Syringes of SARS CoV-2 Vaccine for COVID-19 produced by SinoVac are displayed during a media tour of its factory in Beijing on Thursday, September 24, 2020. (AP Photo)Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Saturday asked whether the central government will have Rs 80,000 crore over the next one year to provide each citizen with the Covid-19 vaccine. Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “Quick question; will the government of India have Rs 80,000 crores available, over the next one year? Because that’s what Ministry of Health and Family Affairs needs, to buy and distribute the vaccine to everyone in India. This is the next concerning challenge we need to tackle.”
With India reporting 85,362 cases in the last 24 hours ending 8 am on Saturday, the total number of Covid-19 infections in the country crossed the 59 lakh-mark to reach 59,03,933. Also, as many as 1,089 new fatalities pushed the death toll to 93,379. At present, India has 9,60,969 active cases, while 48,49,585 people have been treated and discharged, the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. The nation’s recovery rate has risen to 82.14 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate was recorded at 1.58 per cent.
Globally, as many as 32,475,585 people have been infected while 987,754 have lost their lives. Also, 22,377,620 people have recovered so far. India continues to remain the second worst-hit country after the United States, but topped the global chart in terms of virus recoveries.
Continuing the positive trend of higher number of Covid patients recovering in comparison to the number of fresh positive cases, at least 6,546 patients were declared recovered against 4,412 new cases in the last 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh. Read More
Jharkhand reported 1,226 new COVID-19 cases, 1,324 recoveries and 6 deaths today, taking total cases to 78,935 including 65,839 recoveries, 670 deaths and 12,426 active cases: State Health Department
Cinema halls and open air theatres will be allowed to operate in West Bengal from October 1 with limited number of participants, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Saturday. She also said musical, dance and magic shows would be permitted in the state from next month. (PTI)
Addressing the 193-member United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday raised questions on the response of the global body to the Covid-19 pandemic that has killed nearly one million people and infected over 32 million worldwide.
The Prime Minister listed out India’s priorities and its role in the global setup, assuring its cooperation in dealing with the pandemic. Highlighting India’s achievements and role in 75 years of the United Nations, Modi called for reforms with “changing times” and India’s inclusion in the decision-making process within the global body. Read more
The COVID-19 death toll in West Bengal on Saturday went up to 4,721 with 56 more people succumbing to the disease, the state health department said in a bulletin. The tally increased to 2,44,240 after 3,181 people tested positive for the infection. In the last 24 hours, 2,955 patients recovered from coronavirus taking the states discharge rate to 87.61 per cent, the bulletin said. (PTI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday raised questions on the response of the United Nations in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, and assured the global community that India will use its production and delivery capacity to help all humanity in fighting the deadly disease. "Over the last 8 to 9 months, the whole world has been battling the pandemic of the coronavirus. Where is the United Nations in this joint fight against the pandemic? Where is its effective response?" Modi said as he asserted that reform in the responses, in the processes, and in the very character of the United Nations is the need of the hour.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said, "As the largest vaccine producing country of the world, I want to give one more assurance to the global community today. India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity in fighting this crisis.
Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Saturday asked whether the central government will have Rs 80,000 crore over the next one year to provide each citizen with the Covid-19 vaccine. Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “Quick question; will the government of India have 80,000 crores available, over the next one year? Because that’s what Ministry of Health and Family Affairs needs, to buy and distribute the vaccine to everyone in India. This is the next concerning challenge we need to tackle.”
The condition of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is suffering from COVID-19 and dengue, has improved, a day after he was administered convalescent plasma therapy, reported news agency PTI. He is likely to be shifted from the ICU to a normal ward, said the hospital officials. He was admitted on Thursday evening after a "falling" blood platelet count and low oxygen level.
A weekend lockdown began in Jodhpur on Saturday to check the spread of the novel coronavirus amid a sudden spike in fresh infections and deaths. Police and civic officials took out marches in parts of the desert city to sensitise people about the prevailing situation and request them to stay indoors. District Magistrate Indrajeet Singh said, "We have taken this decision (to impose lockdown) considering the spurt in infections in the city. We expect people to adhere to it. If they do not understand the seriousness of the situation now, it will be too late." The city has reported close to 1,200 cases in the past two days, leading to a huge pressure on its healthcare infrastructure. More than 150 people have died due to COVID-19 in the city this month. (PTI)
Staying indoors during the lockdown and subsequently resuming training early in the morning or late in the evening to avoid the sweltering summer heat has caused an unexpected problem for India’s top track and field athletes. Not getting enough sunlight has resulted in low Vitamin D levels, that help in muscle recovery and improved bone density. Lack of the Vitamin D, produced when the body is exposed to the sun’s rays, can lead to stress fractures or muscle injury, especially when athletes resume training after long breaks.
Athletes across sport, including the country’s top cricketers, have spoken about taking time to regain muscle memory to play a stroke, build endurance and getting used to training regimens after lockdown-enforced breaks. However, even changes in nutrition levels can make a world of a difference if not detected early.
Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) high performance director Volker Herrmann said the Vitamin D deficiency was observed in all the national campers in Patiala following results of blood tests in June.
A single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s JNJ.N experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced a strong immune response against the novel coronavirus in an early-to-mid stage clinical trial, according to interim results published on Friday.
