Page 47 - Coronavirus

Covid-19: Serum Institute of India restarts manufacturing Covishield

Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Wednesday said it has restarted manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccine Covishield amid rising numbers of cases of the virus infection. He said the company already has six million booster doses of Covovax vaccine available and adults must take the booster shot. Reacting to reports of COVID-19 vaccines shortage, he said manufacturers are ready but there has been no demand. "Just as a precaution, at risk we have done it so that people have a Covishield as a choice if they want it," Poonawalla told PTI on restarting of manufacturing of the vaccine. The company had stopped manufacturing of Covishield in December 2021. On Covovax which has been approved as a booster dose for 18-years and above, he said, "We have six million doses ready but the demand is exactly zero." Covovax booster is now on the CoWin app, he said.

Covid entering endemic stage in India, cases to subside after 10-12 days

Covid in India is moving towards the endemic stage, so the cases may keep rising for the next 10-12 days after which they will subside, official sources said on Wednesday. The sources said even though the cases are increasing, hospitalisation is low and expected to remain low. The current rise in Covid cases is being driven by XBB.1.16, which is a sub variant of Omicron, they added. While Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the dominant variant, most of the assigned variants have little or no significant transmissibility, disease severity or immune escape. The prevalence of XBB.1.16 increased from 21.6 per cent in February this year to 35.8 per cent in March. However, no evidence of an increase in hospitalisation or mortality has been reported, official sources said.

India logs 7,830 new Covid cases, active infections breach 40,000-mark

In the last 24 hours, India reported 7,830 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the country's overall caseload to 40,215, according to the latest Union Health Ministry data

Two-day nationwide Covid-19 mock drill concludes at 35 States and UTs

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on April 7, chaired a meeting with state health ministers and urged them to conduct mock drills of all health facilities

Top headlines: Vedanta may issue NCDs, IMF cuts FY24 India growth forecast

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

Maharashtra sees 919 Covid-19 cases, one death; active tally at 4,875

Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 919 fresh coronavirus cases and one fatality that raised the tally of infections to 81,51,176, a state health department official said. With the latest fatality, the cumulative COVID-19 death toll rose to 1,48,461, he said. A day earlier, Maharashtra had seen a drop in infections as it reported 328 cases and one death. On Sunday, the state had logged 788 COVID-19 cases. Of the latest cases, Mumbai recorded 242 infections, followed by 105 cases in Nagpur city, 58 in Pune, and 57 in Navi Mumbai, a bulletin issued by the health department stated. The only fresh COVID-19 fatality in the state was recorded in Akola city. The count of recoveries in the state reached 79,97,840 on Tuesday after 710 patients recovered from coronavirus infection. The state is now left with 4,875 active cases. Maharashtra's current case fatality rate is 1.82 per cent, while the recovery rate is 98.12 per cent, the bulletin said. As many as 12,841 swab samples were tested in

15 Covid-19 related deaths reported in last 12 days in Delhi: Data

Amid rising cases of COVID-19, 15 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the national capital in the last 12 days, according to official data. In one of these 15 fatalities, Covid was the primary cause while in the rest of the cases, Covid was "incidental", according to data shared by the city health department. In the March 30-April 10 period, 15 fatalities have been recorded, including four deaths on April 9. More than 5,500 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the last two weeks, while the active cases tally has risen by 150 per cent in the same period, according to official data. Meanwhile, mock drills were conducted at various hospitals in Delhi on Tuesday to check COVID-19 preparedness. Delhi reported 699 cases of COVID-19 and four deaths on Sunday, 484 cases with a positivity rate of 26.58 per cent, and three fatalities on Monday. Delhi recorded 535 Covid cases on Saturday with a positivity rate of 23.05 per cent. The city had logged 733 Covid cases -- the hi

Amid Covid surge, face masks at public places made mandatory in Gurugram

"It is mandatory to wear face masks in public places, malls, government/private offices where more than 100 people gather in the district to prevent the spread of Covid infection"

Delhi reports 980 fresh Covid cases in a day; positivity rate at nearly 26%

Delhi logged 980 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with a positivity rate of 25.98 per cent, meaning one in every four people tested returned a positive result, according to data shared by the city government's Health department. The national capital also reported two more Covid deaths, the bulletin said. However, it added that COVID-19 was not the primary cause of death in one of the fatalities while the case sheet on the other death was awaited.

