Page 36 - Coronavirus

Magnolia tree bark compound inhibits Covid-19 reproduction: Study

A compound found in the bark of magnolia tree inhibits reproduction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, in several types of cells, and may be effective against future coronaviruses, according to a study. The researchers found that the compound called honokiol caused the production of infectious SARS-CoV-2 viral particles in treated cells to fall to around 1,000th of the previous level. The research, published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum, also shows that the compound inhibited replication of other highly pathogenic human coronaviruses, including Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). "This suggests that it has a broad spectrum of activity and would likely also inhibit novel coronaviruses that might emerge in the future," said Martijn J. van Hemert, Associate Professor at Leiden University in The Netherlands. "If honokiol can be developed into a drug, possibly in combination with other compounds, stockpiling it woul

World must prepare for even deadlier diseases than covid 19, says WHO chief

WHO chief says covid-19 is not over yet and urges member states that it's time to advance negotiations to prevent the next pandemic.

India logs 552 new Covid-19 cases, active infections dip to 6,591

India has recorded 552 new coronavirus infections while the active cases have decreased to 6,591 from 7,104, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,849 with six deaths which includes three fatalities reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,87,891). The active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.80 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,49,451 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

Covid kills one person every four minutes as vaccination rates fall

Covid is still a leading killer, the third-biggest in the US last year behind heart disease and cancer

Boris Johnson faces new police probe over Covid-19 lockdown visits

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was fined for breaking his own government's pandemic lockdown rules, has been reported to police again over more potential breaches. The Times of London said Tuesday that Johnson was reported by civil servants over alleged visits to Chequers, the prime minister's official country retreat, as well as potential breaches in the leader's Downing Street residence. The Metropolitan Police force and Thames Valley Police said they were assessing details relating to incidents between June 2020 and May 2021. The Times said the potential breaches came to light while Johnson was preparing his testimony to Britain's upcoming inquiry into how the country handled the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cabinet Office, a government department which supports the work of the prime minister, said that information came to light during the process of preparing evidence for submission to the COVID inquiry. In line with obligations in the Civil Service Code, this mate

Covid only affects human body, communal virus affects body politic: Sibal

In the wake of fresh violence in Manipur, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said coronavirus only affects the human body while the "communal virus affects the body politic and its political dividends are temporary but scars permanent. Two houses were torched by a mob in Imphal East district after four armed men, including a former MLA, forced people to shut their shops on Monday, police officials said. In a tweet, Sibal said, "Manipur burning again. Earlier clashes led to: 70 dead, 200 injured. 'Coronavirus' only affects the human body, 'communal virus' affects the body politic." "If it (communal virus) spreads, the consequences are unimaginable. Its political dividends are temporary, its scars are permanent!" said Sibal, who was a Union minister during UPA 1 and 2 and had quit the Congress in May last year. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent member with the Samajwadi Party's support. Sibal recently floated a non-electoral platform 'Insaaf' aimed at fighting ..

India logs 405 new Covid-19 cases, active infections dip to 7,104

India has logged 405 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have decreased to 7,104 from 7,623, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,843 with four deaths which includes one reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,87,339) The active cases now comprise 0.02 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.80 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,48,392 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

India logs 473 new Covid-19 infections, active cases decrease to 7,623

India recorded 473 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases dipped to 7,623, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Monday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,839 with seven deaths which include one fatality reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,86,934). The active cases now comprise 0.02 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.80 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,47,472 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

Covid pandemic highlighted many gaps in global health architecture: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted many gaps in the global health architecture and asserted that building resilience in global systems needs a collective effort. In his video message at the 76th session of the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, Modi said the pandemic also highlighted a need to boost global health equity while India showed its commitment to international cooperation by shipping almost 300 million vaccine doses to more than 100 countries. "Many of these countries were from the Global South. I am sure that supporting equal access to resources will be a top priority for the WHO in the coming years," he said. In the last few years, Modi said, India has worked on availability, accessibility and affordability of healthcare. He said, "An approach that works with the scale of India's diversity, can also be a framework for others. We are keen on supporting the WHO for similar efforts in low- and middle-income countries."

India asks for $55-million funding in first call with Pandemic Fund

The fund was created in the aftermath of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Sources said the funding request from India is for fighting both human pandemics as well as animal induced pandemics

Active Covid cases reported in country decrease to 8,115 in last 24 hours

India has recorded 756 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have dipped to 8,115 from 8,675, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,832 with eight deaths which includes two deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,86,461). The active cases now comprise 0.02 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.80 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,46,514 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

India logs 782 new Covid-19 cases, active infections decrease by 8,675

India on Saturday recorded a single-day rise of 782 COVID-19 infections, while the number of active cases came down to 8,675, according to Union health ministry data. With the fresh cases, the country's COVID-19 tally climbed to 4.49 crore (4,49,85,705). The death toll increased to 5,31,824 with six deaths, including three reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases now comprise 0.02 per cent of the total infections, while the national recovery rate stands at 98.80 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,45,206. The case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

A sustainable growth rate: At what level will India have no output gap?

Domestic commentators need to engage with the issue of growth rate at which India will have no "output gap" - is it really significantly lower than that achieved over two decades? - writes T N Ninan

TMS Ep436: India's macro data, K Srinath Reddy, Nifty IT-NASDAQ, TCS rule

What does India's latest macro data imply? Why does K Srinath Reddy believe booster shots are no longer needed? Has the Nifty IT-NASDAQ correlation ended? What is the new TCS rule? Answers here

IndiGo reinstates cabin crew bonus after 2nd consecutive profitable quarter

IndiGo hadn't paid crew bonus for three years as it incurred losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic

India records 865 new Covid-19 infections, cases in country dip to 9,092

India has recorded 865 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have decreased to 9,092 from 10,179, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,818 with four deaths which includes one reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,84,923) The active cases now comprise 0.02 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.79 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,44,013 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

WHO recommends new Covid-19 shots should target only XBB variants

The bivalent booster shots developed and distributed last year targeted two different strains - the Omicron variant as well as the original virus

India records 906 new Covid-19 cases, active infections dip to 10,179

India witnessed a single-day rise of 906 new COVID-19 cases as the active cases declined to 10,179, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The toll has risen to 5,31,814 (5.31 lakh) with 20 deaths, including seven reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The daily positivity rate has been pegged at 0.70 per cent and the weekly rate at 0.90 per cent. The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,84,058) The active cases now comprise 0.02 per cent of the total infections while the national recovery rate has been recorded at 98.79 per cent, according to the website. The number of people who have recuperated rose to 4.44 crore (4,44,42,065) while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore Covid vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

AI cannot replace human knowledge: Metropolis Healthcare Promoter & MD

In 2021-22, Covid19 business was almost 20-22% of the revenue for most diagnostic companies. The non-Covid19 business is not going to grow by 22% to make it equal

Be cautious about 'excessive use' of booster Covid doses: Srinath Reddy

Surveillance for new variants of the virus must continue, says distinguished professor at PHFI