Page 28 - Coronavirus

Mumbai reports 17 Covid-19 cases, cases climb in double digits for 4th day

Mumbai on Friday reported 17 COVID-19 cases, the fourth consecutive day when the addition to the tally has been more than 10, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said. It took the tally in the metropolis to 11,64,261, while the death toll remained unchanged at 19,776, he said. On Wednesday, the city had reported 12 cases, the civic official added. The recovery count increased by nine in the last 24 hours to touch 11,44,404, leaving the metropolis with an active caseload of 81, he said. The recovery rate is 98.3 per cent and the overall growth rate of cases between August 18 and 24 was 0.0008 per cent, as per civic data. So far, 1,89,22,586 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Mumbai, including 243 in the last 24 hours. The caseload doubling time is 83,327 days, as per official data.

Nearly 2 mn excess deaths followed China's sudden end of Covid curbs

China's decision last December to end the three-year zero-Covid policy, which included mass-testing and stringent and persistent quarantine lockdowns

Highly mutated Covid-19 variant BA.2.86 detected in two more countries

BA.2.86 was first spotted in Denmark on July 24 when it infected a patient at risk of severe illness. Subsequently, it has been detected in symptomatic patients and wastewater samples

Brics calls for nations to work together on post pandemic economic recovery

BRICS leaders on Thursday urged the international community to support countries working towards post pandemic economic recovery and address the high debt levels in some nations. At the end of the BRICS Summit in South African capital, the grouping released the Johannesburg II Declaration that stressed on G20 -- a larger grouping of world's biggest economies -- playing the role of the premier multilateral forum to seek solutions to global challenges. The leaders stressed on the importance of encouraging the use of local currencies in international trade and financial transactions, and sought strengthening of correspondent banking networks between the BRICS countries and enabling settlements in the local currencies. They tasked finance ministers and central bank governors to consider the issue of local currencies, payment instruments and platforms. "We recognise the important role of BRICS countries working together to deal with risks and challenges to the world economy in achievin

High exposure to Covid may reduce protection from vaccination: Study

High levels of exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus may reduce or overcome the protection that COVID-19 vaccination and prior infection provides, according to a study conducted in the US. The findings, published recently in the journal Nature Communications, suggest that in densely crowded settings, control measures that reduce levels of exposure to the virus -- such as masking, improved ventilation, and distancing -- may afford additional benefit in preventing new infections among people who have been vaccinated or previously infected. The study was performed to understand whether the immunity gained after vaccination or a prior infection was less effective or "leaky" in situations where people are exposed to high levels of the virus. "It's really hard to find a population, such as the residents of the Connecticut Department of Correction, where we know the type of exposure somebody has and we know their vaccination and prior infection status," said Margaret Lind, lead author of the ..

6.5% Covid patients died within a year of hospital discharge: ICMR study

The study examined data from 14,419 patients across 31 hospitals, tracking their health over a year through phone follow-ups

North Korea signals reopening with first passenger flight in three years

Cargo train and ship traffic has slowly increased over the past year, but North Korea has only just begun to allow some international passenger travel

SARS-CoV-2 infection linked with high blood pressure in adults: Study

This is the first study to compare the development and risk factors associated with persistent high blood pressure in people with Covid-19 infection to influenza, a similar respiratory virus

Centre holds meeting on Covid, asks states to ramp up genome sequencing

Amid detection of newer variants of coronavirus globally, the Centre on Monday held a high-level meeting and asked states to ramp up whole genome sequencing of positive samples and keep close watch on the global variants. Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Dr P K Mishra, after the deliberations highlighted that while the Covid situation in the country remains stable and public health systems remain geared up, there is need for states to monitor trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases, an official statement said. He also emphasised on sending sufficient samples for testing of COVID-19 while ramping up whole genome sequencing and maintaining close watch on the new global variants. An overview of the global COVID-19 situation was given by Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant, including certain newer variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus like BA.2.86 (Pirola) and EG.5 (Eris), which have been reported globally. He underlined that as per the World

Two years after catching Covid, patients still risk getting sick: Research

People who were never sick enough to be hospitalized for acute Covid still had a higher risk than uninfected people of developing long Covid-related disorders

