Page 119 - Coronavirus

Germany cuts fiscal deficit in overall budget as Covid measures expire

Germany cut its fiscal deficit in the overall public budget to 32.9 billion euros in the first half of this year, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said

Singapore monitoring XBB Covid strain very closely: Health Minister

Singapore is watching the XBB strain of Covid-19 very closely, but there is no evidence that the new sub-variant is leading to more severe outcomes, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Tuesday. "XBB is demonstrating characteristics that it is dominating over all other sub-variants. It has been detected in many parts of the world but in Singapore is rising very fast within three weeks from nothing, it is now over half of all the daily cases," he said. "But so far, what is good is that there's no evidence that it leads to more severe outcomes," Channel News Asia quoted the minister as saying. Singapore reported 11,732 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday but the Ministry of Health (MOH) said it was initiating action against rumours circulating via WhatsApp about a rapid and large increase in severe illness and deaths due to XBB strain, another Omicron subvariant. MOH said on Tuesday that it was initiating the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) action agains

Data story: India logs 2,139 new Covid cases; death toll reaches 528,835

India has added 16,599 cases in the past 7 days

Domestic steel prices inching up on rising cost, pick-up in demand

Currency depreciation of over 6% may have supported uptrend; industry players confident that prices have bottomed out

India's first Covid cure Vincov-19 completes second phase clinical trial

Completes phase 2 trials successfully on 200 patients

New 'highly infectious' Covid variants emerge in China, says report

As China imposes fresh lockdowns and travel restrictions amid Covid surge, the country has detected new Omicron sub-variants BF.7 and BA.5.1.7

Cathie Wood's ARKK on the verge of taking out its Covid-19 low

The year hasn't been kind to the ETF and growth-centered products as the Federal Reserve raises rates to knock down scorching levels of inflation

Mumbai logs 129 new Covid-19 cases, no death; active tally at 881

Mumbai on Tuesday recorded 129 new cases of coronavirus, taking the tally of infections to 11,51,582, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said. The count of recoveries rose to 11,30,965 after 155 patients recovered from the infection during the day, while the toll remained unchanged at 19,736, the official said. The city's daily tally of cases has crossed the 100 mark on the fifth consecutive day. On Monday, Mumbai had logged 111 new COVID-19 cases and a single fatality. As per a bulletin issued by the civic body, 4,146 swab samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of tests done so far to 1,83,65,681. With a recovery rate of 98.2 per cent, Mumbai is now left with 881 active cases, it stated. Of the latest cases, only eight patients were symptomatic, it said. The overall growth rate of cases in the city is 0.010 per cent for a period between October 4 and October 10, while the doubling rate was 7,390 days, the bulletin said.

India emerges as 'positive spot' due to policy responses, says ex-CEA

India has emerged as a positive spot in the world economy, due to the well-designed policy responses that were implemented during the COVID crisis, Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Executive Director (India)- International Monetary Fund Designate said on Tuesday. He was addressing All India Services, Central Civil Services, and Military Engineer Services Officers at Dr MCR HRD Institute of Telangana here, an official release said. The former Chief economic Advisor said the policy response of the Centre addressed supply side disruptions, by allowing movement of essential commodities even during the lockdown, as any disruptions in the supply chain would have made it extremely difficult to kick-start the economy, once again. Analysing the COVID policy response, Subramanian said as the Indian economy emerges from the COVID crisis, it is far more resilient than it was at the time of the earlier crisis. India is poised to enter a decade of growth at over seven per cent, which was in line with

Oil prices fall more than 2% on account of recession and China Covid fears

Oil has dropped sharply on economic fears after surging earlier in 2022, when Brent came close to its record high of $147 as Russia's invasion of Ukraine added to supply concerns

LIVE: Mortal remains of Mulayam Singh Yadav consigned to flames in Saifai

A large sea of people chant 'Netaji amar rahein' as a vehicle carriedthe mortal remains of Samajwadi Party supremo

Advanced Covid strain that beats vaccine may emerge this winter: US expert

According to American immunologist Dr Anthony Fauci, a new strain could develop in the coming months that may have the capacity to evade the immune response that vaccinations have induced in people

