Hindi English Translation || Editorial || A concerning sequence: On a new coronavirus strain and a spurt in cases in China

A concerning sequence: On a new coronavirus strain and a spurt in cases in China

India’s vaccination strategy (रणनीति) should accommodate (समायोजित करना, अनुकूलित करें) for SARS-CoV-2 changes

The spurt (उछाल, लहर) in coronavirus cases reported out of China has triggered global alarm. India’s Health Ministry has issued a directive (निर्देश, मार्गदर्शन) to States to send positive samples to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) to check for new, concerning (विषय में, संबंधित) strains (variant, variety, kind, type). The Health Minister, too, has called (convene, summon, order, arrange, announce) for a review meeting of the coronavirus situation in India. India’s official numbers suggest that, thus far (अब तक), there is little to worry. There are only 3,408 active cases. Only one district has a test positivity rate (परीक्षण सकारात्मकता दर) of over 10% and only four between 5 and 10%, as per the latest available weekly data. India’s COVID-19 vaccination (टीकाकरण) coverage has exceeded 219.33 crore, and there are no signs (संकेत, सूचना) of distress being reported out of hospitals. However, the experience of previous years is that it is usually many weeks after which a noticeable spike, let alone (not to mention) a wave, is confirmed by health authorities (प्राधिकारी, अधिकारी). There is scarce (अपर्याप्त) monitoring and mask mandates (शासनादेश, आदेश) for public gatherings (सभा, बैठक), airports and railway stations have been removed everywhere; so, low numbers do not necessarily (अनिवार्य रूप से, निश्चित रूप से) mean new variants are not taking root.

In China, despite reports of crowded mortuaries (a place (room/building) in which dead bodies are kept until burial or cremation; morgue), hospital admissions piling up and stocked-out (relating to a situation in which there are no goods (of a specific type) available for sale) pharmacies, weekly death counts are officially in the single digits. The prevalent (accepted, current, prevailing, widespread, common, general) opinion is that the lifting of curbs (restriction, restraint, control, limitation), after almost three years of some of the most restrictive containment (an act of keeping something (harmful) under control) measures (action, initiative, move/step), has now exposed (reveal, show, display, disclose, demonstrate) a large swathe (a wide area of something) of people who lack (be without, be short of, be deficient in) ‘natural immunity (the body’s defense against infections; protection, resistance)’. Some mathematical modelling (the use of mathematical models to make calculations or predictions; (A simulation is the process of using a model to study the behavior and performance of an actual or theoretical system)) projections (estimate, forecast, calculation, prediction) calculate a million COVID-19 cases in the coming days in China. Given that much of the world has moved to normalcy (a normal condition; normality, regularity) in terms of travel, the concern is that this surge (sudden increase, rise, escalation, upsurge) is likely to reverberate (have continuing and serious effects) globally with many more infections, even in India, inevitable (unavoidable, unpreventable, certain, inescapable, bound/sure to happen). There are two key lessons that can be derived from the Chinese experience: long lockdowns (an emergency protocol implemented by the authorities that prevents people from leaving from a place; An extended state of confinement/encirclement/isolation of a person by the authority) cannot eliminate the virus or prevent the development of new strains, and the only reasonable defence (protection, resistance) possible against severe disease is via vaccines (a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease). China has largely depended on home-grown (belonging to one’s own country) vaccines such as CoronaVac and Sinopharm vaccines that rely on the inactivated virus (killed virus; dead virus) technology. Despite 90% of the population receiving a single dose, and half, a second dose, the numbers in China suggest that waning (decreasing, lessening, weakening, deteriorating) immunity is a fait accompli ((from French) an accomplished fact, something that has already occurred and cannot be changed). The big lesson for India is to not only establish the prevalent coronavirus variants but also whether the administered (dispensed, provided, given, applied (a drug/vaccine)) vaccines continue to be efficacious (effective, successful, powerful). While most of the vaccines administered in India are Covishield, and thus of the spike protein (spike (S) protein is the sole viral membrane protein responsible for coronavirus entry into host cells), it may be time to accommodate for changes in the virus. The sequencing of strains by INSACOG should not remain an academic exercise.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.concerning (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - विषय में, संबंधित
English Meaning - worrying, alarming, unsettling, disquieting, distressing, disturbing.

