Page 56 - Coronavirus

Maharashtra records 236 new Covid-19 cases, active tally at 1,308

Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 236 new cases of coronavirus that raised the tally of infections to 81,39,737, an official from the state health department said. The toll remained unchanged at 1,48,428, while the count of recoveries reached 79,90,001 after 92 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, the official said. With a fatality rate and recovery rate of 1.82 per cent and 98.16 per cent respectively, the state is now left with 1,308 active cases, he said. Mumbai reported 52 new cases, while 33 persons tested positive for the infection in Thane city, the official said. Mumbai circle reported 109 fresh cases, followed by Pune with 69 Nashik 21, Kolhapur and Akola 13 each, Aurangabad 10 and Nagpur two, he said. At least 3,834 swab samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of tests conducted to 8,65,46,719, the official said. Maharashtra's COVID-19 figures: New cases: 236, Total: 81,39,737, Fatality: 1,48,428, Tests: 8,65,46,719, Recoveries 79,90,001.

India was world's No. 1 in handling Covid: Apollo Hospitals founder

In a Q&A, Prathap Chandra Reddy talks about the need to focus on medical tourism and medical education to meet the demand of 18 million professionals in the sector by 2030

No need to panic, but precautions needed: Experts on rising H3N2 cases

Talking about the symptoms of the virus, Dr Anupam Sibal, a senior doctor of Delhi's Apollo Hospital, told ANI that the symptoms are similar to Covid but are staying for longer periods of time

India reports 1,071 new Covid-19 cases, 3 deaths; active tally at 5,915

India saw a single-day rise of more than 1,000 fresh COVID-19 cases after 129 days, while the active cases increased to 5,915, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Sunday. A total of 1,071 fresh cases were reported in the county in a span of 24 hours, while the death toll increased to 5,30,802 with three latest fatalities -- one each reported in Rajasthan and Maharashtra and one reconciled in Kerala. According to the ministry data updated at 8 am, the infection tally stands at 4.46 crore (4,46,95,420). The active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total cases, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.8 per cent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,58,703, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent, the data said. According to the ministry's website, 220.65 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide coronavirus vaccination drive.

Jharkhand reports first case of H3N2, five fresh cases of Covid-19

Jharkhand reported its first case of H3N2 influenza, besides five fresh cases of COVID-19, a health department official said on Sunday. A 68-year-old woman, who was admitted to Tata Main Hospital (TMH), Jamshedpur with symptoms of cold and fever on Thursday, tested positive for influenza virus H3N2 on Saturday, the official said. Confirming the report, the Civil Surgeon of East Singhbhum district, Dr Jujhar Manjhi said the victim was kept in an isolation ward and is under observation. The victim did not have any travel history, he said. Meanwhile, state's total active cases of coronavirus reached 10 with five new cases of the disease reported on Saturday. Ranchi and West Singhbhum districts have reported two cases each, while Deoghar registered one case on Saturday. Earlier, Deoghar, East Singhbhum and Latehar districts reported one case each, while Ranchi two, according to Covid bulletin of health department. With addition of fresh cases, Jharkhand's coronavirus caseload rose to

IPL 2023 players to undergo 7-day isolation after testing Covid positive

"From day five, they can undergo a RT-PCR, provided they must be must be asymptomatic without any medication for 24 hours," the IPL's medical guidelines said

76 samples of new Covid-19 variant XBB1.16 found in India: INSACOG data

A total of 76 samples of COVID-19's XBB.1.16 variant have been found which might be behind the recent rise of cases in the country, according to INSACOG data. The variant has been found across Karnataka (30), Maharashtra (29), Puducherry (7) Delhi (5), Telangana (2), Gujarat (1), Himachal Pradesh (1) and Odisha (1), the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) data showed. The XBB 1.16 variant was first found in January when two samples tested positive for the variant while in February a total of 59 samples were found. In March, till now 15 samples of the XBB 1.16 variant have been found, the INSACOG said. Some experts have attributed the recent rise in COVID-19 cases to this variant. Former AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria, who had led the national Covid task force, said the rise in Covid cases seems to be driven by the XBB 1.16 variant while the influenza cases are because of H3N2. "For both of this, following Covid-appropriate behaviour can help to contain the spread o

India's daily Covid tally crosses 800 after 126 days, active cases at 5,389

India's single-day tally of COVID-19 cases crossed 800 after 126 days on Saturday, while the number of active cases climbed to 5,389, according to Union health ministry data. With 843 fresh infections, the country's caseload increased to 4.46 crore (4,46,94,349). The death toll rose to 5,30,799 with four fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. While Jharkhand and Maharashtra reported one death each, two were reconciled by Kerala. At 5,839, the active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.80 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,58,161 and the case fatality rate stands at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.64 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive.

