Blog

Three German children living in Spain have been rescued from a Covid lockdown “house of horrors” after being forced for years to stay inside long after pandemic restrictions ended. According to SkyNews, the siblings – 8-year-old twins and a 10-year-old – were locked up inside for three years by their parents following the final wave of the Covid pandemic. They were rescued from a home in Oviedo, Spain, on Monday, and their parents were arrested and charged with domestic violence with habitual psychological abuse and child abandonment. 

According to SkyNews, the children were locked inside the house since 2021. Police in Spain launched an investigation after neighbours filed a complaint about children residing in the home who haven’t been attending school. They discovered that the house had been rented out by the family in October 2021, and only the name of the father was registered on the home. Locals also told the officers that they had not seen anyone enter or leave the property since December 2021. 

Then, when officers approached the house on April 28, the mother told the officers to “be careful” since her children were “very sick”. 

Once inside, cops found the home filled with trash and a large number of medications and masks, as well as other items, which officers deemed “a clearly unsanitary situation that could put the health and safety of the minors at risk”. The three children were also reported to be sleeping in cribs, which officers said were defaced with drawings of monsters and dolls. 

“The children were in terrible shape. It was absolutely outrageous. Not malnourished, because they were fed. But they were also dirty… (and) completely cut off from reality, and not just because they didn’t go to school. When we took them out of the house, into the garden, where they wouldn’t even go outside, they saw a snail and went crazy, freaked out,” one police officer said, per the outlet. 

Speaking at a news conference, Oviedo Police Chief Javier Lozano described the property as a “house of horrors”. “We have given three children back their lives,” he said, adding, “We have dismantled the house of horrors.”

After being rescued, the three children were taken to the National Human Rights Centre for a medical evaluation and then placed into the custody of the Ministry of Welfare, which placed them in a juvenile centre, People reported. 

The parents, identified as a 53-year-old German man and his 48-year-old American wife, who also owned a German passport, are being held in pretrial detention without bail. 

“We’ve all been affected by Covid syndrome and what the pandemic has brought, and we can speculate about what led a family to live locked up for so long,” Police Chief Lozano said during the press conference. 

Maharashtra recently reported two deaths, which, according to doctors, are not COVID-19 deaths, but both patients were found to be COVID-19 positive.

The Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) appears to be making a comeback with a significant surge in cases across Hong Kong and Singapore, two of Asia’s biggest cities. With 164 fresh cases reported since May 12, India, too, is seeing a rise in cases. India currently has 257 active COVID-19 cases, with Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu leading the number tally.

In the past week, Kerala reported 69 new cases, Maharashtra logged 44 and Tamil Nadu added 34 cases. Maharashtra also reported two deaths, which, according to doctors, are not COVID-19 deaths, but both patients were found to be COVID-19 positive.

COVID-19 In Maharashtra

Maharashtra currently has 56 active COVID-19 cases. Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital recently reported two deaths – a 59-year-old cancer patient and a 14-year-old girl suffering from kidney disease.

Though both patients died of underlying illness, they also tested positive for COVID-19. Questions are being raised on why COVID was not written in the death certificate.

KEM Hospital reportedly didn’t hand over the body of a 59-year-old woman to the family. “The woman was cremated at the Bhoiwada crematorium with only two family members, as per protocol,” said Anil Kokil, Former Corporator.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) clarified that the two patients died due to serious co-morbidities and not COVID-19. Both patients were brought to Mumbai for treatment from Sindhudurg and Dombivali, it said.

Amid rising cases, Mumbai’s healthcare infrastructure has come under scrutiny. Nearly 200 new primary health centers (PHCs) and sub-centers are reportedly unable to function owing to a lack of staff, funds and facilities.

Neha Kadam, Community Health Volunteer at Kasturba Prathmik Kendra in Mumbai, also highlighted the issue of a lack of staff and infrastructure. “Each staff member is responsible for 1,200 homes. The staff does not have a chair to sit on. We have to go on the ground to check on patients. The facilities are not as good as they should be. Preparations should be made given the increasing cases,” she said.

The BMC has urged Mumbaikars to be cautious and not to panic. The situation is under control and hospitals are fully prepared, it said.

