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Ninety people in India have so far contracted the new strain of coronavirus, which was first detected in the United Kingdom in September, the Health Ministry said this today. Eight of these cases of the mutant strain – believed to be more infectious – are new, the data shows.  Across the country, 18,222 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours took the tally to 1,04,31,639; 228 deaths took the total number of deaths linked to the disease to 1,50,798. The active caseload, however, is 2,24,190; more than 1 crore people have already recovered.  The surge in the number of patients with the new strain comes as India waits for the vaccine rollout after Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Pune-based Serum Institute of India’s Covishield were cleared for emergency use by the drug regulator DCGI last Sunday. The government carried out the third vaccine dry run across the country yesterday to check the preparedness. “The third massive countrywide mock drill conducte...

A Covid-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech called CoronaVac is 91.25 per cent effective, according to preliminary data from a late-stage trial in Turkey, a potentially much better result than reported from a separate trial of the vaccine in Brazil. Researchers in Brazil, which is also running a final Phase III trial of the vaccine, said on Wednesday the shot was more than 50 per cent effective, but did not disclose full results at the Sinovac’s insistence, raising questions about transparency of the process. The Beijing-based biopharma firm’s vaccine for Covid-19, CoronaVac, is an inactivated vaccine. CoronaVac functions by using killed viral particles to expose the body’s immune system to the virus without risking a serious disease response. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines being developed in the West are mRNA vaccines. This implies that part of the coronavirus’ genetic code is injected into the body, triggering the body to begin making viral p...

India’s active coronavirus cases continued to decline with 24,712 fresh COVID-19 infections recorded in the past day with 312 deaths. The country’s cumulative Covid case count now stands at 1.01 crore with 1,46,756 deaths. The daily infections were 3 per cent higher than yesterday’s. With an average of 20,000 cases a day, it took India – world’s only other country after US with more than a crore Covid cases – a week to add 1,23,778 fresh infections. In this period, however, the country has consistently logged more recoveries than new cases taking the number of those being treated for COVID-19 down to 2.83 lakh – almost 3 per cent of the tally.

India added only 19,556 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, the lowest since early July, according to Health Ministry data released this morning. The country’s total number is now at 1,00,75,116. The number of Covid-related deaths reported from across the country in this period was 301, taking the total to 1,46,111. The mutant strain of the novel coronavirus identified in the UK may already be present in several countries, the World Health Organisation has said. It, however, also said it was still too early to draw conclusions about the new strain that it was “unlikely that a couple of mutations” could affect the immune system’s response to one of the existing Covid vaccines. The new coronavirus variant discovered in Britain with a higher transmission rate is not yet out of control and can be contained using existing measures, the WHO said on Monday. “We have had a much higher (contamination rate) at different points in this pandemic and we...

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said that country’s scientists and health experts have worked on the development of an indigenous vaccine and in the upcoming six to seven months India will have the capacity to inoculate about 30 crore people. Addressing the 22nd Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting on COVID-19, Health Minister said, “Our scientists and health experts have worked on the development of a vaccine by genome sequencing and isolation of the coronavirus and developed an indigenous vaccine. In 6-7 months, we will have the capacity to inoculate about 30 crore people.” The Health Minister said, “There have been a little over one crore cases of COVID-19 in India. Of that, 95 lakh 50 thousand cases have recovered successfully. India has one of the highest recovery rates in the world at 95.46 per cent.” During his address, he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “exemplary leadership” throughout the coronavirus pandemic. ...

An Alaskan health worker had a serious allergic reaction after getting Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, but is now stable, public health authorities said on Wednesday. The adverse reaction in the person, minutes after taking the Pfizer shot on Tuesday, was similar to two cases reported last week in Britain. Britain’s medical regulator has said that anyone with a history of anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reactions to a medicine or food, should not get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. But the US Food and Drug Administration has said that most Americans with allergies should be safe to receive the vaccine. It said only people who have previously had severe allergic reactions to vaccines or ingredients in this particular vaccine should avoid getting the shot. The Alaskan patient did not have a history of allergic reactions, Lindy Jones, the director of the emergency department in the capital Juneau where the patient was treated, told reporters at a virtual br...

Amid preparations to start inoculation of high-risk groups, India’s daily coronavirus case count fell to 26,567 in the last 24 hours, the lowest in almost five months, government data shows. The daily case count is the lowest since July 10 when 26,506 fresh infections were detected against 2.3 lakh tests with a positivity rate of 9.3 per cent. In the last 24 hours, almost 10 lakh samples were tested conducted and the positivity rate was about 2.6 per cent. Since yesterday, this is third Covid indicator to hit July levels after active cases – which have dropped below 4 lakh – and daily deaths – which were less than 400 after 157 days yesterday. Up to 385 people lost their lives fighting COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. The death rate has hovered around the 1.5 per cent mark since the September peak. Total active cases – new cases minus recoveries – stood at 3.8 lakh as some 39,000 people fought off the viral disease in the last 24 hours. Overall, more th...

