Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a gathering in Mumbai (PTI, file)Coronavirus News Live Updates Today: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers on the emerging Covid situation in the country on Wednesday through video conferencing, an official said. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan will make a presentation at the conference. “PM Modi will interact with CMs on the Covid-related situation in the country through video conferencing tomorrow at 12 noon,” the official said. With several festivals coming up, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Sunday urged people to stay alert to the threat from the coronavirus and continue to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour such as wearing masks and frequently washing hands.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Tuesday granted emergency use authorisation to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for the age group 6-12 years and Corbevax for the age group 5-12 years. Zydus Cadila’s two-dose Covid-19 vaccine, meanwhile, has been approved for the 12 years and above population.
India recorded 2,483 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Tuesday — slightly lower than the previous day’s 2,541 cases. The active cases also dipped from 16,522 to 15,636, while the positivity rate declined to 0.55 per cent.
Healthcare workers conduct Covid-19 test at the Girls College after two cases were reported, in Lucknow, Monday, April 25, 2022. (PTI Photo)
Amid fresh COVID-19 concerns in different parts of the country and apprehensions of a possible fourth wave of the pandemic, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday indicated that precautionary and surveillance measures may be reintroduces at airports and border districts of the state, depending on the Centre's advisory.
He appealed to people to follow precautionary measures like wearing masks and maintaining social distance to control the spread of virus. "Everyone has to follow the precautionary measures, there is no need for worry as hospitalisations have not increased, but still we have taken certain precautionary measures," Bommai told reporters here.
In response to a question, he said during the previous three waves movement of people from neighbouring Maharashtra and Kerala was a cause of concern. (PTI)
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey is ready to lift all measures against the coronavirus, adding that mask wearing will no longer be obligatory indoors.
Speaking after the final meeting of the advisory science council, Erdogan said masks will still be mandated on public transport and in medical institutions until daily new cases drop below 1,000. Turkey had previously lifted the requirement to wear masks outdoors and in indoor areas with good ventilation.
Daily COVID-19 cases in Turkey have dropped to below 3,000 in recent days, from around 15,000 at the end of March. Tests have more than halved in the same period to around 130,000 daily. (Reuters)
On April 22, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Pfizer’s oral antiviral drug Paxlovid was “strongly recommended” for patients with non-severe Covid-19 who are at highest risk of developing severe disease and hospitalisation, such as unvaccinated, older, or immunosuppressed patients.
The recommendation was based on new data from two randomised controlled trials involving 3,078 patients. The data show that the risk of hospitalisation was reduced by 85% following this treatment, the WHO said in a statement. In a high-risk group (over 10% risk of hospitalisation), that meant 84 fewer hospitalisations per 1,000 patients. Read full Explainer here
Cambodia is lifting its mask mandate for open public places, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced Tuesday. He cited a large decline in coronavirus cases and a high level of vaccinations in dropping the requirement nationwide.
He said in an audio message on his Facebook page that it is still mandatory to wear masks in indoor public areas, especially air-conditioned buildings and crowded places such as theatres.
He said it was up to individuals to decide whether they want to wear masks outdoors. (AP)
Seventy per cent of the people who received a booster dose of the Covid vaccine did not contract the disease during the third wave, according to a new study that covered nearly 6,000 people in India.
The study led by Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the Indian Medical Association's national task force on coronavirus, said that 45 per cent of the people who did not take a precautionary dose reported Covid in the third wave.
The survey covered 5,971 vaccinated people, of which 24 per cent were aged below 40 and 50 per cent belonged to the 40-59 age group.Women accounted for 45 per cent of the people surveyed, while 53 per cent were healthcare workers. A total of 3,361 people reported getting infected at least once. Of these, 2,311 (70 per cent) had Covid during the third wave, it said. (PTI)
President Joe Biden's administration is taking steps to expand availability of the life-saving COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid, as it seeks to reassure doctors that there is ample supply for people at high risk of severe illness or death from the virus.
Paxlovid, produced by Pfizer, was first approved in December. Supply of the regimen was initially very limited, but as COVID-19 cases across the country have fallen and manufacturing has increased it is now far more abundant. The White House is now moving to raise awareness of the pill and taking steps to make it easier to access.