Very few cases of COVID-19 were reported in Mumbai from January 2025 to April 2025. Some cases have been reported in May, but their number is extremely limited, and no cluster or serious outbreak has been reported so far, BMC said.

Spike In COVID-19 Cases In Hong Kong, Singapore

Health authorities in Hong Kong and Singapore have warned of a spike in COVID-19 cases, as a resurgent wave spreads through Asia. The virus’ activity in Hong Kong is now “quite high,” Albert Au, head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the city’s Center for Health Protection, told local media last week.

Singapore is also on alert. In the COVID-19 update dated May 13, the Ministry of Health said it is monitoring a recent increase. “There is no indication that the variants circulating locally are more transmissible or cause more severe disease compared to previously circulating variants,” it noted.

The estimated number of COVID-19 cases in the week of April 27 to May 3, 2025 rose to 14,200 cases, compared to 11,100 cases in the previous week. Over the same period, the average daily COVID-19 hospitalisations rose from 102 to 133.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said the number of COVID-19 cases has increased in some Asian countries in recent days.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday appealed to the citizens not to panic, especially in the wake of serious illnesses. The advisory was issued after two women from Sindhudurg and Dombivli undergoing treatment at the city hospital, died on Sunday, due to multiple serious illnesses (Nephrotic syndrome with Hypocalcemic seizures, cancer). The BMC has clarified that they have not died due to COVID-19.

The BMC said, “COVID-19 is now considered an endemic and ongoing health problem. As the virus has become established at the community level, cases of COVID-19 are now sporadic and very rare.”

It said that in recent days, the number of COVID-19 cases has been increasing in Singapore, Hong Kong, East Asia and other countries.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s health department is constantly monitoring the spread of COVID-19 to keep it under control.

“The number of COVID-19 patients has been very low from January 2025 to April 2025. Some patients have been seen since May, however, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation administration is appealing to the citizens not to panic in this regard,” it said.

As per The BMC, treatment and guidance facilities are available in the civic hospitals, including Seven Hills Hospital has 20 beds (MICU), 20 beds for children and pregnant women and 60 general beds.

Kasturba Hospital has two intensive care (ICU) beds and a special ward of 10 beds with a provision to increase the capacity immediately.

“Common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough (dry or with phlegm), sore or achy throat, fatigue, body aches, and headache. Symptoms may also include a runny nose, a runny nose, and a loss of taste or smell. These symptoms can often be similar to those of a common cold and can vary from person to person. In severe cases, difficulty breathing is a major warning sign,” said the BMC advisory.

The BMC further said that COVID-19 can be prevented by taking proper precautions. Especially patients with serious illnesses and low immunity, such as cancer, the elderly, diabetes, high blood pressure and liver disease should take proper precautions.

The BMC has urged the citizens to consult a municipal clinic, hospital, or family doctor if they find symptoms like fever, cough (dry or with phlegm), sore or achy throat, fatigue, body aches, and headache.

The BMC has also appealed to the citizens to wear a mask in public if found with symptoms, keep distance from others, wash hands frequently with soap and water and follow a proper diet and take rest.

ay Varma, who previously served as a senior health adviser under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, was reported to have boasted about attending underground raves and hosting parties while the city was under severe lockdowns.

Dr Jay Varma, the former COVID-19 czar of New York City, has been fired from his position at SIGA Technologies following the revelation of his involvement in drug-fuelled sex parties during the pandemic. Dr Varma’s NYC COVID policies drew national attention when Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving was banned from playing for refusing vaccination. 

Dr Varma, who previously served as a senior health adviser under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, was reported to have boasted about attending underground raves and hosting parties while the city was under severe lockdowns. These admissions were made public through secretly recorded conversations.

On September 23, SIGA Technologies issued a statement confirming Dr Varma’s immediate termination, stating, “Pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement, Dr Varma’s service on the Company’s Board of Directors also automatically ended effective immediately”. 

The scandal erupted last week when podcaster Steven Crowder released clips of Dr Varma’s candid discussions, in which he said, “I did all this deviant, like sexual stuff,” and confessed to sneaking around due to his role in managing the city’s COVID response. 