India’s COVID-19 caseload rose to 90.50 lakh, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to over 84.78 lakh pushing the national recovery rate to 93.67 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Saturday. The total coronavirus cases mounted to 90,50,597 with 46,232 infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,32,726 with 564 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of active cases remained below five lakh for the eleventh consecutive day. There are 4,39,747 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country as on date, which comprises 4.86 per cent of the total caseload, as per the data. The total recoveries have surged to 84,78,124 pushing the national recovery rate to 93.67 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.47 per cent. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It went past 50 lakh on Sept...

Delhi has reported over 6,000 new Covid cases every day since November 3 and 13 per cent of this may be linked to increased air pollution, the IMA (Indian Medical Association) said Saturday. The IMA advised people not to venture outdoors early morning, when pollution levels are at their highest and senior citizens and children – believed at greater risk of infection by the coronavirus – are more likely to develop infections and allergies. “Patients who are sensitive to respiratory diseases may find it difficult to breathe if air quality levels (AQI) is between 50 and 100. An AQI of 300 makes it difficult even those who are otherwise healthy,” Dr Rajan Sharma, the president of the medical body, said. On Saturday morning the national capital recorded an average AQI of 443; a rating of 401 or above is an indicator of “severe” pollution. Medial experts have, for several weeks now, been harping on the link between air pollution and Covid infections and war...

With 46,963 new cases, India’s COVID-19 tally has risen to over 81.84 lake cases, while the death count due to the highly contagious disease touched 1.22 lakh with 470 fresh fatalities, according to the Union health ministry figures this morning. Over 71.91 lakh coronavirus patients have recovered in the country so far; the recovery rate has climbed to 91.5 per cent. India has seen a dip in new infections since September, but experts have warned of a possible spike during the festival season, which runs until mid-November. India is the world’s second-worst affected country after the United States, which has nearly 94 lakh infections. National capital Delhi has logged over 3.86 lakh cases of coronavirus, including 6,511 deaths, since the beginning of the pandemic. Delhi has reported 5,062 coronavirus cases and 41 deaths in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra remains the state hit hardest by the pandemic, with over 16 lakh COVID -19 cases, including 43,911 deaths. 5,548 cases were ...

With a positivity rate of 4.1 per cent, India’s daily cases increased by 43,893 in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s coronavirus tally close to the 80 lakh mark, the Health Ministry data shared this morning shows. Overall deaths related to the viral disease in India rose to 1.2 lakh as 508 people died in the 24 hours. India has recorded a total of 79,90,322 cases of coronavirus till now. Almost 91 per cent of all people who have contracted COVID-19 – more than 72.5 lakh – have successfully fought off the disease, and some 6.1 lakh people – or about 8 per cent of the tally – are receiving treatment for COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic in India is showing a declining trend, except for a few states which have reported a rise in cases during the festivals, the government said on Tuesday, mentioning Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi. Together, these five states account for 53 per cent of all new cases. Some of these states are seei...

India’s coronavirus count has crossed 78 lakh with a jump of 53,370 cases in the last 24 hours, government data shows. And 650 deaths in the last 24 hours have pushed the total death count to 1,17,956. Meanwhile, 70,16,046 people in the country have recovered since the beginning of the pandemic. The country has been reporting a steady decline in its daily coronavirus infections after reaching a peak of about 90,000 cases a day in September. India, which reported its first case on January 30, is the second worst-hit country in the world by the pandemic after the United States.

Convalescent plasma therapy may be removed from the national guideline on treatment of coronavirus, chief of India’s top medical research body ICMR Dr Balram Bhargava said at a Health Ministry briefing today. “We have had discussions it (use of plasma therapy) at the national taskforce-level… more or less we are reaching towards that,” ICMR Director General Dr Balram said in response to a question on continued use of plasma therapy (CPT) despite an ICMR trial showing it does not reduce mortality or slow the progression of COVID-19. “The world’s largest trial on plasma therapy was done in India on 464 patients in 39 hospitals with more than 350 authors. This paper has been accepted for inclusion in the British Medical Journal and it will soon appear as a full paper on the role of plasma therapy on COVID-19,” he said. Reiterating that there was no scope of “letting our guard down” even though the coronavirus peak has passed in India a...