Ahead of 20th Party Congress, China detects new Omicron sub-variants

New Omicron sub-variants BF.7 and BA.5.1.7, which are highly infectious with greater transmissibility have been detected in China, in the latest Covid-19 flare-up

Oil prices slide as dollar strengthens, China's Covid-19 woes dampen demand

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, extending nearly 2% losses in the previous session, as a stronger U.S. dollar and a flare-up in COVID-19 cases in China increased fears of slowing global demand

Data story: India records 1,957 new Covid cases, lowest count in 140 days

India has added 16,928 cases in the past 7 days

Govts across globe stoked global inequality since pandemic, finds study

Analysis by the nonprofits Oxfam and Development Finance International found that of the 161 countries surveyed, almost all either froze or lowered taxes on their richest citizens

China imposes fresh lockdowns as Covid-19 cases surge after holiday

Chinese cities were imposing fresh lockdowns and travel restrictions after the number of new daily COVID-19 cases tripled during a weeklong holiday, ahead of a major Communist Party meeting in Beijing next week. The latest lockdown started on Monday in Fenyang city in northern China's Shanxi province after a preliminary positive case was found in citywide testing the previous day, state broadcaster CCTV reported. In the nearby Inner Mongolia region, the capital Hohhot announced that outside vehicles and passengers would be prohibited from entering the city starting on Tuesday. Hohhot has recorded more than 2,000 cases over about 12 days. China is one of the few places in the world still resorting to harsh measures to keep the disease from spreading. The long-ruling Communist Party is particularly concerned as it tries to present a positive image of the nation in the run-up to a once-in-five-years party congress that starts on Sunday. Travel was down during an annual National Day

Bengal Durga Puja economy this year crosses Rs 45,000-cr mark: Stakeholders

Even though the World Bank has downgraded India's growth forecast to 6.5 per cent for the current fiscal, business activities surrounding West Bengal's Durga Puja this year witnessed a "sharp upswing" with estimated value of the festive transactions "crossing Rs 45,000-crore mark" after the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. All stakeholders, ranging from retailers to hoteliers and restaurateurs, reported sales "more than expectations", while puja organisers were ecstatic with the festive spirit among people. "The trend is much better than expected. In our opinion, the puja economy in Bengal crossed the Rs 45,000-crore mark if we compare this year's festival with that of 2019 when there was no COVID. "Large-scale pujas were organised in districts this time. On average, the advertisement expenditure has increased by 45-50 per cent," Forum For Durgotsab, an umbrella organisation of community pujas, president Kajal Sarkar told PTI. Retailers and hoteliers experienced "30-40 per

Mumbai records 111 Covid-19 cases, 1 death; active tally now 907

Mumbai on Monday recorded 111 COVID-19 cases and one death, which took the tally in the city to 11,51,453 and toll to 19,736, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said. He said the recovery count rose by 65 and stood at 11,30,810, leaving the city with an active caseload of 907. Of the new cases, only 11 are symptomatic, which had taken the number of people hospitalised for the infection to 60, the official added. So far, 1,83,61,535 samples have been examined for coronavirus, including 4,009 in the last 24 hours, as per BMC data. The recovery rate is 98.2 per cent, while the overall growth rate between October 2 and 8 stands at 0.009 per cent, as per official data. The caseload doubling time is 7,781 days.

Delhi records 67 new Covid-19 cases, positivity rate rises to 3.1%

Delhi on Monday recorded 67 new Covid cases with the positivity rate rising to 3.1 per cent, according to data issued by the city health department. With these fresh cases, the national capital's Covid tally has climbed to 20,04,187 while the death toll stands at 26,505, the department said in its latest bulletin. The new cases were detected from 2,160 tests conducted the previous day, it said. The city on Sunday recorded 79 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 1.52 per cent. On Saturday, it logged one Covid-related fatality and 137 cases with a positivity rate of 1.73 per cent. On Friday, one fatality and 101 cases were reported with a positivity rate of 1.38 per cent. The city on Thursday saw 57 cases with a positivity rate of 2.19 per cent. The capital on Wednesday reported 96 cases with a positivity rate of 1.42 per cent, while it logged 74 infections with a positivity rate of 1.07 per cent on Tuesday. The number of active Covid cases in Delhi stands at 390, the bulletin sai