Covid-19 4th Wave in India Highlights: Indian citizens & students travelling overseas can now take the precaution dose of the vaccine against Covid-19 as required by the guidelines of the destination country. This new facility will be available soon on the CoWIN portal, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced in a tweet.
A second Global COVID-19 Summit will be held virtually today for countries to discuss efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for any health threats in the future. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be participating in the summit at the invitation of US President Joe Biden. The Ministry of of External Affairs on Wednesday said that the Prime Minister will deliver his speech on the theme ‘Preventing Pandemic Fatigue and Prioritizing Preparedness’.
The summit is being held amid reports of gradual decline in Covid-19 related deaths in many countries across the globe, however, the virus is still spreading and researchers continue to identify new variants.
Meanwhile, India witnessed a slight dip in new cases, with 2,827 new Coronavirus infections, according to the official data shared by the Ministry of Health on Thursday morning. The data also suggested that 24 patients succumbed to the infection since Wednesday.
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A total of 42 more people, including a returnee from New Delhi, tested COVID-19 positive in Tamil Nadu in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 34,54,512, while the death toll remained unchanged at 38,025 with nil fatalities recorded in the same period, the Health Department said on Thursday.
The number of recoveries grew to 34,16,049 with 43 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, leaving 438 active infections, a bulletin said here.
Among the new cases, 22 are men and 20 women, the bulletin stated.
Chennai accounted for 24 cases, Chengalpet five, Tiruvallur four, Coimbatore and Kancheepuram recorded two each while Kanyakumari, Nilgiris, Salem, Tirunelveli reported one case each.
The State capital leads among districts with 223 active infections and overall there were 7,52,029 coronavirus cases till date.
A total of 15,926 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of tests to 6,63,56,068 so far, the bulletin said.
Meanwhile, the government said the State public health laboratory, operating under the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, has got accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and termed it as another 'milestone' in public health.
State Public health Laboratory has fulfilled all necessary criteria without any non-conformities and received the Certificate of Accreditation by NABL making it as the only lab to obtain the recognition for COVID-19 RT-PCR testing in Tamil Nadu.
Till date, a total of 26.57 lakh tests were carried out by the laboratory and has always been a backbone of laboratory support for public health.
Chief Minister M K Stalin had inaugurated the Whole Genome Sequencing of SARS CoV-2 virus in September 2021 and the lab was, at present, tracking the emergence of new variants of SARS CoV-2 virus, the release said.
“This was team work carried out by the SPHL staff under the leadership of the Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine and that is truly another milestone in public health,” the release said. (PTI)
Chhattisgarh on Thursday recorded four new COVID-19 cases, taking the overall tally to 11,52,331, while no fresh death due to the infection was registered in the state, an official said.
The death toll remained unchanged at 14,034, he said.
The four cases, at a positivity rate of 0.10 per cent, were reported from Raipur (3) and Balrampur (1), he added.
The recovery count increased by two to touch 11,38,262, leaving the state with 35 active cases, the official said.
With 4,017 swab samples examined during the day, the tally of tests carried out so far in Chhattisgarh went up to 1,76,84,755, he added.
Chhattisgarh's coronavirus figures are as follows: Positive cases 11,52,331, new cases 4, death toll 14,034, recovered 11,38,262, active cases 35, total tests 1,76,84,755. (PTI)
The government may not allow precaution dose of a COVID-19 vaccine other than the one used for primary vaccination in light of a CMC Vellore study which showed lack of uniformity in results upon mixing of jabs for booster shots, sources said on Thursday.
