A health worker collects a swab sample at a testing centre in New Delhi. (Reuters/Adnan Abidi)Coronavirus India Live Updates: India on Friday sent out a message to several countries that it will use its strength in vaccine production and delivery to help humanity in fighting the coronavirus crisis. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said this during an interaction with ambassadors and high commissioners of foreign missions in India.
“Several countries have been approaching us for receiving vaccine supply. I reiterate our Prime Minister’s commitment that India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity in fighting this crisis. India will also help interested countries in enhancing their cold chain and storage capacities for the delivery of vaccines,” PTI quoted him as saying.
India reported 47,638 new cases of the novel coronavirus infection on Friday, which took the country’s total caseload to 84,11,724. With 670 new deaths, the death toll now stands at 1,24,985. There are 5,20,773 active cases in the country, after a decrease of 7,189 in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said the state government will be issuing an order banning the use of firecrackers during Deepavali, due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation. “We have discussed it (cracker ban), we are taking a decision to ban the use of firecrackers during Deepavali..the government will soon be issuing an order to this effect,” Yediyurappa said.
Covid-19 testing at a school in Saket, New Delhi. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
Tamil Nadu reports 2,370 new Covid-19 cases, 2402 discharges and 27 deaths today. Total cases in the state rise to 7,39,147, including 7,08,846 discharges and 11,299 deaths. Active cases stand at 19,002.
Maharashtra reports 5,027 new COVID cases, 161 deaths and 11,060 discharges today. Total cases in the state rise to 17,10,314, including 15,62,342 recoveries and 44,965 deaths. Active cases stand at 1,02,099.
With 2,187 fresh cases, the total COVID-19 tally in Uttar Pradesh went up to 4,93,527 while the death toll rose to 7,155 with 25 casualties on Friday. The number of active cases in the state stood at 23,132 of which 10,218 are in home isolation, said Principal Secretary, Medical and Health, Alok Kumar. So far, 4,63,240 people who had contracted the coronavirus have been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and the recovery rate in the state has now come to 94 per cent, he said. On Thursday, over 1.53 lakh tests were done and now a total of 1.57 crore tests have been conducted in the state, the official said. --PTI
India on Friday conveyed to several countries that it will use its strength in vaccine production and delivery to help humanity in fighting the coronavirus crisis. The message was delivered by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla during an interaction with ambassadors and high commissioners of foreign missions in India.
"Several countries have been approaching us for receiving vaccine supply. I reiterate our Prime Minister's commitment that India's vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity in fighting this crisis. India will also help interested countries in enhancing their cold chain and storage capacities for the delivery of vaccines," he said. --PTI
With Delhi facing the third wave of COVID-19, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday that there was a need to promote wearing of face masks as a movement to check the spread of virus. Inaugurating a PWD project to strengthen Rohtak road in Mundka, the chief minister said he hoped that just as people faced the first two waves of coronavirus, they would face the third wave too and that it will end soon. "Till there is a medicine for corona, face masks are the medicine. These are the biggest protection against COVID-19 infection. We need to promote wearing face masks as a movement," he said. --PTI
Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad on Friday said the examinations of Class X and XII conducted by the state board will not be held before May 2021 due to the prevailing coronavirus situation. She told this to reporters here. "The current situation of coronavirus is likely to last for a longer period. We have discussed the issue of completion of syllabus and holding of exams," she said. "The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education will not be able to conduct the exams of Class X and XII before May," Gaikwad said. "I have also discussed the issue of how much curriculum can be omitted so that teachers can complete the remaining part. We will have to cut at least 25 per cent of the curriculum," she added. (PTI)
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday said the state government will be issuing an order banning the use of firecrackers during Deepavali, due to prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation. "We have discussed it (cracker ban), we are taking a decision to ban the use of firecrackers during Deepavali..the government will soon be issuing an order to this effect," Yediyurappa said. (PTI)
A new analysis of more than 3,000 counties in the US has found that people with long-term exposure to fine-particle pollutants may be more likely to die from COVID-19, findings which may make policymakers reexamine the harms of air pollution and help reduce deaths during the pandemic. The research, published in the journal Science Advances, investigated the impact of long-term exposure to PM 2.5 pollutants -- tiny particles in the air that are two and one half microns or less in width -- on COVID-19 mortality rates in 3089 counties in the US, "covering 98 per cent of the population." It found that "higher historical exposure" to these particulate pollutants is associated with greater county-level COVID-19 mortality rates after accounting for several area-level risk factors. (PTI)
A new study that evaluated the availability, prices, and affordability of essential medicines for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes in Kerala has found that the state has fallen short of the World Health Organisation’s 80 per cent target, in both public and private sector. Kerala has one of the highest burdens of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in the country, while the health system in the state is considered among the better-performing ones. Recently, the Kerala government’s efforts to prevent and control non-communicable diseases were recognised by the United Nations. Read the report here
Scientists have found a new method to extract tiny but extremely powerful novel coronavirus antibody fragments from llamas, which they say could be fashioned into inhalable therapeutics with the potential to prevent and treat COVID-19. These special llama antibodies, called nanobodies, are much smaller than human antibodies, according to the researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the US.
