8 new corona positive cases in Faridabad today

With count of 8 new cases on Saturday, Faridabad's share of positive corona cases stand at 14 now. The first patient has been recovered. Out of 8, the five are the people belong to infamous Tablighi Jamaat. “Five of them had attended the Tablighi gathering. Of the remaining, two are a husband and wife, while the third is the son of another couple who had tested positive last month,” said a spokesperson of the district administration.

The result of 42 samples are awaited.

13 people from Jamaat found to be positive in adjoining district of Palwal where total cases now stand to 16 so far.

There are 62 positive cases in Haryana so far.

6 Corona positive cases in Faridabad so far

Faridabad police distributing food to poor people

The latest victim is 51-year-old man from Sector 16. The man works with a tour and travel company. He is hospitalised in Safdarjung hospital in Delhi and his condition is stated to be stable. Possibly, he got the infection from a person working in Noida.

A couple in their fifties from Greenfields Colony found positive this week. They are recovering at a private hospital in Faridabad. The husband is working for a company in Noida and possibly he got the infection from his office only.

All family members of the newly reported patients were quarantined and their samples collected for testing, said Dr Ram Bhagat, Deputy Civil Surgeon. He said persons who came in contact with them were put in isolation.

Earlier, three persons had been found positive for Covid-19. A 53-year-old woman, who was the first confirmed case in the district, had been discharged after recovery.

According to the health bulletin released by the Haryana health department Tuesday afternoon, a total of 25 people in the state have tested positive so far, of which 17 are “active COVID-19 patients” and 8 have been discharged.

A total of 782 samples have been sent for testing so far, of which 541 have returned negative while results of 218 are awaited.

New technology for Covid-19 sample test in Faridabad is on the anvil

ESIC Medical College, situated in NIT-3 is seeking Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technology for its upcoming Virology lab where Covid-19 can be tested.

RT-PCR is a laboratory technique combining reverse transcription of RNA into DNA (in this context called complementary DNA or cDNA) and amplification of specific DNA targets using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Residents of Faridabad and NCR will have a much needed facility if Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) approves this request.

It is in line with a move by  ICMR who has sought price quotes for the supply of 10 lakh antibody kits (serological test) for diagnosis of COVID-19. It will also procure 7 lakh RNA extraction kits, for a method which is currently used for COVID-19 testing in the country.

(Courtsey: https://www.amarujala.com/delhi-ncr/in-a-few-days-the-corona-sample-can-also-be-checked-in-faridabad
                  https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/pharma/india-readies-massive-covid-19-testing-plan/story/399260.html)

Fighting Corona: important numbers in Faridabad

District Administration
District Control Room: 0129-2221000, 2221007
dcfbd@hry.nic.in

BK Hospital Control Room Number:
0129-2415623
8882916056

Police Helpline:
0129-2267201
100
9999150000

Home food delivery allowed in Faridabad

Food delivery online aggregators like Zomato, Swiggy and restaurants like Dominos, Pizza Huts, Mc Donalds are allowed to deliver foods to homes. - DC Faridabad

Faridabad COVID-19 cases live

There are two positive cases in Faridabad so far. The first one, a woman, who returned from Spain earlier, had been admitted in a private hospital here on March 11, has almost recovered, doctors attending her said. While she had all the symptoms of Covid-19 at the time of admittance, the patient is reported to be symptom-free at present, though she is still in the hospital.

The second person found positive on March 24 is a doctor working in the same hospital. He has been admitted in a private nursing home owned by his family in Sector 37 here after his sample report found him positive yesterday. While the Health Department has quarantined all 38 persons, including his wife, who came into his contact recently, the source from where he got the virus is unknown so far. He told department officials that he never came into contact with the woman who was found positive on March 20. “He is fine and recovering well and none of the family members have been found positive,” said Dr Ram Bhagat, Deputy Civil Surgeon and in charge, corona cell, here. The medication regime of both patients is almost the same though the kind of tests being done may vary a little.

633 people have been in quarantine so far. Among them 548 were returned from abroad. Health department have taken samples from 60 people; 24 reports came negative while 35 reports are awaited. 55 people have completed their quarantine period but health department is keeping a close watch.

In Palwal, the condition of the 68-year-old person who was found to be the first positive case of Palwal district on March 23 is also reported to be stable, according to Health Department officials. While he was shifted to Medical College at Nalhar in Nuh district on the same day due to better medical facilities, the doctors attending him said that the symptoms shown at the time of admittance had started dissipating. His wife and two other persons who came into his contact have been found negative.

