India Coronavirus Dispatch: Kids face 'extremely low' risk, finds study

Covid crisis in Kerala remains a worry, Mumbai hospitals to soon start trials of new vaccines, and more-news relevant to India's fight against the pandemic

Over 43,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 43,393 fresh coronavirus infections on Friday, taking the cumulative caseload to 30.7 million, according to central health ministry data. The country saw 911 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 405,939. The active caseload is at 458,727, while the total recoveries have surged to 29.8 million. As many as 368.9 million vaccine shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 4 million were given on Thursday. Read more

Kids face ‘extremely low’ Covid risk: Large UK study

Researchers who carried out a large study in the UK have found that most young people face an "extremely low" risk of disease and death from Covid-19 and have no need to shield from the virus, a report in Bloomberg said. The authors say the study is the most comprehensive on the topic to date. The analysis backs up clinical reports that show children and teens are less likely to be hospitalized or face severe effects from the virus. Covid does raise the chance of serious illness in the most vulnerable children—those with severe pre-existing medical conditions—but even in those cases the risks are smaller compared with adults, the report said. Read more

Covid crisis in Kerala remains a worry

The Covid situation in Kerala has raised concerns as the caseload is plateauing at a fairly high level and last week's test positivity rate settling at over 10 per cent, a report in The Print said. Earlier in the week, the central government asked the state to ramp up vaccination and testing, and ensure Covid protocols are followed. Read more

Delhi: 11% of 990 patients surveyed had post-Covid symptoms for 9-12 months, says study

A long-term study that examined 990 individuals who contracted Covid-19 in the early months of the pandemic last year found that 11 per cent continued to have some form of symptoms for as long as 9-12 months from the onset of the disease, a report in The Indian Express said. The study found that fatigue was the most common symptom. The study was carried out by Max Healthcare at three of its hospitals in Delhi between April and August 2020. Of the 990, 62 patients, or 8 per cent of the total, reported symptoms lasting 1-3 months. Some 118, or 15 per cent, had symptoms lasting 3-6 months, 43 or 5.5 per cent had symptoms lasting 6-9 months, and 85 or 11 per cent continued to have symptoms even in March 2021, the report said. Read more

Mumbai hospitals to soon start trials of new Covid vaccines

Hospitals in Mumbai are set to carry out trials for new vaccines against Covid, a report in The Indian Express said. KEM hospital is slated to begin trials for Phases II and III of Covovax for adults while Nair hospital will soon start with Phase-III trial of ZyCoV-D vaccine for children. Mumbai’s JJ hospital has finished enrolment of adult participants for ZyCoV-D vaccine candidate and is now studying efficacy data, the report said. Read more