices for governments, particularly in poorer nations where lockdown restrictions can increase financial suffering for those already living on the edge of starvation.
In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has eased a lockdown in the bustling capital and adjacent provinces to fight economic recession and hunger but has still barred public gatherings this month, when many Roman Catholic festivals are held.
COVID-19 infections started to spike in March to some of the worst levels in Asia, surging beyond 10,000 a day and prompting Duterte to impose the lockdown in and around Manila in April. The Philippines has reported more than 1.1 million infections with 19,372 deaths, though the surge has begun to ease.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the partial resumption of economic activities, increased noncompliance with restrictions and inadequate tracing of people exposed to the virus combined to spark the steep rise in infections.
Experts said the delivery of vaccines, however delayed and small in amount, also fostered false confidence the pandemic might be ending.
Americas battle against the coronavirus is going great.
The big picture: For the first time in a long time, nobody needs to cherry-pick some misleading data to make it seem like things are going well, and the good news doesnt need an endless list of caveats, either. Its just really good news. Were winning. Be happy.
By the numbers: The U.S. averaged fewer than 40,000 new cases per day over the past week.
Deaths from the coronavirus are at their lowest level since last July about 600 per day, on average, per the AP, and may soon hit their lowest point of the entire pandemic. Nationally, hospitalization rates are also falling significantly.
The U.S. is finally winning its battle against COVID-19 thanks almost exclusively to one weapon: the vaccines.
Whats next: Almost 60% of American adults have gotten at least one shot, and roughly 45% are fully vaccinated. The next step: vaxxing the 12- to 15-year-olds.
The following is information about the City of San Joss response to slow and reduce the spread of COVID-19 and support our most at-risk communities.
SOURCE:City of San JosEmergency Operations Center
Contact:Carolina Camarena / Vicki Day, City of San Jos Media Line: 408-535-7777City of San Jos Customer Contact Center: 3-1-1 or 408-535-3500
Email: News/Media: EOC_PIO@sanjoseca.govResidents: 311@sanjoseca.govBusinesses: covid19sjbusiness@sanjoseca.govNon-Profits: covid19sjcbo@sanjoseca.gov
Moving to Yellow Tier: Effective today Santa Clara County enters the least restrictive Yellow Tier under the State's Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The move to the yellow tier means many businesses such as bars, restaurants, gyms and movie theaters will be allowed to expand their capacity for indoor operations to 50 percent, and for the first time bars not providing meals can resume indoor operations at 25 percent capacity.
The County has placed a limited local health order that will:
Registration for swim lessons is open in-person and online at the PRNS Registration System. There are also scholarships available for those who qualify. Families must apply in-person at a community center and scholarships can be used at any program location.
In preparation for summer Swim San Jos programming, PRNS is recruiting for part-time, unbenefited Lifeguard; Lifeguard Instructor; Pool Manager; and Assistant Pool Manager positions. A Lifeguard Training certificate is not required to apply or interview. If selected for a position, the Swim San Jos program will provide training upon request. The application deadline is May 26 at 11:59 p.m.
For more information about swimming pool locations, lessons, hiring positions and scholarships, please visit the PRNS swimming and pools web page.
Appointments can be made starting seven days in advance of the testing date until all slots are reserved at www.sccfreetest.org. Appointments at the Fairgrounds site are now available five days in advance. Testing is free at all these sites.
All healthcare systems are required by the County order to offer free testing to symptomatic persons, persons who have been exposed to a confirmed COVID-19 case, and all essential workers. For more information on testing rights, see our Frequently Asked Questions page.
All test sites are mapped on the Countys website at www.sccfreetest.org. The site is available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Tagalog. Information is also available by calling 2-1-1.
Esta informacin est disponible en espaol enwww.sanjoseca.gov.
Thng tin ny c sn bng Ting Vit trn trang:www.sanjoseca.gov.
www.sanjoseca.gov
A persons risk for COVID-19 is not related to race, ethnicity or culture. City employees must abide by the Discrimination and Harassment policy, and treat colleagues and members of the public with courtesy and respect. Discrimination and/or Harassment of any kind is a violation of the policies and will not be tolerated.
