Page 73 - Coronavirus

US is concerned about China's handling of Covid-19, says Joe Biden

The United States is concerned about China's handling of COVID-19, US President Joe Biden said Wednesday and noted that Beijing is not that forthcoming. "Well, yes, I am, Biden told reporters when asked if he was concerned about the COVID-19 situation in China. The US along with India and several countries have imposed restrictions on travellers from China. "I think we just got to make the protocol we set out: that if you're flying from China, you got to be tested, and so on, he said. China has not been...I know they're very sensitive...when we suggest they haven't been that forthcoming," Biden said in response to a question. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters that when Covid is spreading anywhere, but especially in a country as populous and as large as China, of course there is the potential for variants to emerge. "We have seen variants emerge apparently from other regions of the world that have ultimately reached the United States, he said. "This is a ...

RS dy chair showcases Parliament's work during Covid at Commonwealth meet

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who is leading the Indian delegation to CSPOC in Australia, presented an overview of the steps taken by the Indian Parliament during Covid-19 pandemic

Omicron subvariants BA.5.2, BF.7 responsible for China Covid outbreak: WHO

The organization further said that a few other Omicron sublineages were also detected, albeit in low percentages in China; presently, no new variants of the coronavirus have been found

Maharashtra reports 16 new Covid cases, zero death; active tally at 140

Maharashtra on Wednesday logged 16 new COVID-19 cases, taking the overall tally to 81,36,725, while no fresh death linked to the infection was registered in the state, said the health department. The coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,417. On Tuesday, Maharashtra had reported 22 COVID-19 cases and zero fatality. The Pune administrative circle logged the highest cases at seven, followed by five in Mumbai, two in Akola, one each in Nashik and Nagpur circles, said the department in a bulletin. An administrative circle consists of multiple districts and Maharashtra has eight such circles. As many as 12 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 79,88,168 and leaving the state with 140 active COVID-19 cases, said the bulletin. Of the 140 active COVID-19 cases, the highest are in Pune district at 75, followed by 27 in Mumbai and eight in Thane, among other districts, it said. With 14,784 swab samples examined in the ..

WHO worried about surge of Covid cases in China amid lack of information

The head of the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday the agency is concerned about the risk to life in China amid the coronavirus' explosive spread across the country and the lack of outbreak data from the Chinese government. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency recently met with Chinese officials to underline the importance of sharing more details about COVID-19 issues including hospitalisation rates and genetic sequences, even as the pandemic continues to recede globally since it began in late 2019. Data remains essential for WHO to carry out regular, rapid and robust risk assessments of the global situation, Tedros said at a press briefing. Tedros said he understood why numerous countries have recently taken measures against travellers coming from China, saying it's understandable that some countries are taking steps to prevent their citizens given the void of information about COVID-19. WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said the testing ..

Urban India leaves rural way behind as vaccinations surge 44% nationwide

This is despite the prevalence of a much larger population in the country's villages and a greater number of vaccination centres in these areas, compared to urban

Genome sequencing detects four cases of Omicron sub-variant BF.7 in Bengal

Four cases of Omicron subvariant BF.7 were detected in West Bengal, a health official said on Wednesday. Genome sequencing of the four people, who have recently returned from the US, confirmed that they were infected with the new variant of the coronavirus, he said. The condition of the four patients is stable, he said. Of the four people, three are from Nadia district, while one person hails from Bihar but currently resides in Kolkata, the official told PTI. Last week, two persons, including a foreign national, tested positive for COVID-19 at Kolkata airport, and their genome sequencing later confirmed they were infected with the BF.7 subvariant of Omicron.

