The COVID-19 pandemic has entered its third year, with no signs of ebbing. Till the last week of December, the novel coronavirus was raging in almost 200 countries and had killed more than 5.3 million people. Such is the impact of the pandemic that the average life expectancy has plummeted in several countries. Researchers at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra’s Centre for Research in Health Economics in Barcelona, Spain, estimate in their study published in Scientific Reports in February 2021, that over 20.5 million years of life have been lost due to COVID-19 in 81 countries. In India, life expectancy has reduced by nearly two years, as per an October 2021 study by the International Institute for Population Studies under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The fear and turmoil have deepened since the arrival of Omicron—by far the most mutated and transmissible of all the five variants of concern identified in the history of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The severity of disease by the variant may be low but the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems,” warns Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (who), adding: “It might have already made its way through most countries. We have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril.” In hardly a month since South Africa first informed who about this new variant on November 24, 2021, some 91 countries have reported its presence. The subsequent uncertainty among countries and the public was similar to when COVID-19 first struck the world in late December 2019.
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Denne historien er fra January 01, 2022-utgaven av Down To Earth.
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In leading role again
MOVIES AND WEB SERIES ARE ONCE AGAIN BEING SET IN RUSTIC BACKGROUNDS, INDICATING A RECONNECT BETWEEN CINEMA AND THE COUNTRYSIDE
One Nation One Subscription comes at a huge cost
As top US universities scrap big deals with top scientific publishers, India’s ONOS scheme seems flawed and outdated
Return of Rambhog
Bid to revive and sell the aromatic indigenous paddy variety has led to substantial profits for farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Terai region
Scarred by mining
Natural springs of Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining
Human-to-human spread a mutation away
CANADA IN mid-November confirmed its first human case of avian influenza, with a teenager in the British Columbia being hospitalised after contracting the H5N1 virus that causes the disease. The patient developed a severe form of the disease, also called bird flu, and had respiratory issues. There was no known cause of transmission.
True rehabilitation
Residents of Madhya Pradesh's Kakdi village take relocation as an opportunity to undertake afforestation, develop sustainable practices
INESCAPABLE THREAT
Chemical pollution is the most underrated and underreported risk of the 21st century that threatens all species and regions
THAT NIGHT, 40 YEARS AGO
Bhopal gas disaster is a tragedy that people continue to face
A JOKE, INDEED
A CONFERENCE OF IRRESPONSIBLE PARTIES THAT CREATED AN OPTICAL ILLUSION TO THE REALITY OF A NEW CLIMATE
THINGS FALL APART
THE WORLD HAS MADE PROGRESS IN MITIGATING EMISSIONS AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE IMPACTS. BUT THE PROGRESS REMAINS GROSSLY INADEQUATE