The vaccine, called Ad26.COV2.S, was equally well-tolerated at two different doses, the results showed. A single shot, versus a rival two-dose approach being tested by Moderna Inc MRNA.O and Pfizer Inc PFE.N, could simplify distribution of the vaccine.
However, it is unclear whether elderly people, one of the populations most at risk from the virus, will be protected to the same degree as younger people with the J&J vaccine.
In seven out of last eight days, recoveries have exceeded the new detection of cases, leading to a significant fall in the active cases. As on Friday, the active cases in the country had dropped to 9.6 lakh from a high of 10.17 on September 17.
The number of confirmed infections in Maharashtra has now touched 13 lakh. Close to 18,000 new cases were reported from the state on Friday, well below the recent normal of 22,000 to 25,000 cases every day. The death toll in the state has crossed 35,000, which is more than 37 per cent of all the coronavirus-related deaths in the country.
Odisha now has more than 2 lakh people who have so far been infected with the virus. The state has been reporting more than 4,000 cases every day
With more than 18,000 new cases being detected in the last three days, Kerala has emerged as the state with the fastest growing coronavirus numbers right now. Kerala still has relatively lesser number of confirmed infections compared to states like Maharashtra or Andhra Pradesh, but at the rate at which it has been adding new cases in the last couple of weeks, it is all set to make a re-entry into the list of top ten states with highest caseloads within a few days.
In the last one week, almost 35,000 new cases have been discovered in the state, taking the total number of confirmed infections to 1.61 lakh. The current growth rate of cases is 3.51 per cent per day, which is the highest in the country and more than double of national rate which is 1.53 per cent per day.
Kerala also has close to 49,000 active cases, which is the fifth highest in the country. Only Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have more active cases.
Some of the industry’s prominent analysts are divided on whether the market will face a surplus or deficit in the season starting next month. The difference in opinion lies on how much the pandemic will slash consumption or prompt top producer Brazil to make more lucrative sugar at the expense of cheaper ethanol.
Global sugar production is forecast to fall short of demand by 1.1 million tons next season, according to Patricia Luis-Manso, head of agriculture and biofuels analytics at S&P Global Platts. That’s similar to an estimate by John Stansfield, a veteran analyst at Group Sopex. For Raissa Cury Pires da Silva, head of Americas sugar research for trader ED&F Man, the world will face a second year of surplus.
“We have two quite strong bearish flags,” said Luis-Manso, referring to further cuts in demand and Brazil’s ability to make more sugar. “Both flags have the potential to solve this deficit without any significant sugar price increase. That’s why I think this deficit may be too small to be significant.”
Boris Johnson will call for a global plan to prevent pandemics and pledge more U.K. funds to the World Health Organization in a speech to the UN General Assembly on Saturday. The prime minister wants a global network of research hubs to spot dangerous pathogens, a boost to manufacturing capacity for vaccines and treatments, and reduced trade barriers to smooth cooperation between nations, according to extracts of the speech released by his office.
“Unless we unite and turn our fire against our common foe, we know that everyone will lose,” Johnson will say in the speech, which has been recorded and will be played to the assembly on Saturday. “We are determined to do everything in our power to work with our friends across the UN to heal those divisions and to heal the world.”
The coronavirus crisis is the worst pandemic in a century and has officially claimed almost a million lives, though the real toll may be almost double that. Johnson, whose country has the fifth-highest virus death toll in the world, will say the notion of an international community currently looks “tattered” and “we cannot continue this way.”
The health minister of the state at the center of Australia’s coronavirus outbreak resigned amid a furor over the bungling of quarantine procedures at hotels.
Jenny Mikakos released a statement on Saturday saying she could not continue to serve in Victoria’s state Cabinet following comments by Premier Daniel Andrews to an investigation into the government’s quarantine program.
Andrews told the inquiry he didn’t know who made the decision to hire security firms to monitor the quarantine in hotels in the state capital Melbourne but that he regarded Mikakos as accountable for the program, according to a report from Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The nation's recovery rate has risen to 82.14 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate was recorded at 1.58 per cent.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and it went past 50 lakh on September 16. According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 7,02,69,975 samples have been tested up to September 25 with 13,41,535 samples being tested on Friday.
The ones most talked about:
* AstraZeneca/Oxford University
* Moderna
* Pfizer/BioNTech
* Johnson & Johnson
* Sanofi/GlaxoSmithKline
* Novavax
* Russian vaccine, developed by Gamaleya Insttiute in Moscow
* Three Chinese vaccines that have been approved for use in China without phase-3 trials being completed. One of them has been given emergency use authorisation in UAE
A coronavirus vaccine being developed by US company Novavax has said it was beginning final stage clinical trials in the United Kingdom. In the United States, these trials would begin next month.
This vaccine candidate is one of those that are supposed to be available in India as well. Pune-based Serum Institute of India has an agreement with Novavax to manufacture and distribute this vaccine in India and other low and middle income markets.
The company has said it plans to enrol 10,000 participants for its UK trial.
Novavax vaccine is the tenth candidate to enter phase-3 trials, including four from China and one from Russia. Apart from these, vaccines being developed by AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson are currently undergoing phase-3 trials in different locations.