WHO rebukes Chinese officials of withholding data on Coronavirus' origin

The World Health Organisation rebuked Chinese officials for withholding scientific research that may reveal the origin of the coronavirus, The New York Times reported

Universities race to recapture international students to shore up revenue

In Australia, where education is the fourth-biggest export, more than 28,000 Chinese returned to universities last month, with another 35,000 visa holders from the country still eligible

China should share raccoon dog's genetic data in Covid Probe, says WHO

The data could have and should have been shared three years ago, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday at a press conference

LIVE updates: Rajasthan govt announces 19 new districts in poll year

Catch all the latest updates from across the globe here

Covid found in raccoon dogs in China, strengthens natural origin theory

A new analysis of genetic samples collected from a seafood market in central China's Wuhan city shows the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in raccoon dogs sold at the venue, strengthening the case for the natural origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a team of international experts. The New York Times said in a report on Thursday that genetic data was drawn from swabs taken from in and around the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market starting in January 2020, shortly after the Chinese authorities had shut down the market because of suspicions that it was linked to the outbreak of a new virus. The new evidence comes weeks after an intelligence assessment from the US Department of Energy pointed out that an accidental laboratory leak from a virology laboratory in Wuhan was most likely the cause of the pandemic. While the animals had been cleared out from the market, researchers took swabs from the walls, floors, metal cages and carts used for transporting animal cages, the report ..

Covid could settle down this year, may pose similar threat to flu: WHO

"I think we're coming to that point where we can look at Covid-19 in the same way we look at seasonal influenza," WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a press conference

No, Israel has NOT found two cases of a new variant of coronavirus

Media reports said that the new variant is a combination of BA.1 or Omicron and BA.2, a sub-variant of Omicron. But is that even true?

796 fresh Covid infections in India, active cases cross 5K after 109 days

India on Friday recorded a single-day rise of 796 coronavirus infections, while the number of active cases surpassed 5,000 after 109 days, according to Union health ministry data. The total tally of COVID-19 cases now stands at 4.46 crore (4,46,93,506). The death toll increased to 5,30,795 with five fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. While Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry and Uttar Pradesh reported one death each, one was reconciled by Kerala. The number of active cases has increased to 5,026, comprising 0.01 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 98.80 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,41,57,685. The case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.64 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

As Covid cases spike, Centre asks six states to keep a strict vigil

Among the states, Maharashtra has reported a rise in weekly cases from 355 to 668

Influenza H3N2 or Covid-19 XBB 1.16? Here's how you can differentiate

As cases of Influenza H3N2, and Covid-19 variant XBB 1.16 are on the rise, here's how you can differentiate between the two

Less expensive approach developed to isolate nanobodies against Covid

Researchers have described a less expensive way to isolate and identify nanobodies, or tiny antibodies, derived from llamas, targeting various parts of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The findings from Rockefeller University, US, are expected to make discovering nanobodies that target SARS-CoV-2 or other viruses easier for scientists around the world. The findings are reported in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. COVID is not yet under control. The virus causing it continues to mutate and elude us despite a bevy of vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and antivirals. "COVID is clearly going to be a problem for some time," said Rockefeller's Michael P. Rout. The authors have already used this optimized method to identify multiple nanobodies that appear to work against key variants of the virus, including omicron. "Our method is more straightforward and less expensive than existing techniques," said Rout. "We show that many of the nanobodies we have identified with this method target

Omicron XBB.1.5 variant is highly transmissible and infectious: Lancet

This indicated that an individual with the XBB.1.5 variant could infect 1.2 times more people in the population than someone with the parental XBB.1 variant