Page 85 - Coronavirus

Japan reports highest single-day Covid-19 deaths amid 8th wave of pandemic

Among prefectures, Kanagawa on Friday reported the highest number of deaths with 28, followed by Hokkaido with 25, Tokyo with 24, and Osaka with 19

Amazon looks to sell excess air cargo space as demand cools post-pandemic

The long-term plan for Amazon Air hasn't changed despite the current turmoil

India better placed as world deals with Covid, economic headwinds

From a full-blown war in Europe to China's botched-up exit from its zero-Covid policy, the first of a yearender series assesses how geopolitics and geoeconomics played out for India

UP CM takes stock of law and order situation, assesses Covid preparedness

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday reviewed the state's law and order situation with senior government and police officials and emphaised on merit-based speedy resolution of public problems and grievances. Adityanath directed the officials to make arrangements for a peaceful celebration of Christmas while maintaining dialogue with all religious leaders. He also directed the officials to ensure that no religious conversions take place, the government said in a statement. He also instructed the police to take stringent action against molesters and to ensure manufacturing and sale of illegal liquor don't take place. Police personnel who are addicted to drugs should not be given field responsibility, he said and added that such staffers should be identified and their services terminated. "Good law and order and adequate land bank are the primary imperatives for industrialisation. Investors from all over the world are impressed by the strong law and order of the stat

T'gana urges Centre to supply vaccines to administer booster doses

Telangana Health Minister T Harish Rao on Friday urged the Centre to supply COVID-19 vaccines to step up booster dose coverage in the state. Rao, who attended a video conference held by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, said Telangana has achieved 48 per cent booster dose coverage against national average of 23 per cent, an official release said. He asked the Centre to inform the states on various issues, including spread of virus, its impact and treatment in view of the rise in Omicron sub-variant BF 7 cases in different countries. This will help the states in improving their preparedness, he said. Rao suggested taking steps in advance to prevent any shortage in oxygen supply. As part of this, oxygen plants should be linked to the nearby hospitals. He also sought steps to ensure that the ventilators and others provided by the Centre to the state remain readily available, the release said. Amid fresh concerns over COVID-19, Rao on Thursday directed officials to ensure ...

China reports 37 mn infections a day, rings Covid-19 alarm bells

Beijing's swift dismantling of Covid Zero restrictions has led to the unfettered spread of the highly contagious omicron variants in a population with low levels of natural immunity

No Covid-19 curbs in Goa till Jan 2, says CM as govt advises precautions

The Goa government will not impose any COVID-19-related restrictions till January 2 but will review the situation on January 3, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Friday after chairing a high-level meeting here. He said that people should voluntarily follow COVID-19-appropriate behaviour. "The state will not impose any COVID-19 related restrictions till January 2, but will review the situation on January 3," Sawant told reporters after chairing the meeting. He said as per the Centre's direction, a mock drill will be conducted on December 27 to check the preparedness to tackle any potential coronavirus outbreak. Sawant said authorities have already started random checking of international passengers arriving in the coastal state. "Two per cent of international passengers arriving in the state are being tested," he added. As Goa gears up to ring in the Christmas and New Year festivities amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in some countries, the state government has appealed to the peop

India doing fine, don't expect surge in cases due to XBB, BF.7: Virologist

Renowned virologist Gangandeep Kang on Friday said India has reported a few cases of Omicron sub-variants XBB and BF.7, but they have not driven an upsurge, and she does not expect a spike in Covid cases. Her remarks come in the backdrop on the highly transmissible Omicron strains, mostly BF.7, causing a spike in coronavirus cases in many countries, including China. "They are, like all Omicron sub-variants, very good at infecting people because they escape the immune response that prevents infection, but are not causing more severe disease than Delta," the professor at the Christian Medical College's division of gastrointestinal sciences tweeted. Kang said that "at the moment, India is doing fine" but maintained that surveillance should be ensured to "detect signal of any changes in the behaviour of the virus". BF.7 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.5 and has the strongest infection ability since it is highly transmissible, has a shorter incubation period and has a higher

States to conduct mock drills next week to review Covid preparedness

Specific focus on oxygen plants, ventilators, logistics and human resources; aim is to check whether the equipment is in running condition, or needs refurbishment

Prepared to deal with any eventuality, say Delhi hospitals amid Covid scare

Many hospitals in Delhi have instructed their heads of department to strictly follow Covid guidelines, including wearing masks and using sanitisers, amid concerns over surge in coronavirus cases in some countries The hospital said they have braced themselves for any eventuality. The two waves of COVID-19 were a learning experience for hospitals in terms of bringing about infrastructural changes, but the medical facilities now assert that they are fully prepared in case the BF.7 variant triggers a surge. On Thursday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held an emergency meeting over the Covid situation, amid a surge triggered due to the BF.7 variant of the virus in some countries such as China and the US. India has also reported some cases of the variant, although no such case has been registered in the national capital. The medical director of state-run LNJP Hospital, Suresh Kumar, said the hospital currently has 450 dedicated Covid beds, including 50 ICU beds. "We have a genome

Corbevax maximises protection in Covishield vaccinated people: Study

Amidst the concerns of a new Covid wave in India following massive surge in cases in some countries, researchers at the AIG Hospitals here have published results of a significant scientific study proving the immunity benefits of indigenous heterologous vaccine booster, Corbevax in combating Omicron variants. Breaking down the key aspects of the study, Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman, AIG Hospitals and one of the researchers on board, in a press release said the study was done on 250 healthcare workers who had received two doses of Covishield as the primary vaccine regimen not more than 6 months ago. "The first aspect was to test the safety of this combination. We are extremely happy to report that none of the 250 participants had any adverse events following the administration of Corbevax booster dose. This further cemented our belief that mixed vaccines are absolutely safe," Dr Reddy said. The second aspect of the study was to measure the antibody response as well as the T-cell ...