In one recorded conversation, Dr Varma recounted hosting a party in August 2020 where attendees used MDMA: “So we rented a hotel … we all took, like, you know, molly and like it was like eight or nine or us, eight to 10 of us were in a room and everybody had a blast because everybody was like so pent up.”

Dr Varma also recalled attending a June 2021 rave with hundreds of attendees, and when asked if he regretted his actions, he replied, “No, actually, I’m like, I love being my authentic self.” A source revealed that Dr Varma hosted another gathering in November 2020.

City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov condemned Dr Varma’s actions, stating, “While grandmothers took their last breaths alone on cold hospital beds, Dr Varma was fulfilling his sick fantasies with hundreds of sweaty strangers.” 

Michael Kane of Teachers for Choice said he was disgusted “hearing Varma say having drug-fuelled group sex orgies was necessary for him to be his ‘authentic self’ because COVID had him ‘pent up.’”

Despite the uproar, a source close to Dr Varma defended him, claiming that “he technically didn’t violate the mandate” and that his statements were taken out of context. 

Dr Varma himself issued a statement acknowledging his actions, saying, “In those private conversations that were secretly recorded, spliced, diced and taken out of context, I referred to events that transpired four years ago. Between April 2020 – May 2021, I participated in two private gatherings. I take responsibility for not using the best judgement at the time.”

A group of scientists say they have evidence suggesting COVID-19 emerged from animals and jumped to humans at a market in Wuhan, China. They have also dismissed theories linking the deadly virus to a lab leak. The researchers studied DNA samples from hundreds of sources and found circumstantial evidence connecting the virus to the wildlife trade at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, according to a study published in the journal Cell.

The scientists looked at genetic information gathered from the market at the beginning of 2020. Their findings showed that the genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2, which is linked to the market, supported the theory that the virus emerged there. Higher levels of the virus were found near and inside a wildlife stall, which contained animal DNA in all SARS-CoV-2-positive samples. The animals identified included civets, bamboo rats, and raccoon dogs, all previously thought to be possible intermediate hosts.

Angie Rasmussen, a co-author of the study and a virologist at Canada’s University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infection Disease Organization, said the virus likely spread through animals sold at the market, with genetic evidence suggesting the same. “It’s very difficult to explain any other way, besides that the virus was brought there with those live animals and it spilled over, twice actually, into the human population at the market,” Rasmussen said’.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization outlined two main theories with respect to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. One theory suggested the virus transmitted from an infected animal to a human, most likely at the market, while the other proposed it leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

While the study does not confirm the animals in those areas were infected, the proximity of COVID-19 samples to their DNA suggests a strong likelihood that these animals were carriers. Commenting on the study, Dr. Lisa Barrett, an infectious disease expert from Dalhousie University, said it could help prepare for future pandemic responses.

Rasmussen and her team’s earlier research, alongside other peer-reviewed studies, had already pointed to the Huanan Market as the most likely site of the virus’s jump to humans, particularly linked to the live animal trade.

The breakthrough came in March 2023 when a significant dataset, previously used by Chinese scientists for their own research, became available online. This allowed Rasmussen’s team to re-analyse the genetic samples taken from swabs at the market, uncovering new clues that further strengthen the animal market theory. Rasmussen said, “None of that can be explained with a lab leak.”

For a lab leak scenario to be plausible, someone would have had to contract the virus at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and then visit the market without spreading it to others, and the same would need to happen for a second strain of the virus. Rasmussen argued the likelihood of this happening is minimal, adding that resources should focus on the more likely scenario of animal-to-human transmission, rather than the unsupported lab leak theory.

Rasmussen and her team have faced significant backlash online from lab leak supporters, with accusations that they are attempting to cover up the “real story,” according to CBC News. Despite the criticism, Rasmussen maintains that their research is based on solid scientific evidence. “We’re accused of conducting a propaganda campaign essentially to cover up the real story of a lab leak. But that’s simply not true,” she said.

A purported video of a news report “predicting” the fourth wave of COVID-19 in January 2025 has been recently shared by several social media users. The video shows a news anchor warning people to remain alert for the next 40 days, claiming a spike in cases in East Asia.

However, a PTI Fact Check investigation found the claim to be false. The video clip actually dates back to 2022.

