Page 2 - Corona

No increase in rate of hospitalisation, death due to Covid: Health Ministry

Amid a gradual rise in daily Covid-19 cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday that the XBB.1.16 subvariant of Omicron might be the dominant virus strain in the country but there has been no reported increase in the rate of hospitalisation or death so far. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said 344 samples have tested positive in the last three months January, February and March for XBB.1.16 after whole genome sequencing. The subvariant has been found in states such as Maharashtra (105), Telangana (93), Karnataka (57), Gujarat (54) and Delhi (19). "Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the predominant variant. No evidence of an increase in hospitalisation and/or mortality has been reported," Bhushan said. He said XBB.1.5 and XBB.1.16 are variants of interest and under intense scientific scrutiny but they are not a "cause of immediate concern". India has reported an uptick in daily coronavirus cases over the past week. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and Karnataka are am

Covid affected access to essential meds for cancer, heart diseases: WHO

The report reviewed the impact of the pandemic on NCD medicines from manufacturing, procurement, and importation to delivery, availability, and affordability

PM advises precaution, maintenance of vigil amid rise of Covid-19 cases

A mock drill was also conducted on December 27, 2022, in 22,000 hospitals, and many remedial measures were taken by hospitals thereafter

New Covid-origins study hints at spillover from animal: Scientists

Besides raccoon dogs, the international team of scientists also found DNA of bamboo rats, palm civets, Malayan porcupine and Amur hedgehog

XBB.1.16 variant could be driving recent rise in Covid case: AIIMS director

As India witnessed the highest number of Covid cases in over four months, former AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria on Wednesday said the new XBB.1.16 variant could be driving the recent rise but emphasised there was no need for panic as long it does not cause severe illness and deaths. New variants will keep coming as the virus keeps on mutating over the time and the XBB 1.16 is sort of a "new kid on the block", Guleria told PTI in an interview. "... As long as they don't lead to severe illness, hospitalisation and deaths, it is alright because it helps in giving some degree of immunity to the population if they have mild illness," the renowned pulmonologist, who was part of the national Covid task force, said. His comments come on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting to review the Covid situation and also took stock of the public health preparedness. India recorded 1,134 new coronavirus cases, the highest in 138 days, while the active cases increased t

As Covid cases crosses 1,000; Kerala on alert, use of masks recommended

In the meeting, which came on the eve of the third anniversary of Kerala announcing a lockdown due to Covid, she said the use of masks when visiting hospitals should be a must

After Covid-induced break, EC restarts review of recognised party status

After the Covid-19 pandemic stopped it, the Election Commission has restarted the process of reviewing the recognised status of political parties based on their performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and has given individual hearings to NCP and CPI, two of the eight recognised national parties. The commission has also heard six recognised state parties based on paras 6A, B and C of the Election Symbol (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. The paragraphs deal with criteria for parties to get national or state party status. After the 2019 parliamentary polls, the EC had issued notices to TMC, CPI and NCP, asking why their status should not be downgraded based on the outcome of the general election. However, the process could not move forward due to the pandemic. In November last year, the poll panel revived the process. On Tuesday, it heard the response of the Nationalist Congress Party and the CPI. EC sources said TMC was also called. "It is a routine exercise. We gave a written

'XBB' Covid variants unlikely to cause new wave, don't create panic: Expert

India on Monday recorded a single-day rise of 918 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours pushing the active cases to 6,350, according to the Union Health Ministry data

Underactive immune response may explain severe Covid in obese: Study

People who are obese may be more susceptible to severe COVID-19 because of a poorer inflammatory immune response, according to a study. The research, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, found that following SARS-CoV-2 infection, cells in the lining of the lungs, nasal cells, and immune cells in the blood show a blunted inflammatory response in obese patients, producing suboptimal levels of molecules needed to fight the infection. While some people have very mild -- or even no -- symptoms due to COVID-19, others have much more severe symptoms, including acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring ventilator support. One of the major risk factors for severe COVID-19 is obesity, which is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of over 30, the researchers said. While this link has been shown in numerous epidemiological studies, until now, it has not been clear why obesity should increase an individual's risk of severe COVID-19. "During the pandemi

Don't use antibiotics in Covid till bacterial infection suspected: Govt

Antibiotics should not be used in Covid cases unless there is clinical suspicion of bacterial infection, according to a revised guideline for the treatment of adult coronavirus patients issued by the Centre. The revised guidelines, issued on Sunday amid an uptick in coronavirus cases, stated that drugs such as Lopinavir-ritonavir, hydroxychloroquine, Ivermectin, Molnupiravir, Favipiravir, Azithromycin and Doxycycline should not be used for the treatment of adult COVID-19 patients in India. The AIIMS/ICMR-COVID-19 National Task Force met on January 5 to revise the clinical guidance protocol. It has also advised doctors not to use convalescent plasma therapy. "Antibiotics should not be used unless there is clinical suspicion of bacterial infection. Possibility of co-infection of COVID-19 with other endemic infections must be considered," the guidelines said. Additionally, in moderate or severe diseases at high risk of progression, Remdesivir may be considered for up to five days. It

Maharashtra records 236 new Covid-19 cases, active tally at 1,308

Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 236 new cases of coronavirus that raised the tally of infections to 81,39,737, an official from the state health department said. The toll remained unchanged at 1,48,428, while the count of recoveries reached 79,90,001 after 92 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, the official said. With a fatality rate and recovery rate of 1.82 per cent and 98.16 per cent respectively, the state is now left with 1,308 active cases, he said. Mumbai reported 52 new cases, while 33 persons tested positive for the infection in Thane city, the official said. Mumbai circle reported 109 fresh cases, followed by Pune with 69 Nashik 21, Kolhapur and Akola 13 each, Aurangabad 10 and Nagpur two, he said. At least 3,834 swab samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of tests conducted to 8,65,46,719, the official said. Maharashtra's COVID-19 figures: New cases: 236, Total: 81,39,737, Fatality: 1,48,428, Tests: 8,65,46,719, Recoveries 79,90,001.

