Maharashtra CM warns of curbs as Covid case positivity spikes in Mumbai

 Meanwhile, the Mumbai civic body has also asked the jumbo Covid centres to be fully staffed and be on a standby

With rising cases of Covid in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has called a meeting of the state task force on Thursday. Thackeray also said people should use face masks, vaccinate themselves and follow discipline if they don’t wish to experience Covid-19 restrictions again. Meanwhile, the Mumbai civic body has also asked the jumbo Covid centres to be fully staffed and be on a standby.

I S Chahal, commissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corp­oration, told Business Standard that all jumbo centres in the city had been asked to recall their staff and have full staff capacity in case there is a spike in cases. On Wednesday, the state crossed 1,000 daily cases — a three-month high. Mumbai’s daily positivity rate touched 8.4 per cent. On Thursday, Mumbai reported 704 cases, marginally down from the previous day. Cases of BA.4 and BA.5 have been reported in the state…Read More

Omicron variant wipes out Delta completely in Tamil Nadu Covid cases

 A report of the state public health department said that 68.4 per cent of all whole-genome sequenced samples were of the BA.2 variant while 15.2 per cent were of the BA.1.1 variant.

The Tamil Nadu Directorate of Public health in a statement said that the Delta variant of Covid-19 is now totally replaced by the Omicron variant in the state. The report of the state public health department said that 68.4 per cent of all whole-genome sequenced samples were of the BA.2 variant while 15.2 per cent were of the BA.1.1 variant. The other variants are BA.1 (10.3 per cent ), B.1.1.529 (6 per cent), and BA.3 (0.05 per cent). The whole-genome sequenced samples did not have any Delta variant, the statement said. Interestingly in January 2022, while the Omicron variant represented 92 per cent of the samples, 4 per cent were of Delta and the rest were of other variants.

Omicron spread: Third Covid shot after nine months of second jab

 Student ID card will be considered as a proof to register on CoWIN

The gap between the second and the third doses of Covid vaccines given to co-morbid elderly, and health care and frontline workers has been set at least nine months, guidelines for Covid vaccinations for children and precaution dose issued on Monday said. Covaxin is the only option for children between 15 years and 18 years, the government said.

The Ministry of Health guidelines noted that in view of the recent global surge in Covid-19 cases, detection of Omicron variant, scientific evidence, and inputs and suggestions of ‘Covid-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advi­sory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI)’, as well as of ‘Standing Technical Scientific Committee (STSC)’ of NTAGI, India has decided to modify its Covid vaccination policy. Vaccinations for the age group of 15-18 years open on January 3.

“For such beneficiaries, vaccination option would be ‘Covaxin’ only,” the guidelines noted. A senior government official said this was done according to advice from the NTAGI, which has not recommended the Zydus Cadila vaccine for use on those under 18 years.

India says it provided medicine amid Covid while China, Pak took advantage

The Fund, established in 2017, has so far supported 59 projects in 48 countries, through USD 47.8 million in contributions from a USD 150 million multi-year pledge by the Indian govt

In a thinly-veiled reference to Pakistan and China, India on Monday said that when some countries are busy taking undue advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by increasing their support to terrorism or to adopt aggressive policies, New Delhi has focussed on immediately extending medical assistance and supporting countries vulnerable to the pandemic.

The remarks by India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti came while addressing the 3rd anniversary of the India-UN Development Partnership Fund at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN. The Fund, established in 2017, has so far supported 59 projects in 48 countries, through USD 47.8 million in contributions from a USD 150 million multi-year pledge by the Government of India.

“At a time when some countries are busy taking undue advantage of COVID-19 to spread divisive disinformation or to enhance even more their support to terrorism or to adopt aggressive policies, India’s answer has been to immediately come to the support of countries vulnerable to the pandemic, rush urgently needed medical supplies, strengthen national health capacities and mitigate the diverse socio-economic impact of this crisis, Tirumurti said…

Covid-19 crisis: China using potential vaccine since July, says official

No vaccine has yet passed final, large-scale trials to prove it is safe and effective enough to protect people from contracting the virus that has led to almost 800,000 deaths worldwide

China has been giving experimental coronavirus vaccines to groups facing high infection risks since July, a health official told state media. No vaccine has yet passed final, large-scale trials to prove it is safe and effective enough to protect people from contracting the virus that has led to almost 800,000 deaths worldwide.

The aim is to boost the immunity of specific groups of people, including medical workers and those who work at food markets and in the transportation and service sectors, Zheng Zhongwei, a National Health Commission official, told state TV in an interview aired late on Saturday.

The guidelines for emergency use of potential coronavirus vaccines, approved on June 24 according to Zheng, have not been made public. State media Global Times reported in June that China had been offering candidate coronavirus vaccines to employees at state-owned firms travelling overseas.

