Page 96 - Coronavirus

China's politburo shifts focus to boosting economic recovery in 2023

The economy is expected to face bigger pressure from spiking Covid cases in the early stages of China's reopening

China's trade weakens to worst since first Covid lockdown as demand falls

The worsening trade performance is undermining a strong pillar of China's economy over the last two years, where the rise in exports to record levels have provided Chinese firms with stable demand

Covid-19: S Korea to decide on indoor mask mandate by end of month

The mandate is the last remaining Covid-19 restriction South Korea has kept in place following the scrapping of all other distancing rules

India emerging as key investment destination amid China's zero-Covid policy

As foreign investors pumped money in stocks in India over the last week, Indian benchmark Indices, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty, reached new highs, despite economic chaos at the global level

Emerging economies keen to replicate India's digital transformation: Kant

India's initiatives in digital public infrastructure such as Aadhaar, unique payment infrastructure and direct benefit transfer have been lauded at the G20 Sherpa meeting here, with several members stressing on the "need to replicate the model" in other developing countries, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said. In an interview with PTI, Kant said he also highlighted the digital initiatives taken in the healthcare sector such as the Cowin app for implementing the Covid vaccination drive and Ayushman Bharat scheme that has extended health insurance cover to 500 million people at the first meeting of Sherpa under India's G20 presidency. "So, there was a lot of interest and a lot of appreciation for what India has done. Everybody said that this model needs to be replicated. I think that is one story which will definitely take forward in a big way in the subsequent rounds, he said. With the Ukraine conflict festering on, Kant said all countries were appreciative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi'

Hybrid immunity may be behind difference in India-China Covid numbers

While hybrid immunity is behind India's low COVID-19 numbers, a large section of China's population may not have this protection provided by a combination of vaccination and prior infection, leading to spurt in cases there, experts say. The experts also questioned the efficacy of the vaccines available to the people in China. India has been witnessing lowest COVID-19 numbers since the beginning of the pandemic, while China has seen record numbers of the viral disease in recent days. In the last 24 hours, India reported a rise of 165 COVID-19 cases, while the count of active cases has declined to 4,345, according to the numbers shared by the Union government at 8 am on Tuesday. The daily number of cases in the country had peaked at 4,14,188 (over 4.1 lakh) on May 7, 2021. The following month, on June 10, 2021, the number of deaths increased at 6,148. On the other hand, China reported 19,903 infections in 24 hours, according to the World Health Organisation. The recent daily cases

Kerala facing 'unprecedented financial crisis', says finance minister

Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Tuesday said the state is reeling under unprecedented financial crisis and attributed the "distorted" financial policies of the Centre, the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and recurring natural disasters as reason for the poor economic condition. The minister, however, made it clear that the Left government was moving ahead with a "clear road map" and financial discipline to overcome the crisis and resolve the issues. He was replying to a question during the Question Hour session in the state Assembly. "It is true that the state is facing an unprecedented financial crisis. However, the reasons contributing to the crisis are beyond the control of the state...that is the fact," Balagopal said. Compared to the previous financial year, there was a dip of Rs 6716 crore in the revenue deficit grant (released to the state by the Centre) during the ongoing financial year, he informed the House. However, the minister replied in negative to a question

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Covid vaccine-linked heart inflammation high in males after 2nd dose: Study

A meta-analysis of 23 studies, including 854 patients aged 12 to 20 years with mRNA vaccine-associated myopericarditis, has found that the incidence was higher in males after the second dose

Beijing city relaxes Covid-19 test norms following widespread protests

For the first time in about two years, China's capital city Beijing relaxed its norms for coronavirus test requirements on Tuesday after unprecedented public protests against President Xi Jinping's stringent zero-Covid policy rocked the country. As per the new announcement, negative nucleic acid test results are no longer required to enter shopping malls, supermarkets, commercial buildings and residential compounds. However, Beijing residents will still require a negative Covid-19 test taken within 48 hours to enter restaurants, schools, bars, internet cafes, indoor gaming stadiums, nursing homes, welfare facilities, hospitals and medical institutions. The announcement was made ahead of the memorial meeting held here by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) for former President of the country Jiang Zemin who passed away on November 30. Beijing continues to report a high number of Covid-19 cases. On Monday, the city reported 2,260 Covid infections. The Chinese mainland on Monda

