Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Active Cases in India Lowest in 537 Days; Centre's 'Warm Regards' to States Amid Wedding, Festive Season

Immune responses to other human coronaviruses, which mostly only cause harmless colds, can provide some protection against SARSCoV2 (COVID19), according to new research published in the journal Nature Communications’. It is known that infections with the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID19, and vaccination lead to strong antibody responses against SARSCoV2.

This week, researchers at the University of Zurich (UZH) revealed a cross-reactive immune response which experts believe could be an important piece of the puzzle of how to achieve comprehensive coronavirus immunity. People who have had strong immune responses to other human coronaviruses also have some protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection, said Alexandra Trkola, head of the Institute of Medical Virology at UZH.

A team of scientists has identified coronaviruses closely related to SARS-CoV-2 from two bats sampled in Cambodia more than a decade ago. The discovery described in the journal Nature Communications, along with the recent detection of the closest ancestors of SARS-CoV-2 known to date in cave-dwelling bats in Laos, indicates that SARS-CoV-2-related viruses that cause COVID-19 have a much wider geographic distribution than previously reported and further supports the hypothesis that the pandemic originated via spillover of a bat-borne virus.

President Joe Biden will require essential, nonresident travelers crossing U.S. land borders, such as truck drivers, government and emergency response officials, to be fully vaccinated beginning on Jan. 22, the administration planned to announce Tuesday. A senior administration official said the requirement, which the White House previewed in October, brings the rules for essential travelers in line with those that took effect earlier this month for leisure travelers, when the U.S. reopened its borders to fully vaccinated individuals.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) today announced the Russian single-component Sputnik Light vaccine against coronavirus has been approved in Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Thus Laos has become the 20th country to register Sputnik Light. Sputnik Light vaccine is based on human adenovirus serotype 26, which is the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine. In March 2021 the two-dose Sputnik V was also authorized in Laos. Both Sputnik Light and Sputnik V vaccines have been approved under the emergency use authorization procedure.

India added 9,283 new coronavirus infections taking the country’s total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,45,35,763 while the active cases declined to 1,11,481, the lowest in 537 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The death toll climbed to 4,66,584 with 437 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 47 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 150 consecutive days now. The active cases comprise 0.32 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.33 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

India reports 9,283 new cases, 10,949 recoveries & 437 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per Health Ministry. Active cases stand at 1,11,481 – lowest in 537 days

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe said on Wednesday that the cumulative reported Covid-19 deaths across the continent are projected to reach over 2.2 million by spring next year, based on current trends. The projection comes as the region remains in the grip of the pandemic, with the number of reported deaths increasing to close to 4,200 per day, up from 2,100 per day at the end of September, Xinhua news agency.

Thane district of Maharashtra reported 68 new coronavirus positive cases, taking its infection tally to 5,68,615, while the death of two patients pushed the toll to 11,576, an official said on Wednesday. These cases and fatalities were reported on Tuesday. Thane’s COVID19 mortality rate is 2.03 per cent, he added.

The Chief Executive of AngloSwedish biopharma major AstraZeneca, which helped produce the Oxford University’s vaccine to protect against COVID19, on Tuesday credited it for the UK’s relatively better hospitalisation rates amid the pandemic wave hitting Europe. Pascal Soirot said the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, being developed and administered in India as Covishield, was initially not used by the European Union (EU) for older age groups due to some doubts cast around efficacy. While in Britain the vaccine was widely used in the early stages for the most vulnerable and older age groups, the EU had chosen other vaccines instead. Its medical regulator approved the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for all age groups only in January.

The Chief Executive of AngloSwedish biopharma major AstraZeneca, which helped produce the Oxford University’s vaccine to protect against COVID19, on Tuesday credited it for the UK’s relatively better hospitalisation rates amid the pandemic wave hitting Europe. Pascal Soirot said the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, being developed and administered in India as Covishield, was initially not used by the European Union (EU) for older age groups due to some doubts cast around efficacy. While in Britain the vaccine was widely used in the early stages for the most vulnerable and older age groups, the EU had chosen other vaccines instead. Its medical regulator approved the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for all age groups only in January.

The West Bengal Health Department has decided to turn most hospitals, which were made dedicated COVID-19 facilities, into non-Covid-units, after a decline in the number of fresh cases, a senior official said on Tuesday. It has also decided to shut several safe homes that were set up during the peak phase of the pandemic to accommodate infected patients, he said. Read the full story here.

India will start administering coronavirus vaccine booster doses once all scientific aspects are “deeply examined”, chief of the country’s Covid task force Dr VK Paul said on Tuesday. “While several studies are coming out, we still are looking for accurate answers to understand which one is the right booster and what is the correct interval to start jabbing,” said Dr Paul, while adding that “once science says it should be given, it will be given”. Read the full story here.

Punjab reported 42 fresh cases of COVID19 in a day which pushed the infection tally in the state to 6,03,043, according to a medical bulletin on Tuesday. With one Covidrelated fatality reported in Mansa district, the death toll reached 16,587, it stated.

West Bengal on Tuesday reported 720 new COVID19 cases, 105 more than the previous day, pushing the tally to 16,11,180, a health department bulletin said. Ten new COVID19 fatalities in the last 24 hours pushed the death toll to 19,407. The metropolis reported four deaths followed by Jalapaiguri district two and one each from North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Dakshin Dinajpur districts, it said.

Two doses of Covaxin are 50 per cent effective against symptomatic disease, according to the first realworld assessment of India’s indigenous COVID19 vaccine published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. Results of an interim study recently published in The Lancet showed that two doses of Covaxin, also known as BBV152, had 77.8 per cent efficacy against symptomatic disease and present no serious safety concerns.

Pfizer and BioNTech said Monday their COVID-19 vaccine remained 100 per cent effective in children 12 to 15 years old, four months after the second dose. The companies said that the new data, which involved 2,228 trial participants, will help support their applications for full approval in the United States and worldwide. No serious safety concerns were observed in individuals with at least six months of follow-up after the second dose.

Meanwhile, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Tuesday evening ruled out the possibility of a “huge third wave” as the infection rate and severity is “declining each passing day”. “The vaccines are holding up, we are not seeing breakthrough infections causing a surge in our admissions, our sero-positivity rate is very high. All of these suggest that as of now, we really don’t need a booster dose. We may need it in the future, that is definitely there. But as of now we don’t need a booster dose,” he said at the launch of “Going Viral”, a book on the making of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said that there is a third wave of Covid-19 infections waiting due to which the state has also recommended vaccination for children in the 12 to 18 age bracket. The state is likely to reopen schools from primary onwards within a fortnight, Tope said. Tope told CNN-News18, “The health department had given a go ahead for reopening of all schools. The department has also recommended vaccination of 12 to 18 age group of children. Experts have predicted the cycle of the virus, and the third wave is expected in December accordingly. But it will be mild if the vaccination process is on track.”