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Covid-19 3rd wave could peak between Oct-Nov; intensity expected to be 1/4 of second wave

Manindra Agrawal, an IIT-Kanpur scientist who is part of the three-member team of experts that have been tasked with predicting any surge in infections, said if no new virulent emerges, then the situation is unlikely to change.

If the third wave peaks, the country may see only 1 lakh daily cases as against more than 4 lakh when the deadly second wave was at its peak in May. The second wave killed thousands and infected several lakh.

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Half of hospitalised Covid patients have persisting symptoms after a year: Lancet study

“Our study is the largest to date to assess the health outcomes of hospitalised COVID-19 survivors after 12 months of becoming ill,” said Professor Bin Cao, from China-Japan Friendship Hospital.

“While most had made a good recovery, health problems persisted in some patients, especially those who had been critically ill during their hospital stay,” Cao said.

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India adds 46,759 new COVID-19 infections, Kerala logs 32,801 cases

India administered more than 10 million vaccine doses in the past 24 hours, a national record that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called a “momentous feat” for the country ahead of fears of another surge in infections. India has administered more than 622 million vaccine doses in total, giving at least one dose to more than half of its 944 million adults.This has been achieved through 67,19,042 sessions. 

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Covid-19 not developed as biological weapon: US intelligence community

The Director of National Intelligence in a report, prepared at the direction of the president, on Friday said SARS-CoV-2 probably emerged and infected humans through an initial small-scale exposure that occurred no later than November 2019 with the first known cluster of COVID-19 cases arising in Wuhan, China in December 2019.

However, there was no unanimity among the intelligence community (IC) on the origins of the coronavirus.

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Covid-19’s Delta variant doubles hospitalisation risk, finds study

“Our analysis highlights that in the absence of vaccination, any delta outbreaks will impose a greater burden on healthcare than an alpha epidemic,” said Anne Presanis, one of the study’s lead authors and a senior statistician at Cambridge. “Getting fully vaccinated is crucial for reducing an individual’s risk of symptomatic infection with delta.”

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Air passenger volumes remain weak in contrast to robust cargo demand: AAPA

More than a year into the pandemic, strict border restrictions and quarantine measures continue to have a devastating impact on international air travel, said Subhas Menon, AAPA Director General.

“By contrast, air cargo remains the single bright spot for the region’s airlines, with strong external demand boosting cargo revenue. However, this remains largely insufficient in mitigating the drastic fall in passenger volumes.” Menon said progress in vaccination rollouts across the region remains slow as many countries still face challenges in procuring supplies and suffer from resource constraints.

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