Page 78 - Coronavirus

RT-PCR report of passengers from China, 4 other nations must: Official

Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya is expected to visit the Delhi airport on Thursday to take stock of the situation

Serum Institute to provide 20 mn Covishield doses to govt free of cost

The Serum Institute of India (SII) has offered two crore doses of Covishield vaccine to the central government free of cost amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in some countries, official sources said on Wednesday. According to an official source, Prakash Kumar Singh, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at the Serum Institute, has written to the Health Ministry offering the doses worth Rs 410 crore free of cost. It is learnt that Singh has sought to know from the ministry how the delivery can be made. SII has so far provided more than 170 crore doses of Covishield to the government for the national immunisation programme. Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in some countries, including China and South Korea, the government has sounded an alert and asked states and Union territories to prepare for any eventuality. India has stepped its surveillance and genome sequencing of Covid positive samples. With only 27 per cent of the eligible adult population having taken the precaution do

Japan registers 415 new Covid deaths, highest ever tally in a single day

Japan said it had 216,219 newly confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, which marks a rise of 4 per cent from a week earlier

Global arms sales: Change is underway

There are signs of a significant shift away from the world's major weapons-producing region, with impressive gains for China, and to an extent, India

Patchy recovery: How 2022 swung from despair to hope to caution

Even as it grappled with new viruses, the human race hit another milestone

Oil drops 2% in light trading on China demand concern amid Covid surge

Brent crude futures fell $1.82, or 2.2%, to $82.51 a barrel by 11:23 a.m. EST [1623 GMT], while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $1.60, or 2%, to $77.93 per barrel.

Covid scare: 3,718 dedicated beds in Bengal's state-run hospitals

Amid the fresh Covid-19 scare, the West Bengal government on Wednesday decided to immediately keep 3,718 beds reserved and dedicated for Covid-19 patients in the different state-run hospitals

Odisha prepared to handle Covid-19 resurgence, says health minister

The Odisha government is prepared to tackle any situation if there is a resurgence of coronavirus in the state, state Health minister Naba Kishore Das said on Wednesday. Talking to reporters about the preparedness of Odisha in view of Omicron sub-variant BF.7 creating havoc in certain countries, Das said he held a review meeting during the day on surveillance and testing. If there is sudden resurgence of Covid, it is not about having Plan A or Plan B. We are already prepared under the able leadership of Naveen Patnaik Our government was earlier praised for its handling of the pandemic and for supplying Oxygen to different states. We have instructed all Medical Colleges, including MKCG, VIMSAR and SCB Medical College, regarding readiness of 15 oxygen beds and 5 ICU beds, the minister said. Mock drills were done in all district hospitals on Tuesday. Many hospitals across the country held mock drills on Tuesday to check the readiness of health facilities in view of proper COVID-19 ..

Mock drills held across 20,000 hospitals to check Covid preparedness

Over 11,000 oxygen plants are functional and nearly 2.8 lakh isolation beds are available in over 20,000 health facilities across the country where mock drills were conducted on Tuesday to check the operational readiness to deal with Covid amid a surge in cases in some countries, officials said. The Centre had asked states and Union Territories to conduct the drill as part of precautionary measures following an increase in Covid cases in China and other countries. According to officials, 20,021 facilities, including 15,424 government ones conducted the exercise across 37 states and UTs. Of the total 3,37,710 isolation beds across these facilities, 2,79,202 are functional. Out of the total 2,82,229 oxygen supported-Covid beds, 2,45,894 are operational, they said. Besides, of the 70,073 ICU beds and 57,286 ICU-cum-ventilator beds, 64,711 and 49,236 are functional, respectively. During the drill, it was found that 88 per cent of the 70,996 ventilators across 20,021 facilities are ..