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SEDONA, AZ Across Arizona, lives are getting closer to normal with half of adults now vaccinated, mask guidelines being relaxed, and cases of COVID-19 are declining week after week. But, while theres progress, theres still devastation as we continue losing lives to COVID-19.
FULL COVERAGE: COVID-19 vaccine in Arizona
Peggy Ann Riley, 60, died just four days after Mothers Day after becoming sick with COVID-19.
Peggy, a mother of two, and broker and real estate agent in Sedona, was known for being the crazy lady running in pink shorts while it would be snowing outside.
She was dedicated to run every day, said her son, Kole Riley.
Kole tells ABC15 that the family thought they were out of the woods, and while his mother was inside a Cottonwood ICU, the CDC announced that they were relaxing mask guidelines.
All I can think of is how is this happening when my mom is dying right now of COVID-19, he said.
The Riley family tells ABC15 they'd not been vaccinated yet because family members were positive for COVID-19 in December and they assumed they all had antibodies.
Peggy was married to her husband, Bob, for four decades where they raised their two children in Sedona.
Bob was a firefighter before becoming injured and eventually teaching an automotive technology class at the high school. He is known as the rock of the family but it was his wife Peggy who gave him that strength.
Bob said his wife would give him a hard time for showing little to no emotion as he was known as the tough guy, but he says theres so much irony now.
She always said that I was so hard, I never cried, and never had any issues, but she got me, he said. She said, 'One of these days Im going to get your emotions going,' and she did.
Bob is handicapped, and unable to work from his injury on the job he now relies on mechanic work around Sedona to stay afloat. But now with the loss of his wife, his children are hoping to raise funds to help pay their fathers mortgage, and some bills for a few months to help relieve some of the burden.
This fundraiser is in loving memory of Peggy Riley. All contributions, small or large, are greatly appreciated and will go directly towards Peggy's service and helping her husband Bob and their family with other costs, the online fundraiser said.
Over $15,000 has been raised by the Sedona community in just days on the crowdsourcing site, Fundly.
The Riley family hopes sharing their story will be a reminder that while we're closer to the end of the pandemic, it is not the end yet.
Overview
Workplaces outside of healthcare facilities can be also settings for transmission of COVID-19. Outbreaks of COVID-19 has been reported in various types of workplaces and job categories.
All workers should be protected from acquiring COVID-19 because of their work. The prevention of COVID-19 in work settings should be combined with measures for protecting physical and mental health, safety and wellbeing of workers from other occupational hazards in the operation, closures and reopening of workplaces.
This joint WHO/ILO policy brief provides a summary of the evidence for transmission of COVID-19 in general workplaces and an overview of WHO and ILO recommendations for prevention and mitigation of COVID-19 and for protecting health and safety at work in the context of the pandemic.
The document is intended for public health and labour authorities, businesses, employers, workers and their representatives at the national, local and workplace levels to facilitate the implementation of public health and social measures for COVID-19 while maintaining full and productive employment and decent work during the pandemic.
As of 18 May 2021, there were163,312,429confirmed casesof COVID-19, including3,386,825deaths, reported to WHO. Vaccination remains a critical tool to help prevent further illness and death and to control the pandemic.
The Johnson & Johnson (J&J)/Janssen vaccine was listed for emergency use by WHO on 12 March 2021. The vaccine has been authorized for use in Europe, the United States and other countries, with the widest experience to date in the United States, where more than 8 million doses of the J&J vaccine had been administered as of 7 May.