On December 17, a Facebook user shared the video with the caption, “Be careful in the new year 2025, the threat of Corona is coming again, thousands of people are dying every day in China.” The video quickly gained traction with many other users sharing the clip with the same claim believing it to be recent.

Using a keyword search on Google, PTI Fact Check found no credible reports supporting the claim.

Further, upon checking the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s official website, it revealed that there are only 11 active COVID-19 cases in India. The website also made no mention of a fourth wave or any spike in cases.

PTI also contacted Syed Suhail, the news anchor featured in the video, who confirmed that the clip was from 2022.

He explained, “This information was based on reports from 2022. No such report has surfaced recently.” 

During the investigation, Professor Suneet Kumar Singh, Director of the Dr. BR Ambedkar Biomedical Research Center (ACBR), was also contacted who said that there is no alert regarding a fourth wave of COVID-19 in 2025. He added that there is absolutely no need to panic and the situation will remain normal in 2025, as it is in 2024.

PTI Fact Check conclusively debunked the claim establishing that the news report in video clip was from 2022 and it was falsely presented as a recent report “predicting” a fourth wave of COVID-19 in India for January 2025.

The Centre, as well as India’s top medical body, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), has said “There’s no need to panic”

Three cases of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) have been detected in India – two in Bengaluru and one in Ahmedabad. The cases were detected in babies and one of them has been discharged from the hospital. The Centre, as well as India’s top medical body, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), has said “There’s no need to panic” and “HMPV is already in circulation globally, including in India.”

However, as reports of HMPV outbreak in China emerged, #Lockdown started trending on social media, with people drawing parallels between the HMPV surge and the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019-2020 in China, which later led to a global pandemic. Covid cases were first reported in November in China’s Wuhan and it rapidly spread to other countries. India reported its first case of COVID-19 in January 2020 in Kerala.

India was among the countries worst affected by the COVID-19 outbreak after the US.

HMPV is a viral pathogen that causes respiratory infections in people of all age groups. It was first discovered in 2001 and is known to cause illnesses ranging from mild respiratory discomfort to severe complications, especially in vulnerable populations such as infants, older adults and individuals with weakened immune systems.‘No Need To Panic’

People fear that the surge in HMPV cases could lead to another global outbreak and force governments to enforce a lockdown to control the spread. However, medical authorities are telling people “not to panic” since the virus has been under circulation globally and is not a new pathogen.

“It is emphasized that HMPV is already in circulation globally, including in India, and cases of respiratory illnesses associated with HMPV have been reported in various countries. Furthermore, based on current data from ICMR and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) network, there has been no unusual surge in Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) or Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases in the country,” the ICMR said.

“I don’t think we should be pressing the panic button, because HMPV is not a new virus, it already exists. Reports suggest that it is the first case of HMPV in India, this is not true because HMPV is an existing virus, and a certain percentage of people do get affected by this virus and it is not something new,” Karnataka’s Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said.

Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) official, Dr Atul Goel, assured people that, “There has been news doing the rounds about a Metapneumovirus outbreak in China. Let me be very clear on that count. Metapneumovirus is like any other respiratory virus which causes the common cold, and in the very old and the very young it could cause flu-like symptoms.”

“Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) is not a new virus. It has been part of the circulating flu virus in India for long. Hence, the majority of the Indian population has developed immunity against it,” Dr Harshal R Salve, Additional Professor, Centre for Community Medicine at AIIMS, New Delhi, told IANS.

He added that the “chances of severe disease are very rare.”

How To Protect Yourself?

Dos

• Cover mouth and nose with a handkerchief or tissue paper when coughing or sneezing
• Wash hands frequently with soap, water, or alcohol-based sanitiser
• Stay away from public places if anyone has a fever, cough, or sneeze
• Drink plenty of water and eat a nutritious diet
• Maintain adequate ventilation in all areas to reduce infection.

Don’ts

Avoid Handshake, tissue paper and handkerchief recycling, close contact with sick people, frequent touching of eyes, nose and mouth, spitting in public places, and medicines without doctor’s advice.

Currently, there is no specific antiviral medication or vaccine available for HMPV. Treatment is supportive and depends on the severity of the infection. For mild cases, rest, adequate hydration and over-the-counter medications to manage fever and nasal congestion are sufficient.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!