39 international travellers test Covid positive at airports across country

After the Centre re-started random testing of incoming passengers amid the rising scare of Covid in several countries, a total of 39 international travellers have been found positive across airports

RT-PCR report likely to be mandatory for Chinese arrivals from next week

The government is likely to make it mandatory for passengers arriving from China and five other places to have negative RT-PCR reports from next week, official sources said on Wednesday. They also cautioned that the next 40 days will be crucial as India may see a Covid surge in January. Even if there is a wave, deaths and hospitalisation will be very low, the Health Ministry sources said. "Previously, it has been noticed that a new wave of COVID-19 hits India around 30-35 days after it hits East Asia.... This has been a trend," an official said. The sources said filling up of 'air suvidha' forms and 72-hour prior RT-PCR testing may be made mandatory from next week for international passengers coming from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore. The sources said 39 international passengers were found positive for COVID-19 out of the 6,000 tested on arrival in the last two days. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will visit the airport in Delhi on Thursday

LIVE: Next 40 days crucial, India may see Covid rise in Jan, say officials

Catch all the live news updates from around the world here

Persuade visitors to adopt Covid-19 appropriate behavior: Himachal CM

Directing to ensure Covid-19 appropriate behaviour, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu directed the Health Department to keep vigil on the number of cases and keep the men and machinery ready

Next 40 days crucial as India may see surge in Covid cases in Jan: Reports

The next 40 days are going to be crucial as India may see a surge in COVID-19 cases in January, official sources said on Wednesday citing the pattern of previous outbreaks. "Previously, it has been noticed that a new wave of COVID-19 hits India around 30-35 days after it hits East Asia.... This has been a trend," an official said. The Health Ministry sources, however, said the severity of the infection is less. Even if there is a wave, deaths and hospitalisation will be very low, they said. Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in some countries, including China and South Korea, the government has sounded an alert and asked states and Union territories to prepare for any eventuality. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya have held meetings to assess the country's preparedness to deal with a fresh surge in cases. The latest spike in cases is being driven by Omicron sub-variant BF.7. The official sources said the transmissibility of this BF.7 subvariant is ver

Hong Kong eases Covid curbs, does away with vaccine pass, tests

Hong Kong will scrap some of its COVID-19 restrictions, including PCR tests for inbound travellers and vaccination requirements to enter certain venues, the city's leader said on Wednesday. For most of the pandemic, Hong Kong has aligned itself with China's zero-COVID strategy, requiring stringent COVID-19 tests and isolation for close contacts of infected cases as well as for incoming travellers. But the mainland has relaxed measures in recent weeks, and Hong Kong is preparing for the January reopening of its border with China, which had previously imposed harsh restrictions and snap lockdowns to stamp out the virus. Our society as a whole has built an extensive and high-level barrier of immunity (to COVID-19), said Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee at a news conference. Over 80 per cent of the city has at least three doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Close contacts of those who test positive for COVID-19 will also no longer need to isolate in Hong Kong, he said, and there will no longe

TMS Ep334: Indian tech sector, Indian workers in Gulf, markets, Covid BF.7

What does 2022 foretell for the Indian tech sector? Why do Indian workers go to Gulf? Will the Sensex dip to 57,000 before jumping to 75,000? What is Covid Omicron BF.7? Answers here

What is the new Covid subvariant Omicron BF.7?

The new SARS- CoV-2 variant BF. 7 has started spreading in the countrys. While, experts say there are no serious concerns for India, Thareek Ahmed decodes the new Covid-19 variant BF.7

Anti-inflammatory patterns explain fatigue in long Covid patients : Study

Researchers have detected an anti-inflammatory pattern in long Covid patients, which helps in understanding better what causes fatigue in patients with long term symptoms of the disease. The researchers at the University of Vienna, Austria, have now presented new evidence of triggers for fatigue following SARS-COV-2 infection. The team of researchers showed that an exaggerated anti-inflammatory response is likely to be responsible for long Covid syndrome (LCS). The study has been published in "iScience". Today, millions of people suffer from LCS, which significantly affects their quality of life. However, it is not easy to diagnose and treat due to a lack of understanding of the underlying disease mechanisms. The diagnosis and treatment of LCS is still very difficult, and there is only little knowledge about the factors causing accompanying symptoms. According to the study, the team of researchers, led by chemist Christopher Gerner, have now turned their attention to LCS using mass

Hong Kong to scrap mandatory Covid-19 test for international travellers

This comes two days after China announced an end to the coronavirus quarantine rule for inbound travellers from January 8

China job prospects, incomes plunge to new lows amid economic slowdown

But while economic activity is expected to eventually rebound, it's unclear how quick that will happen given the spread of infections and the weakness in confidence