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 The ozone effect
Japanese researchers said low concentrations of ozone can neutralise
coronavirus particles, potentially providing a way for hospitals to
disinfect examination rooms and waiting areas.
Scientists at Fujita Health University told a news conference they
had proven that ozone gas in concentrations of 0.05 to 0.1 parts per
million, levels considered harmless to humans, could kill the virus.
The experiment used an ozone generator in a sealed chamber with a
sample of coronavirus. The potency of the virus declined by more
than 90% when subjected to low level ozone for 10 hours.
Fears of second wave in France
A second wave of the coronavirus pandemic could hit France in
November, a government advisor told local media, as the city of
Marseille tightened restrictions to fight the outbreak.
Authorities in Marseille said that bars and restaurants would have
shorter opening times, and they also broadened mandatory
mask-wearing in the southern port city between Aug. 26 and Sept. 30.
"There are fears of a second wave in November," Professor
Jean-François Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council that
advises the government on the pandemic, told France 2 television.
France has the seventh-highest COVID-19 death toll in the world, and
the government is monitoring the figures closely to see if fresh
restrictions or lockdown are needed.
Seoul doctors ordered back to work
South Korea ordered doctors in the Seoul area to return to work on
Wednesday as they began a three-day strike in protest against
several government proposals, including one to boost the number of
doctors to deal with crises like the coronavirus.
Trainee doctors have been staging ongoing walkouts, and thousands of
additional doctors were due to stage a three-day strike starting on
Wednesday.
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The strikes come as South Korea battles one of its worst outbreaks of the
coronavirus, with 320 new cases reported in the 24 hours to midnight Tuesday,
the latest in more than a week and a half of triple-digit increases.
Lessons from India's Silicon Valley
The early COVID-19 response in Bengaluru, dubbed India's Silicon Valley for its
tech firms and startups, was lauded by India's government as a model, for its
use of health surveys combined with efforts to tap tech expertise and
cutting-edge software to analyse the spread of the disease.
But after India eased a nationwide lockdown in early June, officials say tens of
thousands of travellers streamed in from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, many
unwittingly bringing the virus.
The neighbouring states have been the two worst hit by COVID-19 in India. "We
didn't look at the inbound travellers as a major source of infections," said one
official involved in Bengaluru's response. "We never anticipated that many
people would come."
Since late June, Bengaluru has been sealing areas where cases jump, said
Hephsiba Rani Korlapati, a bureaucrat running the Bengaluru "war room", noting
this involves placing barricades at entry and exit points - in effect
quarantining entire neighbourhoods. "Aggressive testing of contacts and home
isolation is the way to contain the spread," she said. "That is being taken very
seriously and is being done right now."
(Compiled by Linda Noakes and Karishma Singh)
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