Page 122 - Coronavirus

Delhi authorities to dismantle last 3 Covid care centres as cases decline

Authorities have stressed on the need to keep a continued vigil against Covid-19 in view of the festival season, even as they gave their nod to dismantle three remaining Covid care centres in the city and vacate the land. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority, in its meeting held on September 22, discussed the Covid-19 situation in the national capital. Delhi LG V K Saxena, who is the chairman of the DDMA, said that Delhi could do a little better on the vaccination front. Out of a total of 1.33 crore beneficiaries eligible for the precaution doses, it was found that only 31.49 lakh (24 per cent) had taken precaution doses till September 20, according to the data shared during the meeting. In view of the festivals ahead, Saxena said there is a need for a continued and strict vigil. This will be a critical period as people may ignore COVID-appropriate behaviour during festivals, he said. It is important to adhere to COVID-appropriate behaviour and to create a mass awareness among

Shortage of nursing staff sparks bidding war as countries vie for talent

Now with pandemic-related travel restrictions easing, countries from Germany to the United Arab Emirates and Singapore are stepping up efforts to lure foreign nurses and other medical professionals

End of the pandemic in sight, but is it time to let down the guard?

While the world is moving away from the most basic Covid-19 protocols, some experts say it is too early to declare that the pandemic is over

Mumbai logs 155 new Covid-19 cases, no death; active tally at 784

Mumbai on Tuesday recorded 155 new cases of coronavirus that raised the tally of infections to 11,50,701, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. The toll remained unchanged at 19,733, while the count of recoveries rose to 11,30,184 after 85 patients recovered from the infection, he said. There has been a slight increase in the daily cases, as the city had on Monday recorded 66 infections. As per a bulletin issued by the civic body, 4,387 swab samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of tests carried out in the city to 1,83,29,997. With a recovery rate of 98.2 per cent, Mumbai is left with 784 active cases, of which only 12 patients are symptomatic. The overall growth rate of cases is 0.008 per cent, while the doubling rate is at 9,045 days.

Coronavirus formation modelled for first time, may lead to effective drugs

For the first time, scientists have successfully modelled the formation of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, a key step towards developing effective drugs for the deadly disease. The research, published in the journal Viruses, offers an overall understanding of the assembly and formation of SARS-CoV-2 from its constituent components. "Understanding viral assembly has always been a key step leading to therapeutic strategies," said Roya Zandi, a professor at the University of California in the US. "Numerous experiments and simulations of viruses such as HIV and hepatitis B virus have had a remarkable impact on elucidating their assembly and providing means to combat them. Even the simplest questions regarding the formation of SARS-CoV-2 remain unanswered," Zandi said. Zandi explained that a critical step in the life cycle of any virus is the packaging of its genome into new virions or virus particles. This is an especially challenging task for coronaviruses, like SARS-CoV-2

mRNA boosters extend Covid protection but wane over time, says study

mRNA booster immunisations extend protection against moderate and severe Covid-19 for four to five months and then its effectiveness starts waning away, says a new study.

Mainland China reports 250 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases

The Chinese mainland on Monday reported 250 locally transmitted confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 151 in Inner Mongolia and 27 in Guangdong, according to the National Health Commission's report

Data story: India records 1,968 Covid cases, 7 deaths in 24 hours

India's new Covid cases count, at 1,968, was the lowest in 133 days

Nobel Prize win for Swede who unlocked secrets of Neanderthal DNA

Swedish scientist Svante Paabo won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for discoveries on human evolution that unlocked secrets of Neanderthal DNA that helped us understand what makes humans unique and provided key insights into our immune system, including our vulnerability to severe COVID-19. Techniques that Paabo spearheaded allowed researchers to compare the genome of modern humans and that of other hominins the Denisovans as well as Neanderthals. Just as you do an archeological excavation to find out about the past, we sort of make excavations in the human genome, he said at a news conference held by Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. While Neanderthal bones were first discovered in the mid-19th century, only by understanding their DNA often referred to as the code of life have scientists been able to fully understand the links between species. This included the time when modern humans and Neanderthals diverged as a species, around 800,000 years a

Mumbai logs 66 new Covid-19 cases, zero fatality; active tally at 714

Mumbai on Monday recorded 66 new cases of coronavirus that raised the tally of infections to 11,50,546, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. The toll remained unchanged at 19,733, while the count of recoveries reached 11,39,099 after 51 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, he said. There has been a drop in daily infections, as the city had recorded 102 cases and a fatality on Sunday. Of the 66 cases reported during the day, only two patients were symptomatic, the civic body said. With a recovery rate of 98.2 per cent and doubling rate of 8,683 days, the city currently has 714 active cases. At least 3,362 swab samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of tests conducted in the city to 1,83,25,610, the BMC said.