Human trials for Covid-19 vaccine may begin in 6 months: ICMR Official

“The virus strain isolated at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) laboratory in Pune will be used to develop the vaccine”

As India ranked 10th in the global infection list, overtaking Iran, which was an early hotspot of coronavirus, India’s top medical body has said the human trials of Covid-19 vaccine may begin at least in six months. Speaking to IANS, Dr. Rajni Kant, Director Regional Medical Research Centre and Head at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said, “The virus strain isolated at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) laboratory in Pune will be used to develop the vaccine, and this strain has been successfully transferred to the Bharat Biotech International Ltd. (BBIL). It is expected that the human trials of the vaccine will begin in at least six months.”

Queried on the focus areas as India inches closer to 140,000 Covid-19 cases, Kant said we should not get anxious about the rapid increase in numbers, especially in the past week, which saw 5,000 Covid-19 cases daily, instead focus on protecting the most vulnerable group “We should not fear from increasing Covid-19 cases. The elderly and people with comorbidities need protection. This is the highly vulnerable group, and we need to deploy resources and develop strategies to keep the mortality rate as low as possible in this group,” said Kant.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: India cases at 145,456; global tally nears 5.6 million

Queried on the focus areas as India inches closer to 140,000 Covid-19 cases, Kant said we should not get anxious about the rapid increase in numbers, especially in the past week, which saw 5,000 Covid-19 cases daily, instead focus on protecting the most vulnerable group “We should not fear from increasing Covid-19 cases. The elderly and people with comorbidities need protection. This is the highly vulnerable group, and we need to deploy resources and develop strategies to keep the mortality rate as low as possible in this group,” said Kant.

Bengaluru airport introduces ‘contactless journey’ to contain Covid-19

According to the BIAL, the features include pre-entry process, where the passengers have to wear masks and carry e-boarding or printed passes

The Bengaluru airport management is introducing a unique feature of parking-to-boarding contactless journey for the passengers as the domestic flight resumes from Monday. In order to contain coronavirus transmission among passengers and staff, the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) introduced the new feature of contactless journey right from pre-entry check to security check and boarding.

“Contactless would be the buzzword at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru when operations resume from May 25,” the BIAL said in a statement on Sunday. With a greater emphasis on minimum touch and minimum exposure between passengers and airport personnel, BIAL aims to minimise all physical contact at the airport.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: Global tally crosses 5.5-mn mark; India cases at 138,536

The technology will continue to enable a seamless airport journey, with greater emphasis on health and safety, the statement said. “We have introduced innovative contactless procedures to minimise exposure at the airport,” Hari Marar, managing director and chief executive officer of BIAL, said. “These enhancements demonstrate our continued commitment to keep our passengers safe in this environment.”

I am doing fine after taking a two-week course of hydroxychloroquine: Trump

Trump has spent weeks pushing the drug as a potential treatment or prophylaxis for Covid-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administration’s top medical professionals

President Donald Trump says he’s doing fine after taking a two-week course of an unproven malaria drug for Covid-19. Trump was addressing his disclosure last week that he was taking hydroxychloroquine and a zinc supplement. He said the regimen was meant to help prevent infection after two White House staffers tested positive for the coronavirus.

Trump has spent weeks pushing the drug as a potential treatment or prophylaxis for Covid-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administration’s top medical professionals.Trump was addressing his disclosure last week that he was taking hydroxychloroquine and a zinc supplement. He said the regimen was meant to help prevent infection after two White House staffers tested positive for the coronavirus. Trump has spent weeks pushing the drug as a potential treatment or prophylaxis for Covid-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administration’s top medical professionals.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: India cases at 138,845; Global tally crosses 5.5-mn mark

Speaking in an interview aired on the Sunday news program Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson, Trump said that “I just finished the course of drug treatments and to the best of my knowledge, here I am. If it’s something that helps, that’s all I want.”

Covid-19 impact: Railway move to halt operations set to dent IRCTC earnings

The railways on Tuesday said all passenger train services, including premium, mail and express, suburban, Kolkata metro and Konkan Railways will continue to remain cancelled till May 3.

The decision by the Indian Railways to stop passenger services further till May 3 is set to wipe out the national transporter’s ticket earnings and a huge share of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s (IRCTC’s) revenue through service charge. The railways on Tuesday said all passenger train services, including premium, mail and express, suburban, Kolkata metro and Konkan Railways will continue to remain cancelled till May 3.

The step was in continuation with the measures taken in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown. For railways, against an average 924,960 tickets a day booked during the first 13 days of April 2019, the daily average stood at a mere 51,175 tickets this year.

ALSO READ: Covid-19: No deportation, but no coming back either for HIB visa holders

As per estimates, around 80 per cent of the tickets booked by the railways is through the IRCTC online platform. “For these 40 days of lockdown, our entire revenue is getting wiped out as service charge through ticketing becomes zero. Other revenue streams like catering, Railneer sales and tourism are on a standstill,” said an IRCTC official.

During the third quarter of 2019-20, IRCTC had posted a profit of Rs 716 crore, out of which 32 per cent came from its internet ticketing business. According to estimates, the railways’ arm is likely to lose around Rs 80-100 crore due to the 40 day lockdown. In 2018-19, the average number of tickets sold through IRCTC website was 7.78 lakh per day. The revenue of internal ticketing segment for the financial year 2018-19 was at Rs 239 crore, up from Rs 204 crore in 2017-18…