The White House said Tuesday it is stepping up outreach to doctors, letting them know they shouldn't think twice about prescribing the pill to eligible patients. It is also announcing that the drug will now be distributed directly to pharmacies, in addition to existing distribution channels run by states. That is expected to boost the number of sites from 20,000 to more than 30,000 next week and eventually to 40,000 locations. (AP)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers on the emerging COVID-19 situation in the country on Wednesday through video conferencing, an official said. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan will make a presentation at the conference.
"PM Modi will interact with CMs on the COVID-related situation in the country through video conferencing tomorrow at 12 noon," the official said. With several festivals coming up, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Sunday urged people to stay alert to the threat from the coronavirus and continue to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour such as wearing masks and frequently washing hands.
In his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast, Modi said in the coming days the festival of Eid, Akshaya Tritiya, birth anniversary of Bhagwan Parashuram and Vaishakh Budh Purnima will be celebrated. (PTI)
Finland's President Sauli Niinisto is being examined in hospital due to his prolonged COVID-19 symptoms, the president's office said on Tuesday.
"The President of the Republic's condition is reasonably good," it said in a statement, adding he would continue to work remotely.
Niinisto, 73, tested positive for coronavirus a week ago on Tuesday. Finland is in the middle of considering joining NATO and Niinisto plays a central role in the process, which is expected to come to a conclusion within weeks. (Reuters)
Experts have predicted that the Covid-19 fourth wave may peak after June and have its effects till October, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Tuesday as he stressed on learning to live with the virus by taking precautionary measures like vaccination and wearing masks.
He said the prevalent variants of the virus is said to be Omicron's sublineages and an official report in this regard is likely in a couple of days. "IIT Kanpur has been sharing data and reports, according to a report shared by them it (fourth wave) is likely to start from June end, but things have started a month ahead. According to them it is likely to peak after June and may go one till September and October," Sudhakar said.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said the report submitted by them about the last three waves was by and large accurate, and the current report too is based on scientific data, and may turn out to be accurate. (PTI)
Gujarat-based Zydus Cadila’s two-dose Covid-19 vaccine was also granted emergency use authorisation for the 12 years and above population. At present, the three-dose version of the Zydus Cadila’s DNA vaccine is being used in the national immunization drive for the adult population. It is the first Covid-19 vaccine in the world that is built on a DNA platform and has been approved for commercial use. Read more
After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Agartala-Kolkata international bus service via Dhaka would resume from Thursday, an official said.
A 40-seater bus is set to begin its journey from the Tripura State Transport Corporation International Terminal at Krishnanagar here to Kolkata at 10 am, he said. "The sale of tickets commenced today. A passenger needs to have a valid passport and transit visa to board the Kolkata-bound bus," said TRTC MD Rajesh Kumar Das. The service will be available for six days in a week, except on Fridays, and the fare has been fixed at Rs 2,300 per passenger, Das said. (PTI)
With only 4.64 lakh people taking their third Covid jab since April 10, Indians could be grappling with vaccine fatigue, a reluctance to take a booster shot that experts attribute to a combination of fear, confusion and misinformation.
As India's Covid graph inches upwards, not enough people are getting their booster shots. Among the reasons for the apparent lethargy are the fear of adverse effects, the view that Covid is now a mild infection and doubts over whether a precaution dose is indeed useful, said scientists, public health experts and industry insiders.
In the view of Praveen Sikri, Ikris Pharma Network CEO, people are questioning the need for a precaution dose, thinking the last wave was mild. The large number of misinformation campaigns launched by anti-vaxxers such as campaigns about children developing liver failure and developing clots and people dying of vaccines had played a role in the reluctance.
“… and because the Omicron wave has been not a very dangerous one, so it is adding to the vaccine fatigue,” said the pharma industry insider who has closely been following India's Covid trajectory.
He added there is need to counter this by developing more conversations around vaccines, letting people becoming involved in decision making. It is important to let people know that countries that have not had adequate vaccination programmes or have had vaccines which are not effective are suffering “very severely” now due to Covid, Sikri said. (PTI)
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Tuesday granted emergency use authorisation to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for the age group 6-12 years and Corbevax for the age group 5-12 years.