2.sequence (noun)

Hindi Meaning - क्रम, अनुक्रम, श्रृंखला
English Meaning - pattern, cycle, series, chain.

3.spurt (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उछाल, लहर
English Meaning - sudden increase, rise, surge.

4.vaccination (noun)

Hindi Meaning - टीकाकरण
English Meaning - treatment with a vaccine to protect against a particular disease; immunization.

5.strategy (noun)

Hindi Meaning - रणनीति
English Meaning - plan of action (in order to achieve a more expansive set of political, economic, and security interests).

6.accommodate (verb)

Hindi Meaning - समायोजित करना, अनुकूलित करें
English Meaning - adjust, adapt, attune, accustom, integrate, come to terms with, come to accept.

7.directive (noun)

Hindi Meaning - निर्देश, मार्गदर्शन
English Meaning - instruction, notice, direction, guidance.

8.thus far (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - अब तक
English Meaning - so far, until now, up to the present, to date.

9.test positivity rate/ratio (TPR) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - परीक्षण सकारात्मकता दर
English Meaning - the proportion of positives to total tests done for disease; the percentage of tests that are turning out to be positive for disease; the rate at which people getting tested for disease receive positive results; the ratio of cases confirmed to tests performed for disease.

10.sign (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संकेत, सूचना
English Meaning - indication, signal, intimation, evidence.

11.authorities (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्राधिकारी, अधिकारी
English Meaning - officials, officialdom, the people in charge.

12.scarce (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - अपर्याप्त
English Meaning - meagre, insufficient, inadequate, negligible, paltry.

13.mandate (noun)

Hindi Meaning - शासनादेश, आदेश
English Meaning - order, instruction, directive.

14.gathering (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सभा, बैठक
English Meaning - meeting, assembly, conclave.

15.necessarily (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - अनिवार्य रूप से, निश्चित रूप से
English Meaning - inevitably, certainly, surely.

16.coronavirus (CoV) (noun)

English Meaning - a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases. common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. (Courtesy: WHO)

17.strain (noun)

English Meaning - variant, variety, kind, type.

18.novel coronavirus (nCoV) (SARS-CoV-2) (noun)

English Meaning - a new strain (type/variety) coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans. (Courtesy: WHO)

19.out of (phrase)

English Meaning - from.

20.trigger (verb)

English Meaning - cause, give rise to, lead to, bring about, generate.

21.alarm (noun)

English Meaning - fear, anxiety, apprehension, unease, distress.

22.Indian SARS-CoV2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG) (noun)

English Meaning - INSACOG refers to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genome Sequencing Consortia. The INSACOG consortium of scientists, spanning 10 labs across the country, and involved in sequencing genomes of coronavirus samples in different States, had been giving regular updates on the threat from new strains to the government. (Consortia is a plural form of consortium).

23.call for (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - require, publicly ask/necessitate, demand.

24.call (verb)

English Meaning - convene, summon, order, arrange, announce.

25.spike (noun)

English Meaning - a sharp rise/increase of something.

26.let alone (phrase)

English Meaning - not to mention.

27.take root (phrase)

English Meaning - develop, begin to sprout, begin to grow.

28.mortuary (adjective)

English Meaning - a place (room/building) in which dead bodies are kept until burial or cremation; morgue.

29.pile up (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - increase, rise, escalate, soar, shoot up.

30.stocked-out (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to a situation in which there are no goods (of a specific type) available for sale.

31.prevalent (adjective)

English Meaning - accepted, current, prevailing, widespread, common, general.

32.lift (verb)

English Meaning - remove, cancel, withdraw, revoke, annul (a legal restriction/ban).

33.curb (noun)

English Meaning - restriction, restraint, control, limitation.

34.containment (noun)

English Meaning - an act of keeping something (harmful) under control.

