India Coronavirus Dispatch: Coronil only a supplement, says Ayush official

New strains that are sparking concerns in Maharashtra, a bumpy ride ahead for ride-hailing firms, Paperwork needed to register for phase-2 of roll-out-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

IN NUMBERS: Over 16,500 fresh cases reported

India reported 16,738 fresh coronavirus infections on Thursday, taking the cumulative caseload to 11,046,914, according to a report in the Scroll. The daily cases are the highest since January 29. The country saw 138 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 156,705, according to central health ministry data. The total recoveries have surged to 10,738,501, while the active caseload is at 151,708. As many as 12,671,163 healthcare and frontline workers have been inoculated since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Read more here

Coronil is only a supplement, no Covid cure: U'khand Ayush official

According to a top AYUSH ministry official in Uttarakhand, Patanjali Ayurved's Coronil drug can only be used as a supplement to manage Covid-19, similar to Vitamin C, Zinc, and other multi-vitamin pills, a report in ThePrint said. Last Friday, the company relaunched its Coronail tablet claiming that the Modi government had upgraded the drug as a "supportive" treatment for Covid-19. Coronil had earlier been approved as an "immunity booster". The founder of the consumer goods company Baba Ramdev had also made a claim that the drug the “first evidence-based drug for Covid-19”. Read more here

The new Covid-19 mutations that are sparking concerns in Maharashtra

Multiple new Covid-19 mutations identified in Maharashtra have caused worry as their discovery coincides with a recent surge in cases, a report in the Scroll said. Researchers found the E484K mutation in four blood samples collected from Amravati. In all four cases, the infected people had not travelled outside of the district and had not come into contact with each other, but their families had tested positive. Researchers also found the N440K mutation in a sample from Yavatmal. This mutation was found in Andhra Pradesh and parts of North India late last year. Over 250 samples have been sent to Pune’s BJ Medical College for genome sequencing, to determine whether the E484K and N440K variants are the reason behind the sharp rise in Covid-19 cases in Amravati, Yavatmal, and the neighbouring Akola district. Read more here

Ola and Uber stare at a bumpy ride in post-Covid India

Even though ride-hailing firms such as Uber and Ola returned to Indian roads with a slew of safety precautions such as temperature checks and car sanitisation after each ride, business remains subdued as most offices and schools are still operating remotely, a report in the Quartz said. The work-from-home phenomenon which is popular in the IT industry appears to be a major obstacle for Ola and Uber as employees from this sector accounted for nearly half of the rides. Read more here

Paperwork needed to register for the second phase of the rollout

In order to register for the second phase of the vaccination programme that will target the elderly, recipients will need an election ID card or an Aadhaar ID, a report in The Indian Express said. The beneficiary will have to download the Co-win app and register following which the back-end will fetch the data from two sources: Aadhaar and electoral roll. The application will proceed only if the age data match, the report said. Read more here