Page 43 - Coronavirus

Current Covid-19 strain mild, SII produced 5-6 mn Covovax doses: Poonawalla

The prevalent strain of COVID-19 is mild and the Serum Institute of India (SII) has already produced five to six million doses of the Covovax vaccine, said the company's chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla on Saturday. Poonawalla was talking to media persons amid rising cases of coronavirus infections in the country since March. India has recorded 12,193 fresh COVID-19 cases in a span of 24 hours, with the number of active cases of the infection going up to 67,556, the Union health ministry said on Saturday. Currently, the COVID strain is not severe, it's just a mild strain. Just for precautionary measures, elderly people can get the booster dose, but it would be their choice whether or not to take it. Five to six million doses of Covovax are available. We will also produce the same amount of Covishield doses in the next two to three months, said Poonawalla. As per a health bulletin of the Maharashtra government on Friday, the XBB.1.16 variant of Omicron is currently the domina

XBB.1.16 now Covid 'variant of interest' due to its sustained increase: WHO

So far, 3,648 sequences of the Omicron XBB.1.16 variant have been reported from 33 countries, including India, on open research platform GISAID, the global health body, said

India logs 12,193 fresh Covid-19 infections, active cases up to 67,556

India has recorded 12,193 fresh COVID-19 cases in a span of 24 hours, with the number of active cases of the infection going up to 67,556, the Union health ministry said on Saturday. The death toll due to the viral disease has climbed to 5,31,300 with 42 more fatalities, including 10 reconciled by Kerala, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am. The tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4,48,81,877. The active cases account for 0.15 per cent of the total caseload, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.66 per cent, according to the health ministry's website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has gone up to 4,42,83,021, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of anti-Covid vaccines have so far been administered to people across the country.

New Omicron subvariant spreading in US, accounts for 10% of new cases

The percentage is expected to increase in the coming weeks, and it may become the next dominant coronavirus strain in the country, experts warned

Haryana reports 1,348 new Covid-19 cases, active tally reaches 5,468

Haryana on Friday reported 1,348 fresh coronavirus cases, over half of them from Gurugram and Faridabad, the two districts in the National Capital Region which have been fuelling the current surge in infections in the state. According to the state health department's bulletin, out of total fresh Covid infections, Gurugram reported 598 cases followed by 159 in Faridabad. Among other Haryana districts, Rohtak and Jind reported 89 cases each while Hisar, Panchkula and Jhajjar reported 68, 59 and 55 cases, respectively, according to the bulletin. The total number of active cases in the state was 5,468. According to the bulletin, Covid positivity rate in the state on Friday was 13.82 per cent. During the past over a fortnight, the state has seen a surge in the number of fresh infections, with most cases being reported from Gurugram and Faridabad districts.

With 44 mn pax, Mumbai airport reaches 90% of pre-pandemic capacity in FY23

The Mumbai airport handled close to 44 million passengers in FY2022-23, which is close to 90 per cent of the pre-pandemic load the nation's second-largest air transport facility handled. By handling 44 million passengers, the airport has registered a two-fold growth in the reporting year, as against 56 per cent on-year growth seen by all other airports put together, the airport said on Friday. This is also a recovery of 90 per cent over pre-pandemic numbers, the airport said, adding the volume growth was led by domestic traffic, which registered a strong recovery of 96 per cent. During the year, the airport, which is also the world's busiest single-runway airport, has welcomed seven new overseas carriers, and one new domestic passenger carrier in Akasa Air. The airport cornered 56 per cent share of non-metro traffic during the year compared to 50 per cent pre-pandemic, reflecting better domestic connectivity. Of the total passengers, over 11.2 million were international travelers,

Health ministry cautions eight states with soaring Covid positivity rates

34 districts have reported weekly positivity rates of over 20% from April 12 to 19; Kerala reports 28% compared to national average of 5.5%

Maha sees 993 COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths; XBB.1.16 variant driving surge

Maharashtra on Friday reported 993 COVID-19 cases and five deaths, which took the tally to 81,60,499 and the toll to 1,48,497, a health official said. A state health department bulletin said the XBB.1.16 is the dominant variant of Omicron that was driving the case surge in the state. So far, 681 cases caused by this variant have been detected, and five persons have succumbed. The addition to the tally was lower than the 1,113 recorded on Thursday, which also saw three fatalities, he pointed out. Mumbai and Pune recorded two deaths each while the fifth fatality was in Nagpur, he said. Mumbai accounted for 226 of the new cases in the state, the official added. The recovery count increased by 1,147 in the last 24 hours to touch 80,06,032, leaving the state with 5,970 active cases, the official said. So far, 8,68,69,019 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the state, including 18,118 in the last 24 hours. The case fatality rate is 1.81 per cent and the recovery rate stands at 98