The Covid Working Group of NTAGI which reviewed the findings of the Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore study last week stated that scientific evidence showed that administering a booster dose of Covishield after primary vaccination with Covaxin gives 6 to 10 times higher antibody level as compared to when Covaxin is given as the precaution dose after a gap of six months after the primary schedule. | READ MORE
Coordinated global response required to combat future health emergencies: PM Modi at global virtual summit on COVID-19 (PTI)
We also call for streamlining WHO's approval process for vaccines and therapeutics to keep supply chain stable and predictable. As a responsible member of the global community, India is a ready to play a key role in these efforts: PM Narendra Modi at the 2nd Global Covid Summit (ANI)
We supplied over 200 million doses to 98 countries bilaterally and through 'Covax'. India has developed low-cost Covid mitigation technologies for testing, treating and data management. We have offered these capabilities to other countries: PM Modi at the 2nd Global Covid Summit (ANI)
We must build a resilient global supply chain and enable equitable access to vaccines and medicines. WTO rules need to be more flexible. WHO must be reformed and strengthened to build a more resilient global health security architecture: PM Modi at the 2nd Global Covid Summit (ANI)
Last month we laid the foundation of WHO Centre for Traditional Medicine in India with an aim to make this age-old knowledge available to the world. It is clear that a coordinated global response is required to combat future health emergencies: PM at the 2nd Global Covid Summit (ANI)
We have fully vaccinated almost 90% of the population and more than 50 million children. India manufactures four WHO approved vaccines & has the capacity to produce 5 billion doses this year: Prime Minister Narendra Modi (ANI)
We have made the highest-ever allocation to our annual healthcare budget. Our vaccination program is the largest in the world: Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2nd Global Covid Summit (ANI)
The COVID pandemic continues to disrupt lives, supply chains and test the resilience of open societies. In India, we adopted a people-centric strategy against the pandemic: Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2nd Global Covid Summit (ANI)
President Joe Biden will appeal for a renewed international commitment to attacking COVID-19 as he convenes a second virtual summit on the pandemic and marks 1 million deaths in the United States.
“As a nation, we must not grow numb to such sorrow,” Biden said in a statement Thursday. “To heal, we must remember. We must remain vigilant against this pandemic and do everything we can to save as many lives as possible.” The president called on Congress to provide more funding for testing, vaccines and treatments, something lawmakers have been unwilling to deliver so far. | READ MORE
With the count of daily new coronavirus cases in Delhi fluctuating over the last few days, experts on Thursday said the city will keep witnessing such trends for fairly long and attributed it to behavioural changes among citizens.
The national capital reported 970 COVID-19 cases and one death due to the disease on Wednesday while the positivity rate was at 3.34 per cent. The day before, Delhi reported 1,118 coronavirus cases and one fatality while the positivity rate was at 4.38 per cent. | READ MORE
Delhi records 1,032 fresh Covid cases, zero death; positivity rate stands at 3.64 per cent: Authorities (PTI)
Fourteen more people, including four children, tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha, taking the state's coronavirus tally to 12,88,253, a health bulletin said on Thursday. The death toll remained unchanged at 9,126 as no fresh fatality was recorded in the last nine days. There are now 135 active cases, while 12,78,939 people have recovered from the disease so far, including 10 in the last 24 hours. Fifty-three patients have died due to comorbidities to date. (PTI)
Scientists have developed an ultra-large scale computerised model of 1 million to 100 million individuals, closely representative of the Indian population, that they say can help assess the impact and progression of an infectious disease, including COVID-19, at the most granular level. The synthetic population model termed BharatSIM has been developed by using data from sources such as the National Sample Survey Office surveys and Census. Developed by researchers at Ashoka University in Sonipat, Haryana in collaboration with global technology company Thoughtworks, the tool is also being used to make predictions on COVID-19.
The European Commission said on Thursday it will gradually put an end to the temporary rules that allowed the 27 EU member countries to benefit from extra public support during the coronavirus pandemic. Adopted in March 2020, the so-called State Aid COVID Temporary Framework relaxed the European Union's strict state-aid regulations to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic. In light of the improving economic situation in the region, coupled with the lifting of restrictions put in place to contain the spread of the virus over the past two years, the commission said that another prolongation of the scheme is not necessary. (AP)
North Korea imposed a nationwide lockdown Thursday to control its first acknowledged COVID-19 outbreak after holding for more than two years to a widely doubted claim of a perfect record-keeping out the virus that has spread to nearly every place in the world. The outbreak forced leader Kim Jong Un to wear a mask in public likely for the first time since the start of the pandemic, but the scale of transmissions inside North Korea wasn't immediately known. A failure to slow infections could have serious consequences because the country has a poor health care system and its 26 million people are believed to be mostly unvaccinated. Some experts say the North, by its rare admission of an outbreak, maybe seeking outside aid. (AP)
