India Coronavirus Dispatch: Pandemic stalls rural housing scheme progress

Country reports over 50,000 fresh cases, what is a double mutant virus, pre-print animal study finds UK variant isn't more infectious-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Less than 6% of houses under rural housing scheme completed so far this year

Only 5.4% of houses approved under the central government's rural housing scheme in 2020-21 have been completed so far this year as the Covid-19 pandemic has stalled progress, a report in The Hindu said citing communication from the Rural Development Ministry to a Parliamentary Standing Committee last month. However, some states such as Odisha and Jharkhand used the scheme to provide jobs for migrant workers who returned to their villages during the crisis. Read more here

UK variant not more infectious: NIV-Pune’s pre-print animal study

A study conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Virology in Pune has found that the UK variant of the novel coronavirus is not more infectious than the original version contrary to scientific advice from multiple health authorities across the world, a report in ThePrint said. The study was done on Syrian hamsters and the results have been revealed in a pre-print paper. The NIV study is yet to be peer-reviewed. The UK variant is among the several variants of concern that have been detected in India, the report said. Read more here

Over 50,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 53,480 fresh coronavirus infections on Wednesday, taking the cumulative caseload to 1,21,49,335, according to a report in the Scroll. The country saw 354 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 1,62,468, according to central health ministry data. The active caseload is at 5,52,566, while the total recoveries have surged to 1,14,34,301. As many as 6,30,54,353 doses have been given since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 19,40,999 were given on Tuesday. Read more here

What is a double mutant variant?

A "double mutant" coronavirus variant that has been detected in several Indian states is causing worry that it could add fuel to the fire amid a resurgence in cases across the country, an explainer in The Indian Express said. “Double mutation happens when two mutated variants of a virus come together to form a third variant. The one reported in India is a combination of E484Q and L452R variants,” MC Mishra, a former medical superintendent at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the report said citing DW. “This double mutant could be a major reason behind the upsurge in Covid cases, but we need to wait for test results to determine if it is the case,” Mishra added. Read more here

Focus to be on bringing mRNA-based vaccine platform in India: CSIR

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech will bring the new mRNA vaccine platform to India in the coming months, according to the head of CSIR, a report in The Indian Express said. “mRNA has emerged as one of the most powerful technologies in the Covid-19 pandemic,” said CSIR Director-General Dr Shekhar C Mande. “Today, we don’t have any mRNA-based vaccine platform in the country and Dr (Krishna) Ella and us are already talking about it— how do we actually bring it.” Read more here