India logs 165 new Covid cases; active tally in country dips to 4,345

India logged 165 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases further declined to 4,345, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The total tally of Covid cases stands at 4.46 crore (4,46,73,783). The death toll has climbed to 5,30,633 with two reconciled by Kerala and one death reported from Delhi 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 COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the ministry website. A decrease of 89 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,38,805, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 219.94 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. India's COVID-19 tally had cross

US sees nearly 4,200 daily Covid-19 hospitalisations amid winter surge

The daily average of Covid-19 hospitalisations rose again in the US amid winter surge, according to the latest data of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

US won't agree to 2022 patent waivers for Covid tests, treatments

The US won't agree to waive intellectual-property protections for Covid-19 treatments and tests this year -- aligning with developed-nation peers and damaging prospects for a WTO accord

Covid was man-made virus, says scientist who worked at Wuhan lab

Wuhan lab has been the centre of heated debates over the origins of Covid

Maharashtra logs 22 new Covid-19 cases, zero casualty; active tally at 278

The recovery rate in the state stands at 98.17 per cent, while the fatality rate is 1.82 per cent, the official said

Symptoms of long Covid in children may change over time: Lancet study

Symptoms of long Covid experienced by children and young people may change over time, according to the largest study of its kind published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe. Researchers asked children aged 11 to 17 about their health six months and 12 months after taking a PCR test between September 2020 and March 2021. They also asked them to recall their symptoms at the time of taking the test. None of the children initially invited to participate in the study had been hospitalised. The researchers examined data from 5,086 children, 2,909 of whom tested positive for Covid-19, and 2,177 of whom tested negative. They asked the children and young people what they had experienced from a list of 21 symptoms, including shortness of breath and tiredness, as well as using validated scales to assess quality of life, mental health, wellbeing and fatigue. The team found that, at time of testing, health issues were more common in children and young people who had tested positive for th

Gold clings near $1,800 on soft dollar as China relaxes Covid-19 curbs

Spot gold ticked 0.1% lower to $1,796.17 per ounce by 0938 GMT, after touching its highest level since July 5 at $1,809.91

'Free China!': Protesters near White House demand end of Covid curbs

About 200 protesters lit candles and shouted Free China! two blocks from the White House on Sunday in a show of support for demonstrations in China calling for an end to severe anti-virus controls and for political change. Protesters in Freedom Plaza held up signs saying, No Dictatorship, No Censorship, demanding that President Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party give up power. They held up blank sheets of paper, a symbol of opposition to the party's pervasive censorship. Some yelled, Free China! The protests erupted Nov. 25 after at least 10 people died in a fire in Urumqi, a city in China's northwest. Authorities rejected suggestions firefighters or people trying to escape might have been blocked by anti-virus controls. But the disaster became a focus for public frustration with curbs that confine millions of people to their homes. I did not care much about these public issues before as it did not happen to me, said a Chinese student who would give only her surname, Liu, due

Covid variants still transmissible between species, reveals study

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is still highly transmissible between mammals, according to a study based on computer simulations. Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), US, found that coronaviruses use their spike proteins -- which help them to infect cells -- to attach themselves to the host cells in both bats and humans in much the same way. The findings, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, show how the viral spike proteins in several SARS-CoV-2 variants interact with the host cell receptors known as ACE2 in both humans and various bats of genus Rhinolophus. "We were hoping to see really cool adaptive evolution happening as the virus got more used to humans and less used to bats, but we actually saw that there wasn't a whole lot of change," said Associate Professor Gregory Babbitt from RIT. "Because this binding site has not evolved very much, there's really not much stopping it from transmitting from humans to bats," Babbit said in a statement. Scientist

Metal index gains over 1% as China eases Covid-19 rules; Hindalco up 4%

The reopening of the Chinese economy could brighten the outlook for global growth and commodity demand