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NIH grants $470 mln to conduct studies on long-term effects of COVID-19
The grant is part of an initiative the main U.S. health research body launched in February to understand why symptoms of the illness persist long after infection in some cases – a condition known as “long COVID”- and why some individuals develop new or returning symptoms after recovery.
The most common prolonged symptoms include pain, headaches and fatigue, but the condition has been linked to a higher risk of kidney problems as well as smell distortions in other studies.
Coronavirus compounds climate disasters but shows action can work- Red Cross
Almost half of 140 million people around the world, who are hit by to disasters caused by extreme weather fuelled by climate change, with more severe storms, floods, and heatwaves live in the Asia-Pacific region, the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a report published this week.
“Recovery from disasters is so much harder when livelihoods have been hit hard by COVID-19 and the measures taken to contain it,” said Maarten van Aalst, director of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and author of the report.
India to continue export of medicines, including vaccines: PM Modi
India is the world’s biggest vaccine maker. Its pharmaceutical industry has been freeing up capacity and pushing ahead with investments to help support a global vaccination campaign.
Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan earlier this month said there was no ban on vaccine exports, following media reports that the government had imposed restrictions to ensure domestic vaccine requirements were met first.
India to start COVID-19 vaccination drive from January 16, 3 cr healthcare, frontline workers to get shots first
After healthcare and frontline workers, the vaccines will be given to “those above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities, numbering around 2.7 million,” the statement said.
India’s drug regulator has approved two coronavirus vaccines for emergency use, Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and Covaxin by local company Bharat Biotech and a state-run institute.
“We should be able to give Covid-19 vaccines to our countrymen soon”: Vardhan
The dry run is aimed at testing the laid out mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in the health system and to assess operational feasibility of using Co-WIN application in a field environment for planning, implementation, and reporting at the block, district, and state level.
COVID-19 impact: 8.7 lakh expats returned to Kerala, over half of them due to job loss: Official Data
The data from the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) department as of Thursday also showed that 1,11,151 of the 13,27,330 Keralites who came back from other parts of the country also cited loss of jobs as the reason for their return. The second biggest reason cited by the returnees (2.08 lakh) was their job visas. The rest include senior citizens, or children, and family members of expats.
Up to 4,000 financial firms could fail due to COVID, says UK regulator
“At end of October we’ve identified there are 4,000 financial services firms with low financial resilience and at heightened risk of failure,” said Sheldon Mills, the FCA’s executive director of consumers and competition.
“These are predominantly small and medium sized firms and approximately 30% have the potential to cause harm in failure.”
Protective immunity against novel coronavirus may last for over eight months: Study
The study, published in the journal Science, helps clarify some concerning data from other institutes, which showed a dramatic drop-off of COVID-fighting antibodies in the months following infection. Some feared that this decline in antibodies meant that the body wouldn’t be equipped to defend itself against reinfection.
Private sector willing to partner with govt for accelerating COVID-19 vaccine administration: FICCI
Private healthcare sector, responsible for almost 70 per cent of healthcare delivery in the country, can adequately supplement the physical and human infrastructure supply in key capacity constrained regions, specifically in urban and semi-urban areas, FICCI noted.
COVID recoveries cross 1 cr-mark; recovered cases are 44 times number of active cases
The national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 96.36 percent. Following the national pursuit, all states and union territories have recovery rate more than 90 percent.
“India’s recovery rate is the highest in the world. Countries with higher caseload are reporting lesser recovery rate than India’s,” the ministry underlined.
With the expansion in the testing infrastructure, the COVID-19 positivity rate of India has also gone down. The daily positivity rate remains below 3 per cent.
India predicts GDP 7.7% contraction, likely to prompt steps to boost growth
The government’s annual budget for next financial year, due to be presented on Feb. 1, is expected to increase spending on new roads, ports and provide incentives for manufacturers, to propel the economy out of its slump.
The economy contracted by a record 23.9% in the April-June quarter following a national lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The contraction was reduced to 7.5% in the September quarter.
Covid-19 vaccines 110% safe, impotency rumours complete nonsense: DCGI
When asked if people would face side effects after taking the vaccine, the DCGI said, “Yes, minor side effects will be there, including a little like pain in the shoulders, a slight fever, little allergies. This occurs in every vaccine but of-course, the vaccine is 110 per cent safe.”