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Study reveals more mental health support needed for frontline workers tackling COVID
The review, conducted by the University of York and the Mental Health Foundation, also revealed that COVID-19 patients with other physical health problems and children and adolescents are struggling with a host of mental health issues during the pandemic. The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE.
COVID-19: Mumbai gets its first genome sequencing lab
Another project- Spinraza therapy for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in children was also launched at the T. N. Medical College & BYL Nair Charitable Hospital, one of the premier medical institutes in the city as part of its centenary celebrations.
Spinraza Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) encompasses a group of inherited progressive, degenerative neuro-muscular disorders, in which children die at a young age due to respiratory failure or they are wheelchair-bound for a lifetime, the statement said.
Major ports’ cargo traffic falls for 6th straight month; logs 14% drop
India has 12 major ports under the control of the central government — Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia).
Worst is over, economic recovery faster than expected: HDFC CEO Keki Mistry
The veteran financial sector player also said that most of the job losses during COVID-19 were confined to low-income workers and the job losses for the kind of people who borrow money were not alarming.
The non-performing individual loans could be in the range of 2.5-4 per cent, which is also the extent of loans that the RBI has allowed to restructure, Mistry added.
COVID-19 cases in India cross 70-lakh mark,fatality rate at 1.54 per cent
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
The national recovery rate stands at 86.17 per cent.
The COVID-19 caseload mounted to 70,53,806 with 74,383 infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,08,334 with 918 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.
According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 8,68,77,242 samples have been tested up to October 10 with 10,78,544 samples being tested on Saturday.
Emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccine to depend on clinical trial data
Categorically rejecting speculation that the government is prioritizing young and working-class for the COVID-19 vaccine for economic reasons, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said, the prioritisation of groups for COVID-19 vaccine shall be based on two key considerations — occupational hazard and risk of exposure to infection, and the risk of developing severe disease and increased mortality
Novel coronavirus can last 28 days on glass, currency, Australian study finds
CSIRO researchers found that at 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) the SARS-COV-2 virus remained infectious for 28 days on smooth surfaces such as plastic banknotes and glass found on mobile phone screens. The study was published in Virology Journal.
“It really reinforces the importance of washing hands and sanitising where possible and certainly wiping down surfaces that may be in contact with the virus,” said the study’s lead researcher Shane Riddell.
By comparison, Influenza A virus has been found to survive on surfaces for 17 days.
Potential Covid-19 vaccines not affected by recent mutations: Report
There had been fears the G-strain, within the main protein on the surface of the virus, would negatively impact on vaccines under development.
“This is good news for the hundreds of vaccines in development around the world, with the majority targeting the spike protein as this binds to the ACE2 receptors in our lungs and airways, which are the entry point to infect cells,” said Professor Seshadri Vasan, who holds an honorary chair in Health Sciences at the University of York.
U.S., AstraZeneca strike deal for COVID-19 antibody treatment touted by Trump
The treatment has come under the spotlight after Trump was treated with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ antibody drug last week. The president has also released a video on Twitter touting its benefits.
In a call earlier on Friday, a top U.S. health official said the government was expecting to provide more than 1 million free doses of antibody treatments to COVID-19 patients, similar to the one that was administered to Trump.
Nurses suffer burn-out, psychological distress in COVID fight – association
“Our most recent survey of national nurses’ associations shows that more than 70% of them (the associations) were saying that nurses have been subject to violence or discrimination and as a result of that they are very concerned about extreme cases of psychological distress and mental health pressure,” said Howard Catton, a British nurse who is the ICN’s chief executive,
The figure was based on responses from roughly a quarter of its national nurses’ associations in more than 130 countries.
Moratorium period exceeding six months may result in vitiating overall credit discipline: RBI to SC
The Finance Ministry had filed an additional affidavit in the apex court on October 2 saying it had decided to waive compound interest (interest on interest) charged on loans of up to Rs 2 crore for a six-month moratorium from individual borrowers as well as medium and small industries.
China joins COVAX initiative for COVID-19 vaccine distribution
The COVAX initiative aims to deliver at least 2 billion doses of vaccines by the end of 2021.
China joins some 168 countries that have already announced their participation in COVAX including 76 wealthy, self-financing ones. But neither the United States nor Russia have joined the programme.