China should share raccoon dog's genetic data in Covid Probe, says WHO

The data could have and should have been shared three years ago, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday at a press conference

Maharashtra records 101 new Covid-19 cases, active tally reaches 551

Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 101 cases of coronavirus that raised the tally of infections to 81,38,437, an official from the state health department said. The toll remained unchanged at 1,48,424, while the count of recoveries reached 79,89,462 after 36 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, the official said. With this, the recovery rate stands at 98.17 per cent and fatality rate in the state is 1.82 per cent, he said. The state now has 551 active cases, the official said. At least 8,922 swab samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of tests conducted in the state to 8,65,01,776, he said. Mumbai saw 19 new cases on Sunday, which took its tally to 11,54,624, which includes 19,747 casualties. Of the latest infections, 40 were recorded in the Mumbai circle, followed by 25 in Pune, 16 in Nashik, seven in Kolhapur, six each in Latur and Akola circles and one in Nagpur, the official said Maharashtra's COVID-19 figures: Fresh cases: 101,

With H3N2 as predominant subtype, combination of viruses causing infections

Meanwhile, the Covid infection has also reported a spike after four months as daily Covid cases were reported 524 on Sunday

Demand for call center jobs see sharp uptick since pre-pandemic: Report

Businesses are recognising the rising importance of improving customer experience as there has been an exponential surge in demand from jobseekers for call centre and remote customer service jobs since pre-pandemic, says a survey. According to data from leading job site Indeed, there was an elevated demand for call centre and remote customer service jobs in the period from January 2020 - January 2021, with a sharp increase of 498.40 per cent in job postings and a tremendous increase in jobseeker interest. The uptick was largely owing to the pandemic necessitating more virtual customer service representatives, an exponentially rising demand for quick-commerce platforms and the growth of the app economy. Gig work also grew during this time frame owing to the emergence of work-from-home as a predominant model of work. However, job trends over the past year reveal a moderate drop in both job postings (by 73.50 per cent) and jobseeker interest (by 64.50 per cent clicks per million) as t

India's handling of Covid example before world: VP Jagdeep Dhankhar

India's handling of COVID-19 was an example to the world as regards how the country utilised its digital resources to roll out vaccines for such a large population and successfully controlled the disease at home while extending a helping hand to other nations, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Friday. Dhankhar, who inaugurated the "International Symposium on Health Technology Assessment: ISHTA 2023" here, lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proactive and timely decision of calling for a people's curfew and the citizens following it so that "what was advised to contain Covid could be translated into action". He further said the prime minister cheered and motivated the Covid warriors and the country was quick to come up with a legislation that accorded them protection. "India's handling of Covid exemplifies the best practices beyond doubt now. In that perspective, when I have gone abroad on two visits, how satisfying it was for me to note that when India was facing Covid, it .

Study by AIIMS-Gorakhpur reveals relation of smoke, severity of Covid-19

A study led by the AIIMS-Gorakhpur has showed a link between secondhand smoke and the severity of COVID-19 in non-smokers. According to the first-of-its-kind study conducted across six states, reported exposure to second-hand smoke at home and the workplace significantly increased the chances of developing severe COVID-19 compared to those not exposed to it. "The health risks due to exposure to SHS is in infringement to basic human right to life," said Dr Surekha Kishore, executive director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. "Findings of our multi-centre study demonstrate that exposure to secondhand smoke increases vulnerability to COVID-19 severity in non-smokers. "I congratulate the government for initiating the amendment of COTPA (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act) 2003 and urge it to expedite this process so that non-smokers can be protected from being exposed directly and indirectly to tobacco products," she said. While .

H3N2 spreads like Covid; masks necessary at crowded places: Ex AIIMS chief

The common symptoms of the H3N2 virus include a runny nose, body aches, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea

Stellar healthcare professionals helped India defeat Covid-19: Mandaviya

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's faith in the Indian scientific community and stellar healthcare professionals across the country helped India conquer "unsurmountable challenges" during the pandemic, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday. He said India set an exemplary pro-vaccination Covid management model when other countries were struggling with vaccine hesitancy. Mandaviya was speaking at the release of a book -- titled 'India's Vaccine Growth Story-From Cowpox to Vaccine Maitri' -- authored by Sajjan Singh Yadav, Additional Secretary, Department of Expenditure in the Finance Ministry, at Pragati Maidan here. "The combination of Narendra Modi's faith in the Indian scientific community and the stellar healthcare professionals across country led India to conquer unsurmountable challenges to achieve a feat no country has before, catering not just to its own nation, but supplying life-saving vaccines worldwide, all in due time," the health minister said. Lauding t

Before economy regains pre-Covid trend line, slowdown may be setting in

Domestically, consumption momentum is clearly fading, and capex could follow suit amid slowing prices, rising cost of capital and slowing consumption and exports, it added