Page 74 - Coronavirus

India logs 132 new Covid infections; active cases decline to 2,582

) India saw a single-day rise of 134 in coronavirus infections, with the active cases declining to 2,582, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,78,956). The overall death toll to date stands at 5,30,707, the data updated at 8 am stated. The daily positivity was recorded at 0.09 per cent, while the Weekly positivity was pegged at 0.13 per cent. Active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the health ministry website. A decrease of 88 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who recovered from the infection surged to 4,41,45,667, while 1.19 per cent of those infected succumbed to it. According to the ministry's website, 220.11 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccina

EU to try again to mold a coordinated approach on China Covid policies

European Union nations will try again on Wednesday to mold a coordinated approach on if and how authorities should check incoming airline passengers from China for any new COVID-19 variants after several member nations announced individual efforts over the past week. Belgium said late Monday it would be checking wastewater from planes coming in from China to see if it yields new clues about any potentially dangerous variants. It said that it would urge visitors from China who do not feel well to take a COVID-19 test. More should be done, but only in a coordinated approach among the 27 member states, said Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke. It would be a good signal toward China if all EU nations would say together: 'If you come to Europe you have to be tested first, he told VRT network. Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said officials from the member states will hold an Integrated Political Crisis Response meeting on Wednesday to see if entry requirements ...

China's economy ends year in major slump as Covid infections surge

Official data over the weekend showed the decline in manufacturing worsened last month, while activity in the services sector plunged the most since February 2020

Sold record 1.3 mn vehicles last year, number short of target sales: Tesla

Tesla said on Monday that sold a record 1.3 million vehicles last year, but the number fell short of CEO Elon Musk's pledge to grow the company's sales by 50 per cent nearly every year. The 2022 figure topped the prior record of 936,000 vehicles delivered in 2021, but it was shy of the 1.4 million needed to reach the company's 50 per cent growth target. Sales grew 40 per cent year over year, while production climbed 47 per cent to 1.37 million. The shortfall came despite a major year-end sales push that included rare USD 7,500 discounts in the US on the Models Y and 3, the company's top-selling models. Tesla Inc., which is based in Austin, Texas, also had to deal with rising cases of the novel coronavirus in China, which cut into production at its Shanghai factory. With the extra US push, Tesla delivered more than 405,000 vehicles worldwide in the fourth quarter. But that missed Wall Street projections. Analysts polled by data provider FactSet expected 427,000 deliveries from Octo

South Korea begins Covid-19 testing for people arriving from China

Under the new restrictions which came into effect from Monday, all arrivals from China are obliged to undergo a PCR test within the first day of their entry

Maharashtra records eight new Covid-19 cases in a day; active tally 159

Maharashtra on Monday recorded eight fresh coronavirus cases, while no new death linked to the infection was registered in the state, the health department said. With this, the state's overall COVID-19 tally rose to 81,36,687, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,417, the department said in a bulletin. On Sunday, the state had recorded 16 cases of the respiratory illness, but no fatality. Mumbai logged two cases in the last 24 hours, said the bulletin. It said 10 patients recovered from the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 79,88,111 and leaving the state with 159 active cases. The case fatality rate in the state stood at 1.82 per cent. The bulletin said 1,52,742 international passengers have arrived at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur airports since the state government began screening travellers on December 24 in the backdrop of a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases in some countries, including China. It said RT-PCR tests have been ...

Hong Kong's actual Covid count could be up to 200,000 daily: Researchers

Airfinity predicts cases in Beijing are likely to have peaked by now, with hospitalisations and deaths likely to peak in the next 1-2 weeks

Health Minister reviews screening, Covid testing facility at Delhi airport

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya Monday reviewed the screening and Covid testing facility at the Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport amid a rise in coronavirus cases in some countries, including China. The government has made random Covid tests mandatory for two per cent of passengers arriving on each international flight irrespective of their port of departure. Besides, passengers arriving in India from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand are being mandatorily required to provide Covid negative reports from January 1. The test has to be conducted within 72 hours of undertaking the journey to India and the negative report from the RT-PCR test has to be uploaded on the Air Suvidha portal before departure. This will also apply to passengers transiting through the six countries irrespective of their originating nations before coming to any Indian Airport, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to his Civil Aviation Ministry ...