The GACVS COVID-19 subcommittee met virtually on 11 May 2021 to review available information and data on thromboembolic events (blood clots) and thrombocytopenia (low platelets) after vaccination with the adenoviral vectored J&J vaccine. This condition is referred to as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). Current evidence suggests a plausible causal association between the J&J COVID-19 vaccine and TTS. Clinically, the features of TTS following vaccination with this vaccine appear similar to those observed following another adenoviral vectored vaccine, the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. TTS does not appear to be associated with the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. The exact mechanism by which this rare condition occurs is not fully understood. (1) To date, the only possible risks factors identified are age and gender (with more cases reported in women).
The subcommittee reviewed detailed surveillance data from the United States, which included stimulated passive surveillance and a small active surveillance cohort.
Based on a careful scientific review of the available information, the subcommittee came to the following conclusions and recommendations:
- The benefits of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine continue to outweigh the risks of TTS. As the only single dose COVID-19 vaccine approved for use to date, the vaccine may be an important tool for accessing difficult-to-reach populations, thus playing a key role in preventing infections and reducing deaths across the world.
- Very rare thromboembolic events, in combination with thrombocytopenia, have been reported following vaccination with the J&J vaccine in the United States. As of 7 May 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had reviewed 28 reports of TTS out of a total of more than 8 million vaccinations; TTS was reported in persons between 18-59 years of age (median age of 40 years) and occurring after 3-15 days (a median of 9 days).(2) To date, the US FDA and CDC have not identified any cases of TTS after use of over 240 million doses of mRNA vaccines.
- Reports of TTS following vaccination with the J&J vaccine have a similar clinical picture to those reported following vaccination with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. On 16 April 2021 the GACVS COVID-19 subcommittee issued an updated statement on blood coagulation events and the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. (3)
- Although most cases of TTS have typically involved thrombosis in unusual locations, including cerebral venous sinuses, portal vein, splenic vein and other rare venous and arterial thrombosis, cases including thrombosis in more common locations, such as deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, have been identified in the United States.
- When setting their immunization policies, the risk of TTS from use of the J&J vaccine should be assessed against the benefits. Countries should perform such a benefit-risk analysis taking into account local epidemiology (including incidence and mortality from COVID-19 disease), age groups targeted for vaccination, and the availability of alternative vaccines.
- Adequate education should be provided to health-care professionals and persons being vaccinated to recognize the signs and symptoms of all serious adverse events after vaccinations with all COVID-19 vaccines, so that people may seek and receive prompt and relevant medical care and treatment.Early identification of TTS is important in order to initiate appropriate treatment.
- Clinicians should be alert to any new, severe, persistent headaches or other significant symptoms, such as severe abdominal pain and shortness of breath, with an onset between 4 to 20 days after adenovirus vectored COVID-19 vaccination. At a minimum, countries should encourage clinicians to measure platelet levels and conduct appropriate investigation of thrombosis. Clinicians should also be aware that although heparin is generally used to treat blood clots, administration of heparin in TTS may be dangerous and alternative treatments such as immunoglobulins and non-heparin anticoagulants should be considered.
- The GACVS subcommittee recommends that countries continue to monitor the safety of all COVID-19 vaccines and promote reporting of suspected adverse events. In particular, any blood clots following receipt of any COVID-19 vaccine should be reported.
- The GACVS subcommittee acknowledges that TTS has occurred with two adenoviral-vectored vaccines. Ongoing assessment for and review of TTS cases, as well as related research, should include all vaccines using adenoviral vector platforms.
The GACVS COVID-19 subcommittee will continue to review the safety data from all COVID-19 vaccines and update any advice as necessary. Open, transparent, and evidence-based communication about the potential benefits and risks to recipients and the community is essential to maintain trust. WHO is carefully monitoring the rollout of all COVID-19 vaccines and will continue to work closely with countries to manage potential risks, and to use science and data to drive the response and update recommendations.
The WHO COVID-19 vaccine safety surveillance manual provides guidance to countries on the safety monitoring and adverse events data sharing for the new COVID-19 vaccines, and can be accessedhere.
(1) Updated recommendations from the US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for use of the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine after reports of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome among vaccine recipients United States, April 2021: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7017e4.htm#contribAff
(2) Update: Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) following COVID-19 vaccination US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), 12 May 2021: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2021-05-12/07-COVID-Shimabukuro-508.pdf.