(Courtsey: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/faridabad-palwal-patients-recovering-61046
                  https://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/state/punjab-and-haryana/faridabad/633-people-in-home-quarantine/articleshow/74814561.cms)

A colourful home for butterflies in Faridabad

Prachi Singh’s heart takes flight with every butterfly that soars

Prachi Singh is a chartered accountant working with Ernst and Young but she is better known for her butterfly nurturing and the eight species that get special attention in her home garden in Faridabad.

Caring for caterpillars and gushing over every butterfly that takes wing, over the last 15 years Prachi has raised and released 550 butterflies. In fact, the numbers she nurtures are even more because only 80 per cent of the pupa take wing as exotic butterflies.

A lepidopterist (person who studies and collects butterflies and moths) at heart, she recently completed a Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) online certificate course in butterfly studies with an A grade. Last year, she led the first butterfly census in the Faridabad region conducted by the Conservation Education Centre of BNHS. Fifteen people participated and found 10 species of butterflies in Faridabad. In the national capital region census of butterflies, conducted over 51 locations, BNHS found 69 species in 2017 and 75 in 2018.

In the NCR, the Asola sanctuary has the maximum number of butterfly species — 40 to 45. To encourage people to love and preserve butterflies, nature walks and other events are held at Asola and children are helped to identify different species and host plants for their breeding.

They thrive in hot and humid weather and September is the best month for sighting.

Prachi tries to inspire young people to study and help in the propagation of butterflies for a more beautiful and environment friendly world. She talks to school and college students about these colourful winged creatures that have a short life span of a week, to a year, and need to socialise and reproduce for the propagation of their species.

She says “the world only sees them for their beauty. It took me 15 years of commitment and nurturing of 550 butterflies to understand and highlight their vital role in maintaining our ecosystem”. The eight species of butterflies that she has seen grow through their various stages are, Castor Butterfly, Common Jay, Common Mormon, Danaid, Emigrant, Lime, Plain Tiger and Red Pierrot. These are the species you can see in her garden.

Turning point
As a young girl, Prachi was fascinated by these winged creatures. Dusky-skinned, she was often teased about her complexion and this undermined her confidence. In the sixth standard, she was taught about butterflies and was curious to see their transformation on her own.

So she raised a caterpillar in her garden and watched its growth every day. On the 45th day, when it turned into a butterfly, she was ecstatic. She rushed to her neighbour with the good news and he said it was “black and beautiful.”

His description altered her outlook on life and she decided to make nurturing of butterflies her hobby. What started as an experiment is now her lifelong passion. She has photographed all eight species at various stages of their growth and uses these photographs when she talks to school students.

In her home garden are host trees like Lemon, Milkweed and Ashoka on which butterflies lay their eggs. Every weekend she spends a lot of time in her garden collecting eggs and caterpillars. To save the eggs and caterpillars from predators, she places them in special wooden boxes and moves them inside her home. Every day she spends half an hour cleaning the boxes and providing fresh leaves for them to feed on.

Voracious appetite
At the caterpillar stage they are voracious eaters. Each species is placed in a different box because they feed on different leaves.

The Common Mormon and the Lime species feed on lemon tree leaves, karripatta or curry leaves and bael (Aegle marmelos) leaves.

Despite her busy work schedule she watches over them like a mother and in 40 and 45 days when they transform to butterflies, her heart takes flight with the winged creatures.

When addressing schools, she emphasises butterflies’ role in pollination and the food chain and the importance of their survival in a world turning into concrete jungles.

She talks of the threats of global warming and extensive use of pesticides to humans and butterflies.

Seeing their numbers declining day by day, she took charge and decided to create awareness through FM Radio 104’s project, Green Hearts programmes for schools.

Accompanying her on her awareness campaigns are all stages of butterflies. Hopefully some of her passion will rub off on youngsters and inspire them to set up butterfly gardens and save them from extinction.

Even while on official trips to different cities she looks for new species of butterflies that she can bring home to her garden for special attention and caring.

Peter Smetacek, who runs the Butterfly Research Centre in Bhimtal, Uttarakhand, has estimated that there are 1,318 species of butterflies in India in his book, Butterflies on the Roof of the World, says Prachi.

The North-East and the Western Ghats are rich in butterflies. In the Western Ghats, Sammilan Shetty Park in Mangalore is a butterfly haven.

More butterfly parks would be one way of enhancing their propagation and survival!

(Courtsey: by Usha Rai, The Hindu Business Line)