“Nature is our best inventor,” said Yi Shi, senior author of the study published in the journal Science on Thursday. “The technology we developed surveys SARS-CoV-2 neutralising nanobodies at an unprecedented scale, which allowed us to quickly discover thousands of nanobodies with unrivalled affinity and specificity,” Shi said. Read more here
It’s been 34 days now that the recoveries have been outnumbering detection of new infections, the strongest sign yet that the coronavirus epidemic in India is firmly on the decline. During this time, the active cases have almost halved, the daily detection of new cases has dropped to less than half of the peak achieved in September, and the growth rate has come down to just about 0.5 per cent per day.
The main drivers for this rather sudden and unexpected turnaround are still not clear, especially since it has come in the midst of festival season, Bihar elections, and a resumption in general activities. That is also the reason why health authorities and experts have been cautioning against lowering of the guard. The festival season is not yet over, and deterioration in air quality in the approaching winter is likely to be an added complication because it could worsen respiratory conditions amongst infected people.
Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain on Friday said that the state government will ask the government hospitals in the national capital to increase beds for coronavirus-infected patients. He also added that the government will also ask the private hospitals to increase the bed capacity. "In the third wave of covid, positive cases are increasing. At present 7,231 beds are occupied in Delhi and 8,572 beds are still available. We will increase beds in government hospitals and also ask private hospitals to do it," Jain said.
84 schools in five blocks of Uttarakhand's Pauri district (Garhwal division) have been closed after 80 teachers test positive for the novel coronavirus infection, news agency ANI reported. State health secretary Amit Negi says, "District Magistrates of all the 13 districts have been directed to conduct covid tests of on-duty school teachers."
India reported 47,638 new cases of the novel coronavirus infection on Friday, which took the country's total caseload to 84,11,724. With 670 new deaths, the death toll now stands at 1,24,985. There are 5,20,773 active cases in the country, after a decrease of 7,189 in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, a total of 77,65,966 have cured of the disease, while 54,157 people have been discharged in the last 24 hours.
Maharashtra government on Friday issues fresh guidelines on preventive measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus infection in the state during Diwali celebrations. It also urged citizens to avoid bursting crackers to curb noise and air pollution.
Jharkhand has not reported any fresh COVID-19 fatality in the past 24 hours, even as 355 fresh cases pushed the tally to 1,03,543, a health department official said on Friday. The coronavirus death toll remained at 894 in the state. The new infections include 99 from Ranchi district, 34 from Dhanbad and 26 from East Singhbhum, he said. Jharkhand now has 4,685 active coronavirus cases, while 97,964 people have recovered from the disease so far, the official said.
South Korean drugmaker Celltrion Inc said on Friday patients treated with its experimental COVID-19 antibody drug in a small-size early-stage trial showed at least a 44% improvement in recovery time. The result bodes well for Celltrion, which plans to seek conditional approval for the monoclonal antibody treatment, CT-P59, for emergency use by the end of this year in South Korea.
In its global Phase 1 trial that enrolled 18 patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19, 15 participants who received the treatment had a mean recovery time about 44% faster than three people in a placebo group.No patients treated with CT-P59 in the study had so far required hospitalisation or other antiviral therapy as a result of COVID-19, and the treatment was well tolerated with no clinically significant safety issues, it said. Read more here
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Thursday said that the coronavirus pandemic is the most catastrophic event after the World War II. Speaking at an event, Shringla said, "COVID-19 is the most catastrophic event after the Second World War. It's therefore inevitable that we'll experience a different world in post-pandemic era. We're in midst of trying to cope with new reality of going virtual in our daily life."
The Andhra Pradesh government will set up counselling cells in educational institutions to assist students who may be facing psychological issues to the Covid-19 situation. “The psychological impact of the Covid-19 outbreak and the consequential lockdown has been a topic of discussion internationally for the past few months. The student community happens to be one of the most vulnerable sections of the society when it comes to these tough times,” Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh said in a statement.
“The government will actively help students deal with their psychological issues emerging out of financial, career-oriented as well as any other forms of stress. The department of Higher Education has asked all government universities to set up a counselling cell on campus. Highly qualified psychology professors, a lot of whom have at some point been practising counsellors, will be responsible for addressing the issues of students,” Special Chief Secretary (Education) Satish Chandra said. Read more here