Covid origins 'may never be revealed': Top Chinese scientist

The origins of the deadly Covid virus, which infected over 763 million and claimed more than 6.9 million lives globally, may never be revealed, a top Chinese scientist said on Friday

Covid, climate change negatively impacted youth's mental health: Study

Young people with a mental illness and without social support are at an increased risk of climate change induced mental ill-health

Union Health Secy writes to 8 states amid 'consistent rise' in Covid cases

In the letter to the eight States, Bhushan said, "India has been witnessing a consistent rise in COVID-19 cases since March 2023, with 10,262 cases reported in the week ending April 20, 2023

With $100 bn in 2022, India biggest recipient of money from overseas

Highly-skilled Indian migrants from the US, UK and Australia were sending more money home, helped by job support programs during Covid-19 restrictions

India records 11,692 new Covid-19 infections, 66,170 active cases

India has recorded 11,692 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have increased to 66,170, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,258 with 28 deaths, which includes nine reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.48 crore (4,48,69,684) The active cases now comprise 0.15 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.67 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,42,72,256, 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.

Delhi logs 1,603 Covid cases in 24 hours, positivity rate dips to 26.75%

Delhi on Thursday logged 1,603 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 26.75 per cent along with three fatalities, according to data shared by the health department here. With the new fatalities, the death toll from the pandemic rose to 26,581 in the national capital. Out of 7,976 Covid beds, 390 are occupied, the data showed. On Wednesday, the city reported six deaths along with 1,757 new cases with a positivity rate of 28.63 per cent. The national capital had recorded 1,537 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with a positivity rate of 26.54 per cent.

Covid-19: Delhi HC asks lawyers, litigants to wear masks, follow protocol

Considering the surge in COVID-19 cases, Delhi High Court on Thursday made it mandatory for lawyers, litigants and its staff members to wear face masks on the premises and follow appropriate protocol. The high court, in a circular issued on its administrative side, noted the spread of the infection in the national capital and advised against large gatherings in the common and waiting areas to avoid any further spread of the virus. "Hon'ble the Chief Justice has been pleased to order that due to surge in the COVID-19 cases in the NCT (National Capital Territory) of Delhi, in order to contain and combat the spread of COVID-19 cases, all the concerned ie staff working in this court and members of the bar, including their staff and the litigants, are hereby directed to make use of face masks at all times in the premises of this court as a matter of caution, not to gather in large number at common areas, waiting areas of court blocks as far as possible and follow appropriate Covid ...

UP govt to provide benefits of Atal Scheme to children affected by Covid

The Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh has approved a proposal seeking amendments to the Atal Residential School Scheme. The amendments will help children impacted by Covid-19

India among 3 countries where vaccines' importance improved: Unicef

India is one of three countries out of 55 where the perception of the importance of vaccines held firm or improved after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to UNICEF. However, India is home to about 2.7 million of the world's zero-dose children, UNICEF stated. Zero-dose children are those who have not received a single routine vaccine. "Despite the increase in the number of zero-dose children to three million during the pandemic, India was able to arrest the backslide between 2020 and 2021 to bring the number of zero-dose children down to 2.7 million thanks to unwavering political commitment and sustained evidence-based catch-up campaigns initiated by the government, including the fourth Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) and its continued provision of comprehensive Primary Health Care services," said Vivek Virendra Singh, a health specialist at UNICEF. The public perception of the importance of vaccines for children declined during the COVID-19 pandemic in 52 of the 55 countries

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tests positive for Covid, under quarantine

Singh was scheduled to attend the Indian Air Force Commanders' conference in the national capital today but had to skip it after being tested positive for the virus, the statement said

India logs 12,591 new Covid-19 cases in a day, highest in around 8 months

India recorded 12,591 new Covid cases in a day, the highest in around eight months, while the active case burden increased to 65,286, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,230 with 40 fatalities, which includes 11 reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4.48 crore. The daily positivity rate was 5.46 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was 5.32 per cent. Active cases now comprise 0.15 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was 98.67 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,42,61, 476 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 COVID-19 vaccination drive.

Delhi records six Covid deaths, 1,757 new cases; positivity rate 28.63%

Delhi logged six deaths along with 1,757 new COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 28.63 per cent on Wednesday, according to data shared by the health department here. With the new fatalities, the death toll from the pandemic rose to 26,578 in Delhi. Out of 7,967 beds, 377 are occupied. The national capital recorded 1,537 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with a positivity rate of 26.54 per cent.