(3) Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) review of latest evidence of rare adverse blood coagulation events with AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine (Vaxzevria and Covishield) 16 April 2021: (https://www.who.int/news/item/16-04-2021-global-advisory-committee-on-vaccine-safety-(gacvs)-review-of-latest-evidence-of-rare-adverse-blood-coagulation-events-with-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-(vaxzevria-and-covishield.
Richa Srivastava (rear left) with her husband, Shalabh Pradhan (rear right), and their two fathers, Sudheer Kumar Pradhan (front left) and Sheo Prakash Srivastava (front right), in an undated family photo. The two family patriarchs died within three days of one another in April. Pradhan Family hide caption
Richa Srivastava (rear left) with her husband, Shalabh Pradhan (rear right), and their two fathers, Sudheer Kumar Pradhan (front left) and Sheo Prakash Srivastava (front right), in an undated family photo. The two family patriarchs died within three days of one another in April.
MUMBAI Watching his young children gleefully celebrate Holi, the Indian festival of colors, with his father in March, Shalabh Pradhan thought: "This is exactly why we moved back to India."
Pradhan, 42, is a human resources manager who has lived and worked all over the world Kansas, Minnesota, Kuwait. He lost his mother 12 years ago and wanted to spend more time with his father, a retired defense scientist. So in 2018, Pradhan and his wife, Richa Srivastava, 40, a fashion retail buyer, relocated from the U.S. back to their native India. They settled first in the southern tech hub of Bengaluru and then moved north to be closer to their parents after the pandemic began.
"We came back, me and my wife, because [of] my dad and her dad. We thought, 'We will go back to India, and we will take care of them in their elder years,' " Pradhan says.
But they all had less time together than they'd hoped. This was the last Holi that Pradhan and Srivastava would celebrate with their fathers.
As India battles the world's biggest COVID-19 wave, the country has confirmed about 25.5 million cases and about 283,000 deaths. Experts say those numbers are likely a vast undercount. With only about 3% of people in India fully vaccinated, the population of 1.4 billion is nowhere near immunity and India is likely to overtake the United States as the most-infected country in the world.
Sheo Prakash Srivastava and Sudheer Kumar Pradhan Pradhan Family hide caption
Sheo Prakash Srivastava and Sudheer Kumar Pradhan
Buried in those statistics is the pain of families such as the Pradhans and Srivastavas, who, in the course of three days in April, lost two beloved fathers.
"Just take him away!"
About two weeks after Holi, Pradhan's 78-year-old father, Sudheer Kumar Pradhan, developed a dry cough. At the time, people weren't very alarmed about COVID-19, and his son didn't think much of it.
"He was healthy. His willpower was very strong," Pradhan recalls.
Cases, though, were rising. On April 11, the day Pradhan's father began coughing, India's Health Ministry confirmed 152,879 new coronavirus cases up from record lows of around 10,000 a day in early February. Daily confirmed cases eventually would reach a peak of 414,188 on May 7.
In mid-April, India's news was dominated by state elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been holding huge rallies in West Bengal, a state his Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, was hoping to win again.
"They were not talking about this COVID second wave, that it's coming," Pradhan recalls. "They were not talking about precautions. They were not talking about symptoms. Nothing was there."
So Pradhan shrugged off his father's cough. But he did buy an oximeter to measure his father's blood oxygen levels just in case.
Sudheer Kumar Pradhan in an undated family photo. He developed a dry cough about two weeks after Holi, the Indian festival of colors. Pradhan Family hide caption
Sudheer Kumar Pradhan in an undated family photo. He developed a dry cough about two weeks after Holi, the Indian festival of colors.
Three days later, his dad developed a fever. And on the next day, April 15, he fell as he tried to walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
"I went and I picked him up, put him in the bed. It was alarming for me," Pradhan recalls. "So I checked his oxygen level. It was 87."
