NEWS

A woman healthcare worker died in Gurugram on Friday, days after she received a COVID-19 vaccine shot. However, an official said there was no evidence yet to suggest any link between the death and the vaccination as of yet.

The 55-year-old woman died at her home in Gurugram.

"She had been administered COVID-19 vaccination on January 16. Her family reported her sudden death at her home today, but there is nothing yet to suggest and link with the vaccination," Chief Medical Officer of Gurugram Virender Yadav said over phone.

"However, we have sent her viscera for investigation and details will be known once the report comes," he added.

Shiv Sena and BJP have revived their fight to claim the title of the premier flagbearer of 'Hindutva'. The latest exchange between the two former allies in Maharashtra was triggered over a poster ahead of the Tipu Sultan Anniversary.

Tipu Sultan was the 18th-century ruler of Mysore popularly known as the Tiger of Mysore.

The BJP took aim at the Shiv Sena after an officer bearer of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray's party put up a poster to celebrate Tipu Sultan's anniversary. Associated with the Mira Bhayandar unit of the Yuva Sena, the office bearer has been identified as Salman Hashmi.

Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy, who was earlier scheduled to meet President Ram Nath Kovind in Delhi on Thursday, will now meet him on Friday and handover a petition seeking recall of Lt Governor Kiran Bedi, a news agency reported.

Agriculture minister R Kamalakannan, welfare minister M Kandasamy, health minister Malladi Krishna Rao and the only member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Puducherry V Vaithilingam would also be accompanying the CM, sources said.

Narayanasamy leads the Congress-led Secular Democratic Alliance (SDA) government in Puducherry. Earlier this month, he along with Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president A V Subramanian, various ministers, Congress legislators and delegates of different wings of the CPI, CPI(M) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) held an agitation against the 'negative attitude' of the Lt Governor towards proposals submitted by the government for her approval.

Jharkhand education minister Jagarnath Mahto, who was airlifted from Ranchi to a Chennai hospital, underwent a bilateral lung transplant after the organs were completely damaged by Covid-19 and has recovered well, doctors treating him said. On Thursday, the doctors said he was fit to be discharged.

Only a few lung transplants on Covid-19 patients have been performed across the world and the minister’s critical condition necessitated the procedure.

“This is different from a regular lung transplant, which is commonly done, as these are the sickest of patients who have been on a ventilator for months,” said Dr KR Balakrishnan, who performed the surgery and is chairman-director, cardiac sciences and director of the Heart and Lung Transplant, MGM Healthcare. “The patients are on ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and have been given tons of steroids, several drugs and sedation. They have profound muscle weakness where they haven’t even moved their fingertips. Even if we change the lung; it takes a long time to rehabilitate them,” he added.