Category:

Health

Latest

Virus that causes Covid-19 can find alternate route to infect cells: Study

Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a single mutation gives SARS-CoV-2 the ability to enter cells through another route – one that does not require ACE2. The ability to use an alternative entry pathway opens up the possibility of evading COVID-19 antibodies or vaccines, but the researchers did not find evidence of such evasion. However, the discovery does show that the virus can change in unexpected ways and find new ways to cause infection. The study is published in the journal Cell Reports.

read more

Global Covid-19 caseload tops 179.9 mn; deaths surge to more than 3.89 mn

In its latest update on Friday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 179,928,730 and 3,898,531, respectively.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 33,590,360 and 603,149, respectively, according to the CSSE.

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 30,082,778 cases.

read more

Water-related disasters throw up complex challenges, threaten lives and jobs

“For decades, natural disasters, [which] have been one of the major causes of worsening poverty, forcing some 26 million people into poverty each year and reversing developmental gains…are almost always connected to water, whether through floods, storms, droughts, tsunamis or landslides”, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Fifth UN Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters.

read more

India’s airline fleet to contract, fall below 700 on weak demand -CAPA

Indian airlines are expected to induct 69 planes during the year and retire 86 aircraft, some of which could be through repossessions by lessors, CAPA said during a web conference on its outlook for the country’s aviation sector.

Airlines will also be forced to ground 250-300 planes in the first half of the current fiscal year, CAPA estimates, as a surge in COVID-19 infections in the South Asian nation earlier this year roils air travel.

read more