Page 135 - Coronavirus

Covid-19 hospitalisations, deaths may increase with colder weather: WHO

The WHO chief said that the current subvariants of Omicron are more transmissible than their predecessors, and the risk of the emergence of even more transmissible and more dangerous variants remains

Germany's BioNTech gains emergency US approval for Omicron booster

The US FDA granted emergency use authorisation for a 30-microgram booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, bivalent and Omicron BA.4/BA.5, for individuals aged 12 years and above

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley order staff to return to office full-time

Goldman will let employees outside New York enter offices regardless of vaccination status, with no requirement to participate in regular testing or wear face coverings

Molbio Diagnostics looking to expand test menu on its Truenat platform

The company is also open to raising funds and has been in talks with PE and VC funds for the same

377 new Covid cases, two more deaths in Delhi; positivity rate 2.58%

Delhi on Wednesday recorded two more Covid-related deaths and 377 fresh cases with a positivity rate of 2.58 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department here. The new cases came out of 14,632 tests conducted the previous day, the department said in its latest bulletin. With the fresh cases and fatalities, Delhi's infection tally increased to 19,99,617 and the death toll climbed to 26,469, it said. The capital on Tuesday reported 382 fresh COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 2.85 per cent, along with five fatalities. Delhi on Monday reported 214 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.77 per cent, along with four deaths. The city on Sunday logged 397 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.05 per cent and five fatalities. The health department did not issue the daily bulletin on Saturday, while on Friday, Delhi recorded 620 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.74 per cent and two fatalities. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Delhi stand

US FDA authorises two Covid boosters targeted at Omicron subvariants

US approves Omicron vaccines from Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer

Mumbai reports 638 new COVID-19 cases, 4 deaths; active tally at 4,257

Mumbai on Wednesday reported 638 new cases of COVID-19, taking the overall tally to 11,44,823, while four fresh deaths linked to the infection pushed up the toll to 19,698, said the city civic body. As many as 789 patients recovered from the infection during the day, taking their cumulative tally to 11,20,868 and leaving the metropolis with 4,257 active cases, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in a bulletin. Of the 638 new patients, 44 were symptomatic and hospitalized, out of which 12 were on oxygen support, said the bulletin. A total of 8,734 coronavirus tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking their overall count to 1,80,98,389, it added.

Markets log 3rd highest monthly FPI inflows since Covid outbreak in August

Foreign investors pump in Rs 51,000 cr; near-term flows to hinge on rupee, bond movements

Covid booster jabs see 10% dip from last week despite govt push

Just five of 36 states/UTs have covered at least a third of the adult population with a booster dose

Maharashtra logs 1,600 new Covid cases, 5 deaths; active tally at 10,633

Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded 1,600 fresh coronavirus cases, while five more patients succumbed to the infection in the state, the health department said. With these additions, the state's overall COVID-19 tally rose to 81,00,338, while the death toll increased to 1,48,247, said the department in a bulletin. On Tuesday, the state had recorded 1,444 cases and eight fatalities linked to the viral infection. Mumbai alone recorded 638 fresh cases and four fatalities, while Kolhapur district registered one death related to coronavirus, said the bulletin. The coronavirus fatality rate in the state stood at 1.83 per cent, while the recovery rate was 98.04 per cent, said the department. It said 1,864 patients recovered from the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 79,41,458 and leaving the with 10,633 active cases. According to the bulletin, 30,856 tests were conducted in the state in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of swab samples

Covid treatments for better protection against future variants identified

Researchers have identified new therapies for COVID-19 that they say could provide better protection against future variants and outbreaks. An international team led by researchers from the University of Kent in the UK and the Goethe-University in Germany tested the sensitivity of different SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Delta viruses to combinations of the four currently approved antiviral drugs with betaferon. Betaferon is a class of antiviral drug that is also naturally produced in the body and protect it from virus infections. The recent COVID-19 waves have caused fewer hospitalisations and deaths than the initial ones -- largely due to the immunity provided by vaccines, the researchers said. However, many people have defects in their immune systems and cannot effectively protect themselves from COVID-19 by vaccination and rely on effective antiviral therapies, they said. The researchers noted that threat of resistance formation for antiviral drugs, which can happen quickly and cause

