Page 98 - Coronavirus

China's 2023 F1 Grand Prix will not take place due to Covid-19 pandemic

Formula 1 is assessing alternative options to replace the slot on the 2023 calendar and will provide an update in due course, the organisation said in a statement available on its website

Just when things look…: Beware the surprise that catches you unprepared

As the system emerges from the Covid trauma and India shifts its sights to long-term targets, attention must turn to the underlying weaknesses that may scupper ambitious aspirations, writes T N Ninan

WHO 'pleased' to see China ease harsh zero Covid-19 restrictions

A top official at the World Health Organisation said the UN agency was pleased to see China loosening some of its coronavirus restrictions, saying it's really important that governments listen to their people when the people are in pain. At a press briefing on Friday, WHO emergencies director Dr. Michael Ryan said the organisation was glad to see China adjusting their current strategies in trying to recalibrate their response to COVID-19. Last week, huge protests against the severe COVID-19 restrictions in China erupted in numerous cities, in the biggest show of opposition to the ruling Communist party in decades. We've all had to deal with restrictions of movement, we've all had to deal with having our lives changed and frankly, it's exhausting, Ryan said. The WHO has previously described China's zero-COVID strategy as not sustainable, saying that the super-infectious omicron variant made trying to stop every single case of COVID impossible. Ryan said using imported messenger RNA

Covid-induced mental illnesses spike gender violence in urban areas: Study

Nearly 25 per cent Covid-hit patients suffered from mental health issues across Delhi, Gujarat and Jharkhand -- more in the urban areas than the rural settings

Hong Kong remains divided over recent Covid-19 protests in China

The recent wave of protests against China's anti-virus restrictions was a ray of hope for some supporters of Hong Kong's own pro-democracy movement after local authorities stifled it using a national security law enacted in 2020. Thomas So, who joined about a dozen students from the Chinese mainland staging a rare protest this week at the University of Hong Kong, is among them. If mainland China falls apart, I wouldn't say it's none of my business, said So, who held up an electric candle and a blank sheet of paper symbolising defiance against censorship at the protest. When I support the values of democracy and freedom, I hope China will have these too. So hopes that in reopening a window for people to gather and have their voices heard, the protests might auger a fresh chance for Hong Kong's languishing pro-democracy movement. Some in Hong Kong, a former British colony on China's southern coast, sympathize with mainland protesters' calls for greater freedoms after nearly three ye

2-dose vax offers long-term protection against severe Covid in kids: Study

A two-dose experimental vaccine can provide protection against severe Covid even one year even after the jabs, researchers report

French govt calls on high-risk groups to get 2nd Covid booster shot

There is currently a subvariant that is spreading fast in France, French government spokesperson Olivier Veran underlined

Data story: India adds 275 new Covid cases; active tally sees net decline

India has added 2,083 cases in the past 7 days

Data story: India records 291 Covid cases in 24 hours; 2 new deaths

India has added 2,155 cases in the past 7 days

Lockdown, protests in China may impact key sectors in India: Report

In October, India's engineering exports to China fell 64 per cent and there has been a fall in demand for cut and polished diamonds as well as gold

China security apparatus well honed to deal with Covid policy protests

When it comes to ensuring the security of their regime, China's Communist Party rulers don't skimp. The extent of that lavish spending was put on display when the boldest street protests in decades broke out in Beijing and other cities, driven by anger over rigid and seemingly unending restrictions to combat COVID-19. The government has been preparing for such challenges for decades, installing the machinery needed to quash large-scale upheavals. After an initially muted response, with security personnel using pepper spray and tear gas, police and paramilitary troops flooded city streets with jeeps, vans and armored cars in a massive show of force. The officers fanned out, checking IDs and searching cellphones for photos, messages or banned apps that might show involvement in or even just sympathy for the protests. An unknown number of people were detained and it's unclear if any will face charges. Most protesters focused their anger on the zero-COVID policy that seeks to eradicat

Indian students applying to Eastern Europe over China amid uncertainty: Rpt

China has opened its borders to international students recently but the current political situation has impacted the admission rates in Chinese universities negatively

BJP, Congress MLAs accuse Odisha govt of 'hiding' Covid death figure

Opposition BJP and Congress MLAs on Thursday accused the BJD government in Odisha of 'hiding' the actual COVID death figure. The opposition members made the allegation after a written reply by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Pramila Mallick to a question of BJP MLA Naba Charan Majhi in the assembly. The minister, in her statement, mentioned that 20,000 people have died due to the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and so far in 2022. BJP's chief whip Mohan Majhi said the state government's health department dashboard showed that a total of 9,204 people in Odisha have lost their lives due to the pandemic till December 1 this year, while 53 people died due to reasons other than COVID. This two data show how the government is hiding facts. There were gross irregularities in the COVID-19 management for which so many people died," Majhi said, adding that the actual death toll could be more than the figure stated by the minister. Congress member SS Saluja said there is no doubt no

World's 1st intra-nasal vaccine for Covid gets CDSCO nod for emergency use

On November 28, iNCOVACC - the intra-nasal vaccine received both Primary series and Heterologous booster approval, as per Bharat Biotech

Maharashtra sees 50 Covid-19 cases, no death; active tally at 373

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 50 COVID-19 cases, which took the state's tally to 81,35,850, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,407 for the second consecutive day, a health official said. This is a slight jump from the 43 cases recorded a day earlier, he pointed out. Mumbai accounted for just two cases, while the figure was 11 for Pune, he said. The recovery count increased by 72 in the last 24 hours and touched 79,87,070, leaving the state with an active caseload of 373, he said. State health department data showed the fatality rate was 1.82 per cent, while the recovery rate was 98.17 per cent. So far, 8,56,54,208 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the state so far, including 13,244 in the last 24 hours, as per official data.

China relaxes zero-covid norms, steps up security ahead of Zemin's funeral

China relaxed its stringent zero-Covid restrictions in several cities after public protests and stepped up security across the country on Thursday as it braced for next week's high-profile funeral of former president Jiang Zemin who died a day earlier. Flexible measures were implemented across China to ensure people's livelihoods amid the cold front, the official media reported. After protests against zero-covid lockdowns, China's top industrial and business hub Guangzhou lifted temporary restrictions in some regions and officially allowed qualified close contacts to be quarantined at home instead of in temporary shelters. Such announcements relaxing the Covid curbs were announced in Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan besides several other cities, the official media reports said. Beijing witnessed mixed lockdown covid policies. While some buildings went into lockdown on Thursday, all over the city people complained that many of the Covid testing centers have been closed following ...

Oil rises ahead of OPEC+ meeting, easing China Covid curbs lend support

"Oil is finding support on investor optimism that OPEC+ will deliver further cuts in production when they meet," said Ehsan Khoman, analyst at MUFG Bank, in a report

With the flu season here, should you ask for an influenza vaccine?

Demand for flu vaccine weak in India; US facing worst season in a decade

Protests in China are not rare - but the current unrest is significant

Street protests across China have evoked memories of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations that were brutally quashed in 1989

Beijing sees record Covid cases at 5,006 as China wows small easing steps

The total number of infections in Beijing are still a relatively small number for a city of 22 million, but they've been enough to send panic through China's capital