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Govt approves Bharat Biotech's intranasal Covid-19 vaccine as booster

Bharat Biotech's intranasal Covid vaccine has been approved by the Union Health Ministry as a booster dose for those aged 18 years and above and is likely to be introduced on the Co-WIN platform Friday evening, official sources said. The needle-free vaccine will be available at private hospitals as of now and can be administered as a precaution dose to adults who have been vaccinated with two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin. It is likely to be rolled out in the national Covid vaccination programme soon, they said. The ministry's approval for the intranasal vaccine as a booster comes amid a spurt in Covid cases in China and some other countries. The nasal vaccine -- BBV154 -- had received approval of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in November for restricted use in an emergency situation for those above 18 years as a heterologous booster dose. "The vaccine branded as iNCOVACC is likely to be introduced on the Co-WIN platform Friday evening onwards. For now, it wi

Govt to conduct Covid response mock drill on Dec 27 across country

A mock drill to test the Covid emergency preparedness would be conducted in hospitals across the country on Tuesday, 27th December."A mock drill for an emergency response to deal with Covid 9 cases will be conducted at hospitals across the country on Tuesday, 27th December, the Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya will also be participating in the Mock drill," official sources to ANIThe mock drill is being conducted amid fear of a Covid surge in the country in the wake of a spurt of Covid cases reported in China and other countries. The Union Ministry in India has started taking several proactive steps in this direction.The Union Ministry of Health advised States on December 20 to significantly increase genome sequencing. A high-level meeting was also chaired by Union Health Minister on December 21 to review the COVID-19 situation & preparedness of the public health system for surveillance, containment & management of COVID-19.On Thursday Prime Minister chaired a ...

Molnupiravir does not cut deaths in high risk Covid patients: Lancet study

Using the antiviral drug molnupiranir does not decrease deaths or hospital admissions among COVID-19 patients who are vaccinated and at higher risk of mortality, according to a study published in The Lancet journal. The trial with over 25,000 participants, however, suggests that patients taking molnupiravir recovered faster -- on average 4.2 days quicker -- compared to patients in the control group. Previous studies suggested that molnupiravir is effective at reducing hospital admissions in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 and WHO recommends its use for patients with the highest risk of hospital admission. However, studies have so far been conducted in largely unvaccinated populations and prior to the emergence of the Omicron variant. The new study was carried out in a vaccinated population where most COVID-19 infections were the Omicron variant. Molnupiravir is one of the more expensive antivirals used to treat COVID-19, with a seven-day course costing around USD 700 in th

Sensex tumbles over 950 points: Top 5 factors behind Friday's market crash

All sectors, meanwhile, drowned in the sea of red, with Nifty Media, Nifty Metal, Nifty Realty, and Nifty PSU Bank indices declining up to 6 per cent

Govt issues rules for random Covid testing of int'l arriving passengers

With random coronavirus testing of international arriving passengers set to start from Saturday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has said that airlines' crew members will have to bring such identified passengers to the testing facility at the airport. Against the backdrop of rising coronavirus cases in China and some other parts of the world, the government has decided to subject 2 per cent of the passengers arriving on international flights to random coronavirus test starting from Saturday morning. In a communication on Friday, the ministry said that airlines are required to direct their crew members to lead and bring identified 2 per cent of international arriving passengers to the testing facility at the airport. "The airport operators would create necessary infrastructure to facilitate random testing of international arriving passengers at their respective airports," the communication said. The communication has been sent to the aviation regulator DGCA and copies have been marke

Multiple factors behind rise of severe Covid cases in Beijing: Experts

Health experts noted that multiple reasons have led to a rise of severe Covid cases in Beijing, as north China generally sees a greater occurrence of respiratory infectious diseases in winter times.

Experts see 'a very hard road ahead' for China as Covid-19 cases spiral

Nearly three years after it was first identified in China, the coronavirus is now spreading through the vast country. Experts predict difficult months ahead for its 1.4 billion people. China's unyielding zero-COVID approach, which aimed to isolate all infected people, bought it years to prepare for the disease. But an abrupt reopening, which was announced without warning on December 7 in the wake of anti-lockdown protests, has caught the nation under-vaccinated and short on hospital capacity. Experts have forecast between a million and 2 million deaths next year. Predicting deaths has proven tricky throughout the pandemic, since it is influenced by varied factors and China presents an especially complicated case because of opaque information sharing. It's not clear exactly how large the current outbreak is, as China has reduced testing and stopped reporting most mild cases. But in cities and towns around Baoding and Langfang, in Hebei province, an area that was among the first to

States to undertake mock drill to ensure readiness of Covid facilities

States and Union territories will undertake a mock drill across all health facilities on Tuesday to ensure the operational readiness of the Covid-dedicated facilities, with a specific focus on oxygen plants, ventilators, logistics and human resources, according to official sources. An advisory in this regard will be issued by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya at a virtual meeting with the health ministers of the states and Union territories at 3 pm on Friday, the sources said. The states have been asked to strengthen surveillance in accordance with the surveillance strategy already issued (health facility-based sentinel surveillance; pan-respiratory virus surveillance; community-based surveillance, sewage/wastewater surveillance). They have also been asked to ensure the ramping up of the testing infrastructure, encourage precautionary dose uptake and ensure adherence to Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) in view of the upcoming festive season and the New Year. They have also b