No BF.7 Omicron variant in Tamil Nadu, shows genome sequencing report

The Health Minister also said that all the patients are recovering well after being in home isolation

SC refuses to hear plea seeking SOP for Indians travelling to abroad

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea of a man, who was earlier detained illegally in the UAE over mistaken identity, seeking framing of guidelines to ensure the safety of Indians in foreign countries. Refusing to lay down standard operating procedures (SOP) for Indians' safety in offshore nations, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha, however, acknowledged the ordeal of detention faced by Noida-based businessman Praveen Kumar. Kumar was detained at the Abu Dhabi airport as his face allegedly matched with a wanted criminal in a face recognition software on October 11 last year and had to remain in illegal detention for almost four days. How can we ask the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to frame the standard operating procedures (SOP)? We have Indian embassies for such purposes... a person will be governed by the law of a particular country, the bench said. We cannot direct the MEA to frame guidelines. Thousands of Indians

Covid situation in Uttar Pradesh is normal, says CM Yogi Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the state at a high-level meeting with officials, and said that the situation in the state is normal amid the rising cases in various countries. He also directed the officials to closely monitor the "changing trends" of coronavirus and to conduct genome sequencing of the new cases. Adityanath reviewed the situation in the state during the meeting with Team-9, a team of senior officials and ministers constituted for Covid management, and gave necessary guidelines, according to an official statement. The chief minister said that the situation in UP is normal amid the rising number of Covid cases in various countries, the statement said. More than 9.06 lakh tests were done in the month of December, of which 103 cases were found to be positive. The positivity rate of the state was recorded at 0.01 per cent during this period. Presently, there are a total of 49 active cases in the state. Over 42,0

China regime crippled as sons burn bodies of fathers outside flats

The Chinese regime is so crippled by Covid that sons must burn the bodies of their fathers outside blocks of flats in its leading cities

Transit passengers from 6 nations also need negative Covid report: India

Travellers from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand and Japan have to produce such test 72 hours before departure

Tea industry facing multiple challenges in wake of Covid pandemic: Experts

The tea industry has been no exception to the ravages of the Covid pandemic over the last two years, as it grapples with low prices and high input costs, with stakeholders calling for more focus on quality and boosting exports. Production, too, has seen a decrease in the last few years since the onset of the pandemic due to restrictions on plucking -- from 1,390 million kg in 2019 to 1,258 million kg in 2020, 1,329 million kg in 2021 and 1,050 million kg till October this year. According to industry experts, the fall in production had helped in higher price realisation at the auctions. Secretary General of Tea Association of India (TAI) Prabir Bhattacharya said though the average auction price touched Rs 206 per kg in 2020, it fell to Rs 190.77 per kg the following year. So far in 2022, the average price has been Rs 204.97 per kg, he said. The increase, however, is concomitant with rise in wages across north India, besides hike in the cost of energy, fertilisers and logistics, ...

Sensex gains 327 pts in first session of 2023, Nifty nears 18200; RIL up 1%

Closing Bell: Among sectors, the Nifty metal index was the top performer of the day, which jumped 2.4 per cent after global brokerage Jefferies changed its stance on the sector to 'positive'

Japan reports record 7,688 Covid-19 deaths in December 2022: Report

The number of people dying from Covid-19 over the last three months in Japan is nearly 16 times higher than during the same period last year

China to confront multiple Covid infections with new Omicron strains

According to the South China Morning Post, the dominant strains in China so far are the Omicron subvariants, BA.5.2 and BF.7

India logs 173 new coronavirus infections; active tally declines to 2,670

India has recorded 173 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have declined to 2,670, according to Union health ministry data updated on Monday. The total tally of Covid cases has been recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,78,822) and the death toll stands at 5,30,707 with two fatalities -- one reconciled by Kerala and one reported by Uttarakhand -- in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the ministry's website. The ministry said a decrease of 36 cases has been recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,41,45, 445, while the case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.19 per cent, it said. The ministry on its website stated that 220.10 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far. India's COVID-19 ta

Indians help Singapore cross 6 mn visitors mark, record best tourism year

Singapore is set to report its best year for tourism since the Covid-19 pandemic shut the travel sector down with help from visitors from Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Australia

In world economy this week: From China's Covid numbers to US job data

The govt's official PMI on Saturday showed that China's abrupt reversal of its Covid Zero policy pushed economic activity - its service sector in particular - to the slowest pace since February 2022