Category:

Disaster & Management

Latest

China says G4 swine flu virus not new; does not infect humans easily

That study, by a team of Chinese scientists and published by the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), warned that a new swine flu virus, named G4, has become more infectious to humans and could become a potential “pandemic virus.”However, China’s agriculture ministry said in a statement that the study has been interpreted by the media “in an exaggerated and nonfactual way.”

An analysis by the ministry concluded that sampling of the published study is too small to be representative, while the article lacks adequate evidence to show the G4 virus has become the dominant strain among pigs.

read more

India’s COVID-19 cases close to 7-lakh mark,tests cross one-crore mark

A single-day jump of 24,248 COVID-19 cases took India’s tally close to the 7-lakh mark on Monday, while the death toll due to the disease climbed to 19,693 with 425 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry,
India is now the world’s third worst-affected country, behind only the United States and Brazil.It has seen eight times the number of cases as China, that has a similar-sized population and is where the virus originated late last year.

“A cumulative total of 1,00,04,101 samples have been tested till 11 am on Monday with 1,80,596 samples being tested on July 5,” Scientist and media coordinator at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr Lokesh Sharma said

.

read more

WHO halts hydroxychloroquine,HIV drugs in COVID trials after failure to reduce death

“These interim trial results show that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalised COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care. Solidarity trial investigators will interrupt the trials with immediate effect,” the WHO said in a statement, referring to large multicountry trials that the agency is leading.

read more

239 scientists from 34 countries claim coronavirus now airborne

The World Health Organisation has long held that the coronavirus is spread primarily by large respiratory droplets that, once expelled by infected people in coughs and sneezes, fall quickly to the floor.

But in an open letter to the WHO, 239 scientists in 32 countries have outlined the evidence showing that smaller particles can infect people and are calling for the agency to revise its recommendations.

read more