34.measure (noun)

English Meaning - action, initiative, move/step.

36.expose (verb)

English Meaning - reveal, show, display, disclose, demonstrate.

37.swathe (noun)

English Meaning - a wide area of something.

38.lack (verb)

English Meaning - be without, be short of, be deficient in.

39.immunity (noun)

English Meaning - the body’s defense against infections; protection, resistance.

40.modelling (noun)

English Meaning - the use of mathematical models to make calculations or predictions; (A simulation is the process of using a model to study the behavior and performance of an actual or theoretical system).

41.projection (noun)

English Meaning - estimate, forecast, calculation, prediction.

42.given (preposition)

English Meaning - considering, taking into account, bearing in mind.

43.normalcy (noun)

English Meaning - a normal condition; normality, regularity.

44.in terms of (phrase)

English Meaning - with regard to, regarding, concerning, in respect of.

45.surge (noun)

English Meaning - sudden increase, rise, escalation, upsurge.

46.reverberate (verb)

English Meaning - have continuing and serious effects.

47.inevitable (adjective)

English Meaning - unavoidable, unpreventable, certain, inescapable, bound/sure to happen.

48.lockdown (noun)

English Meaning - an emergency protocol implemented by the authorities that prevents people from leaving from a place; An extended state of confinement/encirclement/isolation of a person by the authority.

49.development (noun)

English Meaning - evolution, growth, spread, progress.

50.defence (noun)

English Meaning - protection, resistance.

51.vaccine (noun)

English Meaning - a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease.

52.home-grown (adjective)

English Meaning - belonging to one’s own country.

53.rely on (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - depend on; resort to, have recourse to.

54.inactivated virus (noun)

English Meaning - killed virus; dead virus.

55.inactivated vaccine (noun)

English Meaning - The vaccine is developed using Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell derived platform technology. Inactivated vaccines do not replicate and are therefore unlikely to revert and cause pathological effects. They contain dead virus, incapable of infecting people but still able to instruct the immune system to mount a defensive reaction against an infection.

56.booster dose (noun)

English Meaning - In medical terms, a booster dose is an extra administration of a vaccine after an earlier dose.

57.precaution dose (noun)

English Meaning - booster dose; third dose of the vaccine.

58.waning (adjective)

English Meaning - decreasing, lessening, weakening, deteriorating.

59.fait accompli (noun)

English Meaning - (from French) an accomplished fact, something that has already occurred and cannot be changed.

60.establish (verb)

English Meaning - confirm, verify, prove, demonstrate, show, indicate.

61.administered (adjective)

English Meaning - dispensed, provided, given, applied (a drug/vaccine).

62.administer (verb)

English Meaning - dispense, provide, give, apply (a drug/vaccine).

63.efficacious (adjective)

English Meaning - effective, successful, powerful.

64.Oxford vaccine/Covishield (noun)

English Meaning - (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) or (AZD1222) is named Covishield in India. Serum Institute of India (SII), a biotechnology company has partnered with global pharma giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University for this vaccine candidate ‘Covidshield’.

65.Covaxin (noun)

English Meaning - India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine candidate (COVAXIN) developed by a Hyderabad-based company (Bharat Biotech) in collaboration with the ICMR (The Indian Council of Medical Research).

66.S-gene (noun)

English Meaning - the S-gene encodes a surface protein, the spike protein.

67.spike (S) protein (noun)

English Meaning - spike (S) protein is the sole viral membrane protein responsible for coronavirus entry into host cells.

68.encode (verb)

English Meaning - to specify the genetic code (for a particular amino acid/a protein).

69.genome (noun)

English Meaning - the genetic material (a complete set of DNA, including all of its genes) of an organism. The sum total of the genetic material of a cell or an organism.

70.sequence (noun)

English Meaning - the complete order of compounds/building blocks (nucleotides) of nucleic acids, such as RNA or DNA.

71.genome sequence (noun)

English Meaning - a process that determines the order, or sequence, of the DNA (nucleotides i.e., A, C, G and U) in each of the genes present in the virus’s genome.