Maharashtra sees 180 new Covid-19 cases, no death; active tally now 2,739

Maharashtra on Monday reported 180 COVID-19 cases, which took the tally to 81,22,432, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,347, a health department official said. It is a sizable dip from the 379 cases recorded on Sunday, which had also seen one death due to the infection, he pointed out. Mumbai accounted for 66 of the new cases, the official said. The recovery count increased by 357 in the last 24 hours and touched 79,71,346, leaving the state with an active caseload of 2,739. State health department showed the total number of coronavirus tests conducted was 8,48,50,798, including 8,511 in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate was 98.14 per cent, as per official data. Maharashtra coronavirus figures for the day: Fresh cases: 180; Fatality: 0; Active cases: 2,739; Tests: 8,511.

Office leasing activity could cross 50 mn sq ft in 2022: Colliers report

Office absorption has already touched 40.6 million sq ft during the first three quarters of Calendar 2022, up two fold over the same period last year, which was marked by Covid-19 induced lockdowns

Study opens way for new treatments by finding how Covid damages heart

Researchers have discovered how COVID-19 infection damages the heart tissue, paving the way for better treatments for the condition. The study conducted on a small group of people found that COVID-19 damaged the DNA in heart tissue, which was not detected in influenza samples. The researchers noted that while COVID-19 and influenza are both severe respiratory viruses, they appeared to affect cardiac tissue very differently. "In comparison to the 2009 flu pandemic, COVID has led to more severe and long-term cardiovascular disease but what was causing that at a molecular level was not known," said Arutha Kulasinghe from the University of Queensland, Australia. "During our study, we couldn't detect viral particles in the cardiac tissues of COVID-19 patients, but what we found was tissue changes associated with DNA damage and repair," Kulasinghe said. DNA damage and repair mechanisms are related to chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, atherosclerosis and neurodegenerative disord

Latest news LIVE: Light Combat Helicopters inducted into Indian Air Force

From coronavirus cases in India to all the latest developments from across the globe, catch all the updates here

Hotels sold out as 'big fat Indian weddings' recover from Covid shock

Despite no 'auspicious' dates in October, hotels are expecting to be 'booked out' as Indians get ready to celebrate weddings on the pre-covid scale.

Data story: India adds 3,011 new Covid cases; active tally at 36,126

India has added 25,255 cases in the past 7 days.

Housing sales up 87% in Jan-Sep in 7 cities; breach CY19 figure: Anarock

Housing sales rose 87 per cent in January-September across seven cities to 2,72,709 units and breached the transactions clocked in entire 2019 pre-COVID year on strong demand, according to Anarock. Sales stood at 1,45,651 units in the January-September period of 2021. Property consultant Anarock, which is one of the leading housing brokerage firms, tracks primary sales of seven major cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. As per the data, housing sales in these seven cities increased to 2,72,709 units during January-September this year from 1,45,651 units in the corresponding period of the previous year. The January-September figure of this calendar year is higher than the 2,61,358 units sold during entire 2019. Sales plunged to 1,38,344 units in 2020 due to the adverse impact of the COVID-19 induced lockdowns. India's primary housing market revived last year on pent up demand coupled with incentives offered by some

A biography of SARS-CoV-2

Quammen was among those who had long predicted this kind of catastrophe

Maharashtra sees 379 Covid-19 cases, one death; active tally now 2,916

Maharashtra on Sunday reported 379 COVID-19 cases and one death, which took the state's tally to 81,22,252 and the toll to 1,48,347, a health official said. The addition to the tally on Saturday was 460 and the fatality count was three, he pointed out. Mumbai circle led with 171 of the new cases, followed by 95 in Pune circle, Latur (29), Nagpur (22), Nashik (20), Akola (17), Kolhapur (14) and Aurangabad (11). The lone death took place in Mumbai, the official added. The recovery count rose by 496 in the last 24 hours to touch 79,70,989, leaving the state with an active caseload of 2,916, he said. Pune leads with 954 active cases, followed by 699 in Mumbai and 327 in Thane. State health department data showed the recovery rate was 98.14 per cent and the fatality rate was 1.82 per cent. So far, 8,48,42,287 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Maharashtra, including 18,723 in the last 24 hours, as per official data. Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive c

Mumbai sees 102 new Covid-19 cases, one fatality; active tally at 699

Mumbai on Sunday recorded 102 new cases of coronavirus and one casualty that raised the tally of infections to 11,50,480 and toll to 19,733, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said. There has been a slight drop in the daily cases in the city, which had recorded 130 infections on Saturday, he said. The count of recoveries reached 11,30,048, after 107 patients recovered from the infection, leaving the city with 699 active cases, the official said. As per the data provided by the civic body, a total of 1,83,22,248 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the city so far, including 6,715 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate in the city stands at 98.2 per cent and the overall growth rate between September 25 and Oct 1 was 0.008 per cent, while the doubling rate of infections is 8,427 days, it stated.