Page 32 - China

Agra man who returned from China tests positive for Covid-19: CMO

A 40-year-old man, who returned from China two days back, has tested positive for COVID-19 following which he has been isolated at his home here, Chief Medical Officer Arun Srivastava said on Sunday. His samples will be sent to Lucknow for genome sequencing, he said. "The man has been isolated at his home and teams of the health department have been asked to conduct tests of his family members and those who came in contact with him," Srivastava added. The man returned to Agra from China via Delhi on December 23 following which he was tested at a private lab. The report came out positive for Covid, he added. This the first Covid positive case in the district detected after November 25, officials said. Amid a surge in Covid cases in some countries, including China, the Centre has ramped up its anti-coronavirus measures. The Centre had said RT-PCR test would be made mandatory for passengers from China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand and asked states to conduct a mock dri

Surge in Covid-19 cases in China raises odds of new coronavirus mutant

Could the COVID-19 surge in China unleash a new coronavirus mutant on the world? Scientists don't know but worry that might happen. It could be similar to omicron variants circulating there now. It could be a combination of strains. Or something entirely different, they say. China has a population that is very large and there's limited immunity. And that seems to be the setting in which we may see an explosion of a new variant," said Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University. Every new infection offers a chance for the coronavirus to mutate, and the virus is spreading rapidly in China. The country of 1.4 billion has largely abandoned its zero COVID policy. Though overall reported vaccination rates are high, booster levels are lower, especially among older people. Domestic vaccines have proven less effective against serious infection than Western-made messenger RNA versions. Many were given more than a year ago, meaning immunity has waned. The

India has developed herd immunity; BF.7 variant may not be serious: CCMB

The severity of BF.7 variant of coronavirus in India may not be as serious as it is currently prevailing in China as Indian have already developed "herd immunity" a top official of CSIR- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) here said. Vinay K Nandicoori, Director CCMB, stressing the need to follow Covid appropriate behaviour, said there is always a concern that all these variants have the ability to escape the immunity and can infect people who are vaccinated and even sometimes infected with the previous variants of Omicron. "The severity of the infection is not as much as they used to be with Delta. That's because of the fact that we do have herd immunity to an extent. Actually we have herd immunity because we are exposed to the other viruses," he told PTI. Media reports indicate that India reported four cases of BF.7 variant of coronavirus. "We (India) have seen the Delta wave which is a big one. Then we have got vaccination done. And then the Omicron wave came and we

BF.7 is Omicron with mutations, won't lead to severe disease, say experts

The current Covid surge in many countries including China is believed to be driven by Omicron sub-variant BF.7. India has also so far reported four cases of this variant

New Covid variant a threat to Pakistan, country fully prepared: NCOC

The new coronavirus variant spreading in China is a threat to Pakistan, the country's National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said on Saturday, according to a report by Geo News

China claims 'adequate' medical supplies for Covid amid reports of shortage

Amid a rise in Covid-19 cases, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that they have "expanded production capacity" of medical supplies amid reports of a shortage of fever and cold drugs

Expect close to 100 mn Covid-19 cases, 1 mn deaths in China: Doctor

Doctors are expecting approximately 100 million Covid-19 and one million deaths in China amid the recent rise in infection

British rule prevented Indians from learning about traditions: Rajnath

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said three centuries of British rule had prevented Indians from learning about their glorious traditions. "A strong awareness of the country's glorious past, its great cultural and spiritual legacy is a must for today's youth to build a strong India," he said addressing a convocation of the Swami Ram Himalayan University here. Singh said international acceptance of India's spiritual and intellectual supremacy in the past was spontaneous and cited Chinese scholars who acknowledged India's path breaking role in various realms of knowledge. Quoting one of the Chinese intellectuals he said, "India was China's teacher in quadratic equation, grammar and phonetics." Referring to a former Peking University vice chancellor who represented China subsequently at the United Nations, the defence minister said, "India has dominated China culturally for more than 2000 years without sending a single soldier." Also quoting French philosopher Voltaire,

Packed ICUs, crowded crematoriums: Coronavirus roils Chinese towns

Yao Ruyan paced frantically outside the fever clinic of a county hospital in China's industrial Hebei province, 70 kilometres (43 miles) southwest of Beijing. Her mother-in-law had COVID-19 and needed urgent medical care, but all hospitals nearby were full. They say there's no beds here, she barked into her phone. As China grapples with its first-ever national COVID-19 wave, emergency wards in small cities and towns southwest of Beijing are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, relatives of sick people are searching for open beds, and patients are slumped on benches in hospital corridors and lying on floors for a lack of beds. Yao's elderly mother-in-law had fallen ill a week ago. They went first to a local hospital, where lung scans showed signs of pneumonia. But the hospital couldn't handle COVID-19 cases, Yao was told. She was told to go to hospitals in adjacent counties. As Yao and her husband drove from hospital to hospital, they found all the wards

