COVID-19 claimed 969 lives in May, highest in a month
The Hindu
The month that has gone by recorded highest cases and deaths in the two waves
The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed 969 lives in Telangana in May 2021, which is the highest in any month since the first case was detected in the State on March 2, 2020. The month that has gone by has left many people in grief over the loss of their dear ones, and landed them in financial and emotional distress. A total of 1,34,991 people tested positive for coronavirus during the last month, which is the highest in any month since the first case was detected in the State. The highest of 969 deaths was followed by 611 deaths of COVID-19 patients in April of this year, which clearly indicates that mortalities from the infectious disease were higher in the second wave of COVID. From the first wave to mid of April this year, the highest number of patients who died in a day were 14. However, the mortalities started to increase from April 17, 2021 and over 50 patient deaths in a day were recorded from April 26 which continued through first week of May. The daily deaths count started to drop again from May 8. Gradually, by the end of the month, less than 20 deaths in a day were reported. On May 31, deaths of 18 people were recorded.“Spider wasp,” says ecologist and nature educator Vena Kapoor, narrating the fascinating but macabre tale of the spider wasp and its victims. While adult spider wasps mostly feed on flower nectar, making them excellent pollinators, they are also what are known as “parasitoids.” Unlike parasites, they kill their host. In the case of spider wasps, females hunt down spiders, inject them with venom and lay eggs on them. Once they hatch, the larvae eat these spiders alive, inevitably killing them, she tells the huddle of women cloistered around this tree.
Karnataka’s Shakti scheme, which provides free travel for women on State-run buses, will turn one on June 11. Though the scheme has empowered women’s travel, the lack of adequate number of buses and poor connectivity are key concerns. Darshan Devaiah B.P. explores various locales to gauge the scheme’s impact Statewide