Page 40 - Health Ministry

Govt cautions people against lowering guard as world witnesses Covid surge

The government on Friday cautioned people against lowering the guard, even as it underlined that infection due to Omicron does not necessarily lead to severe symptomatic disease.

India crosses 1.4 billion mark of administered Covid-19 vaccine doses

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed the 140-crore landmark milestone on Friday, the Union Health Ministry said. More than 59 lakh (59,53,621) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm on Friday, it said. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night, the ministry said. The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2. The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1. The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.

Remdesivir to be used in patients with moderate to severe Covid-19: Govt

The Centre on Friday said Remdesivir drug should only be used in patients with moderate to severe' COVID-19 and those with no renal or hepatic dysfunction within 10 days of the onset of any symptom. It also warned against use of the drug in patients who are not on oxygen support or in home settings. According to the clinical guidance issued by the Union health ministry for management of the infection in adult patients, Remdesivir has been asked to be used in patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 and those with no renal or hepatic dysfunction within 10 days of onset of any symptom. The Tocilizumab drug may be considered for use in the presence of severe disease (preferably within 24 to 48 hours of onset of severe disease/ICU admission), according to the guidelines. Tocilizumab can be used in case of significantly raised inflammatory markers (CRP &/or IL-6), condition not improving despite use of steroids and no active bacterial/fungal/tubercular infection. The ministry also ...

Covid-19 pandemic: 405 new cases, four deaths in Karnataka

With 405 fresh cases, Karnataka's COVID-19 tally reached 30,03,969, while four death took the cumulative fatalities to 38,305, the health department said on Friday.

Omicron scare: Seven-day home quarantine in Mumbai for Dubai passengers

Dubai is a hub for international travel and passengers take connecting flights from the city.

Be alert & safe: PM Narendra Modi to states on Omicron variant threat

The Centre would also send teams to states with low vaccination, rising cases, insufficient health infrastructure to assist them.

Maharashtra reports spike in new Covid cases at 1,201; 8 die, 953 recover

Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 1,201 new coronavirus cases, a sharp rise of 376 from a day ago, and eight fresh fatalities, the state health department said. With these additions, the state's COVID-19 caseload increased to 66,52,166, while the death toll rose to 1,41,375, the department said in a bulletin. It said the state did not report any fresh case of the Omicron variant of SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. On Tuesday, 11 new Omicron cases were reported in the state, taking the variant tally to 65. A day ago, the state had reported 825 new coronavirus and 14 deaths. There are 7,350 active COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra now after 953 patients were discharged from hospitals following recovery in the last 24 hours. The number of recovered patients stood at 64,99,760 in the state, where the case fatality rate is 2.12 per cent. As many as 1,23,261 new tests were conducted, taking the number of samples examined for coronavirus so far to 6,80,06,322, the bulletin said

Omicron variant: Arvind Kejriwal to hold review meeting on Thursday

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will hold a review meeting to assess the preparedness and management as regards the new variant of the coronavirus on Thursday, according to officials.

Omicron variant three times more transmissible: Centre warns states

The Union health ministry has noted said that 200 cases of Omicron have been detected in the country, so far

No evidence to suggest that existing vaccines don't work on Omicron: Govt

'There are limited available data, and no peer-reviewed evidence, on vaccine efficacy or effectiveness to date for Omicron,' says Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

Covid vaccines can be tweaked for protection against new variants: Guleria

The COVID-19 vaccines can be "tweaked" to provide protection against new variants of the virus, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, Director Dr Randeep Guleria said. His remarks come amid rising cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus and the ongoing debate about whether a booster shot is needed to increase antibodies. Speaking at a programme organised here in Maharashtra on Sunday, Dr Guleria said that as far as the severity of the Omicron variant is concerned, the next few weeks will be very crucial. "Although there is this new variant of COVID-19, the silver lining is that it does seem to be a milder disease and we should have protection as far as the vaccine is concerned. And I think it is important to remember that vaccines can be tweaked," Dr Guleria here said on Sunday. "We will have second-generation vaccines. This is something which we need to keep in mind. The current vaccines are effective but with new variants, they will decrease on immunity, ...

Over 138 crore vaccine doses administered in India so far: Health Ministry

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase

India's Omicron count crosses 150; Maharashtra, Delhi have most cases

Six persons tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Maharashtra on Sunday, raising the state's tally of such cases to 54

Coronavirus pandemic: West Bengal logs 580 fresh cases, 7 deaths

West Bengal on Friday reported 580 new COVID-19 cases, 80 less than the previous day's figure, pushing the overall tally to 16,25,955, a health department bulletin said.

12 new Omicron cases in Maharashtra, Delhi; RT-PCR test must in 6 metros

With the detection of these new cases, the total number of Omicron cases in the country has risen to 57

Omicron: Europe-like surge may mean 1.4 mn cases a day, says V K Paul

The Omicron variant has spread to 91 countries with more than 27,000 cases detected worldwide

Omicron spreading fast, need to avoid non-essential travel, says govt

Sufficient systematic and strategic sampling is being undertaken for genome sequencing for detection of Omicron cases in India, says govt

India adds 7,974 new Covid-19 cases, active infections decline to 87,245

India added 7,974 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,47,18,602, while the active cases declined to 87,245, according to the Union Health Ministry data

India's Omicron variant tally reaches 73; Maharashtra caseload at 32

The Omicron variant was first detected in India in Bengaluru

Over 1.34 bn Covid vaccine doses administered in India so far: Govt

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 134.53 crore on Tuesday, the Union Health Ministry said.