-The Hindu Low level of RT-PCR re-testing in persons who are testing antigen negative will underestimate cases, says COVID-19 task force member Only 1 in 200 of those who tested negative in an antigen test in Delhi to detect possible coronavirus cases were re-tested, a fraction that epidemiologists say is too low given what is known about the disease. From June 25, daily cases appear to have peaked at 3,390 and steadily...

-Outlook India Eminent epidemiologist and health economist Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan tells Outlook in an exclusive interview why rapid Covid antigen tests are problematic and should not, in any case, replace the existing RT-PCR tests. While the Delhi government's data on Coronavirus cases shows a decline in the number of positive cases, experts believe that the real picture might not be what it looks like. Eminent epidemiologist Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan, who is also...

KEY TRENDS   • At the national level, the proportion of government schools having facilities like drinking water was 96.39 percent, boys' toilet was 94.64 percent, girls' toilet was 97.03 percent, boundary wall was 60.12 percent, playground was 56.98 percent, ramp was 71.50 percent, CWSN toilet was 19.59 percent, electricity was 56.45 percent and library was 79.36 percent, according to the Unified District Information System For Education (UDISE) 2017-18 (Provisional) *12   • ASER 2019 ‘Early Years’ data shows a clear...

KEY TRENDS    • The 2019 India TB report says that the country accounted for a quarter of the global tuberculosis (TB) burden with an estimated 27 lakh cases in 2018. In 2018, the country was able to achieve a total notification of 21.5 lakh TB cases, of which 25 percent was from private sector. Majority of the TB burden is among the working age group. Nearly 89 percent of TB cases came from the age group 15-69 years....