India has been undergoing a phase of consolidation in the last two...
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Europeans reimpose restrictions as Omicron variant sweeps continent
As case numbers escalated, alarmed ministers in France, and Austria...
Traders brace for third Covid wave as Omicron cases rise in Delhi
"We will soon be asking all our traders to enforce Covid protocols...
Centre says 1.22 bn doses needed to inoculate people in 18-45 age group
In an affidavit filed before the top court, the Centre said vaccination is the topmost priority of the government and all efforts are being made to achieve an objective of 100 per cent vaccination in the shortest time possible keeping the available resources in mind and availability of vaccine doses into consideration.
Unemployment is falling in rich countries, but not every job is coming back
The pandemic has pushed out older employees and is deepening inequality as lower income workers feel the brunt of the crisis. Economists warn that there’s still a way to go before global employment is back to where it was before the pandemic.
Fighting misinformation in the time of COVID-19, one click at a time
“Public trust in science and evidence is essential for overcoming COVID-19,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“Therefore, finding solutions to the infodemic is as vital for saving lives from COVID-19 as public health measures, like mask-wearing and hand hygiene, to equitable access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics.”
Low rates of vaccine acceptance are a concern across the globe. Data released in January 2021 by the Johns Hopkins Centre for Communication Programs** suggest that across 23 countries, only 63 percent of respondents will accept a vaccine.
Indian industry body urges curbs to economic activity to save lives
The Indian Express newspaper reported on Sunday that the country’s COVID-19 taskforce has advised the federal government to impose a national lockdown. The eastern state of Odisha and northern industrial state Haryana became the latest to announce new lockdowns on Sunday, joining Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal.
Over 80K people in 18-44 age group vaccinated on May 1: Centre
In the 45-60 age group, 5.33 crore people have taken the first dose, while over 40 lakh have been given the second dose of the jab so far.
As many as 5.26 crore people aged above 60 have taken the first dose and 1.14 crore beneficiaries have taken the second dose.
The phase 3 vaccination drive has come into force from May 1.
US may be winning war against Covid with vaccinations
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 34 per cent proportion of the US population already have some immunity to the virus from having been exposed to the virus.
Added to this is the vaccination campaign, the report said. More than 43 per cent of the population has now gotten at least one shot, and a third are fully vaccinated. That’s getting very close to where other countries, such as Israel, started to turn the corner and experience a precipitous drop in infections, it added.
Covid’s spike protein plays key role in illness: Study
“A lot of people think of it as a respiratory disease, but it’s really a vascular disease,” said Uri Manor, Assistant Research Professor at the Salk Institute in California.
“That could explain why some people have strokes, and why some people have issues in other parts of the body. The commonality between them is that they all have vascular underpinnings,” Manor added.
Scientists say India government ignored warnings amid coronavirus surge
The World Health Organization has not declared the India mutant a “variant of concern,” as it has done for variants first detected in Britain, Brazil, and South Africa. But the WHO said on April 27 that its early modelling, based on genome sequencing, suggested that B.1.617 had a higher growth rate than other variants circulating in India
Indian scientists flag evasive virus mutations
“We are seeing some mutation coming up in some samples that could possibly evade immune responses,” said Shahid Jameel, chair of the scientific advisory group of INSACOG and a top Indian virologist. He did not say if the mutations have been seen in the Indian variant or any other strain.
“Unless you culture those viruses and test them in the lab, you can’t say for sure. At this point, there is no reason to believe that they are expanding or if they can be dangerous, but we flagged it so that we keep our eye on the ball,” he said.
India coronavirus cases may peak next week – govt adviser
“Our belief is that by next week, the daily new cases nationwide would have peaked,” M. Vidyasagar, head of a government-appointed group of scientists modelling the trajectory of infections, told Reuters.