His dad was very sick. Pradhan rushed him to the hospital, but staff turned them away.
"The counter, where the reception is, he was not able to stand," he says. "The [hospital attendant] came and said, 'No, we cannot take him.' "
The hospital wouldn't admit Pradhan's father without proof of a positive coronavirus test. He'd had a test but the results were delayed.
A second hospital also refused to admit him. Officials said the hospital was completely full. His father was clearly having trouble breathing, but staff refused to give him oxygen.
"He could barely walk, barely stand. They put a stretcher out and said, 'No, take him out!' " Pradhan tells NPR, his voice breaking. "It's difficult for me to remember those moments. Nobody was willing to help."
Srivastava says she can't get it out of her mind.
"They were like, 'Just take him! Keep him in the house, keep him wherever you want. Just take him away!' " she says. "I was just praying that day should pass. It was one of the worst days of our lives."
Pradhan and his cousins worked the phones. His brother Saurabh did, too, all the way from Chicago. They eventually found their father a bed at a third hospital. He was put on a ventilator.
Sudheer Kumar Pradhan with his grandchildren in an undated family photo. He died of COVID-19 on April 21. Pradhan Family hide caption
Sudheer Kumar Pradhan with his grandchildren in an undated family photo. He died of COVID-19 on April 21.
But by then it was too late. On the evening of April 21, Pradhan's father died at age 78.
Another loss
The hospital demanded that Pradhan pick up his father's body immediately, in the middle of the night and pay the bill right away, too, including a separate charge for his bedsheets. The charges amounted to 250,000 rupees more than $3,400. The hospital wouldn't release the body without full payment. Pradhan had to find a 24-hour ATM.
He cremated his father the next day, alone. No one was able to accompany him, out of fear of infection.
Pradhan's children, 7 and 9 years old, were stunned. They had just celebrated Holi with their grandfather.
"They were crying a lot," Pradhan says. "They just kept a photograph in front of them and kept crying."
The family performed Hindu rituals in Kanpur in honor of Pradhan's father. On the third day after his death, they drove to the house of Srivastava's parents, about two hours away, in Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh. They wanted to gather to grieve together.
But when they arrived, they found Srivastava's father, Sheo Prakash Srivastava, suffering from COVID-like symptoms: weakness, shortness of breath. His oxygen was low.
He died that night. There wasn't even time to hospitalize him.
"Everything happened so quick and so fast!" Srivastava recalls.
Doctors later told the family the cause of death was likely a blood clot. They tested him for the coronavirus. Two days after his death, the result came back positive.
Sudheer Kumar Pradhan wears an elephant mask while playing with his grandchildren in an undated family photo. He was 78 when he died of COVID-19. Pradhan Family hide caption
Sudheer Kumar Pradhan wears an elephant mask while playing with his grandchildren in an undated family photo. He was 78 when he died of COVID-19.
The retired insurance officer was 71 and is survived by his wife and two daughters and friends and neighbors who loved his company.
"He was very social. He used to sit downstairs with my neighbors. So people were flabbergasted. How come the person who was sitting there just four or five days before is now gone?" Srivastava says. "He just left all of us."
Remembering the patriarchs
In the weeks since the deaths of these two men, India has broken world records for confirmed daily coronavirus case numbers and deaths. Scientists suggest the wave may have peaked, though they're not sure because the virus is spreading in rural areas, where testing and medical care are inadequate. On Wednesday, India confirmed the highest single-day death toll (4,529) from COVID-19 anywhere in the world since the pandemic began.
Srivastava, her mother, Pradhan and their children have been isolating at home, grieving. Meanwhile, Pradhan tested positive for the coronavirus. He hadn't realized his own symptoms while so preoccupied with trying to save his father.
Richa Srivastava (from left); her mother; her father, Sheo Prakash Srivastava; her husband, Shalabh Pradhan; his father, Sudheer Kumar Pradhan; and their children in an undated family photo at the Statue of Liberty. Pradhan Family hide caption
Richa Srivastava (from left); her mother; her father, Sheo Prakash Srivastava; her husband, Shalabh Pradhan; his father, Sudheer Kumar Pradhan; and their children in an undated family photo at the Statue of Liberty.
