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How India, Singapore are contributing to a COVID-19 vaccine race

India’s Pune-based Serum Institute is not only India’s largest biotech company but one of the world’s largest. It has the capacity to produce 1.5 billion doses of vaccine annually. It is currently working on three projects to produce COVID-19 vaccines – one is with UK’s Oxford University, another with US-based biotech Codagenix, and it is also working on its own vaccine. To save time, it is taking the risk of preparing part of its facilities to be ready to produce between 20-40 million doses as soon as in September although one or more of the vaccines being worked on may not succeed in clinical trials or be approved by health authorities.
Singapore was involved in the international clinical trial of the Gilead Sciences drug remdesivir which was initially developed to treat Ebola. Around 100 patients in Singapore were enrolled in the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) led international trial which had about 1,000 patients taking part globally. The trial showed that remdesivir significantly improved recovery prospects of COVID-19 patients.

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Major Indian states seek delay in restarting flights as coronavirus cases rise

Airlines are preparing to resume about a third of their domestic flight operations from Monday, even without clarity over which states will allow flights or what quarantine rules may apply to passengers.

India’s western state of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu in the south and West Bengal in the east, major business hubs and home to the country’s busiest airports, have said they are not prepared to open for flights amid rising coronavirus cases, according to state government officials.

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ICMR’s new advisory expands use of HCQ but cautions against false security

The revised advisory issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine as a preventive medication for asymptomatic healthcare professionals working in non-Covid-19 hospitals, frontline staff on surveillance duty in containment zones and paramilitary/police personnel involved in coronavirus infection related activities.

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Guidelines for international arrivals issued; 14-day quarantine compulsory

Only for exceptional and compelling reasons such as cases of human distress, pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parent(s) accompanied by children below 10 years, as assessed by the receiving states, home quarantine may be permitted for 14 days, they said.
Use of Aarogya Setu application shall be mandatory in such cases, the guidelines said.

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AIIMS Rishikesh preparing database of critically ill patients to save them from Coronavirus,says official

“People suffering from critical ailments are more at risk of contracting coronavirus than people in general. We have begun preparing a database of such patients to keep a watch on them in particular and save them from getting infected,” nodal officer for COVID-19 cases at AIIMS, Rishikesh Madhur Uniyal told PTI.Diabetics, people on dialysis, those suffering from coronary disease, lung infection or kidney disease fall into the category named co-morbidity, he said.

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Will try to restart international flights before August: Aviation Minister

“I am fully hopeful that before August or September, we will try to start a good percentage of international civil aviation operations, if not complete international operations,” Puri said during a Facebook live session.

“I can’t put a date on it (restarting international flights). But if somebody says can it be done by August or September, my response is why not earlier depending on what is the situation,” he said.

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