China blasts annual US defence spending bill while Taiwan welcomes it

China blasted an annual US defence spending bill for hyping up the China threat" while Taiwan welcomed the legislation, saying it demonstrated US support for the self-governing island that China says must come under its rule. China deplores and firmly opposes this US move, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted online Saturday, calling the new law a serious political provocation that blatantly interferes in China's internal affairs. President Joe Biden signed the USD 858 billion defense bill into law in Washington on Friday. It includes about USD 45 billion more than Biden had requested as lawmakers look to offset inflation and boost the nation's military competitiveness with China and Russia. The bill also repealed a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for US troops. In the Indo-Pacific region, the legislation authorises increased security cooperation with Taiwan and requires expanded cooperation with India on emerging defence technologies, readiness and logistics. A Taiwan

China blasts US defence bill for hyping it up as threat, Taiwan welcomes it

China blasted an annual US defense spending bill for hyping up the China threat" while Taiwan welcomed the legislation, saying it demonstrated US support for the self-governing island that China says must come under its rule. China deplores and firmly opposes this US move, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted online Saturday, calling the new law a serious political provocation that blatantly interferes in China's internal affairs. President Joe Biden signed the USD 858 billion defense bill into law in Washington on Friday. It includes about USD 45 billion more than Biden had requested as lawmakers look to offset inflation and boost the nation's military competitiveness with China and Russia. The bill also repealed a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for US troops. In the Indo-Pacific region, the legislation authorises increased security cooperation with Taiwan and requires expanded cooperation with India on emerging defense technologies, readiness and logistics. A Taiwan

Nepal needs to prioritize its interest while executing China's BRI: Experts

"We tried our best to serve our national interests while signing the MoU on BRI," Mahat said

RT-PCR to be mandatory for passengers from 5 countries, says Mandaviya

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday said RT-PCR test for the detection of COVID-19 would be made mandatory for passengers from China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand for their travel to India. Any passenger from these countries found symptomatic or testing positive for coronavirus would be quarantined, he said. "Passengers from China, Japan, Singapore and Bangkok (Thailand) are being monitored through the 'Air Suvidha' portal," Mandaviya told reporters. In view of the pandemic situation, passengers of flights from China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Bangkok are required to upload their RT-PCR report in advance. Even after landing in India, they will undergo thermal screening, he said. "We have issued an order for them to be quarantined in the country if found positive or with fever," the minister said. With China and other countries witnessing a surge in Covid cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday cautioned against complacency, called for

Two Chinese cities reveal Covid cases that far exceed national tally

These local estimates show a huge discrepancy with the official tally of only 4,103 cases reported for China for Dec 23

Beijing Covid 'peaked' but China months away from tsunami of infections

BF.7 is by far the most transmissible variant with a reproductive number of between 10 to 18.6 in Beijing, according to scientists

China reports 37 mn infections a day, rings Covid-19 alarm bells

Beijing's swift dismantling of Covid Zero restrictions has led to the unfettered spread of the highly contagious omicron variants in a population with low levels of natural immunity

Single window clearance plan afoot for infra projects within 100 km of LAC

The Indian Army has identified 130 villages in border areas in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim for boosting infrastructure, Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Rana Pratap Kalita said on Friday against the backdrop of increasing concerns over China's expansion of civilian settlements close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Lt Gen Kalita, addressing an event, also said efforts are underway to have some sort of a "single window system" for according approvals for development of any infrastructure within 100 km from the LAC as time taken for obtaining various regulatory clearances results in delays in implementation of key projects. The Commander said many areas along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim fall under ecologically sensitive zones, wildlife protected regions and reserved forests and obtaining various approvals for projects become challenging at times. "We are trying to evolve a methodology of some sort of a single window clearance for any infrastructure coming up within 100 k

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Multiple factors behind rise of severe Covid cases in Beijing: Experts

Health experts noted that multiple reasons have led to a rise of severe Covid cases in Beijing, as north China generally sees a greater occurrence of respiratory infectious diseases in winter times.

Experts see 'a very hard road ahead' for China as Covid-19 cases spiral

Nearly three years after it was first identified in China, the coronavirus is now spreading through the vast country. Experts predict difficult months ahead for its 1.4 billion people. China's unyielding zero-COVID approach, which aimed to isolate all infected people, bought it years to prepare for the disease. But an abrupt reopening, which was announced without warning on December 7 in the wake of anti-lockdown protests, has caught the nation under-vaccinated and short on hospital capacity. Experts have forecast between a million and 2 million deaths next year. Predicting deaths has proven tricky throughout the pandemic, since it is influenced by varied factors and China presents an especially complicated case because of opaque information sharing. It's not clear exactly how large the current outbreak is, as China has reduced testing and stopped reporting most mild cases. But in cities and towns around Baoding and Langfang, in Hebei province, an area that was among the first to