People who die of severe COVID-19 have brain abnormalities that...
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Indians cough up Rs 74,000 cr for Covid tests in 2 years, says NGO
"Considering an average of Rs 1000/test, Indians have been...
Britain’s pandemic modellers say future large waves of COVID possible
The Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, Operational...
PM Modi urges India to get COVID-19 shots amid Delta variant concerns
India must administer 10 million doses a day to achieve its aim of inoculating all adults by December, experts say. But the country has fully vaccinated fewer than 6% with two doses.
Israel resumes indoor mask requirement amid virus spike
The head of Israel’s pandemic response taskforce, Nachman Ash, told public radio the requirement came after four days of more than 100 new cases a day, with 227 cases confirmed Thursday.
“We are seeing a doubling every few days.The rise in cases was likely due to the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus first seen in India,”,Ash said. .
Swiss health ministry data shows vaccinated people seldom hit by COVID-19
Only 209 of 180,000 new infections recorded in Switzerland between Jan. 27 and June 21 were in people fully vaccinated with shots from Moderna or Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, according to Swiss Federal Health Ministry data provided to Reuters on Thursday.
Ixigo clocks 10 lakh searches for travel bookings, 3 lakh for vaccine slots
The travel app has witnessed a surge in both flights as well train bookings fuelled by people returning to metro cities from tier two and three cities like Patna, Darbhanga, Ranchi, Varanasi and Gorakhpur.
Even leisure travel queries are also picking up for popular summer getaway destinations like Leh, Ladakh, Shimla and Mussoorie. Industry data shows there is a sharp reversal from recent weeks with the number of domestic air passengers hovering around 1.1 lakh per day. Daily train bookings stand at over 9 lakh.
Novel method to accurately, quickly detect COVID-19 from phone swabs
The new method, described in the journal eLife on Tuesday, detected the COVID-19 virus on the phones of 81 to 100 per cent of contagious people with a high viral load, suggesting it is as accurate as antigen tests.
The researchers noted that globally active screening for COVID-19 is still a priority as new variants keep emerging and the vaccination rollout is not guaranteed in many countries.
However, testing is expensive and can be physically unpleasant, both of which are significant hurdles on the road to an effective test and trace system, they said.
Antibodies triggered by Chinese COVID-19 shots less effective on Delta variant: researcher
Five out of the seven domestically developed vaccines in China’s mass inoculation scheme are inactivated vaccines. These include shots from Sinovac Biotech and Sinopharm used in countries such as Brazil, Bahrain and Chile.
Govt extends I-T compliance deadlines; exempts tax on COVID treatment cost, ex-gratia payments from employers
“In order to ensure that no income tax liability arises on this account, it has been decided to provide income-tax exemption to the amount received by a taxpayer for medical treatment from employer or from any person for treatment of Covid-19 during FY 2019-20 and subsequent years,” it added.
U.S. approves Roche drug for emergency use against severe COVID-19
The drug can be used to treat patients who are receiving systemic corticosteroids and require supplemental oxygen, non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, the FDA said, adding studies showed Actemra helped reduce the risk of death and speed recovery.
For months already, the medicine has been given to severely ill COVID-19 patients on a compassionate-use basis, generating hundreds of millions in sales for Roche.
Third wave of coronavirus unlikely to be as severe as second wave: ICMR Study
Presenting a vaccine ramp-up scenario where 40 percent of the population has received two doses within three months of the second wave peak, and further that the effect of vaccination is (conservatively) to reduce severity of infection by 60 percent, the study said it illustrates how vaccination could substantially reduce the overall burden during the possible third wave.
Oz, Israel were Covid success stories till Delta strain struck
In Australia, around a million people in four eastern and central Sydney neighbourhoods, which include Bondi Beach, were ordered to stay home for at least a week as total infections in an outbreak connected to the Delta variant topped 60. The lockdown is a shock for a population that had returned to relative normality after months of recording few cases.
Israel, which has prided itself on having one of the world’s most successful vaccination campaigns, has seen infections surge since dropping a requirement to wear masks in enclosed public places 10 days ago.