Anxiety, depression persistent symptom in long Covid patients: Study

The findings showed that anxiety was the most prevalent symptom in participants with long Covid, followed by depression, sleep difficulties, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Nepal reports first Covid-related death in three months, logs 106 new cases

Nepal on Tuesday reported the first COVID-19-related death in the last three months and detected 106 new cases of the virus in the past 24 hours, a week after the Himalayan nation confirmed the detection of the new Omicron variant "XBB1.16". The country-wide death toll reached 12,021 with the addition of the lone death, The Ministry of Health and Population said during its regular briefing on Tuesday. The country confirmed 74 positive cases from the 476 Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests done in the past 24 hours. The ministry also said that out of the 1,960 Antigen tests conducted, 32 people were infected with SARS-CoV-2. A total of 48 recoveries were also recorded during the same period. Currently, there are 469 active COVID-19 cases across the country. Nepal on April 3 confirmed the detection of a new Omicron variant of COVID-19 identified as "XBB1.16". The Ministry said it cautioned its citizens after the XBB1.6 variant's detection, which has been identified a

Revenge tourism, World Cup fever drive transactions in FY23: Razorpay

Spend on flight tickets grew by 83% and expenses on hotel accommodations nearly doubled in value compared to the previous financial year

India logs 5,676 new Covid infections, active cases rise to 37,093

India recorded 5,676 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases increased to 37,093, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,000 with 21 deaths. While three deaths each were reported from Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan, two were recorded in Karnataka and one each in Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu besides six reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,47,68,172) The active cases now comprise 0.08 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.73 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,42,00,079 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 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.

Core inflation still elevated despite muted demand, easing supply situation

Some economists believe that firms are using the excuse of supply disruptions, earlier due to Covid-19 and now the Russia-Ukraine war, to increase prices, calling it 'excuseflation'

US President Biden ends Covid national emergency after Congress acts

The US national emergency to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic ended Monday as President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan congressional resolution to bring it to a close after three years weeks before it was set to expire alongside a separate public health emergency. The national emergency allowed the government to take sweeping steps to respond to the virus and support the country's economic, health and welfare systems. Some of the emergency measures have already been successfully wound-down, while others are still being phased out. The public health emergency it underpins tough immigration restrictions at the US-Mexico border is set to expire on May 11. The White House issued a one-line statement Monday saying Biden had signed the measure behind closed doors, after having publicly opposed the resolution though not to the point of issuing a veto. More than 197 Democrats in the House voted against it when the GOP-controlled chamber passed it in February. Last month, as the measure ...

China's weak inflation fuels calls for ease in policy to aid recovery

While the economy has been recovering post-Covid, the figures indicate domestic demand remains weak, giving authorities space to roll out more supportive policies

Health Dept is on high alert in view of rising Covid-19 cases: Delhi Min

"If anyone has a cold, fever, or cough, do not go to public places, and wear a mask when you go out," he said

Delhi adds 484 fresh Covid-19 cases, positivity rate 26.58%, shows data

Delhi on Monday logged 484 fresh COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 26.58 per cent, meaning that nearly one in every four people tested returned a positive result, according to data shared by the city government's Health department. Three people suffering from COVID-19 died in the national capital. However, the health bulletin stated that COVID-19 was not the primary cause of death.

Maharashtra sees 328 fresh Covid -19 cases, one fatality in a day

Maharashtra on Monday reported 328 fresh COVID-19 cases, a fall of more than 50 per cent compared to the previous day, taking the overall tally of infections to 81,50,257, the state health department said. With a single fatality in Mumbai city, the cumulative COVID-19 death toll in the state rose to 1,48,460. On Sunday, Maharashtra had reported 788 COVID-19 cases and a single fatality. With the new additions on Monday, the state is now left with 4,667 active cases. At 228, Mumbai circle reported the highest number of cases on Monday, followed by 50 cases in Pune circle, 18 in Nagpur circle, 10 in Akola circle, 8 in Latur circle, and five cases each in Nashik circle and Kolhapur circle, the department said. Mumbai city saw 95 fresh cases and a single fatality, taking the tally of infections to 11,58,060 and the COVID-19 death toll in the city to 19,750. Meanwhile, the use of face masks has been made mandatory for employees, patients and visitors in all civic-run hospitals in Mumba

Sleep disturbances common among people with long Covid, shows study

"Sleep difficulties and fatigue are widely reported by people with long Covid but little is known about the severity and factors associated with these symptoms," said lead author Cynthia Pena Orbea