Those vaccinated before getting Covid at lower risk of post-discharge death

A one-year follow-up of COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals found that participants who received at least one dose of anti-Covid vaccination before contracting the coronavirus infection had a lower risk of post-discharge mortality, according to a study by ICMR. Of the 14,419 participants who were followed up at least once between four weeks and one-year post-discharge, 942 (6.5 per cent) had died and the remaining (93.5 per cent) were reported alive at any contact during one year of follow-up. They were from 31 hospitals across the country. "Participants who had received at least one dose of the anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine before their COVID-19 infection had a lower risk of post-discharge mortality," the study said. Vaccination prior to the COVID-19 infection (at least a single dose) provided 60 per cent protection against post-discharge mortality. People older than 40 years, men with co-morbidities and those who had moderate to severe COVID-19 to begin with had a higher chanc

Painful that some raised concerns when India was battling Covid: Dhankhar

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday said when India was battling the COVID-19 pandemic and helping other nations simultaneously, it was painful to find some "irritating" voices raising concerns and not believing in the country's abilities. Addressing the 48th convocation of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, he said, "As a nation, we need to 'escape' that. That does not help anyone." Dhankhar further said that he comes from the legal profession and understands what professionalism means. "A slight dilution, slight commercialisation, slight ethical deviation can be bad for those we seek to serve," he said. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and his junior minister S P Singh Baghel were present on the occasion. Observing that the convocation was taking place after an interval of three years, the vice president said the gap reminds him of the Covid pandemic. Health workers brought the country out of the crisis with their hard work and sincere effo

Employment in India registered V-shaped recovery post-pandemic: Former CEA

Krishnamurthy V Subramanian also called to cease the use of CMIE data on employment in India till the flaws in its survey methodology are fixed

Scientists rush to understand, contain highly mutated Covid-19 strain

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization designated BA.2.86 a "variant under monitoring" on Thursday, a designation that encourages countries to track and report the sequences they find"

Pandemic emergency ended but Covid-19 virus still around, says WHO

ore data are needed to understand this COVID-19 variant and the extent of its spread, but the number of mutations warrants attention. WHO will update countries and public as we learn more," WHO said

Top headlines: Hero Moto targets enhanced mkt share, market wrap and more

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

With margins back to pre-Covid level, Hero Moto targets enhanced mkt share

With its margins back to pre-Covid levels, Hero MotoCorp is now looking at sustainable growth, enhancing market share across segments on the back of new product launches over the next few quarters, according to a top company executive. The country's largest two-wheeler maker is also looking at enhancing production capacity to roll out Harley-Davidson X440 which has already received over 25,000 bookings. The company is also on track to introduce its electric vehicle range in 100 cities by this year-end with a focus on attaining clear leadership in the vertical. "The ICE (internal combustion engine) business margins are now 14.5 per cent. Effectively, it means that we are back to pre-Covid levels which were around 14 per cent," Hero MotoCorp CEO Niranjan Gupta said in an analyst call. Therefore, moving forward, having covered the margins back to pre-Covid levels, the company's singular focus is going to be growth and market share on the back of lots of launches that have been done an

Covid-19 still global health threat, new variant under scanner: WHO chief

Director-General of WHO Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus on Friday said though COVID-19 is no longer a health emergency for the world, it is still a global health threat' and a new variant of coronavirus is already under the scanner. The chief of the World Health Organisation (WHO) was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the G20 Health Ministers' Meeting at Mahatma Mandir Convention centre in Gujarat's capital Gandhinagar. Although COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, it remains a global health threat. WHO has recently classified a new variant with a large number of mutations. BA.2.86 variant is under monitoring at present, highlighting once again the need for all countries to maintain surveillance, he said. On the occasion, he urged all the countries to speed up the process of finalising the Pandemic Accord' so that it can be adopted in the World Health Assembly scheduled to be held next year. COVID-19 has taught us all an important lesson that when health is at risk everything

Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine protects against new variants, finds early study

Covid vaccine partners Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE are also developing updated shots, as is Novavax Inc. The drugmakers have been testing and making new updates as the virus has evolved

Rich or poor, there's a caste element in financial recovery after Covid-19

Religion and region have shaped how families are doing, data shows