WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus voiced concern that...
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WHO recommends two new drugs to treat patients with COVID-19
According to the WHO Guideline Development Group, it is “strongly...
U.S. business fears never ending liability from ‘take-home’ COVID-19 lawsuits
The Dec. 21 ruling allowed a wrongful death lawsuit to proceed...
India’s Mahindra expects car sales to take two years to rebound after COVID shock
Car sales had started to pick up in the January-March period but a second, more deadly wave of infections forced lockdowns again. This time consumer sentiment has taken a hit and discretionary spending is likely to take longer to recover.
The virus is also spreading to rural India, which was relatively protected during the first wave and had offset the low demand automakers saw in urban centres.
Carmakers in ‘India’s Detroit’ allowed to operate as workers protest COVID risk
Tamil Nadu government order issued on Saturday said so-called continuous process industries, which include auto factories, would be allowed to function in accordance with measures such as social distancing to stem the virus’s spread.
It also urged vehicle manufacturers to initiate immediate action to vaccinate all their employees within a month.
Only 30% of firms in US, Europe to embrace full return-to-office model
“By shifting conversations to focus on the working environments that best suit employees’ needs moving forward, organisations can ensure that their employees feel they are being heard and that they have the autonomy and tools to do their jobs effectively,” said Keith Johnston, VP and group research director at Forrester.
Vaccine inequality, wily variants: Covid’s deadliest phase may be here soon
In countries with widespread vaccination, like the United States and Britain, we can expect that Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths will continue to decline or stay low, especially because lab tests and real world experience show that vaccines appear to defend recipients well against the severe effects of both variants.
For much of the rest of the world, though, this even more transmissible new variant could be catastrophic.
South Asia crosses 30 million COVID-19 cases as India battles second wave
The South Asia region – India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka – accounts for 18% of global cases and almost 10% of deaths. But there is growing suspicion that official tallies of infections and deaths are not reflecting the true extent of the problem.
Govt announces scheme to provide pension for dependents of COVID-19 victims
Besides family pensions, insurance benefits under the Employees” Deposit-Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme have been enhanced and liberalised. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said these steps will help mitigate financial difficulties faced by these families.
To help these families live a life of dignity and maintain a good standard of living, the benefit of the Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) pension scheme for employment-related death cases is being extended to even those who have died due to Covid, the PMO said in a statement.
Burnout and depression spiral among India’s traumatised doctors
The number of doctors for every 10,000 people in India has fallen to around nine in 2019 from 12 in 1991, according to data on World Health Organization’s website, while the country’s health expenditure was just 3.54% of GDP, lower than countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, China and Kenya.
India must now strengthen its health system by investing in hard infrastructure and human resources and making its data transparent, said Yamini Aiyar, the president of the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research.
GST Council leaves tax rate on COVID vaccines unchanged; exempts duty on black fungus medicine
The GST Council, which is headed by the Union Finance Minister and comprises representatives of all states and union territories, exempted levy of I-GST on import of Amphotericin-B, which is used for the treatment of black fungus. Currently, vaccines attract 5 per cent GST.
Sitharaman said the Council decided to continue a waiver of I-GST on free COVID-19 related supplies imported from abroad.
CM Thackeray asks officials to devise policy to help COVID-19 orphans
The Pediatric Task Force on COVID-19 set up by the government and the Women and Child Development Ministry should work in co-ordination to safeguard children in the state from coronavirus infection, the chief minister said.
Airlines can operate only 50% of Pre-COVID domestic flights from June 1: Centre
The government also has extended the ban on international commercial flights till 30 June, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a circular on Friday. The ban on scheduled overseas flights was to end on 31 May after a 14-month gap.The decision has been taken “in view of the sudden surge in the number of active COVID-19 cases across the country, decrease in passenger traffic and passenger load factor (occupancy rate)”, the ministry said in an order.