China markets start 2023 with a bang as Covid policy shift hastens

Beijing has pledged to expand fiscal spending as part of efforts to boost economic growth

India logs 175 Covid infections in a day, active caseload declines to 2,570

India recorded 175 new Covid infections in a day while active caseload declined to 2,570, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The tally of Covid cases in India is at 4.46 crore while the death toll is 5,30,707, data updated at 8 am stated. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.09 per cent while the weekly positivity was 0.12 per cent. Active caseload declined by 12 in a day and now comprises 0.01 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,45,854 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.11 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the COVID-19 vaccination drive. India's Covid tally crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50

China urges 'final victory' over Covid as global concern mounts over spread

China has been particularly critical of decisions by some countries to impose a requirement for a Covid test on its citizens, saying they are unreasonable and lack scientific basis

No reason China should retaliate over Covid travel restrictions: US

China has said it would hit back at nations that impose new rules on its travelers, dismissing the measures as "political goals

China threatens tit for tat over Covid-19 curbs on its travellers

Up to 70% of Shanghai population infected with coronavirus: Top doctor

Five cases of Covid's XBB.1.5 variant found in India, says INSACOG

Five cases of COVID-19's XBB.1.5 variant, responsible for the rise in cases in the US, have been found in India, according to data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). Of the five, three cases were found in Gujarat and one each in Karnataka and Rajasthan, according to INSACOG figures on Tuesday. The XBB.1.5 strain is a relative of the Omicron XBB variant, which is a recombinant of the Omicron BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 subvariants. Combined, XBB and XBB.1.5 make up 44 per cent of cases in the US. COVID-19 variant Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the dominant variant in India with 'XBB' being the most prevalent sub-lineage circulating all over the country, INSACOG has said. INSACOG reports genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 across the country through sequencing of samples from sentinel sites and international passengers arriving in India.

Scaling the great information firewall

The recent incidents along the border with China in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang region near the Yangtze river have been the subject of much debate in India and amongst western geopolitical observers

EU offers help to counter China's Covid crisis including vaccine donation

The European Union said Tuesday it has offered China help to deal with its COVID-19 crisis, including the donation of vaccines, as the bloc seeks to coordinate how authorities should check incoming passengers from China for any new variants. Several member nations announced individual efforts over the past week. At the same time, the EU's European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control insisted that the situation in China didn't pose an immediate overall threat to health. The variants circulating in China are already circulating in the EU, and as such are not challenging for the immune response of EU citizens, it said in its latest impact study published Tuesday. Yet fearful not to be caught unawares like at the outset of the global pandemic in early 2020, medical experts from EU member states were already preparing potential action to be taken up by an Integrated Political Crisis Response meeting on Wednesday, where measure like EU-wide entry requirements could be ...

Second Covid booster shot unwarranted, says report amid infection surge

"There is no data available on the utility of a second booster for the currently used vaccines"

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Beijing threatens to respond against 'unacceptable' Covid measures

Beijing is blasting testing requirements on passengers from China and threatening countermeasures against countries involved based on reciprocity. We believe that the entry restrictions adopted by some countries targeting China lack scientific basis, and some excessive practices are even more unacceptable," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing Tuesday. We are firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the COVID measures for political purposes and will take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity.

Autopsies show coronavirus lingers in brain, other parts for months: Study

The SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads throughout the body, including the brain, and lingers for almost eight months, shows an analysis of tissue samples from the autopsies of people who died due to COVID-19. The researchers from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) tested samples from autopsies that were performed from April 2020 to March 2021. They conducted extensive sampling of the nervous system, including the brain, in 11 of the patients. All of the patients died with COVID-19, and none were vaccinated. The blood plasma of 38 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, three tested negative, and plasma was unavailable for the other three. Thirty per cent of the patients were female, and the median age was 62.5 years. Twenty-seven patients (61.4 per cent) had three or more comorbidities. The median interval from symptom onset to death was 18.5 days. The study, published in the journal Nature, showed that SARS-CoV-2 primarily infected and damaged airway and lung tissue. However, the

S Korea to require pre-entry Covid testing for travelers from HK, Macao

South Korea will require a negative Covid-19 PCR test for arrivals from Hong Kong and Macao, in addition to the planned requirement for travelers from China