News updates: AAP MLAs to meet CBI chief, seek probe into 'Operation Lotus'

From India's GDP data for the April-June quarter to Covid-19 updates, catch all the latest news here

After a decline in Covid-hit 2020, economic offences increase 19% in 2021

Rajasthan records highest number of cases, followed by Telangana

Data story: India records 9,808 new Covid cases; death toll at 527,874

India has added 60,198 cases in the past 7 days

Hong Kong 'pivotal gateway' between China and the world, says John Lee

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee will meet with mainland officials, as pressure mounts on the finance hub to reopen both its international and Chinese borders

Tamil Nadu reports 494 fresh Covid-19 cases; no change in death toll

With 494 fresh cases, including a returnee from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Tamil Nadu's COVID-19 tally has climbed to 35,68,166, the health department said on Tuesday. The death toll due to the viral disease remained unchanged at 38,035 as there was no fresh fatality in the last 24 hours, according to a medical bulletin. Recoveries eclipsed new COVID-19 cases, with 537 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 35,24,970, leaving 5,161 active cases. Chennai topped the list of new cases among the districts with 75, followed by Coimbatore (64). Perambalur recorded no new cases of the infection in the last 24 hours, while the number of active Covid cases in the district stood at 26. Twenty-three of the 38 districts reported less than 10 new cases. The state capital leads among the districts with 2,229 active cases and a total of 7,87,387 coronavirus cases. A total of 19,475 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of tests cond

Delhi reports 382 new Covid cases, 5 deaths; positivity rate at 2.85%

Delhi on Tuesday reported 382 fresh COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 2.85 per cent, while five more people died due to the infection, according to data shared by the city health department here. The new cases came out of 13,382 tests conducted the previous day, the department said in its latest bulletin. With the fresh cases and fatalities, Delhi's infection tally increased to 19,99,240 and the death toll climbed to 26,467, it said. Delhi on Monday reported 214 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.77 per cent, along with four deaths. The city on Sunday logged 397 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.05 per cent and five fatalities. The health department did not issue the daily bulletin on Saturday. On Friday, Delhi recorded 620 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.74 per cent and two fatalities. It logged 702 cases on Thursday with a positivity rate of 4.49 per cent and four fatalities. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Delhi stands at 2,226, down

Maharashtra logs 1,444 new Covid cases, 8 deaths; active tally below 11,000

Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 1,444 fresh coronavirus cases, a rise of 634 from a day ago, while eight more patients succumbed to the infection in the state, said the health department. With these additions, the state's overall COVID-19 tally rose to 80,98,738, while the toll increased to 1,48,242, said the department in a bulletin. On Monday, the state had recorded 810 cases and five fatalities linked to the viral infection. Mumbai logged 516 cases and three coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, said the bulletin. Kolhapur recorded two deaths, while Thane and Nagpur cities and Chandrapur district registered one death each, it said. The state's coronavirus fatality rate stood at 1.83 per cent, while the recovery rate was 98.03 per cent. The health department said 2,006 patients recovered from the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 79,39,594 and leaving the state with 10,902 active cases. The bulletin said 27,460 coronavirus

Telangana Minister KTR tests positive for Covid for the second time

Telangana's cabinet minister KT Rama Rao has tested positive for Covid-19 for the second time

IISc's SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particle may lead to new Covid-19 vaccine

Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore have developed and tested a novel SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particle that can potentially be developed into a COVID-19 vaccine candidate. To study the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the researchers need to isolate the virus from the samples, create multiple copies of it, and analyse its transmissibility and efficiency at entering living cells. However, working with such a highly infectious virus is dangerous and requires a Bio Safety Level-3 (BSL-3) lab, only a handful of which across the country are equipped to handle such viruses. To address this problem, the team developed and tested a novel virus-like particle (VLP) -- a non-infectious nanoscale molecule that resembles and behaves like the SARS-CoV-2 virus but does not contain its native genetic material. Such VLPs can not only be used to safely study the effect of mutations that may arise in SARS-CoV-2, but can also potentially be developed into a vaccine candidate that can trigger