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Over 56,000 COVID-19 cases in country in single day
There are 5,95,501 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country presently which contribute to 30.31 per cent of the total cases.
The fatality rate has further dropped to 2.07 per cent, the data stated.
This is the eighth consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 50,000.
Of the 904 fresh deaths reported, 334 are from Maharashtra, 112 from Tamil Nadu, 100 from Karnataka, 77 from Andhra Pradesh, 61 from West Bengal, 40 from Uttar Pradesh, 29 from Punjab, 23 from Gujarat, 17 from Madhya Pradesh, 13 each from Rajasthan and Telangana, 11 from Delhi and Nine each from Jammu and Kashmir and Odisha.
Eight COVID-19 patients die in hospital fire in Ahemedabad
“A staffer whose PPE caught fire ran out of the ward to douse it but the fire spread rapidly to the whole ward,” said Rajesh Bhatt, additional chief fire officer of the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services.
Centre releases Rs 890 cr as 2nd tranche of package for COVID-19 health system preparedness
The second instalment of the aid will be used to strengthen public health infrastructure for testing, including procurement and installation of RT-PCR machines, RNA extraction kits, TrueNat and CB-NAAT machines, bolster infrastructure for treatment and development of ICU beds, installation of oxygen generators and procurement of bedside oxygen concentrators among others.
It would also be used for engagement, training and capacity building of necessary human resources and incentives to healthcare workforce and volunteers, including ASHA workers on COVID-19 duties, the health ministry said
Global recovery could be faster if COVID vaccine made available to all:WHO chief
“Sharing vaccines or sharing other tools actually helps the world to recover together. The economic recovery can be faster and the damage from COVID-19 could be less,” World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus .
“Vaccine nationalism is not good, it will not help us,” he said in an allusion to the competitive scramble of nations and pharmaceutical researchers to come up with an effective vaccine and order as many doses as possible in advance.
It’s not for me:speed of COVID-19 vaccine race raises safety concerns
Regulators around the world have repeatedly said speed will not compromise safety, as quicker results would stem from conducting in parallel trials that are usually done in sequence.
However, these reassurances have failed to convince many, including in Western countries where scepticism about vaccinations was already growing before the pandemic.
Preliminary results of a survey conducted over the last three months in 19 countries showed that only about 70% of British and U.S. respondents would take a COVID-19 vaccine if available, Scott Ratzan, co-leader of ‘Business Partners to CONVINCE’, told Reuters.
10 countries account for 80% of Africa COVID-19 testing:Africa CDC
COVID-19 confirmed cases across Africa have accelerated and are close to hitting a million this week, and experts say low levels of testing in many countries means infection rates are likely to be higher than reported.
Container ships sent to Tripoli to keep Lebanon supply lines running
Ship insurer Gard said: “According to our correspondents, the port of Beirut is closed for a minimum period of 14 days which could be extended until port facilities have been restored.”
The International Transport Workers’ Federation, which represents seafarers, quoted its representatives in Lebanon as saying at least 12 dockers and seven separate seafarers had been killed in the port. The figure could not be independently confirmed.
Lebanon, which imports almost all it uses, relies on container ships to bring in everything from refrigerated food cargoes to clothing and other consumer goods.
There is no firm date for Beirut port to re-open, and this is a strain on supply chains.
Zydus Cadila’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate found safe in early-stage human trial
Zydus plans to complete late-stage trials for ZyCoV-D by February or March and could produce up to 100 million doses a year initially, the company’s chairman told Reuters last month.
India reported a daily jump of more than 50,000 coronavirus infections for the seventh straight day on Wednesday.Total cases now stand at 1.91 million, the third biggest, after the United States and Brazil
90% of recovered COVID-19 patients in Wuhan suffering from lung damage:report
According to the first phase results, 90 per cent of the patients” lungs are still in a damaged state, which means their lungs ventilation and gas exchange functions have not recovered to the level of healthy people, state-run Global Times reported.
Some recovered patients have to rely on oxygen machines even three months after being discharged from the hospital, Liang Tengxiao, a doctor from the Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, was quoted as saying by the report.
Indian pharma majors race ahead to launch affordable drugs for Covid-19 treatment
Drug major Cipla is working with government agencies to develop a treatment for COVID-19 while ramping up the production of various life saving essential drugs, according to company’s chairman YK Hamied.
Drug firm BDR Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday said it has launched its antiviral drug Favipiravir for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in India at a price of Rs 63 per tablet.
Lupin on Wednesday announced the launch of its Favipiravir drug under the brand name ‘Covihalt’ for the treatment patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms at Rs 49 per tablet in India.