The union territory of Puducherry added two fresh coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours pushing the overall caseload to 1,65,801, a senior official of Department of Health said on Thursday. The two new infections emerged after the examination of 314 samples and the active cases rose to seven, Director of Health G Sriramulu said in a release here. There were no fresh fatalities in any of the four regions-Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam- during the last 24 hours ending 10 AM Thursday and the death toll remained at 1,962, he said. (PTI)
With 2,827 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,31,13,413, while the active cases dipped to 19,067, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll climbed to 5,24,181 with 24 fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was 98.74 per cent, the ministry said. A decrease of 427 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. (PTI)
Shanghai authorities combed the city on Thursday for its last COVID-19 cases in the hope of clearing the way for an exit from a painful six-week lockdown, while Beijing curbed taxi services to keep a lid on its smaller outbreak. The Chinese commercial hub of 25 million people has in recent days been tightening its lockdown for a final push to eradicate the virus by the end of the month, having made some significant progress, according to data this week. Shanghai's mass testing detected just two new cases outside areas facing the strictest curbs on May 11, officials said on Thursday, but that was two more than none the previous day. (Reuters)
More than half of people hospitalised with COVID-19 still have at least one symptom two years after they were first infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to the longest follow-up study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal. The research followed 1,192 participants in China infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the first phase of the pandemic in 2020. While physical and mental health generally improved over time, the study suggests that COVID-19 patients still tend to have poorer health and quality of life than the general population. This is especially the case for participants with long COVID, who typically still have at least one symptom including fatigue, shortness of breath, and sleep difficulties two years after initially falling ill, the researchers said. (PTI)
China's leaders are struggling to reverse an economic slump without giving up anti-virus tactics that shut down Shanghai and other cities, adding to challenges for President Xi Jinping as he tries to extend his time in power. The ruling Communist Party has declared its “zero-COVID” goal of preventing all infections takes priority over the economy. It is a decision with global implications and comes despite warnings by experts including the head of the World Health Organization that the goal might be unattainable. “We don't think it is sustainable,” the WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Tuesday. (AP)
President Joe Biden will appeal for a renewed international commitment to attacking COVID-19 as he convenes the second global COVID-19 summit at a time when faltering resolve at home jeopardizes that global response. Eight months after he used the first such summit to announce an ambitious pledge to donate 1.2 billion vaccine doses to the world, the urgency of the U.S. and other nations to respond has waned. Momentum on vaccinations and treatments has faded even as new, more infectious variants rise and billions across the globe remain unprotected. Congress has refused to meet Biden's request to provide another $22.5 billion in what he has called critically needed aid funding. The White House said Biden will address the opening of the virtual summit Thursday morning with prerecorded remarks and will make the case that addressing COVID-19 “must remain an international priority.” The U.S. is co-hosting the summit along with Germany, Indonesia, Senegal and Belize. (AP)
Mizoram on Thursday recorded 55 new COVID-19 cases, 22 more than the previous day, with the tally rising to 2,27,849, a health department official said. The death toll stood at 697 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported for the last 10 days, he said. The daily positivity rate increased to 12 per cent from 7.73 per cent the previous day as the fresh cases were detected from 455 sample tests, the official said. The northeastern state now has 209 active cases. Forty-six people recuperated from the disease on Wednesday, taking the total number of recoveries to 2,26,943, the official said. (PTI)
Three COVID-19 patients are currently undergoing treatment in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a health bulletin said on Thursday. The coronavirus tally of the Union Territory remained unchanged at 10,039 as no fresh infection was recorded in the last 24 hours, it said. The three active patients are undergoing home quarantine, the bulletin said. The death toll stood at 129, while 9,907 people have recovered from the disease in the archipelago so far. (PTI)
The tally of coronavirus cases in Thane district of Maharashtra rose by 18 to reach 7,09,268, an official said on Thursday. These cases were reported on Wednesday. As nobody succumbed to the infection during the day, the death toll in the district remained unchanged at 11,894, he said, adding that the mortality rate is 1.67 per cent. In neighbouring Palghar district, the case count stood at 1,63,612 and the death toll is 3,407, another official said. (PTI)
North Korea confirms its first-ever case of Covid and declares a “severe national emergency”, with Kim Jong Un vowing to “eliminate” the virus; orders nationwide Covid lockdowns: AFP
The United States has now recorded more than 1 million COVID-19 deaths, according to a Reuters tally, crossing a once-unthinkable milestone about two years after the first cases upended everyday life and quickly transformed it. The 1 million mark is a stark reminder of the staggering grief and loss caused by the pandemic even as the threat posed by the virus wanes in the minds of many people. It represents about one death for every 327 Americans, or more than the entire population of San Francisco or Seattle. (Reuters)
