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WHO calls for moratorium on booster COVID-19 vaccine shots until end of Sep
A small group of nations, including some in Europe, are planning additional shots for the fully inoculated even as the COVID-19 continues to infect and kill at alarming rates across the Global South, where vaccination levels remain “catastrophically low,” The Washington Post reported.
The report stated that the decision by wealthy countries to give booster shots to their own people rather than donating those doses to poorer countries is controversial. Health experts have called this move immoral.
COVID-19 herd immunity: It’s not going to happen, so what next?
The evolution of the virus has been so rapid that the Delta variant, which is currently dominating the world, is at least twice as transmissible as the ancestral virus that was circulating.
What this means is that herd immunity is no longer a discussion the world should be having. We should start to avoid using that term in the context of SARS-CoV-2, because it’s not going to materialise – or is unlikely to materialise – during our lifetimes.
Lloyd’s launches new report on cities at risk from global threats
London: Lloyd’s, the world’s leading specialist insurance and reinsurance market, today announced a new report: Cities at risk – Building a resilient future for the world’s urban centres, published in association with Urban Foresight and...
M&M offers free coronavirus insurance plan for Bolero pick-up range
The Free Corona Insurance is a floater health insurance cover for up to Rs 1 lakh that will cover the customer, his/her spouse and up to two of the customer’s children and will remain valid for a period of 9.5 months from the date of purchase of the new vehicle, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) said.
Microsoft to let employees work from home permanently: Report
“The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged all of us to think, live and work in new ways,” Microsoft’s Chief People Officer Kathleen Hogan said in a note to employees obtained by the tech news outlet.
“We will offer as much flexibility as possible to support individual workstyles, while balancing business needs and ensuring we live our culture.”
India’s coronavirus infections rise by 70,496 to 6.91 million
The COVID-19 case fatality rate due to the coronavirus infection was recorded at 1.54 per cent.
India’s death toll from the novel coronavirus rose past 100,000 on Saturday, only the third country in the world to reach that bleak milestone, after the United States and Brazil, and its epidemic shows no sign of abating.
World Bank praises efforts to arrest COVID-19 spread in Mumbai’s Dharavi
Dharavi, which is located in India’s commercial capital Mumbai, is spread over an area of 2.5 square kilometres and has a population of 650,000. People live in shanties and dilapidated buildings with narrow lanes and open sewers.
Observing that effective approaches have tapped the skills and dedication of community members, the World Bank said that in Mumbai, city officials were able to stem the rapid spread of the coronavirus in Dharavi, one of the city’s largest urban settlements, by mobilising community members and staff from private medical clinics for a strategy based on mass screening for fever and oxygen levels.
Maharashtra becomes first state to regulate prices of masks during COVID-19 pandemic
According to the recommendation of the committee, the N-95 mask will be available for around Rs 19 to Rs 50 depending on the type, while the double and triple layer masks will be available for just Rs 3 to 4. The process of deciding on the price fixed by the committee is in the final stage and after the approval of the government, it will be mandatory to sell the masks at the revised rate, said an official release.
COVID-19 cases in India cross 68-lakh mark
The total recoveries have surged to 58,27,704 while there are 9,02,425 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 13.20 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate due to the coronavirus infection has dropped to 1.54 per cent.
South Asia faces worst ever recession, tipping millions into poverty: World Bank
“The impact on livelihoods will even be larger than the GDP forecast suggests…This implies that the region will experience a sharp increase in the poverty rate,” the bank said in its bi-annual report.
India, the region’s biggest economy, is likely to see its economy contract by 9.5% this year, the report said.
WHO reports record one-day rise in global coronavirus cases amid European outbreak
As a region, Europe is now reporting more cases than India, Brazil or the United States.
According to a Reuters analysis of more recent country data, COVID-19 infections are rising in 54 countries, including surges in Argentina, Canada and much of Europe.
Infections in the United Kingdom have reached record levels with over 17,000 new cases reported on Thursday.
“We are seeing a definite and sustained increase in cases and admissions to hospital. The trend is clear, and it is very concerning,” said Dr Yvonne Doyle, medical director for Public Health England.
Hedge funds make pandemic bet on insurance
Investors reckon that in a world where virus outbreaks and climate disasters may be the new normal, innovative new insurance products such as those providing relief during future lockdowns or when staff sickness hinders business, will prove lucrative.
Even while share prices remain subdued, insurers’ debt sales for the most part have been oversubscribed this year, thanks to strong credit quality, typically in the single-A category.