Individuals with psychotic disorders and mood disorders, as well as patients receiving treatment with antipsychotics or anxiolytics (anxiety-reducing drugs) appeared as the most vulnerable groups for Covid-19-associated mortality. Patients with substance use disorders were also at increased risk for hospitalisation following Covid-19.
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India’s healthcare infrastructure has many gaps, adversely impacts the lives of marginalised people : Oxfam Study
Noting that 63 million people are pushed into poverty every year due to health costs, the report said 67.8 per cent of total expenditure on health in India was paid out of pocket, while the world average is just 18.2 per cent.
The availability of free medicines in public healthcare facilities has declined from 31.2 per cent to 8.9 per cent for in-patient care and from 17.8 per cent to 5.9 per cent for out-patient care over the last two decades, the report said.
Pandemic recovery to push emissions to all-time high – IEA
Spending plans for clean energy allocated by governments around the world in the second quarter of this year add up to $380 billion, making up just 2% of their total stimulus funds in response to the pandemic, the IEA said. The energy watchdog said the figure represented around a third of what it envisioned was needed to put the world on course to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century.
Serum Institute to produce up to 100 mn COVID-19 vaccine doses for India, other countries
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, via its Strategic Investment Fund, will provide at-risk funding of USD 150 million to Gavi, which will be used to support the Serum Institute of India (SII) to manufacture the potential vaccine candidates and for future procurement of vaccines for low- and middle-income countries via Gavi’s COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), the statement said
Crowded villages show why coronavirus cases are surging in rural India
The disease is now widespread outside metropolitan areas, said Bhramar Mukherjee, professor at the School of Public Health, University of Michigan. “We need commitment and collective sacrifice from people of rural India to keep contact diaries, symptom diaries, and to not feel stigmatized if they test positive or have symptoms, so that the disease does not infest villages like an enemy in the dark.”
Global recovery could be faster if COVID vaccine made available to all:WHO chief
“Sharing vaccines or sharing other tools actually helps the world to recover together. The economic recovery can be faster and the damage from COVID-19 could be less,” World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus .
“Vaccine nationalism is not good, it will not help us,” he said in an allusion to the competitive scramble of nations and pharmaceutical researchers to come up with an effective vaccine and order as many doses as possible in advance.
It’s not for me:speed of COVID-19 vaccine race raises safety concerns
Regulators around the world have repeatedly said speed will not compromise safety, as quicker results would stem from conducting in parallel trials that are usually done in sequence.
However, these reassurances have failed to convince many, including in Western countries where scepticism about vaccinations was already growing before the pandemic.
Preliminary results of a survey conducted over the last three months in 19 countries showed that only about 70% of British and U.S. respondents would take a COVID-19 vaccine if available, Scott Ratzan, co-leader of ‘Business Partners to CONVINCE’, told Reuters.
10 countries account for 80% of Africa COVID-19 testing:Africa CDC
COVID-19 confirmed cases across Africa have accelerated and are close to hitting a million this week, and experts say low levels of testing in many countries means infection rates are likely to be higher than reported.
Munich Re hit with Covid-19 losses of $832 million in Q2
The company did slightly raise its outlook for premium income to 54 billion euros, from the previous 52 billion euros.
That followed an increase in premium volume in the July round of reinsurance renewals by 8.3%, with prices rising 2.8%.
Over 56,000 COVID-19 cases in country in single day
There are 5,95,501 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country presently which contribute to 30.31 per cent of the total cases.
The fatality rate has further dropped to 2.07 per cent, the data stated.
This is the eighth consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 50,000.
Of the 904 fresh deaths reported, 334 are from Maharashtra, 112 from Tamil Nadu, 100 from Karnataka, 77 from Andhra Pradesh, 61 from West Bengal, 40 from Uttar Pradesh, 29 from Punjab, 23 from Gujarat, 17 from Madhya Pradesh, 13 each from Rajasthan and Telangana, 11 from Delhi and Nine each from Jammu and Kashmir and Odisha.
Eight COVID-19 patients die in hospital fire in Ahemedabad
“A staffer whose PPE caught fire ran out of the ward to douse it but the fire spread rapidly to the whole ward,” said Rajesh Bhatt, additional chief fire officer of the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services.
Novavax signs COVID-19 vaccine supply deal with India’s Serum Institute
Novavax Inc said on Wednesday it has entered a supply and license agreement with the Serum Institute of India for the development and commercialization of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The Indian drugmaker will have exclusive rights for the vaccine in India...
Centre releases Rs 890 cr as 2nd tranche of package for COVID-19 health system preparedness
The second instalment of the aid will be used to strengthen public health infrastructure for testing, including procurement and installation of RT-PCR machines, RNA extraction kits, TrueNat and CB-NAAT machines, bolster infrastructure for treatment and development of ICU beds, installation of oxygen generators and procurement of bedside oxygen concentrators among others.
It would also be used for engagement, training and capacity building of necessary human resources and incentives to healthcare workforce and volunteers, including ASHA workers on COVID-19 duties, the health ministry said