A drug used to treat asthma and allergies can reduce the replication of SARS-COV-2 in human immune cells by blocking a crucial protein produced by the virus, according to a study by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) - Bengaluru.
The drug, called montelukast, is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has been around for more than 20 years, the researchers said.
Montelukast is usually prescribed to reduce inflammation caused by conditions like asthma, hay fever and hives, they said.
The study, published in the journal eLife on Monday, shows that the drug binds strongly to one end of a SARS-CoV-2 protein called Nsp1, which is one of the first viral proteins unleashed inside the human cells. Targeting Nsp1 could therefore reduce the damage inflicted by the virus, they said.
"Clinicians have tried using the drug … and there are reports that said that montelukast reduced hospitalisation in COVID-19 patients," said Tanweer Hussain, Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics (MRDG), IISc, adding that the exact mechanisms by which it works still need to be fully understood. (PTI)
Covid-19 cases continued to surge at IIT Madras as 32 more cases were added on Tuesday, pushing the total tally to 111. Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said that though there is no need to panic, the public should not let their guard down and should follow Covid-19 safety guidelines.
According to data issued by the health department, a total of 7,490 students are currently staying in the 19 hostels at the campus. As many as 3,079 samples have been taken and 110 of them have returned positive – officials missed reporting one case in the data. Read more
A fresh coronavirus outbreak in China’s capital has raised concerns that Beijing could become, after Shanghai, the next Chinese megacity to put life on hold to contain the spread of the omicron variant.
The Beijing municipal government ordered late Monday night that almost everyone in the city would have to take three PCR tests for the coronavirus over five days. The order came after 70 coronavirus cases had been found in the city since Friday.
Nearly two-thirds of the cases have been in the affluent district of Chaoyang, which ordered late Sunday that all of its 3.5 million residents must be tested Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The municipal government then ordered late Monday night that residents of 10 other districts — almost all of the city’s residents except in a few heavily rural outskirts — would have to be tested Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Read more
Mizoram on Tuesday reported 102 new Covid-19 cases, five less than the previous day, pushing the tally to 2,26,988, a health department official said. Of the 102 fresh cases, Saitual district reported the highest at 45, followed by Khawzawl district (28) and Serchhip district (26), the official said.
The single-day positivity rate dipped to 13.72 per cent from 35.79 per cent on the previous day, he said. Mizoram now has 697 active Covid-19 cases, while 2,25,596 people have recovered from the infection so far, including 105 on Monday, the official said. (PTI)
West Bengal logged 19 coronavirus cases on Monday while 25 persons recovered from the infection, a state health department bulletin said. The Covid caseload has gone up to 20,18,031 while 19,96,581 people have recovered from the disease so far, the bulletin said.
The state had reported 41 fresh infections on Sunday. With no fresh fatality recorded in the last 24 hours, the coronavirus death toll remained at 21,201, it said. (PTI)
Punjab on Monday reported 20 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the infection tally to 7,59,442, according to a medical bulletin.
A covid-related fatality was reported from Moga district in the state, the bulletin said. The toll from the pandemic reached 17,748. It also included three death cases which were not reported earlier.
Punjab has witnessed 349 fresh cases of Covid-19 so far this April, it said. The number of active cases in the state stands at 167, the bulletin said.
Of the fresh cases, Jalandhar reported eight followed by six in Mohali and three in Patiala.
Fourteen patients recovered from the infection, taking the number of those who have recovered to 7,41,527, the bulletin said. (PTI)
Gurugram reported 397 new Covid-19 cases Monday, accounting for about 85 per cent of all fresh infections in Haryana, according to the state health bulletin. The state logged a total of 470 new coronavirus infections on the day as the upswing in the number of new cases continued in Gurugram and Faridabad, both NCR districts.
According to the latest bulletin, Faridabad has logged 49 new Covid cases. Of the remaining 20 districts in the state, 24 cases were detected in 11 districts, while nine reported zero new infections. As of now, of the 1,828 active cases of the viral disease in the state, 1,305 are from Gurugram and 418 from Faridabad.
Gurugram's Covid-19 positivity rate has jumped from 5.97 per cent on April 18 to 10.25 per cent on April 25. Of the 417 Covid cases reported in Haryana on Sunday, 331 were from Gurugram and 72 from Faridabad. (PTI)