The family relives the trauma with every TV report about COVID-19 and India's collapsing health system. Unlike in mid-April, the virus now dominates the Indian news.
Srivastava and Pradhan aren't sure what they will do next. Right now they're just sorting through old photos of their fathers at a family wedding, at the Statue of Liberty, playing with grandchildren.
"A lot of memories! That is why it hurts even more, because I keep on recalling those little things how [my father] used to cut fruit for me. No one will ever cut fruit for me like that again," Srivastava says. "All of these small gestures."
Pradhan recently wrote a poem to mourn both of his parents:
Who should I tell that I am in pain? Whose shoulder do I cry on? Everyone forgets, you just remain in our memories.
He's trying to concentrate on memories from the past few months their final Holi together when the pandemic gave his family a precious opportunity to come closer before taking two loved ones away.
NPR producer Sushmita Pathak contributed to this report from Hyderabad, India.
The development of antibodies to the COVID-19 virus has been the great long-term hope of ending the pandemic. However, immune system turncoats are also major culprits in severe cases of COVID-19, Yale scientists report in the journal Nature.
These autoantibodies target and react with a persons tissues or organs similar to ones that cause autoimmune diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. In COVID-19 cases they can attack healthy tissue in brain, blood vessels, platelets, liver, and the gastrointestinal tract, researchers report. The more autoantibodies detected, the greater the disease severity experienced by patients.
And the autoantibodies paradoxically also target and interfere with many immune system proteins that are designed to fend off infections, the study found.
Its a two-edge sword, said Aaron Ring, assistant professor of immunobiology at Yale and senior author of the paper. Antibodies are crucial to fend off infection, but some COVID-19 patients also develop antibodies that damage their own cells and tissues.
It is clear that in many cases the presence of coronavirus drove the creation of the damaging autoantibodies, Ring said. But it is also likely that some COVID-19 patients had pre-existing autoantibodies that made them more susceptible to infection, he said. Mice with these same autoantibodies were more susceptible to infection by the COVID-19 virus and more likely to die, the authors report.
The existence of these long-lived rogue autoantibodies could also help explain why some people infected with COVID-19 can later develop lasting medical symptoms, so-called long COVID cases. This could be the unfortunate legacy of the virus, Ring said.
Our findings reinforce the importance of getting vaccinated, added co-corresponding author Akiko Iwasaki, the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Immunobiology at Yale. The fact that even mild infections are associated with autoantibody production underscores the potential for long-term health consequences of COVID-19.
For the study, Rings lab worked with Iwasakis lab and members of the Yale IMPACT team a group of scientists, scholars, and physicians developing research and clinical efforts to combat COVID-19 to screen blood samples from 194 patients who had contracted the virus, with varying degrees of severity, for the presence of autoantibodies. Specifically, they used a novel technology developed by Rings lab called Rapid Extracellular Antigen Profiling (REAP) to identify autoantibody interactions with nearly 3,000 human proteins.
Ring said the findings may lead to strategies to treat or prevent the damaging effects of autoantibodies in COVID-19 patients. In addition, the new REAP technology could be used to pinpoint important antibody responses for many other disease conditions beyond COVID-19. Rings lab has found a host of novel autoantibodies in patients with autoimmune disease and is now searching for autoantibodies in patients with cancer and neurological illnesses.
The work was led by co-first authors Eric Wang, a Yale College undergraduate, Jon Klein, a Yale M.D./Ph.D. student, and Yale Immunobiology graduate students Tianyang Mao and Yile Dai. Funding for the project was provided by the Mathers Family Foundation and the Ludwig Family Foundation.
Ring, Wang, and Dai are inventors of a patent describing the REAP technology used in the study and Ring is the founder of Seranova Bio, which seeks to market the technology.