Covid-19 patients may experience more severe symptoms the second time they are infected, according to research released Tuesday confirming it is possible to catch the potentially deadly disease more than once. A study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal charts the first confirmed case of Covid-19 reinfection in the United States — the country worst hit by the pandemic — and indicates that exposure to the virus may not guarantee future immunity. The patient, a 25-year-old Nevada man, was infected with two distinct variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, within a 48-day time frame.  The second infection was more severe than the first, resulting in the patient being hospitalised with oxygen support. The paper noted four other cases of reinfection confirmed globally, with one patient each in Belgium, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Ecuador.  Experts said the prospect of reinfection could have a profound impact on how the world battles thr...

India’s COVID-19 recoveries crossed the 60-lakh mark, while less than 1000 coronavirus deaths have been recorded daily for eight consecutive days, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday. Active cases of coronavirus are less than nine lakh for the third day in a row. With increasing recoveries, India has sustained its leading global position with the maximum recovered cases. The five top states with the maximum caseload (61 per cent of the active cases) are also contributing more than half (54.3 per cent) of the total recoveries, the ministry said. With a total 89,154 people having recuperated in a span of 24 hours, India’s COVID-19 recoveries have surged to 60,77,976 pushing the recovery rate 86.17 per cent, according to the data updated at 8 am. “Enhanced countrywide medical infrastructure, implementation of the Centre’s standard treatment protocol by the states and UTs, and total dedication and commitment of doctors, paramedics and frontline workers have led ...

India recorded 70,496 fresh cases of coronavirus and 964 deaths on Friday, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 69 lakh, according to the Health Ministry data. 78,365 people successfully fought off the viral disease on Friday, bringing down the overall active cases to almost 13 per cent of the total caseload. According to the government figures, total Covid cases in India now stand at 69,06,151, including 8,93,592 active cases, 59,06,069 recoveries and 1,06,490 total deaths. India’s recovery rate has increased marginally to 85.5 per cent while the death rate stands steady at 1.5 per cent.

The number of people recovered from COVID-19 has exceeded those with active infection by more than 48 lakh as the recovery rate surpassed 85 per cent today, the Union Health Ministry said. Nearly 57.50 lakh people have recovered so far, which is 6.32 times the active cases, it said, adding the sustained high levels of recoveries have widened the gap between active and recovered cases. “The national recovery rate has jumped past 85 per cent today with the continuous streak of high number of recovered cases being reported in the past few weeks. The recovered cases have exceeded the new confirmed again during the past 24 hours,” the ministry said in a statement. As many as 82,203 recoveries have been registered in the last 24 hours and the total recovered cases have exceeded the active cases by more than 48 lakh, it said. The ministry said 75 per cent of the new recovered cases were reported from 10 states – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Utta...

India reported a sharp drop in new COVID-19 cases recorded in the last 24 hours, with the Health Ministry data released on Tuesday morning showing 61,267 fresh cases of coronavirus. With this, the total Covid cases in India have crossed 66.85 lakh with total deaths at 1,03,569, including 884 in 24 hours. According to the Johns Hopkins University, which has been compiling COVID-19 data from all over the world, there has been a slight fall in India’s 7-day-average of new cases confirmed each day. The country now has 9,19,023 active COVID-19 cases and more than 56.6 lakh recoveries with 75,787 more people having fought off the disease in the last 24 hours, Health Ministry data shows.

More than 85,000 new Covid cases were reported across India in the past 24 hours, government data showed on Saturday, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the country past the 59 lakh-mark. Over 1,000 deaths were also recorded in the past 24 hours, pushing the total number of deaths recorded since the pandemic began past 93,000. The number of recoveries reported in the past 24 hours is around 93,000 as well, taking the total number of people who have fought off the virus past 48 lakh. Around 13.4 lakh Covid tests were also conducted in the past 24 hours. India is the second worst-affected country by the Covid pandemic, second only to the United States in the total number of active cases. India has recorded 59,03,932 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began in China’s Wuhan in December last year. Of these, 93,379 are deaths linked to the virus and 9,60,969 are active cases. In the past 24 hours 85,362 new cases and 1,089 deaths were recorded. The national daily positiv...

India’s recovery rate of COVID-19 cases has crossed the 80 per cent mark with over 90,000 recoveries recorded for the third consecutive day, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday. In a statement, the ministry said 93,356 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours. “India has crossed the significant landmark of more than 80 per cent national recovery rate. On a continuous stretch of high recoveries, India has also reported more than 90,000 recoveries for the third day in succession,” the ministry said in the statement. Twelve states and UTs have registered recovery rate of more than the national average and 79 per cent of the new recovered cases are from 10 states and UTs. “The total recovered cases are close to 44 lakh (43,96,399) today. India tops the global figure of total recoveries. It accounts for more than 19 per cent of the world total,” it said. India’s COVID-19 tally reached 54.88 lakh with 86,961 people being infected in the past 24 ho...